Why become a NGS member site
Benefits
Both institutions and users benefit from joining NGS. Thanks to the services and support provided by the NGS, as well as the NGS Site Level Services description, NGS members enjoy:
- Common standard interfaces based on either open standards or community specific standards depending on requirement
- Distributed virtualised data storage and access
- Monitoring and systems administration support
- Resource brokering
- Application Hosting:
- Traditional
- Web Services
- Application portal
- International gateway
- Training, outreach and support
The NGS has prepared a complete document on the Benefits of Joining the NGS.
For more information about how to become a NGS member site see the section joining resources
Types of Member
There are two types of NGS members:
- Partner: a partner site provides a significant resource or service for NGS users. The procedure for joining is defined such that after notifying the NGS of their intention to join, sites gain assistance in the installation of the necessary software interfaces. Once installed these are tested and must complete a full week of compliance testing without error before being certified as a recognised NGS resource. Additionally, they must also complete a service level description (SLD), detailing the resource and level of support they are intending to offer users.
- Affiliate: An affiliate whilst, still installing software and then passing interface and service tests, does not have to provide an SLD and maintains control over the user communities that they are serving through their system.
You can also elect a Campus Champion:
- The NGS Campus Champions Programme facilitates the integration of the services provided by UK NGS into the user communities of the UK Higher Eduction Institutions (HEI). A Campus Champion is an individual that acts as a single point of contact for HEIs and their user communities offering information and assistance.
