2018-Feb: Plans for the Future

(excerpted from the Keck Observer Newsletter)

As always, mainland observing remains a popular observing mode for Keck. The mainland observing system has been in place (in one form or another) for more than 15 years now and we are in the midst of re-evaluating some of the technologies which are used to make mainland observing happen.

Our current system relies on ISDN technology to serve as a backup connectivity pathway for "mainland only" qualified sites in case of a network failure. As some of you may know, this is an aging technology which is becoming more difficult and expensive to maintain. We are currently studying alternative technologies to provide backup connectivity in the event of a network failure. We have a working group which includes SAs, observers, and IT experts who are looking at options. It is becoming clear, however, that there are no clear drop in replacements which would provide the same level of path independence as ISDN. As a result, we will be looking at both alternative technologies and at possible policy changes. The internet is very different now than when Keck's Mainland Observing system was first conceived, so this re-examination is probably overdue. This process will take some time as the cost-benefit tradeoffs of possible technologies and policies needs to be considered, so we ask for your patience as we move forward.

In addition to considering alternatives to ISDN backup lines, which most observers won't interact with in practice, we are also examining teleconferencing alternatives to our current polycom system. The interaction between observers and Keck staff (i.e. the OAs and SAs) is critical to maintaining a high quality and efficient observing experience, so this is also a change which we are looking at carefully before implementing. Our current plan is to set up Zoom meeting hosts for both Keck telescopes with backup systems in each of the remote operations rooms in Waimea. We have arranged for polycom connection licenses for these hosts, so that remote sites can connect to Keck using their existing polycom hardware. This allows us to roll out the new system gradually and test it out while maintaining our existing polycom capabilities. Once the new system in in place and tested, we will describe a set of requirements for mainland observing sites to follow if they would like to replace existing polycom hardware with newer hardware.

Finally, we are also updating the instrument VNC sessions. The primary change which will be visible to users is that some instruments will use fewer, larger resolution screens. This will be rolled out on an instrument by instrument basis slowly over time. As a result, observers may notice a change in the layout of the control software that they are used to. In addition, we are changing the VNC host machines from Sun OS to linux which will change some of the network addresses used when connecting to VNCs -- this should be transparent to users, but will allow us to modernize some of our infrastructure.

If you have any questions about these changes or about mainland observing in general, please contact us at Mainland_Observing@keck.hawaii.edu.