natural resource program center data manager’s conference layout the foundation for soa...

Natural Resource Program Center

Data Manager’s Conference

Layout the Foundation forSOA Transformation

April 3, 2008


Overview

• The Natural Resource Program Center (NRPC) has undergone significant changes to prepare for Service Oriented Architecture (SOA):– Staff reorganization– New software tools– New hardware environments– New requirements gathering processes– New software development & testing processes– etc.

• This presentation reviews these changes and how they affect you


Discussion Topics

• What is IRMA?• Organization (training, re-org, process)• Software Projects• Hardware Platform (New NRPC platform)• JBOS to SOA Transition• Conclusion


IRMA Mission • IRMA

– Integrated Resource Management Application– SOA Initiative at Natural Resource Program Center (NRPC)

• Problem– Systems not meeting user needs– Systems in balkanized state with silo architecture– Immature SDLC process– Broken from perspective of users, costs and regulatory

compliance

• Impact– Frustrated user community– Inefficiencies and wasted resources for large investment– Development group not positioned strategically to manage

change


Clarifications

• IRMA is the process of:– Introducing 3-tier architecture

• Presentation Layer - Web Parts• Business Logic Layer - Services• Data Layer - Database

– Integrating service layers into holistic system– User driven design methodology– Applying development methodology (Rational Unified Process)

• IRMA is not…– The NPSpecies application– The DataStore application– The NatureBib application– Not a single portal application


Timeline

• Prototype– Develop a ‘single portal’ proof-of-concept– Started in Q4 2006– Demonstrated at Data Manager’s Conference in

February 2007

• Project Charter– April 6 2007: Issued Project Charter– 2007: Implement & Practice Organizational Change– 2007: Develop Core Services– 2008: Define & Develop Species 2.0, Plan Data Store 2.0


Migrating Applications to Services

DataStore NatureBibNPSpecies

IRMA

Pre-IRMA

Project

Species

IRMA Portal

Yellowstone Portal

Notification

Taxonomy

Identity Mgmt

Unit

Bibliography

External Services

Internal Services


Discussion Topics

• What is IRMA?• Organization• Software Projects• Hardware Platform (New NRPC platform)• JBOS to SOA Transition• Conclusion


Organizational Changes

• Vertical to Horizontal reorganization– Role-based organization– Introduced SDLC processes– Functional and QA teams introduced– We have selected ‘Rational Unified Process’ as our

methodology

• New Technology Platform– Using .NET instead of Java– Training has been provided

• Planning has been Instilled– MS Project Server for planning– Change Gear for controlling– Release Gear for deploying


Role-Based Organization

Project Management

Configuration Management

Functional AnalysisChange Control Board

Quality Assurance Development

Architecture

Iterative Development Process

3-4

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ratio

ns

User

User

Person 1

User

User Community


Introduced SDLC

• User-Driven Design Process– Use Case Sessions– Functional Requirements Sessions– User Interface Design Sessions– Continuous Improvement Model

• Architecture & Development– Design Themes– Documentation– Enforce ‘best practices’

• Quality Assurance Team– Developers cannot promote their code to production– Distinct team which tests code from the end-user perspective


Rational Unified Process Methodology

• Project tackles high risk first• Project is divided into iterations• Iterations measured in weeks• Each iteration consistently deliver demo-able software• An iteration is divided into multiple tasks (or work items)

Quality Assurance Development

Architecture

Iterative Development Process

3-4

wee

k ite

ratio

ns


Discussion Topics



NPSpecies Deconstruction

• Deconstructed NPSpecies into eight distinct services– Shared by NPSpecies, Data Store, and NatureBib

• Unit – NPS organization• Notification – Email Management• Identity Management – Single Sign On

– Distinct to NPSpecies• Species – Park Species Status & Certifications• Taxonomy – ITIS, USDA PLANTS, Local Classifications, etc.• Observation – Opinions that Species have been identified• Voucher – Physical specimens• Match List – Species of Management Concern, T&E, etc.

• Species Service Status– Use Cases completed– Portal Specifications completed– Functional requirements underway– Development to commence in June 2008


Identity Management Service

• Authentication– Single Sign On to all

IRMA services– Only one username &

password is required– Using industry

standards (WS-Security)

• Authorization– Role-based permissions– Leverages

authentication– Let’s you control who

can do what

– Roles are assigned on a per-Unit basis


NPSpecies Deconstruction

• Shared by NPSpecies, Data Store, and NatureBib– Unit – NPS organization– Notification – Email Management– Identity Management – Single Sign On

• Distinct to NPSpecies– Species – Park Species Status & Certifications– Taxonomy – ITIS, USDA PLANTS, Local Classifications, etc.– Observation – Opinions that Species have been identified– Voucher – Physical specimens– Match List – Species of Management Concern, T&E, etc.


