perfSONAR User Q&A and Other Discussion

["Florio, Christopher N" <>]

Add me to the list of folks that would love to see a non-java based NDT.  
I've got a lot of users unable to run NDT with the latest java.

On Oct 8, 2014, at 1:28 PM, Aaron Brown 
<>
 wrote:

> Hey Clarke,
> 
> On Oct 7, 2014, at 5:08 PM, Clarke Morledge 
> <>
>  wrote:
> 
>> The whole Bash shell-shock crisis has urged us to reconsider how we are 
>> deploying the pS-Performance Toolkit.
>> 
>> The suite of tools have proven helpful over the years, but with the 
>> apparent coming demise of Java as a general use platform, a lot of the 
>> ease of use in troubleshooting problems for novice users has lost its 
>> luster. Maintaining Java has become quite cumbersome and the iPhone 
>> restrictions are pronounced, whereas in our experience, Flash, JavaScript 
>> and HTML5 appear to be thriving better.  Even with efforts to load up Java 
>> on those systems that support it, the cut and paste capability has long 
>> since been broken for statistics.
>> 
>> There was an update regarding the status of an HTML5 front-end for the 
>> Network Diagnostic Tool back in July, but unless I am mistaken, I do not 
>> see much movement on this.
>> 
>> Overall, I would like to know more about any plans to move the toolkit 
>> tool set off of Java.  At least, it would be good to get an update on NDT.
>> 
>> Essentially, we are still looking for a web-based and relatively easy to 
>> use utility that is fairly OS independent that any novice can use from a 
>> desktop, laptop, or handheld device for running general purpose network 
>> diagnostics.  Iperf, BWCTL, etc. all are great for powerusers, but I am 
>> thinking more in terms of relatively simple tools for the non-geeks.
> 
> There is a flash-based web UI for NDT that’s planned for a soon-ish release 
> candidate. The current stumbling block is more on the packaging side than 
> anything else. The downside to the Flash-based interface is that it has 
> some performance issues which can be exacerbated depending on the flash 
> platform (e.g. windows vs. linux or chrome vs. firefox). There are some 
> plans to try to improve its performance, but it may not work all that well 
> for 1G connected hosts. 
> 
> In the medium or long term, the plan is to look into rewriting the NDT 
> functionality to fix some of these underlying issues where possible. We’re 
> having a meeting later this month where, among other topics, we’re going to 
> discuss plans for the NDT rewrite.
> 
> Cheers,
> Aaron
> 
>> 
>> Thanks.
>> 
>> 
>> Clarke Morledge
>> College of William and Mary
>> Information Technology - Network Engineering
>> Jones Hall (Room 18)
>> Williamsburg VA 23187
>