LinuxPR: Open-Source Permeates NAVOCEANO Systems

Stennis Space Center, MS – April 10, 2002 – Preliminary findings
from an on-going Open-Source Software Institute (OSSI) study
indicate wide and accepted usage of open-source software within
U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office’s (NAVOCEANO) enterprise-level
systems.

The OSSI report is part of a Cooperative Research and
Development Agreement (CRADA) signed between Commander, Naval
Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC) and OSSI last
November. A key element in the performance of the CRADA is the
administration of a technical and strategic study concerning the
application of open-source software at NAVOCEANO.

“After interviewing representatives of all departments within
NAVOCEANO, it is clear that there is extensive use of open-source
within NAVOCEANO’s computing infrastructure,” the OSSI report
stated. “Additionally, as legacy systems have reached end-of-life,
they are increasingly being replaced by open-source solutions.”

“These trends, coupled with high enthusiasm for open-source in
most departments, and open-source’s increasing suitability in
enterprise environments, makes it likely that a substantial portion
of NAVOCEANO’s computing infrastructure may depend on open-source
systems in the future,” the report continued.

The NAVOCEANO Chief Information Officer, John Lever, commented,
“The initial findings of the OSSI study have surpassed my initial
expectations. I believed that open-source software would have
payoff for our IT enterprise, but I was a bit surprised at the
extent to which this methodology has already permeated the
organization at the grass roots level.”

“We are very encouraged by what we’ve found in the preliminary
stages of the CRADA process,” said OSSI chairman, John Weathersby.
“From the beginning, we were aware that several systems within
NAVOCEANO were running on open-source platforms, but it appears
that the level and diversity of systems utilizing open-source
software are more extensive than our initial expectations.”

The OSSI report resulted from the first phase of interviews and
analysis conducted at the NAVOCEANO headquarters located at the
Stennis Space Center during February and March of this year.
Additional on-site interviews and analysis are scheduled to
continue through the spring with a final report due out in
midsummer 2002.

“This report represents the very tip of the iceberg regarding
the amount of work left to perform in this CRADA,” Weathersby said
“The initial phase of the study has focused on dissecting the core
elements and functions of the NAVOCEANO IT systems. We’re simply
getting our arms around a very dynamic organization and identifying
the numerous systems and processes involved in NAVOCEANO’s
activities.”

“While this is just the beginning,” Weathersby continued, “we’ve
gotten off to a strong start based on the amount of cooperation and
support we’ve received from the command and support staff at
NAVOCEANO. We are fortunate to have NAVOCEANO as a partner in this
effort.”

OSSI’s technical review team for the NAVOCEANO CRADA is lead by
Chris Maresca, Senior Partner for Technology at Olliance Consulting
Group, Palo Alto, CA. Olliance, a professional service consulting
firm specializing in assisting companies and government entities
leverage the financial and technical benefits of open source
technologies, was selected by OSSI to lead a coalition of
commercial parties in the technical review of NAVOCEANO’s IT
system.

OSSI member, Intel Corporation, has provided cornerstone
sponsorship for the first phase of the CRADA.

“During the initial on-site visit, we met with representatives
of all divisions (of NAVOCEANO), during which systems, resources
and needs were discussed extensively,” said Maresca. “In addition,
overview and background discussions were conducted with CIO
staff.”

“As a result of these discussions, an overall picture of the IT
systems and data flows emerged. It is clear from the data gathered
that NAVOCEANO is currently making significant use of open source
at several points in their data processing flow,” he continued.

Maresca explained that in order to define how open source was
adding value to NAVOCEANO’s process, the OSSI technical team
divided the data processing flows into two basic areas: shipboard
or field systems and on-shore systems.

NAVOCEANO’s primary mission is to collect and analyze
oceanographic data from around the world and produce an array of
operational products for the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense and
its commercial, national and international customers. To accomplish
its mission, NAVOCEANO collects data from a variety of sources
including Navy ships, remote sensors and satellites.

NAVOCEANO’s core shipboard data collection architecture is a
system known as ISS60. The current ISS60 deployed platform runs on
PA-RISC systems running HPUX. Currently, these systems are being
transitioned to x86 systems running Linux.

The on-shore systems form the bulk of NAVOCEANO’s processing
infrastructure. The primary purpose of on-shore systems is data
transformation, analysis and deliverable production. Depending on
the nature of the data, it may also be fed into modeling tools for
predictive analysis.

While a variety of commercial operating systems are used in
NAVOCEANO’s on-shore operations, the only open-source operating
system employed is Linux, the report indicated. Linux systems are
used in a multitude of roles, including data processing,
visualization, desktop and storage systems. In each case, Linux has
been customized to meet the needs of the application, and is
typically running on Intel x86 architecture hardware.

A large variety of open source modeling tools are also used at
NAVOCEANO. These have often been heavily customized to meet
specific NAVOCEANO needs. These modeling tools run on a variety of
platforms, from supercomputing platforms to desktop systems, and
include software developed in academia and by other government
agencies.

“During the course of the initial onsite visit, several
additional items of interest were discussed that were not
specifically part of the original CRADA,” Maresca said. “These
included management strategies and NAVOCEANO’s participation in the
Open Source Community.”

“As in many corporate environments, meeting specific and unique
demands of software development at NAVOCEANO has required
departments to be flexible as they build systems and applications
to meet their needs quickly and successfully,” he said. “According
to our interviews, this demand for flexibility, scalability and
system management control has facilitated the adoption of open
source within the NAVOCEANO system.”

Additionally, during discussions with department heads, Maresca
said that it became clear that there was a significant interest in
examining potential open sourcing of NAVOCEANO developed
applications.

The traditional route for making software available to users
outside of NAVOCEANO has been through a CRADA. In some instances,
this has resulted in NAVOCEANO intellectual property becoming
commercial applications.

“By open-sourcing certain in-house applications, a significant
community of users could benefit from and improve open source
versions of NAVOCEANO applications,” Maresca said. “NAVOCEANO is
only one example of the wealth of programs and systems that are
being developed by government agencies and organizations based on
open source software. The key reason for its proliferation is that
the technology is sound and the management and control of the
system is only limited by the need of the client.”

After a joint review of the OSSI preliminary report, additional
site visits will be scheduled to implement more in-depth analysis
of the implementation and administration of open source systems
within NAVOCEANO.

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