Data Store & NatureBib Deconstruction

• Shared by NPSpecies, Data Store, and NatureBib– Unit – NPS organization– Notification – Email Management– Identity Management – Single Sign On

• Distinct to Data Store & NatureBib– Project – Incorporates RPRS, bundles files by project– Bibliography – Natural Resources Card Catalog System– Data Extraction – Automates extraction of Vouchers &

Observations from Access databases, etc– File Services – Stores all NRSS digital content– Multimedia Services – Manages images, audio, movies,

etc.


Notification Service

• Delivery Channels– Sends emails– Fax, Pager, other possible in

future– Implements Re-Try Logic

• Templates– No development effort to

change emails

• Attachments– Static Files– Generated Reports

• Summary– “Dumb Service”– Re-usable across SOA

Services

Internal Services External Services Portal Servers

Report Generation Static Attachments

SMTP Server

NPS IntranetOr

Internet


Unit Service

• Common repository of Unit Codes– ‘CACA’ to ‘CAVE’– Splitting and Merging Units– Disabling Units

• Sub Units– Park may have administrative Subunits– Park may have I&M Subunits

• Unit Collections– Build personalized collection of Units, assign meaningful names– Use in other services to perform queries, sign up for alerts, etc.

• Other Benefits– Lets other services continue using old codes– Helps other services ‘roll up’ codes for aggregating


Taxonomy Service

• Common repository of Taxonomic Standards– ITIS classifications– PLANTS classifications– Local name classifications

• Crosswalks– Retain crosswalks between classification systems, as defined

by those classification systems– View species data through the lens’ of your preferred

classification system

• Hints– Classifications – Fill gaps not yet recognized by ITIS, PLANTS– Crosswalks – Fill gaps in crosswalks not yet provided by

taxonomic experts


Software Frameworks

• Goal– Reduce overall development time

• Service development – Focus on the unique business

problem– Should not duplicating existing

code

• Building Re-usable frameworks– User Alerts– Auditing & Logging– System Health Monitoring– Configuration– Operational Governance– Notification client– Unit Caching

Service-Specific Code

User Alerts Auditing LoggingSystem Health

Monitoring

ConfigurationNotification

ClientUnit CachingGovernance

Service Wrapper

New Code for each Service

Code re-used for every Service


Integration Partners

• IRMA is not a ‘Bigger Silo’– IRMA Portal is just one layer on our services– External partners may invoke our services, as well

• Research Learning Center Partners– Initial discussions have taken place– Will start integrating systems in 2008?

• Other Partners?– We would like to work with FIRE… – Looking at other NRPC applications to invoke our

services


Discussion Topics



Hardware Environments

• Building new NRPC Platform

• Development/QA Environment– Playground for building/testing– Installed in September

• Integration Environment– Allows Partners to test with IRMA– Currently installed

• Production & Preproduction– IBM Blade Environment– New SAN included– Currently installed

Pre-production

Development

QA

Integration

Production

Pro

duct

Cod

e F

ixes


Improved NPS-wide Network

• Faster network– Fewer hops to internet– Increased bandwidth to Ft Collins

• Redundant connections to Ft Collins– Second network connection installed– If primary network fails, second network kicks in– But second network will be reduced bandwidth

• Improved Security– Removal of ‘Proxy Server’– New DMZ in Ft Collins – segment internal & external

networks


Discussion Topics



JBOS – ‘Just a Bunch of Services’

• JBOS– A collection of mostly independent services– No version control at this time, everything is

version 1.0

• Limited Scope– Limiting ourselves to core services at this time

• We became a JBOS in 2007


SOA – ‘Service Oriented Architecture’

• Governance– Exercising control over services– Metrics and Measures– Decision Making Tools– Version Control

• Choreography– One business process spans multiple services– Designing - will require new methodologies– Testing - will deploy new QA tools– Deploying - will require Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

• We will become an SOA in 2008


Discussion Topics



Foundation for SOA Transformation

• Organizational Transformation– Role-based organization– New software development processes

• Deconstruction & Reconstruction– Identified core functions in each monolithic application– Define services for each function– Built several core services

• Network and Hardware Infrastructure– Built out distinct hardware environments– Improved overall performance and security

• SOA Transformation Underway– Defined SOA Landscape– Defining functionality for each service in this landscape

natural resource program center data manager’s conference layout the foundation for soa...

Documents

change slide

services irma pre irma

enduser perspective

soa transformation

naturebib application

npspecies application

datastore application

organization training