“The Large Hadron Collider experimentation that our campus will be involved in over the next several years brought about an immediate need for us to explore new ways of networking that can support the intense short-term demands of our researchers. Internet2’s new Dynamic Circuit Network holds the promise of providing cost-effective, on-demand bandwidth that can easily handle these powerful requirements. Not only does the Internet2 DC Network provide a platform for our LHC needs, but it provides a pathway for our community to explore new applications and technologies.”
– Dale Finkelson, Director of Networking
University of Lincoln-Nebraska
The Internet2 Dynamic Circuit (DC) Network is built on ground-breaking new optical network infrastructure. Dynamic circuit networks provide on-demand or scheduled dedicated point-to-point bandwidth—up to 10 Gbps—to enable the most demanding applications for research and education—including massive terabyte-sized data transfers and super high-definition video. In contrast, traditional IP networks share network capacity among all applications, which means that demanding applications compete with others for a fixed amount of bandwidth.
Seamlessly setting up optical circuits across independently operated networks requires the coordination of multiple administrative domains. This is achieved through control plane software, enabling automatic provisioning across domain boundaries with the appropriate authentication and authorization. The ability to automatically provision optical circuits across multiple network administrative domains is a critical component to supporting dynamically-switched networks. To do so, several “control plane” technologies needed to be developed to both manage and control switching across domains as well as to enable interoperability between optical platforms.
The NSF-funded DRAGON (Dynamic Resource Allocation via GMPLS Optical Networks) project which included collaborators from MAX, University of Southern California (USC) Information Sciences Institute (ISI) East, and George Mason University has worked to develop, in coordination with Internet2, software that allows the automated provisioning and tear down of circuits across network domains and supports appropriate authentication and authorization for access to these resources.
In addition to facilitating the control of optical switching nodes between domains, ensuring interoperability of these platforms is also paramount for the deployment of dynamically switched networks. Collaborators from the DICE (DANTE, Internet2, CANARIE, and ESnet) Control Plane Working Group have developed the Inter-Domain Controller (IDC) protocol, which is based on ESnet’s On-Demand Secure Circuits and Advance Reservation System (OSCARS) technology. Deployed as a set of web services, IDC software ensures that networks with different equipment, network technology, and allocation models can work together seamlessly to set up optical circuits.
As a result of both the DRAGON and DICE collaborations, Internet2 has recently released an early version of a turn-key dynamic networking solution, called the “DCN Software Suite” which includes IDC software and a modified version of the DRAGON software. Easily deployed in campus, regional, or backbone environments, the DCN Software Suite seeks to facilitate the set-up of dynamic regional or campus networks as well as enables them to connect to dynamic backbone networks like the Internet2 and ESnet networks and the pan-European GÉANT2 network.
The Internet2 DC Network was first demonstrated at the Fall 2007 Internet2 Member Meeting, in conjunction with ESnet, Fermilab, the Great Plains Network (GPN), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Subsequent demonstrations at SC07—the annual international conference on high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis—showcased dynamic circuit interoperability with ESnet, GÉANT2 in Europe, GPN in the United States, GRNET in Greece, HEAnet in Ireland, a Nortel network based in Ottawa, Canada, the PIONIER network in Poland, and the Phosphorus testbed at the University of Amsterdam via SURFnet’s NetherLight GLIF Open Lambda Exchange in Amsterdam. Internet2 Connectors Merit Network and Northern Crossroads (NoX) were also integral participants in this demonstration.
Internet2 Connectors and members are encouraged to begin exploring the Internet2 DC Network’s unique capabilities. To facilitate this, a no-additional-fee connection to the Internet2 DC Network is being offered to connectors through the end of their 2008 connection agreements. In the long term, Internet2 and its collaborators are working on an automated reservation system to enable users to request circuits either on-demand or as a schedulable resource.