INTERCONNECTS

Force10 Networks today announced that StarLight, one of the world's largest optical network exchanges for national and international research and education networks, is utilizing the high 10 Gigabit Ethernet density of the TeraScale E-Series to enable high-performance, flexible peering. As one of the resources for Chicago-based StarLight, the Force10 TeraScale E-Series is providing nearly 50 line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, many more than most carriers, to ensure seamless connection between all networks peering at the exchange. Currently, StarLight is preparing to support multiple high performance data-intensive demonstrations at next week's SC05 conference in Seattle. "StarLight interconnects most of the world's major high-performance research and education networks in support of large-scale, data-intensive e-science applications and requires not only scalable high performance networking but also resiliency and reliability," said Tom DeFanti, director of the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory and one of StarLight's founders. "The Force10 E-Series enables us to provide a foundation upon which to build large-scale, cost-effective network services without compromising performance, especially as additional 10 Gig circuits are added and data volumes increase." The Force10 TeraScale E-Series brings a unique combination of industry-leading density and unmatched resiliency that fundamentally alters network economics. With support for 1,260 Gigabit and 224 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports per chassis, the TeraScale E-Series provides a scalable foundation for high performance networks like StarLight that reduces capital expenditures as well as operational costs. Coupled with the leading density of the TeraScale E-Series is its three CPU architecture, which distributes switching, routing and management functionality between distinct processors to provide StarLight with a high level of network resiliency. "The Force10 equipment is currently supporting multiple national and global advanced applications, including advanced prototypes that cannot be supported by traditional infrastructure," said Joe Mambretti, director of the International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) and manager of the StarLight facility. In addition to anchoring StarLight, the Force10 TeraScale E-Series is also used by many of the networks that peer at the exchange. Force10's ties to the national and international research and education networking communities extend to national laboratories, supercomputing facilities, regional networks and some of the largest clusters and grids in U.S. universities. Additionally, partnerships with the Peter Kiewit Institute and Internet2 further extend Force10's presence in this early adopter community. "The research and education communities have a long history of leveraging the latest technology to advance scientific study and learning," said Mark Cooper, Force10 vice president of sales. "StarLight has now shown for the first time how to foster scientific advancement by leveraging the benefits of next-generation technology across a global research community." Since 2001, StarLight has been working with the international academic and commercial communities to create a proving ground for grid-intensive e-Science applications. The networks that peer at StarLight include national research networks as well as networks owned by countries, consortia, institutions and individual research initiatives. Collectively, these networks are part of a "virtual organization" called the Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF), which supports persistent data-intensive scientific research and middleware development. Additionally, this virtual organization defines open exchanges or GLIF Optical Lightpath Exchanges (GOLEs), like StarLight, to assure the interconnectivity and interoperability of links.