World's Longest Native 10Gigabit Ethernet Connection Established

Engineers in Japan, Canada, United States, The Netherlands, and CERN, Switzerland completed the world's longest native 10Gigabit Ethernet circuit for the transmission of data from the Japanese Data Reservoir project to the CERN research center in Geneva, Switzerland. The length of this light path is approximately 18,500 km and spans 17 time zones.

This international cooperative project pushes the boundaries of global research and education networking and lays a foundation for a new array of international research opportunities.

Using 10Gigabit Ethernet WAN PHY technology a local area network connecting computers at the University of Tokyo was extended to include computers at CERN so that they all appeared to be on the same LAN. The connection from the University of Tokyo to T-LEX was provided by the WIDE project. From T-LEX, the circuit was passed to Seattle using a wavelength donated by Tyco Telecommunications through the IEEAF, and cross connected through facilities provided by Pacific Northwest Gigapop in Seattle. From Seattle the circuit was then carried across a dedicated lambda on the CA*net 4 network to the Chicago StarLight. At StarLight, the interconnect to SURFnet's Chicago-Amsterdam lambda was made, taking the connection to NetherLight in Amsterdam. Finally, between NetherLight and CERN, SURFnet's Amsterdam-Geneva lambda was used.

The network connection involved interconnecting optical lambdas across equipment from a variety of vendors including Foundry Networks, Nortel Networks and Cisco Systems. This is believed to be the first demonstration of the interoperation of 10Gigabit Ethernet WAN PHY and optical SONET/SDH equipment from these vendors.

The 10Gigabit Ethernet connection will be used by the Data Reservoir/GRAPE-DR project of the University of Tokyo to test the optimization and transfer of larger TCP data flows across such a long fat pipe facility. Such transfers are of particular relevance to the ATLAS experiment at CERN's future Large Hadron Collider, where the University of Tokyo is contributing a data analysis center. The data transfer is achieved between a pair of data-sharing systems Data Reservoir placed at the University of Tokyo and CERN. An average transfer rate of 7.57 Gbps was achieved for a single TCP stream, using standard Ethernet frames, between two high-end servers equipped with Chelsio T110 10Gigabit Ethernet adapters.

The Data Reservoir system also achieved a 9 Gbps disk-to-disk data transfer with 9 Xeon servers at each end of the connection. This performance figure has not been reported before on an intercontinental disk-to-disk situation.

This networking experiment complements and supports activities underway in the Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF). Most of the participants in this effort are also participants in GLIF.

The demonstrations were made possible through the support of the following manufacturers, who have generously contributed their equipment and knowledge: Foundry Networks, Nortel Networks, Chelsio Communications, Cisco Systems, Bussan Networks, and Net One Systems.

We acknowledge the support of: the European Union project ESTA (IST-2001-33182), CERN OpenLAB, SARA, Global Crossing, Industry Canada, NTT Communications, Special Coordination Fund for Promoting Science and Technology, MEXT, Japan, and ITC of the University of Tokyo.

About CANARIE
CANARIE is Canada's advanced Internet organization, a not-for-profit corporation that facilitates the development and use of next-generation research networks and the applications and services that run on them. By promoting collaboration among key sectors and by partnering with similar initiatives around the world, CANARIE stimulates innovation and growth and helps to deliver social, cultural, and economic benefits to all Canadians. CANARIE positions Canada as the global leader in advanced networking, and is supported by its members, project partners, and the Government of Canada. CANARIE developed and operates CA*net 4, Canada's national research and education network.

About CERN
CERN is the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, one of the world's most prestigious centers for fundamental research. The laboratory is currently building the Large Hadron Collider. The most ambitious scientific undertaking the world has yet seen, the LHC will collide tiny fragments of matter head on to unravel the fundamental laws of nature. It is due to switch on in 2007 and will be used to answer some of the most fundamental questions of science by some 7,000 scientists from universities and laboratories all around the world.

About Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP)
Pacific Northwest Gigapop is the Northwest's Next Generation Internet, applications cooperative, testbed, point of presence; home to the Pacific Wave international peering exchange; and joint steward with WIDE of the IEEAF trans-Pacific link. PNWGP and Pacific Wave connect together high-performance international and federal research networks with universities, research organizations, and leading edge R&D and new media enterprises throughout Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and the Pacific Rim.

About SURFnet
SURFnet operates and innovates the national research network, to which over 150 institutions in higher education and research in the Netherlands are connected. The organization is among the leading research network operators in the world. SURFnet is responsible for the realization of GigaPort Next Generation Network, a project of the Dutch government, trade and industry, educational institutions and research institutes to strengthen the national knowledge infrastructure. Research on optical and IP networking and grids are a prominent part of the project.

About University of Tokyo, Data Reservoir/GRAPE-DR Project
University of Tokyo, Data Reservoir /GRAPE-DR Project is a research project funded by the Special Coordination Fund for Promoting Science and Technology, MEXT, Japan. The goal of the project is to establish a global data-sharing system for scientific data and to construct a very high-speed computing engine for simulation in astronomy, physics and bio-science. GRAPE-DR project will construct 2PFLOPS computing engine and global research infrastructure that utilize multi-10Gbps networks in 2008. This experiment is performed by cooperation of the University of Tokyo and Fujitsu Computer Technologies, LTD. Contact: Kei Hiraki

About WIDE
WIDE, a research consortium working on practical research and development of Internet-related technologies, was launched in 1988. The Project has made a significant contribution to development of the Internet by collaborating with many other bodies -- including 133 companies and 11 universities to carry out research in a wide range of fields, and by operating M.ROOT-SERVERS.NET, one of the DNS root servers, since 1997. WIDE Project also operates T-LEX as an effort of stewardship for the IEEAF Pacific link in Tokyo. Contact: press @ wide.ad.jp; Tel: +81-466-49-3618 (c/o KEIO Research Institute at SFC)

About IEEAF
The Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation (IEEAF) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to obtain donations of telecommunications capacity and equipment and make them available for use by the global research and education community. The IEEAF TransPacific Link is the second 10 Gbps transoceanic link provided by IEEAF through a five year IRU donated by Tyco Telecom; the first, the IEEAF TransAtlantic Link, connects New York and Groningen, The Netherlands, and has been operational since 2002. IEEAF donations currently span 17 time zones.

About GLIF
GLIF is a consortium of institutions, organizations, consortia and country National Research Networks who voluntarily share optical networking resources and expertise for the advancement of scientific collaboration and discovery, under the leadership of SURFnet and University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands.