A pathfinder project for a National AAAI
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The RCUK National e-Infrastructure projects wish to propose to undertake pilots to demonstrate the proposed access and resource management infrastructure works in several common research settings, especially in areas where data must be securely accessed, stored and transported.
The pilots will integrate 2 key existing Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting Infrastructure (AAAI) technologies, Assent and SAFE. The Authentication Service Assent is already in service at a number of institutions and Safe Share will be deployed, subject to successful pilots, at eMedLab (Crick/UCL), Farr Institute (London, HeRC, Wales and Scotland) and the Administrative Data Research Network. The Authorisation and Accounting service SAFE is currently used by Archer, DiRAC and the Hartree Centre.
The proposed pathfinder initiative will pilot the integration of these capabilities as a significant step towards implementing a coherent National Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting Infrastructure that serves the needs of UK and international research collaborations.
To deliver our vision of opening up access to the National E-Infrastructure we need to take these individual pieces and integrate them into a UK-wide service, which will also be compatible with EU and international projects' access and resource management services. This will allow us to then roll out a robust user management system across the National E-Infrastructure for both academic and industrial partners. The development of a final national solution is complex and by its nature cannot be quick. It must fit with European and global advances and requires international trust agreements. In order to move towards this, we propose this pathfinder project, which will utilise existing developments and provide a first working service on the National E-Infrastructure.
The pilots will integrate 2 key existing Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting Infrastructure (AAAI) technologies, Assent and SAFE. The Authentication Service Assent is already in service at a number of institutions and Safe Share will be deployed, subject to successful pilots, at eMedLab (Crick/UCL), Farr Institute (London, HeRC, Wales and Scotland) and the Administrative Data Research Network. The Authorisation and Accounting service SAFE is currently used by Archer, DiRAC and the Hartree Centre.
The proposed pathfinder initiative will pilot the integration of these capabilities as a significant step towards implementing a coherent National Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting Infrastructure that serves the needs of UK and international research collaborations.
To deliver our vision of opening up access to the National E-Infrastructure we need to take these individual pieces and integrate them into a UK-wide service, which will also be compatible with EU and international projects' access and resource management services. This will allow us to then roll out a robust user management system across the National E-Infrastructure for both academic and industrial partners. The development of a final national solution is complex and by its nature cannot be quick. It must fit with European and global advances and requires international trust agreements. In order to move towards this, we propose this pathfinder project, which will utilise existing developments and provide a first working service on the National E-Infrastructure.
Planned Impact
This pathfinder will build on and integrate the following existing capabilities:
Jisc's Assent service, to provide users with a common, single sign on mechanism that integrates with institutional identity management systems to confirm a researcher's identity; and its peer systems overseas.
Existing virtual organisation (VO) systems, such as the EPPC's SAFE management infrastructure.
A High Assurance Network and two-factor authentication, where appropriate, for secure data access and transport e.g. JISC's SafeShare service.
Four work packages are proposed to undertake this integration work and pilot the services in the field at sites across the RCUK domain.
The cost to RCUK will be £173932 over 10 months.
The outputs will be secure and very secure versions of a common AAAI application which integrates Assent and SAFE. This will also be able to federate with SAML and X.509 identity management systems which is a requirement for international collaborations.
A technical design and business case for a proposed National AAAI service will be produced.
Jisc's Assent service, to provide users with a common, single sign on mechanism that integrates with institutional identity management systems to confirm a researcher's identity; and its peer systems overseas.
Existing virtual organisation (VO) systems, such as the EPPC's SAFE management infrastructure.
A High Assurance Network and two-factor authentication, where appropriate, for secure data access and transport e.g. JISC's SafeShare service.
Four work packages are proposed to undertake this integration work and pilot the services in the field at sites across the RCUK domain.
The cost to RCUK will be £173932 over 10 months.
The outputs will be secure and very secure versions of a common AAAI application which integrates Assent and SAFE. This will also be able to federate with SAML and X.509 identity management systems which is a requirement for international collaborations.
A technical design and business case for a proposed National AAAI service will be produced.
