POSE: Phase I: The High Performance Networking-Secure Shell Protocol (HPN-SSH) Open-Source Ecosystem

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is based on a cryptographic protocol for communication between a client and a server. SSH is commonly used for remote login and for the command-line mode for services such as file transfers. OpenSSH is the open-source version of SSH. High Performance Networking-SSH (HPN-SSH) is based on OpenSSH. HPN-SSH improves performance and functionalities for services such as file transfers for high performance scientific computing. This project is a scoping project to explore community building to support the adoption and further development of HPN-SSH via an open-source ecosystem. This project will create a governance structure, craft bylaws and policies, develop onboarding processes for contributors and developers, enhance public awareness, establish fundraising strategies for sustainability, and initiate collaborations with other open-source organizations. HPN-SSH improves performance and functionalities for services such as file transfers for high performance scientific computing. HPN-SSH does this by automatically implementing tuned flow control, parallelized ciphers, inband network telemetry, the resumption of failed transfers, and other performance improvements. The planned Open-Source Ecosystem (OSE) will have a direct impact on the processes and background required for the successful development and launch of non-profit open-source software foundations. This effort will expand knowledge in the areas of open-source sustainability practices, best practices for community engagement, flexible and functional open-source foundation governance structures, and the promotion of scientific software applications. It will also impact existing HPN-SSH user and developer communities by providing new avenues for interaction with the HPN-SSH development and leadership team. This interaction will inform and guide this work. More information about HPN-SSH can be found at https://hpnssh.org/. The public code repository can be found at https://github.com/rapier1/hpn-ssh. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.