Glossary V1

EGI Glossary (draft)

Why a Common Glossary

The EGI Community is composed by a large number of heterogenous actors who contribute to providing or consuming services for e-Science. Policy makers produce policies and procedures that govern the EGI processes; dissemination experts write articles for communicating the progress and results in using or evolving EGI; end-users write papers on research results achieved through the infrastructure; technology providers report on the advancement of technology components that enable EGI to operate and so on.

From many parties, it has been often expressed the need to identify a common set of terms which definition is agreed and shared so to improve the understanding and consistency of documents. In the current scenario, several independent glossaries exist sometimes with not consisten definitions.

The goal of the EGI Glossary is to address this problem by identifying and maintaining a shared set of terms across all the functional areas of EGI in order to enable a consistent understanding and usage within a well-defined scope. The EGI Glossary is maintained by the EGI Glossary Coordination Group who collect feedback from the whole EGI community through the EGI policy boards.   

This page contains the first version of the EGI Glossary of terms, still under discussion within the community. This draft builds on the work of the SPG Glossary, the  Resource Centre OLA Glossary, a number of TCB terms, and try to leverage external glossaries such as OGF PGI Glossary and the ITIL Glossary.

In its current version, the EGI Glossary aims at minimising the usage of the term "EGI" in the definitions following a requirement from SPG. The goal is to simplify the writing of policies and procedures that can be re-used by other e-infrastructures. 

How to Report your Feedback

Please, provide your feedback to the proposed terms and definitions to Sergio Andreozzi (previous feedback is in this page). 

How to Reference

• EGI Glossary - latest version: http://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/Glossary
• EGI Glossary - Version 1: http://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/Glossary_V1
• A term definition in the latest EGI Glossary: http://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/Glossary#TERM_NAME
• A term definition in the EGI Glossary Version 1: http://wiki.egi.eu/wiki/Glossary_V1#TERM_NAME

Terms and Definitions

• Where a definition of a term includes another term, those related terms are given initial capitals
• The form 'See also Term X, Term Y' is used at the end of a definition where an importan related term is not used with the text of the definition itself
  