Publications
Rey M
(2020)
EDGE: from quiescent to gas-rich to star-forming low-mass dwarf galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Richardson M
(2020)
Simulating gas kinematic studies of high-redshift galaxies with the HARMONI integral field spectrograph
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Richings J
(2020)
Subhalo destruction in the Apostle and Auriga simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Robertson A
(2020)
Mapping dark matter and finding filaments: calibration of lensing analysis techniques on simulated data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Robins L
(2020)
Viscous and inviscid strato-rotational instability
in Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Robson D
(2020)
X-ray emission from hot gas in galaxy groups and clusters in simba
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rosca-Mead R
(2020)
Core collapse in massive scalar-tensor gravity
in Physical Review D
Rosca-Mead R
(2020)
Structure of Neutron Stars in Massive Scalar-Tensor Gravity
in Symmetry
Rosotti G
(2020)
Spiral arms in the protoplanetary disc HD100453 detected with ALMA: evidence for binary-disc interaction and a vertical temperature gradient
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rouillard A
(2020)
Models and data analysis tools for the Solar Orbiter mission
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ryczanowski D
(2020)
What does strong gravitational lensing? The mass and redshift distribution of high-magnification lenses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Salcido J
(2020)
How feedback shapes galaxies: an analytic model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Salvioni G
(2020)
Model nuclear energy density functionals derived from ab initio calculations
in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
Santos-Santos I
(2020)
Baryonic clues to the puzzling diversity of dwarf galaxy rotation curves
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sedda M
(2020)
The missing link in gravitational-wave astronomy: discoveries waiting in the decihertz range
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Sergeev D
(2020)
Atmospheric Convection Plays a Key Role in the Climate of Tidally Locked Terrestrial Exoplanets: Insights from High-resolution Simulations
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shao S
(2021)
The twisted dark matter halo of the Milky Way
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sharma M
(2019)
The I?ea model of feedback-regulated galaxy formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shingles L
(2020)
Monte Carlo radiative transfer for the nebular phase of Type Ia supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Simpson C
(2020)
The milky way total mass profile as inferred from Gaia DR2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Slyz A
(2020)
How to quench a dwarf galaxy: The impact of inhomogeneous reionization on dwarf galaxies and cosmic filaments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith G
(2020)
The distribution of dark matter and gas spanning 6 Mpc around the post-merger galaxy cluster MS 0451-03
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith R
(2020)
The Cloud Factory I: Generating resolved filamentary molecular clouds from galactic-scale forces
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Solar M
(2020)
Azimuthal variations of oxygen abundance profiles in star-forming regions of disc galaxies in EAGLE simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Soler J
(2020)
The history of dynamics and stellar feedback revealed by the H I filamentary structure in the disk of the Milky Way
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
SomĂ V
(2020)
Novel chiral Hamiltonian and observables in light and medium-mass nuclei
in Physical Review C
Sorini D
(2020)
simba: the average properties of the circumgalactic medium of 2 = z = 3 quasars are determined primarily by stellar feedback
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sormani M
(2020)
Simulations of the Milky Way's Central Molecular Zone - II. Star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Soussana A
(2020)
The impact of AGN feedback on galaxy intrinsic alignments in the Horizon simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sperhake U
(2020)
Amplification of superkicks in black-hole binaries through orbital eccentricity
in Physical Review D
Srisawat C
(2020)
MEGA: Merger graphs of structure formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stafford S
(2020)
Exploring extensions to the standard cosmological model and the impact of baryons on small scales
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Steele T
(2021)
Precise calibration of the one-loop bispectrum in the effective field theory of large scale structure
in Physical Review D
Stevenson P
(2020)
A time-dependent Hartree-Fock study of triple-alpha dynamics
in SciPost Physics Proceedings
Stevenson P
(2020)
Internuclear potentials from the Sky3D code
in IOP SciNotes
Sykes C
(2020)
Determining the primordial helium abundance and UV background using fluorescent emission in star-free dark matter haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Threlfall J
(2020)
How Is Helicity (and Twist) Partitioned in Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Reconnecting Magnetic Flux Tubes?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Trayford J
(2020)
Massive low-surface-brightness galaxies in the eagle simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trayford J
(2020)
