SCinet SCinet Chair SCinet Vice
Chair SCinet is the high-performance network built to support the annual International Conference for High Performance Computing and Communications (SC). The SC Conference Series is co-sponsored by ACM SIGARCH and the IEEE Computer Society. SCinet features both a high-performance production-quality network as well as an extremely high performance experimental network, Xnet. Volunteers from educational institutions, high performance computing centers, network equipment vendors, research networks, and telecommunication carriers work together to design, build, and operate SCinet. Industry vendors and carriers donate much of the equipment and services need to build the LAN and WAN infrastructure. Planning begins more than a year in advance of each SC Conference and culminates with a high-intensity installation just 7 days before the Conference begins. SC2002 participants will have wide area connectivity to Abilene, ATDnet, DREN, ESnet, HSCC, SuperNet, and vBNS+. Qwest Communications is our most significant partner, delivering substantial WAN services including multiple OC-192c connections and sponsoring the Bandwidth Challenge. The aggregate WAN connectivity available to Industry and Research Exhibitors is expected to exceed 40 billion bits/second (Gbps). Service Offerings
Ethernet [2][3]
IP over
SONET [4]
ATM over
SONET [5][6]
SONET [7]
Dark Fiber
[8]
Network Performance
Monitoring Utilization and
errors for all external links, and all major SCinet internal links
will be monitored for operational purposes. Active techniques will
be used to monitor reachability over the external links and latency
to key sites. Internet2®
in conjunction with SCinet will provide a "weather map"
showing current utilization on all SCinet external links, based on
the technology used for the Abilene NOC weather map, developed by
the Abilene NOC at Indiana University. Spirent Communications
will provide multiple Adtech AX/4000s to passively monitor each wide
area connection and collect statistics. These statistics will include
total aggregate traffic counts on each of the connections and total
instantaneous traffic counts for use in judging this year's high-Bandwidth
Challenge. Flow data (e.g, NetFlow, cflow) will be collected from routers and visualized using FlowScan, a tool developed by Dave Plonka at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Packet Design
CNS is providing multiple Route Explorer appliances that provide visibility
into IP routes for quickly pinpointing and analyzing router-related
problems during network setup and operation. Route Explorer provides
a current routing layer view of the IP network and records all routing
events which can be used for historical analysis. Its reporting capabilities
include web-based reports, a query API, and alerts. Network Security Insecure Applications SCinet is providing
unencrypted IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b wireless networks for use by
Attendees and Exhibitors. Wireless networks are particularly vulnerable
by their very nature. The ease of use that makes them attractive is
the same feature that is most easily exploited. Wireless networks
are open to unauthorized monitoring or snooping by anyone within range
of an access point. Passive Monitoring Expanded Wireless
Network Services Free Wireless
Access for All Attendees DHCP-Enabled
Service Wireless FAQ
Available Wireless Monitoring SCinet Control
of the 2.4GHz and 5.2GHz Frequency Radio Spectrum
Successful
Wireless Operation is a Community Responsibility. Xnet The SCinet Exhibit
floor network has evolved into a robust, high-performance, production-quality
network that Exhibitors and Attendees depend on for reliable local
area, wide area, and commodity network service. Consequently, it has
become increasingly difficult for SCinet to showcase bleeding edge,
potentially fragile technology. Simultaneously, OEMs have at times
been reticent about showcasing bleeding-edge hardware in SCinet, as
it became a mission critical, production network. Xnet provides
the solution to this dichotomy by providing a venue which is by definition
bleeding-edge, pre-standard, and in which fragility is understood.
Xnet thus provides vendors and researcher exhibitors an opportunity
to showcase emerging network gear or capabilities, prior to their
general commercial availability. Xnet debuted in
Portland, OR at SC99, where Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
(DWDM) technology was used in the implementation of OC-48 SONET rings
on the conference show floor. At SC2000, Xnet demonstrated pre-production
and early delivery 10-Gigabit Ethernet equipment connecting several
exhibit floor booths. The SC2001 Xnet expanded the deployment of 10
Gigabit Ethernet using equipment from several vendors and using 10
Gigabit Ethernet in several Bandwidth Challenge Applications, including
the highest performance application to date. Xnet is focusing
on novel uses of 10 Gigabit Ethernet and other emerging technologies
for 2002. Please refer to materials available at the time of the conference
for additional information. Service Level
Policy SCinet provides
a series of networks each year for use by the Exhibitors and Attendees.
Each network can be broadly categorized as Commodity Internet, Research,
or Xnet infrastructure. In addition, there are significant peering
relationships among these networks that allow them to communicate.
Commodity Internet
networks include the high bandwidth connection from the convention
center to one or more Internet Service Providers, and both wired and
wireless networks that connect the exhibit halls, meeting rooms, ballrooms,
mail rooms, and other common areas to the Internet. Research networks
include very high bandwidth connections to National and Agency networks
including Internet2, ESnet, DREN, NREN, ATDnet, and vBNS. Coupled
with the extensive peering relationships that these networks have
with other research networks worldwide, SCinet can engineer connectivity
to virtually any public IP address in the world. Access to these networks
is limited to Exhibitors with network connections to the SCinet core. Xnet networks
are typically experimental and often fragile. These networks connect
small numbers of devices at extremely high bandwidth using equipment
that is pre-production, pre-standard, or research oriented. In most
cases, Xnet networks do not peer with other networks to reduce potential
network volatility. Full Description SCinet is primarily
organized across functional areas. There are specific points of contact
with responsibility for Wide Area Transport, Internet Services, Wireless
Infrastructure, Architecture, Routing and Switching Services, and
Xnet. Each of the functional area leads has an appropriate staff level
to support the installation, operation, and maintenance of that area.
Area leads coordinate the interaction among separate groups. SCinet will make
every practical effort to provide uninterrupted service on all networks
that it manages. In the event that there is a disruption of service
on any network, every practical effort will be made to return that
network to service as quickly as possible. Efforts to correct network
errors shall be prioritized across the following broad guidelines.
Higher priority events are listed first.
While every practical effort shall be made to provide stable and reliable network service on each network, there is no explicit service level agreement for any SCinet network, nor are there any remedies available in the event that network services are lost.
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