Things are moving quickly at ESnet, and we’re not talking only about data transfers.  Our Advanced Networking Initiative (ANI) 100G roll-out is gaining even more momentum and we are really gearing up for the SC11 conference next month.

This week, it was announced that we are working with LGS Innovations to deploy Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Routers (SR) on the new ANI prototype network. The first routers were delivered about a month ago and we are already well into acceptance testing and deployment. So far we have routers up and running in Sunnyvale, NERSC, StarLight and Argonne.  After we installed this equipment, our engineering team worked with Internet2 to light the first coast-to-coast network path from Washington, D.C. all the way to Sunnyvale in our backyard  –  the first 100G transcontinental link in the world! We were particularly proud of this milestone, which we reached well ahead of schedule. As next steps, we anticipate that 6 routers of our 10 total will be deployed in time for SC11.

To help the community keep tabs on our rapid ANI deployment progress, the ESnet Tools team has been expanding the MyESnet portal to provide a real-time view of the rollout. You can see the result of their efforts here.

This summer we introduced MyESnet to provide DOE Office of Science researchers and IT staff with a wide range of customized tools intended to greatly improve their ability to understand network issues in real time. The initial functionality includes a dashboard that provides a bird’s-eye view of the local area networks of the DOE facilities connected by ESnet, including their traffic patterns and system status.

Using this new ANI visualization tool, users can see which 100G network links are active, as well as information on each of our node and interconnect locations across the country.  The tool will be expanded to show traffic load in the near future.  In the next few weeks, the portal will also provide a real-time view of the eight community-driven projects that will use the new 100G network for large scale demonstrations at SC11. This interface will allow viewers to view the details and traffic load of these demonstrations.

With fewer than 25 days to go until SC11, our team is gearing up for some exciting announcements and ANI demos . . . check back for info on these activities soon and check in with us in Seattle. ESnet is part of Berkeley Lab booth 512.