VO vs VObs

[Andrew Lawrence]

well I guess you are right - but only by virtue of those Argonne folk
being all-encompassingly vague as usual ! 

The other thing about the VObs as we see it is that it is not really a
specific set of resources or people - it is defined by open protocols
which anybody can participate in, and consistent with a variety of
economies. In this sense the Vobs is more Webby and less Griddy. But I
had better stop or I will have my UK Grid membership card taken away.

   andy


*-----Original Message-----
*From: Maria A. Nieto-Santisteban [mailto:nieto at skysrv.pha.jhu.edu] 
*Sent: 08 June 2004 16:04
*To: Andrew Lawrence
*Cc: interop at ivoa.net
*Subject: RE: VO vs VObs
*
*
*Don't want to put more wood into this fire but ... :)
*
*According to the definition that grid's parent give it seems 
*to me that 
*the Virtual Observatory is a Virtual Organization.
*
*a Virtual Organization is not only about people is about people,
*resources, protocols, etc ... and it's not only bussiness is also
*sciencie. 
*
*
*http://www.globus.org/research/papers/anatomy.pdf
*
*The Anatomy of the Grid
*Enabling Scalable Virtual Organizations
*
*Ian Foster
*Carl Kesselman
*Steven Tuecke
*
*.... In this article, we define this new field. First, we 
*review the "Grid
*problem," which we define as flexible, secure, coordinated resource
*sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and
*resources "what we refer to as virtual organizations. In such 
*settings, we
*encounter unique authentication, authorization, resource 
*access, resource
*discovery, and other challenges. ...
*
*
*Maria
*
*On Tue, 8 Jun 2004, Andrew Lawrence wrote:
*
*> I do agree that it is now inevitable that we stick with VO because we
*> have used it too many times, including in products, and our first
*> priority is clarity with the astronomy community rather than with the
*> Grid community. Of course that needn't stop some of us when giving
*> Griddy talks using the term VObs frequently so that that community
*> doesn't get confused.
*> 
*> BUT ... it is NOT the case that the Virtual Observatory is 
*an example of
*> a Virtual Organisation. VOs are people. The VO is software and data.
*> 
*> The IVOA is a Virtual Organisation - a formally organised 
*collaboration
*> mediated through the Internet.
*> 
*> The Virtual Observatory is an infrastructure of data 
*sources, hardware
*> resources, and software components. It is a datagrid if you will.
*> 
*>
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*     andy
*> 
*> *-----Original Message-----
*> *From: Nicholas Walton [mailto:naw at ast.cam.ac.uk] 
*> *Sent: 08 June 2004 15:18
*> *To: Dave De Young
*> *Cc: interop at ivoa.net
*> *Subject: Re: VO vs VObs
*> *
*> *
*> *hi dave
*> *
*> *i think the main user of the VO is the business community - VO 
*> *= Virtual
*> *Organisation.
*> *
*> *But a Virtual Observatory is a good example (I hope!) of a Virtual
*> *Organisation thus I don't see a problem using VO (usually 
*it will be in
*> *context, or carfully defined in cases where confusion with the more
*> *generic use VO could result).
*> *
*> *cheers, nic
*> *
*> *===============================================================
*> *=========
*> *Dr N. A. Walton
*> *(AstroGrid Project Scientist)   Tel:   +44 1223 337503
*> *Institute of Astronomy          FAX:   +44 1223 337523
*> *University of Cambridge         WWW:   http://www.astrogrid.org
*> *Madingley Road                  WWW:   http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~naw
*> *Cambridge, CB3 0HA              email: naw at ast.cam.ac.uk
*> *===============================================================
*> *=========
*> *
*> *
*> *On Mon, 7 Jun 2004, Dave De Young wrote:
*> *
*> *>   It should be VO, even if that does require
*> *>  an occasional explanation to the IT community.  Our ultimate user
*> *>  group (and funding source) is the astronomy community, not the
*> *>  IT community.
*> *>
*> *>  Dave De Young
*> *>
*> *>
*> *>
*> *
*> 
*
*-- 
*------------------------------------------------
*Maria A. Nieto-Santisteban (nieto at pha.jhu.edu)
*Johns Hopkins University
*3400 N. Charles St.
*Physics & Astronomy Department
*Baltimore, MD 21218 (USA)
*
*Tel: 	1 410 516-7679  Fax: 	1 410 516-5096
*
*