‘The Cloud is Not Not IT’: Ecological Change in Research Computing in the Cloud

Sutherland, Will; Paine, Drew; Lee, Charlotte P.

doi:10.1007/s10606-024-09490-1

Title: ‘The Cloud is Not Not IT’: Ecological Change in Research Computing in the Cloud

Journal Article · Thu Mar 14 00:00:00 UTC 2024 · Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-024-09490-1 · OSTI ID:2316020

Sutherland, Will ^[1]; Paine, Drew ^[2]; Lee, Charlotte P. ^[1]

Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Along with a number of other computing technologies, cloud computing services are increasingly being promoted as a way of enabling openness, reproducibility, and the acceleration of scientific work. While there have been a variety of studies of the cloud in terms of computing performance, there has been little empirical attention to the changes going on around cloud computing at the level of work and practice. Through a qualitative, ethnographic study, we follow a cosmology research group’s transition from a shared high performance computing cluster to a cloud computing service, and examine the cloud service as a coordinative artifact being integrated into a larger ecology of existing practices and artifacts. We find that the transition involves both change and continuity in the group’s coordinative work and maintenance work, and point out some of the effects this adoption has on the group’s larger set of practices. Finally, we discuss practical implications this has for the broader adoption of cloud computing in university-based scientific work.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2316020

Journal Information:: Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices, Journal Name: Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices Vol. 33; ISSN 0925-9724

Publisher:: Springer NatureCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (72)

