Author: ESnetComms

ESnet6 Investment Supports Next Generation Exascale Earth System Model

~ ESnetComms

Scientists at Oak Ridge, Argonne, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories are collaborating on the next generation of integrated Earth climate models using Exascale Computing Project computers and simulation models. The Earth System Grid Federation program is building vast simulation models using data collected about our planet at all levels, from space to far below the surface. Predictions from these models are vital to our understanding of climate, ocean, and other complex systems that make life possible. Read more about this and ESnet’s role in this important international science conversation in a new phys.org article from Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Visualization from the Earth System Model, one component of the Earth System Grid Federation program. ESnet provides the data connectivity necessary to stitch teams and computers at different labs together. Credit: LLNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The ESnet6 Unveiling Ceremony is 4 days away!  Come celebrate our new network and the great science we support, like the Earth System Grid Federation. Join us from 9 a.m. – 12 a.m., 11 October on https://streaming.lbl.gov.

Why We Designed and Deployed ESnet6: It is All About the Science!

~ ESnetComms

We’re just a few days away from the ESnet6 unveiling and Confab22!

Here’s a great video interview with Ann Almgren, Senior Scientist in CCSE and the Department Head of the Applied Mathematics Department in the Applied Mathematics and Computational Research Division at Berkeley Lab. In it she discusses her research into wind power generation/distribution, and how she will use ESnet6.

Ann Almgren, Berkeley Lab

To watch the unveiling of ESnet6 and learn more about Ann’s research, join us 11 October from 900AM – 12 PM PT at streaming.lbl.gov!

ESnet6 Unveiling in Seven Days!

~ ESnetComms

On October 11, 2022, we will welcome the newest generation of our high-performance scientific network, ESnet6, at an unveiling ceremony hosted by Berkeley Lab.

ESnet6 marks a new era of our high-performance network supporting the needs of scientists. We’re able to handle massive flows of data in a reliable, nimble way, and we can specifically configure our setup to match the needs of individual experiments. The upgrade ensures that ESnet is ready to support the future of science today, including the significant increase in the amount of data produced by scientific experiments and the increasingly complex needs of scientists and the way they interact with our network. 

Come watch the ESnet6 unveiling ceremony 9AM -12 PM PT, October 11, at streaming.lbl.gov!

At the speed of ESnet!

ESnet team to give multiple talks about networking, automation, and QUANT-NET at NORDUnet Conference and GEANT’s SIG-NGN meeting

~ ESnetComms

The 31st NORDUnet Conference will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland from September 13-15, 2022. 

ESnet staff will also be in attendance at the Special Interest Group on Next Generation Networking (SIG-NGN) on September 12, 2022, the day before the NORDUnet Conference.

Here’s where you can find ESnet team’s talks during these events: 

Monday, September 12, 2022: SIG-NGN

The next generation NREN lightning talks 
09:05 – 10:30am GMT

The lightning talks will feature two presentations from ESnet: 

  • ESnet Effort to Build Upon the NML and MRML – John MacAuley
  • LHC Next Generation Requirements Gathering – Eli Dart

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Future network architectures. Technological change to support data moving / data planes 
11:00am – 12:30pm GMT

This session will start with 10-minute presentations, including two by ESnet staff:

  • ESnet7 – Chin Guok
  • Underlay Packet Inspection, Making Traffic Engineering Decisions at L2 – Yatish Kumar

These talks will be followed by a panel discussion. 

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How do we stitch and share our L1-L3+ networks to introduce better and new services
12:00pm – 3:30pm GMT

This session includes a series of short talks, including:

  • Real Time Data Processing Requirements – Yatish Kumar

Yatish Kumar will also host a discussion on future networking technologies from =2:00pm – 3:20pm GMT

Tuesday, September 13, 2022: NORDUnet Conference

The ESnet6 Approach to Network Orchestration and Automation
11:00am – 12:30pm GMT | Track 1 / Room: Silfurberg B

Speaker: Scott Richmond

Abstract: Network Orchestration is a defining factor in next generation networks, enabling operators to deliver more consistent and reliable services. ESnet has leveraged a combination of internally developed tools, open source software, and commercial software to orchestrate and automate network configuration deployment. This approach has enabled rapid deployment of new network services, as well as ensuring that configuration standards are well enforced when deploying network services.

During this talk, we will provide a brief history of automation at ESnet, dive into what our goals were for orchestration and automation in the ESnet6 project, and describe the technology and process that we used to meet those goals. Finally, we will discuss the hurdles encountered and lessons we learned along the way while developing this tooling.

–

Eli Dart was part of the technical program committee and is the chair for the HPC session, taking place in Track 2 / Room: Rima from 2:00 – 3:30 pm GMT. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2022: NORDUnet Conference

Experimenting with Teleportation Based Physical Layer for the Network: QUANT-NET
1:30pm – 3:00pm GMT | Track 1 / Room: Silfurberg B

Speaker: Inder Monga

Abstract: QUANT-NET takes an application-centric and systems-based approach to building a Quantum Internet testbed. The main thrust of this effort is to build a three-node distributed quantum computing testbed between two sites, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) connected with an entanglement swapping substrate over optical fiber and managed by a quantum network protocol stack. We will implement the most basic building block of distributed quantum computing by teleporting a controlled-NOT gate between two nodes. This approach will enable research, prototyping, measurement and testing of the entire quantum network stack from physical layer to the application. The talk will describe our proposed testbed and progress.