EGI Glossary

Term	Abbr.	Definition
Acceptable Use Policy	AUP	A set of terms and conditions applicable to the Users of an IT Infrastructure.
Accounting Record		An entry in an accounting database identifying the quantitative usage of Resources by Users.
Appliance		The technical implementation of a Capability. An Appliance may be delivered in a single, monolithic Package, or it may be delivered as a set of components that are grouped into a set of Packages. In the latter case all packages must be installed to provide the complete Appliance.
Business Model		Describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers, and captures value. The process of business model construction is part of business strategy. The term business model is used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies.
Capability		The ability of an IT Service to carry out an activity. A capability may be 1) functional if providing an activity for the direct benefit of the User; 2) operational if providing an activity for supporting the operations of an IT Infrastructure; 3) security if related to security aspects. A Capability may depend on others Capabilities. A Capability is defined and delivered by one or more Interfaces supported by one or more Technology Providers.
Certified Resource Centre	CRC	A Resource Centre that conforms to the requirements specified in the Resource Centre Registration and Certification Procedure.
Contract		A legally binding agreement between two or more parties. (Source: ITIL 2011) The rules and constraints description for interaction via the interface associated with the Contract; a Contract represents the unit of service specification in the technology neutral architecture. (Source: TMF) Also see Underpinning Contract
e-Infrastructure		An IT Infrastructure for instant access to data, remote instruments, "in silico" experimentation, as well as the setup of Virtual Research Communities and/or Virtual Organisations that is composed by one or more autonomous (maintaining their own policies) Service Providers.
EGI-InSPIRE		A four-year project, co-funded by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme (contract number: RI-261323), helping to establish a sustainable, reliable e-Infrastructure that can support researchers’ needs for large-scale data analysis.
EGI.eu		A non-profit organisation based in Amsterdam established to coordinate and manage the infrastructure (EGI) on behalf of its participants: National Grid Initiatives (NGIs) and European Intergovernmental Research Organisations (EIROs).
European Grid Infrastructure	EGI	Federation of Resource Providers set up to deliver sustainable, integrated and secure computing services to European researchers and their international partners.
European Intergovernmental Research Organisation	EIRO	A legal organisation and member of the EIROForum that has extensive expertise in the areas of basic research and the management of large, international infrastructures, facilities and research programmes.
European Research Area	ERA	Comprises all research and development activities, programmes and policies in Europe which involve a transnational perspective. Together, they enable researchers, research institutions and businesses to increasingly circulate, compete and co-operate across borders.
Grid		IT Infrastructure that is concerned with the integration, virtualisation, and management of Services and Resources in a distributed, heterogeneous environment that supports collections of users and resources (Virtual Organisations) across traditional administrative, trust and organisational boundaries (real organisations). (Source: OGF GFD-I.181)
Grid Initiative	GI	An approved body that provides grid computing Services or represents grid providers in a region, country or group of countries. Grid Initiatives may be organised in larger bodies, creating a hierarchical structure, with primary GIs federated in secondary GIs etc. In Europe, the primary GIs are created at national level forming [[#National_Grid_Initiative|National Grid Initiatives (NGIs)], and are federated in the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI). The infrastructure and middleware supporting the GIs on all levels constitute a Grid. The GI is a Single Point of Contact for a Virtual Organisation, representing the Grid as a whole. The added value of a GI may range from a simple aggregation (GI as “mediator”) to full integration (GI as “Service Provider”) of the underlying resources.
Incident		Any event which is not part of the standard operation of a Service and which causes or may cause an interruption to, or a reduction in, the quality of that service. (Source: ISO 20000-1)
Interoperability		The ability of systems, people and organisations to provide services to and accept services from other systems, people and organisations and to use the services so exchanged to enable them to operate effectively together.
IT Capability		See Capability
IT Infrastructure		All of the hardware, software, networks, facilities, etc. that are required to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support applications and IT Services. The term includes all of the information technology but not the associated people, Processes and documentation. (Source: ITIL 2011)
IT Service		A service provided by an IT Service Provider like a Resource Centre or a Resource infrastructure Provider. An IT service is made up of a combination of information technology, people and Processes. A user-facing IT service directly supports the business processes of one or more Users and its service level targets should be defined in a Service Level Agreement. Other IT services, called supporting services, are not directly used by the business but are required by the service provider to deliver user-facing services. (Source: ITIL 2011 adapted)
Memorandum of Understanding	MoU	An agreement that clarifies the relationships, responsibilities and communication channels between two or more parties that may share Services, clients, and Resources. The MoU is used when both parties do not want to pursue a Contract that is legally binding (generally). Formal contracts can be intimidating therefore MoUs are the better option for some communities. However, it can also be used to regulate the relationship between parties.
National Grid Initiative or Infrastructure	NGI	Organisations that (a) have a mandate to represent their national Grid community in all matters falling within the scope of EGI.eu, and (b) are the only organisation having the mandate described in (a) for its country and thus provide a single contact point at the national level.
Open ICT Ecosystem		An ICT ecosystem is open when it is capable of incorporating and sustaining Interoperability, collaborative development and transparency, while increasing capacities to create flexible, service-oriented ICT applications that can be taken apart and recombined to meet changing needs more efficiently and effectively.
Open Science		The idea that scientific knowledge of all kinds should be openly shared as early as is practical in the discovery process. Open science comprises areas such as: Transparency in experimental methodology, observation, and collection of data; Public availability and reusability of scientific data; Public accessibility and transparency of scientific communication; Use of web-based tools to facilitate scientific collaboration.
Open Standard		A standard is open if meets the following criteria: All stakeholders have the same possibility of contributing to the development of the specification and public review is part of the decision-making process; The specification is available for everybody to study; Intellectual property rights related to the specification are licensed on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) or royalty-free terms in a way that allows implementation in both proprietary and open source software.
Operational Level Agreement	OLA	An agreement between an IT Service Provider and another part of the same organisation. An OLA supports the IT Service Provider’s delivery of IT Services to Users. The OLA defines the goods or Services to be provided and the responsibilities of both parties.
Operations Centre		A centre offering operations services on behalf of the Resource Infrastructure Provider.
Package		A structured software unit suitable for automated installation on a computer. A Package may specify dependencies on other packages, so that either a specific version of that package, or a minimum version of that package may satisfy that dependency.
Platform Integrator		A Service Provider that brings together software components from different Technology Providers or use external services (e.g. from the Collaboration Platform) to meet the needs of a particular consuming research community.
Platform Operator		A Service Provider that ensures the services deployed as part of an Infrastructure or community platform are operating effectively on the distributed resources for their consuming community.
Policy		Clear, formal and mandatory statement and position of general nature adopted by the IT Infrastructure governance bodies.
Primary Package		A Product that consists of a well-defined set of specific packages, each in a specific version. Different versions (whether major, minor, or revision) of the same Product may share a subset of packages of the same version, that do not change between the compared versions.