Opening Science Bartling, Sönke; Friesike, Sascha https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00026-8	book	January 2014
Accelerating Scientists’ Knowledge Turns Goble, Carole; De Roure, David; Bechhofer, Sean Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37186-8_1	book	January 2013
Coordination mechanisms: Towards a conceptual foundation of CSCW systems design Schmidt, Kjeld; Simonee, Carla Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 5, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00133655	journal	January 1996
On the social organisation of organisations Jirotka, Marina; Gilbert, Nigel; Luff, Paul Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 1, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00752452	journal	March 1992
Ordering Systems: Coordinative Practices and Artifacts in Architectural Design and Planning Schmidt, Kjeld; Wagner, Ina Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 13, Issue 5-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-004-5059-3	journal	December 2004
Enriching the Notion of Data Curation in E-Science: Data Managing and Information Infrastructuring in the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Karasti, Helena; Baker, Karen S.; Halkola, Eija Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-006-9023-2	journal	August 2006
Synergizing in Cyberinfrastructure Development Bietz, Matthew J.; Baumer, Eric P. S.; Lee, Charlotte P. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 19, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-010-9114-y	journal	July 2010
The Dialectical Tensions in the Funding Infrastructure of Cyberinfrastructure Kee, Kerk F.; Browning, Larry D. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 19, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-010-9116-9	journal	August 2010
From Artefacts to Infrastructures Monteiro, Eric; Pollock, Neil; Hanseth, Ole Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 22, Issue 4-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-012-9167-1	journal	June 2012
This Is Not a Fish: On the Scale and Politics of Infrastructure Design Studies Parmiggiani, Elena Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 26, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-017-9266-0	journal	February 2017
Digital Infrastructure for the Humanities in Europe and the US: Governing Scholarship through Coordinated Tool Development Kaltenbrunner, Wolfgang Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 26, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-017-9272-2	journal	April 2017
Three Gaps in Opening Science Mosconi, Gaia; Li, Qinyu; Randall, Dave Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 28, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-019-09354-z	journal	May 2019
Infrastructuring and Participatory Design: Exploring Infrastructural Inversion as Analytic, Empirical and Generative Simonsen, Jesper; Karasti, Helena; Hertzum, Morten Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 29, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-019-09365-w	journal	July 2019
Contested collaboration: A descriptive model of intergroup communication in information system design Sonnenwald, Diane H. Information Processing & Management, Vol. 31, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4573(95)00002-X	journal	November 1995
Development of a high throughput cloud-based data pipeline for 21 cm cosmology Byrne, R.; Jacobs, D. Astronomy and Computing, Vol. 34 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2021.100447	journal	January 2021
Artifacts that organize: Delegation in the distributed organization Ribes, David; Jackson, Steven; Geiger, Stuart Information and Organization, Vol. 23, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2012.08.001	journal	January 2013
Open Science now: A systematic literature review for an integrated definition Vicente-Saez, Ruben; Martinez-Fuentes, Clara Journal of Business Research, Vol. 88 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.12.043	journal	July 2018
Re-boxing seamanship: From individual to systemic capabilities Kongsvik, Trond; Haavik, Torgeir; Bye, Rolf Safety Science, Vol. 130 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104871	journal	October 2020
Intermediary Objects as a Means to Foster Co-operation in Engineering Design Boujut, Jean-François; Blanco, Eric Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023980212097	journal	June 2003
Science Storms the Cloud Gentemann, C. L.; Holdgraf, C.; Abernathey, R. AGU Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020AV000354	journal	May 2021
Design Theory for Dynamic Complexity in Information Infrastructures: The Case of Building Internet Hanseth, Ole; Lyytinen, Kalle Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 25, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2009.19	journal	March 2010
The Human–Artifact Model: An Activity Theoretical Approach to Artifact Ecologies B⊘dker, Susanne; Klokmose, Clemens Nylandsted Human–Computer Interaction, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2011.626709	journal	December 2011
Cost-benefit analysis of Cloud Computing versus desktop grids Kondo, Derrick; Javadi, Bahman; Malecot, Paul 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Parallel & Distributed Processing https://doi.org/10.1109/IPDPS.2009.5160911	conference	May 2009
XSEDE: Accelerating Scientific Discovery Towns, John; Cockerill, Timothy; Dahan, Maytal Computing in Science & Engineering, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2014.80	journal	September 2014
