Pioneer: Work in Progress

Go back to the Pioneer Overview section.

Three main portions of work are under way:

Data Trends
Currently we are adding support for collecting data between specific end points periodically for a limited amount of time (hours or days, not weeks). This will allow the user to view trends along a path. The next step will be to develop some GUI tools that provide visualization support.

Support for New Tools Addition
We plan to modularize the code a little more, to make the addition of new tools, or an interface to a new tool a little simpler. Ideally it should be done with minimal or no intervention on my part. This portion of the code is still in the design phase.

Authentication and Access Controls
In the first attempt at adding authentication support to Pioneer, we plan on using the Akenti system. This system allows certificate based authentication, and support for user defined policies and attributes attached to resources. Examples of resources are a web based tree, standard data files, or an executable. Access is given based on individuals or groups. Standard certificate management (such as lifetimes, and revokation lists) provides additional control. This is open source software, and the eventual goal if it works as advertized will be to try and extend flexibility in defining resource types, and policies that restrict access to them. The goal is also to keep track of progress in other authentication mechanisms being explored by the Middleware team at Internet2, and trying and incorporate and/or interface with them.