FAQ: EGEE to EGI
About the transition from EGEE to EGI.
Will my jobs still run?
Yes. The same tools and services will be available to users of the infrastructure, but coordinated by EGI.eu. Your jobs will still run if the resource providers that are operating within EGEE continue to make their resource available to your community in the EGI era.
Will services be interrupted?
Our goal is to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.
The current infrastructure will remain operational after the end of EGEE-III, coordinated EGI.eu.Changes made in order to improve the service levels and quality will be applied incrementally once the basic operations are established.
Can I continue to submit my jobs through the same tools?
Yes. The infrastructure currently supported by EGEE, with its associated services and support, will now be coordinated by EGI.eu. There will be no immediate changes in the deployed software. New and improved services and tools will be available from EGI.eu's software providers later in 2010.
Will I be part of the same Virtual Organisation (VO)?
Yes. EGEE’s setup will be the starting point for EGI.
What will happen to my data?
Nothing. The data located on the grid resources within EGEE will also be available on the EGI grid infrastructure, provided your resource provider continues to make the resources available to you through your VO. It is expected that the mechanisms to access your data will remain the same as during EGEE.
Will I still be able to access the same sites and resources?
Yes. However, this depends on the willingness and ability of the NGIs and sites supporting your VO to join the EGI, as it is up to the NGIs to decide which resources to make available to each VO.
Who will I contact if I have problems?
Continue to use your existing support mechanisms – Global Grid User Support. Your NGI may also provide a helpdesk for local issues. Additionally, a number of domain specific Virtual Research Communities (VRCs) will be available to give dedicated help to specific disciplines. Generic Specialised Support Centres (SSCs) can provide dissemination, training, application porting and support for new users will help attract and bring new communities onto the grid.
Will the quality of the infrastructure remain the same?
The quality will increase.
The investments that EGEE-III (and earlier projects) have made in establishing and refining the operation of the production infrastructure and how it is monitored, will lead to further improvements in reliability. EGI will continue this work with its resource and software providers to provide higher levels of reliability and extended services.
What is the benefit of this new arrangement?
The e-Infrastructure that you use will move from short-term EU project funding to longer-term national funding. This will lead to a more sustainable funding model for the future. A lasting model will promote long-term science commitments from ESFRI projects (those within the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) and will assure researchers that their data will be safe for years to come.
What will the infrastructure look like in 2 years time? 5 years? 10 years?
This will depend to a large degree on the adoption, use and future requirements of you, the users, and from the NGIs that provide the majority of the infrastructure in each country. EGI will also gradually introduce new technology and extend the scope and interoperability of the infrastructure in response to the feedback from its users and resource providers.