Cloud-Native Repositories for Big Scientific Data Abernathey, Ryan P.; Augspurger, Tom; Banihirwe, Anderson Computing in Science & Engineering, Vol. 23, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2021.3059437	journal	March 2021
The cost of doing science on the cloud: The Montage example Deelman, Ewa; Singh, Gurmeet; Livny, Miron 2008 SC - International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis https://doi.org/10.1109/SC.2008.5217932	conference	November 2008
Performance Analysis of Cloud Computing Services for Many-Tasks Scientific Computing Iosup, A.; Ostermann, S.; Yigitbasi, M. N. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, Vol. 22, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/TPDS.2011.66	journal	June 2011
SNIC Science Cloud (SSC): A National-Scale Cloud Infrastructure for Swedish Academia Toor, Salman; Lindberg, Mathias; Falman, Ingemar 2017 IEEE 13th International Conference on e-Science (e-Science) https://doi.org/10.1109/eScience.2017.35	conference	October 2017
The Articulation of Project Work: An Organizational Process Strauss, Anselm The Sociological Quarterly, Vol. 29, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1988.tb01249.x	journal	June 1988
Science of science Fortunato, Santo; Bergstrom, Carl T.; Börner, Katy Science, Vol. 359, Issue 6379 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0185	journal	March 2018
Artful infrastructuring in two cases of community PD Karasti, Helena; Syrjänen, Anna-Liisa Proceedings of the eighth conference on Participatory design Artful integration: interweaving media, materials and practices - PDC 04 https://doi.org/10.1145/1011870.1011874	conference	January 2004
The human infrastructure of cyberinfrastructure Lee, Charlotte P.; Dourish, Paul; Mark, Gloria Proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '06 https://doi.org/10.1145/1180875.1180950	conference	January 2006
Tasks-in-interaction Luff, Paul; Heath, Christian; Greatbatch, David Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work - CSCW '92 https://doi.org/10.1145/143457.143475	conference	January 1992
Representing community Ribes, David; Finholt, Thomas A. Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work https://doi.org/10.1145/1460563.1460581	conference	November 2008
Toward a framework for ecologies of artifacts Jung, Heekyoung; Stolterman, Erik; Ryan, Will Proceedings of the 5th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction: building bridges https://doi.org/10.1145/1463160.1463182	conference	October 2008
A view of cloud computing Armbrust, Michael; Stoica, Ion; Zaharia, Matei Communications of the ACM, Vol. 53, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1145/1721654.1721672	journal	April 2010
From implementation to design Trigg, Randall H.; Bødker, Susanne Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '94 https://doi.org/10.1145/192844.192869	conference	January 1994
Steps towards an ecology of infrastructure Star, Susan Leigh; Ruhleder, Karen Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '94 https://doi.org/10.1145/192844.193021	conference	January 1994
Collaborative rhythm Jackson, Steven J.; Ribes, David; Buyuktur, Ayse Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work https://doi.org/10.1145/1958824.1958861	conference	March 2011
Magellan Ramakrishnan, Lavanya; Zbiegel, Piotr T.; Campbell, Scott Proceedings of the 2nd international workshop on Scientific cloud computing https://doi.org/10.1145/1996109.1996119	conference	June 2011
Dynamics in artifact ecologies Bødker, Susanne; Klokmose, Clemens Nylandsted Proceedings of the 7th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Making Sense Through Design https://doi.org/10.1145/2399016.2399085	conference	October 2012
The work of developing cyberinfrastructure middleware projects Bietz, Matthew J.; Paine, Drew; Lee, Charlotte P. Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work - CSCW '13 https://doi.org/10.1145/2441776.2441950	conference	January 2013
Poetry in motion Bødker, Susanne; Christiansen, Ellen Proceedings of the 30th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics https://doi.org/10.1145/2448136.2448152	conference	August 2012
Infrastructure and vocation Jackson, Steven J.; Barbrow, Sarah Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems https://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2481397	conference	April 2013
Reconciling rhythms Steinhardt, Stephanie B.; Jackson, Steven J. Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531736	conference	February 2014
Infrastructuring in participatory design Karasti, Helena Proceedings of the 13th Participatory Design Conference on Research Papers - PDC '14 https://doi.org/10.1145/2661435.2661450	conference	January 2014
Jetstream: a self-provisioned, scalable science and engineering cloud environment Stewart, Craig A.; Turner, George; Vaughn, Matthew Proceedings of the 2015 XSEDE Conference on Scientific Advancements Enabled by Enhanced Cyberinfrastructure - XSEDE '15 https://doi.org/10.1145/2792745.2792774	conference	January 2015
Convivial Decay: Entangled Lifetimes in a Geriatric Infrastructure Cohn, Marisa Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing - CSCW '16 https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2820077	conference	January 2016
Untangling the Mess of Technological Artifacts Bødker, Susanne; Lyle, Peter; Saad-Sulonen, Joanna Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies https://doi.org/10.1145/3083671.3083675	conference	June 2017
"Who Has Plots?": Contextualizing Scientific Software, Practice, and Visualizations Paine, Drew; Lee, Charlotte P. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 1, Issue CSCW https://doi.org/10.1145/3134720	journal	December 2017