Problem		Unknown underlying cause of one or more Incidents. (ISO 20000-1)
Process		A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective. A process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs. It may include any of the roles, responsibilities, tools and management controls required to reliably deliver the outputs. A process may define Policies, Standards, guidelines, activities and work instructions if they are needed. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Procedure		Step by step written and approved specification of how to complete a specific task or Process.
Product		A solution delivered by Technology Providers to EGI and provides the functionality for one, sometimes more Capabilities as one single, undividable unit. Consequently, a Product may comprise of one or more Appliances.
Quality of Service	QoS	The collective effect of service performance that determine the degree of satisfaction of a User of the Service. Note that the quality of service is characterised by the combined aspects of service support performance, service operability performance, service integrity and other factors specific to each service. (Source: TMF)
Resource		A physical or virtual entity that is consumed from an e-Infrastructure through IT Services.
Resource Centre	RC	The smallest resource administration domain in an e-Infrastructure. It can be either localised or geographically distributed. It provides a minimum set of local or remote IT Services compliant to well-defined IT Capabilities necessary to make resources accessible to Users. Access is granted by exposing common interfaces to Users.
Resource Centre Administrator		An individual who is responsible for installing, operating, maintaining and supporting one or more resources or IT Services in a Resource Centre.
Resource Centre Operations Manager		An individual who leads the Resource Centre operations, and is the official technical contact person in the connected organisation. He/she is locally supported by a team of Resource Centre Administrators.
Resource Infrastructure	RI	A federation of Resource Centres.
Resource infrastructure Provider	RP	The legal organisation responsible for any matter that concerns the respective Resource Infrastructure. It provides, manages and operates (directly or indirectly) all the operational services required to an agreed level of quality as required by the Resource Centres and their user community. It holds the responsibility of integrating these operational services into EGI in order to enable uniform resource access and sharing for the benefit of their Users. The Resource infrastructure Provider liaises locally with the Resource Centre Operations Managers, and represents the Resource Centres at an international level. Examples of a Resource infrastructure Provider are the European Intergovernmental Research Organisations(EIRO) and the National Grid Initiatives (NGIs)
Science Gateway		A community-specific set of tools, applications, and data collections that are integrated together via a web portal or a desktop application, providing access to resources and services from the European Grid Infrastructure.
Service		A means of delivering value to Users by facilitating outcomes they want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks (Source: ITIL 2011, adapted)
Service Catalogue		A database or structured document with information about all live IT services, including those available for deployment. The Service Catalogue is part of the Service Portfolio and contains information about two types of IT service: user-facing services that are visible to the business; and supporting services required by the Service Provider to deliver user-facing services. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Service Portfolio		The complete set of Services that is managed by a Service Provider. The Service Portfolio is used to manage the entire lifecycle of all services, and includes three categories: service pipeline (proposed or in development), service catalogue (live or available for deployment), and retired services. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Service Provider		An organisation supplying Services to one or more internal or external Users. Service provider is often used as an abbreviation for IT Service Provider. (Source: ITIL 2011 adapted)
Site		See Resource Centre
Secondary Package		A package that is resolved from dependency declarations within a Package, that sources either from the Technology Provider's own repository, or from any additional repository except OS distribution repositories. (Note: EPEL is an example of such a repository that is not an OS repository.)
Service Level Agreement	SLA	An agreement between a Service Provider and a customer/client. The SLA describes the IT Service, documents service level targets and specifies the responsibilities of the Service Provider and the customer/client.. A single SLA may cover multiple IT Services or multiple customers/clients.
Service Level Management	SLM	The process responsible for negotiating achievable Service Level Agreements and ensuring that these are met. It is responsible for ensuring that all IT service management processes, Operational Level Agreements and Underpinning Contracts are appropriate for the agreed service level targets. Service Level Management monitors and reports on service levels, holds regular service reviews with customers/clients, and identifies required improvements. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Standard		A document, established by consensus and approved by a Standards Organisation, which provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. Compliance is not compulsory
Standard Organisation Body	SDO	A chartered organisation tasked with producing Standards and specifications, according to specific and strictly defined requirements, procedures and rules. Standards developing organisations include recognised standardisation bodies such as : 1) international standardisation committees such as the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the three European Standard Organisations: the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), national standardisation organisations such as ANSI; 2) fora and consortia initiatives for standardisation such as the Open Grid Forum (OGF) or the Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).
Techology Provider	TP	Delivers the software, services and/or support required by any client or customer. Technology Providers can be community-specific as organisations or projects that develop or deliver software for specific user communities or customisation for specific requirements. They can also be generic as open-source software collaborations or commercial software providers that deliver technology spanning multiple user communities or domains for general infrastructure purposes.
UMD Capability		An IT Capability defined in the UMD Roadmap.
Underpinning Contract	UC	A contract between an IT service provider and a third party. The third party provides goods or services that support delivery of an [[#Service|IT Service] to a customer/client. The Underpinning Contract defines targets and responsibilities that are required to meet agreed service level targets in one or more Service Level Agreements. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Unified Middleware Distribution	UMD	The integrated set of software components contributed by Technology Providers and packaged for deployment as production-quality services in EGI.
User		A person who uses the IT Service on day-to-day basis. Users are distinct from customers, as some customers do not use the IT service directly. (Source: ITIL 2011)
Value Propositon		A promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer/client of value that will be experienced. A value proposition can apply to an entire organisation, or parts thereof, or client accounts, or Products or Services.
Virtual Organisation	VO	A group of people (e.g. scientists, researchers) with common interests and requirements, who need to work collaboratively and/or share resources (e.g. data, software, expertise, CPU, storage space) regardless of geographical location. They join a VO in order to access resources to meet these needs, after agreeing to a set of rules and Policies that govern their access and security rights (to users, resources and data).
Virtual Organisation Manager		An individual responsible for the membership registry of a VO including its accuracy and integrity.
Virtual Research Community	VRC	A group of large-scale research collaborations, or a number of separate VOs grouped according to research domain or computational technique. The group shares information and experience in achieving their goals through the usage of an e-Infrastructure (e.g., best practices, applications, training material).
Workflow		A series of computational or data manipulation steps using resources of EGI.
Workflow System		A software system that enables scientific communities to compose and execute a series of computational or data manipulation steps, or a workflow, in a scientific application on resources of EGI.

Concept Map