Advanced Networking Initiative

Advanced Networking Initiative. A landmark research and infrastructure program established by the United States Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Launched in 2010, it was designed to build a nationwide 100 gigabit-per-second network testbed to support cutting-edge scientific research and drive innovation in high-performance computing and data-intensive science. The initiative represented a significant federal investment in next-generation internet capabilities, aiming to bridge the gap between experimental networking research and the operational needs of the national research community.

Overview

The genesis of the program stemmed from the recognition within the DOE Office of Science that existing research networks were becoming a bottleneck for massive data flows generated by facilities like the Large Hadron Collider and advanced light sources. Spearheaded by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) team, it secured critical funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This enabled the creation of a dedicated, coast-to-coast optical fiber network, establishing a unique resource for the global research community. The infrastructure served as a proving ground for technologies that would later permeate commercial broadband and cloud computing platforms.

Objectives and Goals

A primary objective was to construct and operate a 100 Gbps national network testbed, an order-of-magnitude leap beyond the prevailing 10 Gbps standard of the era, to support data-intensive science. It aimed to accelerate the development of protocols and software for efficient petascale data movement, directly benefiting projects in fields like climate modeling, genomics, and high-energy physics. Furthermore, the initiative sought to foster deep collaboration between network engineers, computer scientists, and application scientists to co-design solutions. A long-term goal was to catalyze advancements that would eventually transition to the broader commercial internet infrastructure, enhancing U.S. competitiveness.

Key Technologies and Infrastructure

The core of the infrastructure was a dedicated national optical fiber backbone utilizing dense wavelength-division multiplexing technology. It deployed state-of-the-art routers and network switches from vendors like Juniper Networks and Ciena Corporation to handle unprecedented data rates. Key technologies tested and advanced included software-defined networking, particularly the OpenFlow protocol, for programmable network control. The testbed also integrated advanced perfSONAR monitoring tools developed by ESnet and Internet2 to provide end-to-end performance measurement. This infrastructure interconnected major DOE facilities, including the Argonne National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.

Research and Development Projects

The testbed hosted numerous pioneering experiments, including the first transcontinental 100 Gbps transmission for scientific data, demonstrating sustained transfers between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Amazon Web Services cloud. Researchers from institutions like the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the University of California, Berkeley used it to test novel data transfer protocols like UDT and software for wide area network optimization. A flagship project was the GreenLight project, which investigated the energy footprint of cloud computing. Collaborative experiments with Internet2 and CENIC explored dynamic circuit networking, enabling on-demand, high-bandwidth connections for specific research workflows.

Impact and Significance

The program had a profound impact, proving the viability and necessity of 100 Gbps networks for science, which led to the rapid upgrade of the production Energy Sciences Network and influenced the roadmap for Internet2. Its open testbed model accelerated the adoption of software-defined networking in research and education networks globally. The work directly enabled new scientific discovery paradigms, allowing real-time data analysis from instruments like the Advanced Light Source. By de-risking advanced technologies, it provided a clear pathway for telecommunications carriers and vendors, shaping the evolution of the modern internet's core infrastructure and leaving a lasting legacy on cyberinfrastructure worldwide. Category:Computer network research Category:United States Department of Energy Category:Research projects