NETWORKS

Force10 Networks, the pioneer in building and securing high performance networks, announced that the Global Ring Network for Advanced Application Development (GLORIAD) has deployed the TeraScale E-Series family of switch/routers to connect the world’s scientists and enable daily collaboration on a diverse range of complex scientific questions and research. The high density and unmatched resiliency of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series provides the long-term scalability the international grid network needs to ensure predictable performance as it transitions from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. “With demand shifting from shared services to dedicated services within our worldwide community, bandwidth requirements are increasing, and we needed an infrastructure that could grow with us as we expand to 10 Gig,” said Greg Cole, research director at the Joint Institute for Computational Science of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and U.S. principal investigator for the GLORIAD program. “The Force10 E-Series gives us the long-term scalability we need to migrate to the next generation of our international infrastructure and create a collaborative environment that allows scientists to share resources and ideas around the world.” The Force10 TeraScale E300 is deployed by the Joint Institute for Computational Science to provide dedicated Gigabit Ethernet services to U.S. scientists. Additionally, the TeraScale E300 is deployed in Chicago-based StarLight, one of the largest optical network exchanges for national and international research and education networks in the world, to interconnect scientists on the GLORIAD network worldwide. The Force10 TeraScale E300 delivers the high Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet densities that GLORIAD requires to seamlessly scale traffic without compromising performance. The unique multi-processor architecture also ensures maximum network uptime by distributing switching, routing and management functionality between three CPUs while access control lists enable GLORIAD to dynamically block malicious or harmful traffic. “Force10 has long partnered with organizations within the research and education community to further the advancement of scientific solutions through innovative, next generation networking,” said Mark Cooper, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Force10 Networks. “GLORIAD extends our history of leadership in the community to a truly global reach and scale by bringing together leading research teams from around the world.” In addition to providing the GLORIAD international links, StarLight also relies on the 10 Gigabit Ethernet density of the Force10 TeraScale E-Series within its own network to ensure high-performance, flexible peering. The TeraScale E1200 provides 50 line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, many more than most carriers, to ensure seamless connection between all networks peering at the exchange. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), South Korea’s national supercomputer center, also deployed the Force10 TeraScale E-Series in its grid network to connect the country with scientists and researchers worldwide via GLORIAD. Leveraging the high density and resiliency of the TeraScale E600 at the core of its network, KISTI is building the foundation for Korea’s next generation information infrastructure. GLORIAD is a collaborative effort between Russia, China, the U.S., the Netherlands, Korea, Canada and the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to provide scientists around the globe with advanced networking tools and computing resources to further scientific data exchange and enable collaboration on such topics as geosciences, high energy physics, atmospheric sciences and astronomy. With the help of government funding, these nations are building an international grid will connect scientific organizations worldwide.