New Networking Solutions Support Global Science Initiative
Press Release
Monitoring of multiple domains and point-to-point connections made possible by GÉANT2 project
7th November 2006, Cambridge, UK: Researchers across the globe are benefiting from new advanced networking solutions, deployed as part of the GÉANT2 project. For the first time ever, scientists collaborating on the world’s largest particle physics experiment, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), now have access to dedicated point-to-point network connections between distributed research centres. In addition, new monitoring tools enable them to analyse the status of traffic across the multiple network domains that connect these processing centres. Now ‘live’, the monitoring system not only facilitates the unprecedented ability to immediately identify and locate any issues with point-to-point connectivity, but also enables those scientists involved to guide the direction of research.
CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) is currently building the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest scientific experiment ever undertaken. LHC’s experiments will generate energy equivalent to 70,000 times that of a nuclear explosion, and create conditions similar to those experienced just after the Big Bang. It will produce roughly 15 Petabytes (15 million Gigabytes) of data annually, once it is fully operational in 2007. This huge amount of data needs to be distributed to processing centres around the world, for quick and efficient analysis. GÉANT2, and its partner networks, enable the data to be accessed and analysed by thousands of scientists across the globe.
“As research co-operation becomes increasingly global, it is vital to not only ensure that connectivity is provided to support collaboration between researchers in different world regions, but also to see that these circuits can be properly operated and the integrity maintained,” said Hans Döbbeling, General Manager for DANTE, which operates GÉANT2 on behalf of Europe’s NRENs. “The ‘virtual private network’ created for CERN by GÉANT2 and the collaborating research networks, reserves high bandwidth connectivity, free from general research traffic.”
GÉANT2 is the largest research and education network ever built for the European academic community. It enables the switching of circuits and the reservation of ‘virtual’ paths across a dedicated network. Data generated by the LHC will be distributed from CERN to 11 primary processing sites, each connected to CERN by a dedicated wavelength switched path of 10Gbps. These primary centres are connected to each other and to secondary processing sites for additional data analysis, usually within the same country, with a dedicated point-to-point connection. These are provided by GÉANT2 and the relevant National Research and Education Network in the participating countries; GARR (IT), UKERNA (UK), SURFnet (NL), DFN (DE), RENATER (FR), RedIRIS (ES), SWITCH (CH), NORDUNET (Nordic region), Internet2 and ESnet (US), CANARIE (CA) and ASNet (Taiwan), to create a truly international team of collaborating researchers.
DANTE's Chief Technical Officer Roberto Sabatino said: "The ability to monitor traffic across multiple domains is unprecedented. One of the key features of GÉANT2 is the ability to deploy point-to-point connections, and this is being done on an intercontinental scale. When you add the ability to monitor the stability of the links right across the connected networks, you create an incredibly powerful networking solution that could fundamentally change the nature of scientific collaboration and global research.”
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About GÉANT2:
GÉANT2 delivers the next generation research and education network for Europe. With over 30 million research and education users in 34 countries across the continent, GÉANT2 offers unrivalled geographical coverage, high bandwidth, innovative hybrid networking technology and a range of user-focused services. Its network footprint maps more than 50,000 km and its extensive geographical reach interconnects with other world regions, enabling global research collaboration.GÉANT2’s comprehensive programme of research and service development keeps Europe at the forefront of global research.
GÉANT2 is co-funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Research and Development Framework Programme. The project partners are 30 European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), TERENA and DANTE. It is co-ordinated by DANTE, the research networking organisation that plans, manages and builds research networks all over the world. For more information visit www.geant2.net
About DANTE:
DANTE is a non-profit organisation whose primary mission is to plan, build and manage research and education networks. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT2, the most advanced research and education network in the world. GÉANT2 provides the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe.
DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in other regions to one another and to GÉANT2. DANTE currently manages initiatives focused on the Mediterranean, Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions through the EUMEDCONNECT, ALICE-RedCLARA and TEIN2 (Trans-Eurasia Information Network) projects respectively. For more information, please visit www.dante.net.
Editorial contacts:
Emma Ballard/Chris Measures
Rainier PR (on behalf of DANTE)
+44(0)20 7494 6581
eballard@rainierpr.co.uk
cmeasures@rainierpr.co.uk