Fade to grey: systematic variation of galaxy attenuation curves with galaxy properties in the eagle simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tress R
(2020)
Simulations of the Milky Way's central molecular zone - I. Gas dynamics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tress R
(2020)
Simulations of the star-forming molecular gas in an interacting M51-like galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Trotta D
(2020)
Fast Acceleration of Transrelativistic Electrons in Astrophysical Turbulence
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tsang Y
(2020)
Characterising Jupiter's dynamo radius using its magnetic energy spectrum
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Vandenbroucke B
(2020)
CMACIONIZE 2.0: a novel task-based approach to Monte Carlo radiation transfer
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Vandenbroucke B
(2020)
Infrared luminosity functions and dust mass functions in the EAGLE simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Van Daalen M
(2020)
Exploring the effects of galaxy formation on matter clustering through a library of simulation power spectra
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Van der Werf P
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 CLS UDS field: physical properties of 707 sub-millimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vidal J
(2020)
Efficiency of tidal dissipation in slowly rotating fully convective stars or planets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vidal J
(2020)
Turbulent Viscosity Acting on the Equilibrium Tidal Flow in Convective Stars
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Wang J
(2020)
Universal structure of dark matter haloes over a mass range of 20 orders of magnitude.
in Nature
| Description | We demonstrated the practicality of having a central Authentication and Authorisation Service and linking it to a well used Accounting Service. This was tested in 3 common settings. We were able to demonstrate the successful use of a central Identity Provider for non academic users of academic eninfra structure |
| Exploitation Route | This has been used to form the basis of the Proposed UKRI AAAI Framework |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Communities and Social Services/Policy Construction Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics Energy Environment Financial Services and Management Consultancy Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology Retail Security and Diplomacy Transport |
| Description | Used as the Basis for a UKRI White Paper on AAAI Approach will be used to open up the UKRI Einf to Public Sector, Industry and Commerce |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Fed into UKRI eInfrastructure policy |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Title | IMproved usability of JISC Assent Authentication Service and creation of Credential Conversion Service at RAL |
| Description | The Assent Authentication Service was shown to work with an Authorisation and Accounting Service (SAFE). An API will be published. A credential conversion service was bulit at RAL to allow UK researchers to use home credentials to access international research projects |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The construction of a plan to create a service to allow UK researchers single sign on to UK and World EInfrastrcutures |
| Description | AAAI for the UK NeI |
| Organisation | Jisc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | PI of RCUK pilot project for AAAI |
| Collaborator Contribution | Software development and testing at 8 UK HEIs and ROs |
| Impact | SAFE+ASSET AAAI service This project enabled the creation of an AAI activity in the UK that is now bearing fruit |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | Collaboration with Atempo |
| Description | Tape to Tape data transfter between DiRAC sites. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Proof of COncept that data could be read from Tape stores remotely via a remote file system |
| Title | Fast Network Links for Durham and Cambridge Univeristies |
| Description | The Universeities and Cambridge are now linked by a highly performant Network |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | Both HEIs are able to ingest data at a faster rate |
| Title | Improved usability of JISC Assent Authentication Service and creation of Credential Conversion Service at RAL |
| Description | The Assent Authentication Service was shown to work with an Authorisation and Accounting Service (SAFE). An API will be published. A credential conversion service was bulit at RAL to allow UK researchers to use home credentials to access international research projects |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | The construction of a plan to create a service to allow UK researchers single sign on to UK and World EInfrastrcutures |
| Description | Member of UKRI E-Infrastructure Expert Panel 2017-2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Created 7 white papers for UKRI which detailed a Roadmap for future e-Infrastructure funding in the UK |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019 |
| Description | NeI Project Directors Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Reports on AAAI, Data E-Infrastructure, Using Cloud for Research The National NeI Survey 2014, 2015, 2016 Report on Gender in HPC BEIS e-Infrastructure Business Case Integration activities of the NeI |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | https://neipdg.ac.uk/ |