Aiding Collaborative Reuse of Computational Notebooks with Annotated Cell Folding Rule, Adam; Drosos, Ian; Tabard, Aurélien Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 2, Issue CSCW https://doi.org/10.1145/3274419	journal	November 2018
Collaborative Writing Across Multiple Artifact Ecologies Larsen-Ledet, Ida; Korsgaard, Henrik; Bødker, Susanne Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376422	conference	April 2020
A use case of humanware and cloud-based cyberinfrastructure Song, Yongwook; Fu, Xu; Richards, Chris Proceedings of the Humans in the Loop: Enabling and Facilitating Research on Cloud Computing https://doi.org/10.1145/3355738.3355748	conference	July 2019
"Invisible Work" as a Lens for Understanding Humanware's Role in Research Cloud Computing Sholler, Dan Proceedings of the Humans in the Loop: Enabling and Facilitating Research on Cloud Computing https://doi.org/10.1145/3355738.3355754	conference	July 2019
Red Cloud and Aristotle Knepper, Richard; Mehringer, Susan; Brazier, Adam Proceedings of the Humans in the Loop: Enabling and Facilitating Research on Cloud Computing https://doi.org/10.1145/3355738.3355755	conference	July 2019
Humanware Voss, Brian D. Proceedings of the Humans in the Loop: Enabling and Facilitating Research on Cloud Computing https://doi.org/10.1145/3355738.3357001	conference	July 2019
What’s in an Ecology? A Review of Artifact, Communicative, Device and Information Ecologies Lyle, Peter; Korsgaard, Henrik; Bødker, Susanne Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society https://doi.org/10.1145/3419249.3420185	conference	October 2020
Data Integration as Coordination Neang, Andrew B.; Sutherland, Will; Beach, Michael W. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 4, Issue CSCW3 https://doi.org/10.1145/3432955	journal	January 2021
Collectives and Their Artifact Ecologies Korsgaard, Henrik; Lyle, Peter; Saad-Sulonen, Joanna Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 6, Issue CSCW2 https://doi.org/10.1145/3555533	journal	November 2022
Developing Information Infrastructure: The Tension Between Standardization and Flexibility Hanseth, Ole; Monteiro, Eric; Hatling, Morten Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1177/016224399602100402	journal	October 1996
Databases as Scientific Instruments and Their Role in the Ordering of Scientific Work Hine, Christine Social Studies of Science, Vol. 36, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312706054047	journal	April 2006
Research Note: From co-location to co-presence: Shifts in the use of ethnography for the study of knowledge Beaulieu, Anne Social Studies of Science, Vol. 40, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312709359219	journal	March 2010
Constructing `Do-able' Problems in Cancer Research: Articulating Alignment Fujimura, Joan H. Social Studies of Science, Vol. 17, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1177/030631287017002003	journal	May 1987
Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39 Star, Susan Leigh; Griesemer, James R. Social Studies of Science, Vol. 19, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1177/030631289019003001	journal	August 1989
Research Commentary—Moving Beyond the Single Site Implementation Study: How (and Why) We Should Study the Biography of Packaged Enterprise Solutions Williams, Robin; Pollock, Neil Information Systems Research, Vol. 23, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1110.0352	journal	March 2012
Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research https://doi.org/10.17226/25116	book	January 2018
Ecologies of e-Infrastructures Hepsø, Vidar; Monteiro, Eric Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00196	journal	May 2009
The Long Now of Technology Infrastructure: Articulating Tensions in Development Ribes, David; Finholt, Thomas Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00199	journal	May 2009
Flexibility Relative to What? Change to Research Infrastructure Ribes, David; Polk, Jessica Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 15, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00360	journal	May 2014
Entangled inversions: Actor/analyst symmetry in the ethnography of infrastructure Hahn, Charles; Hoffman, Andrew; Inman, Sarah Interaction Design and Architecture(s), Issue 38 https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-038-007	journal	September 2018
Repairing Infrastructures Henke, Christopher R.; Sims, Benjamin https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11771.001.0001	book	October 2020
Rethinking Repair Jackson, Steven J. Media Technologies https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9042.003.0015	book	January 2014

Similar Records

Tightly-coupled camera/LiDAR integration for point cloud generation from GNSS/INS-assisted UAV mapping systems

Journal Article · Thu Sep 09 00:00:00 UTC 2021 · ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing · OSTI ID:1977227

Zhou, Tian; Hasheminasab, Seyyed Meghdad; Habib, Ayman

Grids, virtualization, and clouds at Fermilab

Journal Article · Wed Jun 11 00:00:00 UTC 2014 · Journal of Physics. Conference Series · OSTI ID:1304763

Timm, S.; Chadwick, K.; Garzoglio, G.; +1 more

Enabling On-Demand Scientific Workflows on a Federated Cloud

Technical Report · Wed Nov 05 04:00:00 UTC 2014 · OSTI ID:1333133

Garzoglio, Gabriele

Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING
artifact ecologies
cloud computing
coordinative artifacts
infrastructure
research computing

Title: ‘The Cloud is Not Not IT’: Ecological Change in Research Computing in the Cloud

Citation Formats

References (72)

Similar Records

Related Subjects