NHPC Evaluation

Members of the Evaluation Committee

(in alphabetical order):

• Geoffrey Fox
• Ron Perrott
• Robert Lee Pennington (elected chair)
• Edward Seidel

Background and Terms of Reference

• Terms of Reference for the NHPC evaluation

Overall timeline

	as in ToR		Real
April-May	Discuss ToR draft with NeIC Provider Forum, NeIC Board and NHPC Board.
May-June	NeIC Management revised the ToR together with NHPC.
June	Independent members of the evaluation committee were suggested by the funding agencies members of NeIC and approved by the NeIC chair.
June	Appointing the committee.	August 8	Official appointment by NeIC Board chair (due to vacation)
June 30	Self-assessment by NHPC Board ready	July 2	First part of self-assessment ready
		August 22	NHPC Consitutional Documents (additional material) ready
		September 19	List of projects (additional material) ready
		September 27 -> October 1	Second part of self-assessment (containing an overview of the goals and aims of the NHPC project) ready
July	presenting the ToR to the evaluation committee and handing the mandate to the group.	July 1	presenting the ToR to the evaluation committee
		August 19	First phone meeting of the evaluation committee: Deciding on a chair, fixing the date for the local visit and requesting additional material
August - October	Evaluation by the committee including a local visit of the facility in Reykjavik	October 17-18	Local visit in Reykjavik
		October 7	The evaluation committee prepares a detailed list of questions for discussions with the NHPC Board and user interviews
		October 16	NHPC Board answered these questions
		October 23	Remaining user interviews
October 15	Draft report sent to NHPC Board for factual error checking
November 1	Final report submitted to the NeIC Board	November 12	New deadline
		February 12, 2014	Presentation of the Final Report to the NeIC Board in Copenhagen

Agenda for the local visit

Time for local visit: 2013-10-17 - 2013-10-18
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland

Welcome dinner

A table for 7 persons has been reserved at 18:30 on the 17th at http://perlan.is/?lang=en

Assumed presence: Evaluation committee (4 people), NeIC Director Gudmund Høst, NeIC Generic Area Coordinator Michaela Barth, NHPC Board Chair Ebba Þóra Hvannberg

Refreshments

• 8:00 - coffee, tea, water - fruit and bread

• 10:30 - coffee, tea and water

• 13:00 - coffee, tea and water. Fruit and a small cake

0900 - 1030 Presentation of the NHPC Management Board of project status and results

• Presentation of the self assessment report and the results of the user surveys
• Presentation or discussion of possible future plans
• Discussion (with all members of the NHPC MB)

1030 - 1100 Q&A

Individual interviews of MB members. Suggested Schedule (in alphabetical order):

• Rene Belsø
• Arild Halsetrønning
• Ebba Þóra Hvannberg
• Sverker Holmgren

1100 - 1200 User Interviews

• 1100 - 1125 Prof. Kenneth Ruud (via phone)
• 1125 - 1150 Prof. Viðar Guðmundsson

• (Interview with Prof. Axel Brandenburg moved to 11:00 UTC on Oct 23rd.)
• (Interview with Prof. Jan Gorodkin at 11:30 UTC on Oct 23rd.)

1200 Lunch

• For lunch on October 18th a table is reserved at

http://dillrestaurant.is/EN/index_en.html

Assumed presence: Evaluation committee (4 people), NHPC Board (4 people), Users (~3), NeIC (1)

1300 - 1345 Finnish Comments on the NHPC Project

(Remark: Should correspond to 1600 local time in Helsinki.)

During the course of the NHPC evalution the Finnish IT Center for Science (CSC) is given the opportunity to present the background for Finland not to be a part of the NHPC project and to present CSC's attitude to a potential future and similar cooperation - particularily with regard to CSC's investments in Kajaani.

• Presentation on Kajaani Data centre (Kimmo Koski, via phone)
• Discussion/Q&A on comments and observations about the Nordic HPC project (Kimmo Koski, via phone)

1345-1415 Interview with OG leader (Anil Thapa)

Interview with the lead system administrator

Local visit of the the Advania Thor data center in Hafnarfjörður

The NHPC Board will "host" the guided tour in Hafnarfjörður meaning that the NHPC management board can interact with the evaluation committee and also discuss follow-on plans and directions.

• Leaving at 14:15 with a large taxi (+ 1 rental car)

• 15:00-16:00 Benedikt Gröndal will give a guided tour through the computing facilities

• 16:00 going back by taxi

Assumed presence: Evaluation committee (4 people), NeIC management (1 people), NHPC Board (4 people)

• Taxi (+354 588 55 22) booked as follows:

14:15 - From Háskólatorg to Steinhella 10, Hafnarfjörður -- 8 people - estimated cost 4.300 ISK

16:00 - from Steinhella 10 to Háskólatorg. - estimated cost 5.500 ISK

Closed Dinner of the Evaluation Committee

see possible dinner locations below.

Logistics

Flight to Reykjavik:

The flight to Reykjavik takes a while, which likely implies the need to arrive on 17th and to leave on the 19th in the early morning. No Visa is needed. The closest international airport is Keflavík, Reykjavík, (KEF), Iceland. Typical transfer times between the airport and the hotel are 45min - 1h.

Accommodation:

It was seen preferable if all evaluators could lodge in the same hotel.

It was decided to stay at the:

• Radisson blu - Saga hotel

Reduced fare still available until 28 days before arrival. It has also meeting rooms, which can be booked. http://www.radissonblu.com/sagahotel-reykjavik

Further recommended hotels were:

• Icelandair Hotel Nordica

Slightly further away (closest to the university after Radisson blu), but also 4 stars

• Hilton Reykjavik Nordica
• Grand Hotel Reykjavik

Meeting rooms

Two meeting rooms (300 and 303) were booked at the university for the 18th of October: http://www.hi.is/haskolatorg

Eventual conference equipment for phone calls might be needed.

Possible Dinner locations:

• Grillid - it is at the Radisson blu - Saga hotel - a classic, nice view

http://en.grillid.is/

• Dill restaurant at the Nordic House - also nice for lunch

http://dillrestaurant.is/EN/index_en.html

• Fishmarket

http://fiskmarkadurinn.is/english/

• Hotel Holt restaurant

http://www.holt.is/index.php?/Gallery-Restaurant-English/About-Gallery-Restaurant.html

• Pearl on top of the water reservoir - nice panoramic view - weather permitting

http://perlan.is/?lang=en

• Grillmarkaðurinn

http://www.grillmarkadurinn.is/matsedlar/

• Kolabrautin Restaurant at Harpa (Conference and Music hall) by the harbor - also very nice view and atmosphere

http://www.kolabrautin.is/en/

Further user interviews

• Interview with Axel Brandenburg moved to 11:00 UTC on Oct 23rd.:

• Phone:+46 8 30 17 91
• Meeting Code*: 095417

• Interview with Jan Gorodkin on 11:30 UTC on Oct 23rd.

Final report

The final report was approved at the NeIC Board meeting in Stockholm on 2013-11-26 and presented and discussed at the NeIC Board meeting in Copenhagen on 2014-02-12. The final report and the presentation are available under Public_Documents.