ESIP Testbed Crash Course

This section answers basic questions about the ESIP Testbed.

What is the ESIP Testbed?

The ESIP Testbed was developed as a framework for moving Earth science ideas and projects (software, data, etc…) through a development life cycle. The Testbed facilitates collaboration and innovation across all sectors of the ESIP Federation improving the availability, access, and mutual benefit of new technologies.

What resources are provided to Testbed projects?

ESIP supports Testbed projects at each stage of the development life cycle in accordance with established best practices including, but not limited to:

Technology assessment appropriate to each stage of the development life cycle;
Assessment of project value to Earth Science community;
Match-making with other projects/ESIP groups/opportunities;
Solicitation of feedback from the ESIP Community;
Breakout sessions at the twice-annual ESIP meetings for planning, feedback and presentation of your work, and other project-related meetings;
Cloud computing infrastructure (within budget constraints);
Access to the Testbed Portal (testbed.esipfed.org), a site based on Drupal for project documentation, content registration, and document sharing for your project;
Access to the GitHub repository (github.com/esipfed), a project repository that provides basic management and wiki capability; and
Development funds.

How does a project benefit from going through the Testbed?

ESIP provides Testbed projects with domain-specific expert input, visibility, and validation within the ESIP and Earth science communities.

What types of projects can enter the Testbed?

The Testbed is currently accepting projects in the Incubation stage of the development life cycle, i.e. projects in the realm of good ideas ready to move beyond the proof-of-concept stage. The Testbed will soon support projects at the Prototype stage.

How can a project enter the Testbed?

The ESIP Testbed is managed by the Products & Services (P&S) committee. The P&S committee will release periodic requests for proposals (RFP) for projects to enter the Testbed. The Testbed Configuration Board decides which projects will enter the Testbed and at what stage.

Current and Past Testbed Tasks

See Past Testbed Tasks and the ESIP Testbed Site for information on funded Testbed Projects.

Other Current or Ongoing Testbed Activities

Amazon Web Services best practices

ESIP has opened an Amazon Web Services account that can be leveraged to provide virtual instances for accessing the testbed projects. In an effort to save pain and share experiences, please read and contribute to the ESIP Testbed Amazon Web Services Best Practices topic if you are going to work on the Amazon instances or have and want to contribute insight.