Scientists to use hybrid network

Cern's large hadron collider

Non-profit European research and education network operator Dante has installed a dedicated high-speed infrastructure to transfer large volumes of data.

The Geant2 hybrid network is a parallel IP service and a separate point-to-point fibre connection that is being used by scientists working on projects including the Large Hadron Collider at Cern and Europe’s distributed supercomputer project.

The infrastructure has been built on behalf of a consortium of European research and education networks, with funding from the European Commission.

Dai Davies, Dante’s general manager, says the organisation identified predictable usage patterns of a small group of scientists and developed the system to stay ahead of bandwidth requirements.

‘With very large predictable flows between prescribed locations it is much more cost-effective to use a switched point-to-point architecture instead of routing each individual packet,’ said Davies.

‘The benefit of a switched network is that it allows us to use the most appropriate technology for the different types of traffic, while catering for large volumes in a cheaper way,’ he said.

Despite potential cost savings, financial concerns were not the main driver for the project, and Dante does not expect a return on investment.

‘We are prepared to take risks with new technologies in a way that the commercial world is not able to,’ said Davies.

Geant2 can create a switched gigabit ethernet network that provides impressive performance dedicated to individual sites, he says.

‘It allows us to create links to several research centres in the US which look like an extension to their local area network, except it is global.’

Bob Day, chief technology officer at the UK Education and Research Networking Association, says a high-speed network could evolve to be used by businesses.

‘When those applications become important the IP networking technology will find it difficult to cope and firms may invest in networks such as Geant2,’ said Day.