Chris Cummings Speaks About Service Orchestration at Networking Field Day

~ ESnetComms

ESnet’s Chris Cummings from our Orchestration and Core Data team was asked to present at the industry event “Networking Field Day: Service Provider”. 

Networking Field Day (NFD) is a unique event in which industry professionals are invited to join a panel of delegates who are presented with new products and offerings from networking vendors. These presentations then follow an open format where delegates can ask questions of the vendors and understand more about the products being discussed. 

For this particular instance of NFD, Chris was invited as a community member to present on how ESnet has built service orchestration and intent-based networking tooling, which allows us to abstract our service offerings from the technical implementation details that compose them. This is a topic that has a lot of mystique and buzz-words surrounding it in the networking industry, but this presentation contains concrete examples and demonstrations of the software that ESnet uses daily. 

The talk Chris gave explored ESnet’s approach to building a service orchestration software suite. He also gave a few demonstrations of the software in action. This presentation is not an exhaustive explanation of how to build your own intent-based networking environment, but rather an example and overview of a real-world stack that is being used in a production network today and the principles behind it. 

Watch Chris’s presentation here: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/a-real-world-approach-to-intent-based-networking-and-service-orchestration/

3Q with Juan Antunez, ESnet’s new Network Operations Engineer!

~ ESnetComms

Before joining ESnet as a network operations engineer, Juan Antunez was an infrastructure engineer at Lowe’s. He brings seven years of experience in IT help desk support (customer support) and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Houston-Downtown. Outside of work, he enjoys playing soccer with his seven-year-old daughter and traveling. 

Juan Antunez smiling into the camera
Juan Antunez

Question 1: What brought you to ESnet? 

After working for many years in the aerospace and retail industries, I’ve decided to join ESnet, which has a significant footprint supporting scientific research and development. The opportunity to contribute to the Department of Energy’s large-scale scientific research is exciting and fulfilling. I’m thrilled about joining, and I’m looking forward to continuing my career development!

Question 2: What is the most exciting thing going on in your field right now? 

I would say that Automation is something that many organizations are integrating into their network to avoid daily repetitive tasks that take time away from the workforce. It also helps prevent zero-day attacks with automation and response.

Question 3: What book, movie, or podcast would you recommend? 

I highly recommend The Art of Networking Engineering podcast to anyone interested in listening to other network engineers speak of their real-life experiences in the industry.  Also, Darknet Diaries is another fascinating podcast; you get to listen to and learn about what’s happening in the cybersecurity world. 

3Q with David Oh – ESnet’s new Network Operations Engineer!

~ ESnetComms

Before joining ESnet, David Oh was a Senior Data Center Engineer at XR Trading. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and his dog, a Havanese, poodle, and super mutt mix. Before moving to LA, he liked to spend his time working on his BMW E46 M3, not necessarily because he wanted to, but more often because he had to (15-year-old BMWs WILL break down on a near-weekly basis).

A photo of David Oh
David Oh

What brought you to ESnet?

I was working on cutting edge infrastructure in the trading world. I helped make things go faster so the company could flourish. After learning how ESnet supports research and development labs all over the world, I was excited at the prospect of helping science and humanity flourish.

What is the most exciting thing going on in your field right now?

I feel like automation is being used in amazing and creative ways to make tedious and mundane tasks in the networking world easier to accomplish.

What book, movie, or podcast would you recommend?

I enjoy listening to the Art of Network Engineering and, of course, the occasional crime mystery podcasts!

Watch our latest video: Serving Conversations That Matter

Title card from the Serving Conversations That Matter video
~ ESnetComms

ESnet exists to support research into some of the most important questions of our time. The traffic that travels over our network on a daily basis contains data from tens of thousands of researchers – data that could lead to the next major discovery or scientific breakthrough.

In our latest video, learn about just a few of the revolutionary research collaborations we support, and the questions they’re working to answer.

The my.es.net portal has been updated!

~ ESnetComms

Last week, we updated the my.es.net portal to better communicate the quantities of data that traverse the network on a daily basis!

The portal now shows larger dynamic traffic ranges between 0 and 800+ Gbps on the map – the previous portal’s visualizations maxed out at 80 Gbps.

The new color scheme is also color blind-friendly and works in grayscale!

Check it out for yourself here. 

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Begins Run 3 

~ ESnetComms

Today, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), begins Run 3, a new period of data taking! This comes after more than three years of upgrade and maintenance work.

Image: CERN

ESnet is looking forward to continuing to support the US LHC community for Run 3 through its connectivity to CERN. ESnet carries all traffic for LHC from Europe to the US, to the two Tier 1 centers at Fermilab and Brookhaven National Lab, and for all the physicists in Tier 2 centers in Universities. You can see the list of LHCONE collaborators at my.es.net/lhcone/list.

View the traffic on our trans-Atlantic links live at my.es.net.

Check out CERN’s livestream of the event here.