May | 2023 | Light Bytes: Blogging for Science

Registration is now open for Confab23, to be held October 16 to 18 in Gaithersburg, Maryland!

ESnet’s second annual Confab gathering is designed for scientists across all disciplines who want to vastly improve their workflows and collaborations to accelerate time to discovery; for network engineers from national labs and universities who support science IT services for researchers on their campuses; and for the research networking professionals who partner with ESnet to move data across the world.

Last year’s inaugural Confab in Berkeley, held concurrently with the unveiling of ESnet6, was a fun and resounding success — and we believe Confab23 will continue and broaden the conversation we started.

Confab23 will showcase scientists who use ESnet today to perform real-time data analysis, leverage multiple supercomputers in parallel for large-scale simulations, and collaborate with colleagues on experiments as if side by side while thousands of miles apart – among many other applications.

Together we can chart the future of scientific data management and integrated scientific infrastructure.

In addition to lively conversation and informal technical discussions between our ESnet, DOE, and scientific community attendees, the program includes:

Updates and discussions with the Department of Energy on major initiatives, such as the Integrated Research Infrastructure initiative and the High Performance Data Facility, that support our shared vision — that scientific progress will be completely unconstrained by the physical location of instruments, people, computational resources, or data.

Scientific keynotes by Nicholas Schwarz on Light Source and BES developments, and Amadeo Perazzo, on LCLS and DOE HPC collaboration

An overview of quantum networking activities by Inder Monga, part of a lively evening program

And much, much more!

We will also hold a meeting of the ESnet Site Coordinator Committee at the same venue on October 19 and 20.

If you have any questions or suggestions – or would like to offer a presentation or session topic – please email our workshop team directly at confab@es.net.

Man presenting award to woman flanked by flags — DOE Office of Project Assessment Director Kurt W. Fisher and ESnet Network Services Group Lead Kate Petersen Mace, ESnet6 project director, who accepted the award on behalf of the ESnet6 team

It’s rare for any technology project to be completed early and under budget — let alone a massively complex one involving extensive hardware and software upgrades across many states. Yet Energy Sciences Network’s (ESnet) ESnet6 project was finished more than two years ahead of schedule and for less than it was estimated. In recognition of this unusual feat, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently presented ESnet with a special Project Assessment Award. (As an IT project, ESnet6 is not eligible for the DOE’s Project Management Awards.)

ESnet6 is the newest iteration of the DOE’s high-performance network, also known as the “data circulatory system” for the DOE science complex. Not only did ESnet6 boost bandwidth to more than 46 Terabits per second — a significant increase – it also automated network operations for scalability and reliability, improved security services, and replaced aging equipment. In addition, ESnet6 offers greater programmable network flexibility that will support evolving computation and data models in the emerging exabyte data era.

Six years in the making, ESnet6 was completed well under budget six months before the forecasted early finish date of January 2023 – and more than two years ahead of the forecasted CD-4 date in January 2025.

DOE Office of Project Assessment Director Kurt W. Fisher presented the award in a private ceremony at the DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, DC, in April. ESnet Network Services Group Lead Kate Petersen Mace, ESnet6’s project director, accepted on behalf of the ESnet6 team.

“ESnet6 represents the culmination of several years of extraordinary commitment and tireless dedication by all of ESnet’s staff,” said Inder Monga, ESnet’s executive director. “We’re grateful to Berkeley Lab for its support and to DOE for recognizing the collective efforts of the team behind this critical piece of scientific infrastructure.”