Exploring Next Generation Network Architectures
During 2004, the Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) Design Team brought together networking experts from a variety of U.S. and international research and education institutions, as well as Internet2 staff, to develop a plan for investigating a scalable architecture for next-generation networks. The design team supported the HOPI project's overall goal of providing the Internet2 community with the experience and understanding needed to deploy the networking capabilities that advanced network applications are expected to require in the next few years.
Circuit-switched optical network infrastructures are becoming increasingly available to the research and education community. While there is already a substantial body of knowledge around operating such networks in isolation from traditional packet-switched Internet Protocol (IP) networks, how to combine the two is not well understood. To help fill this gap in understanding, the Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) project is investigating issues such as:
- The requirements for accessing and using each type of network infrastructure in an environment where both are available.
- The implications of hybrid networking for international, national, regional, and campus network infrastructures.
- The operational, measurement, and administrative issues, especially across network paths controlled by multiple organizations.
Answers can only be found through experimentation. In April 2004, the HOPI Design Team released its testbed design, which uses Ethernet switches and virtual local area networks (VLANs) to model the switched optical networks that are of central concern in building a hybrid network. The testbed makes use of resources from the Abilene Network for its packet-switched infrastructure, and from the National LambdaRail project for its circuit-switched infrastructure. Both of these infrastructures are national in scope. HOPI will also involve the Manhattan Landing (MAN LAN) exchange point in New York City, regional optical networks, and Internet2 measurement resources.
During 2005, with the aid of the HOPI Corporate Advisory Team and continued input from the Design Team, the HOPI project will undertake the initial stages of testbed deployment. The testbed will form a foundation for understanding how best to meet the requirements for a next-generation network architecture.