CC*IIE Networking Infrastructure: NWIRED - Network Innovation for Research and Education at Georgetown

Georgetown University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Georgetown University is creating a Research Community Science DMZ network for scientific collaboration internally and with external researchers, leveraging GU's extant plan for Multi-Processing Label Switching deployment on campus. The IP networks at the off-campus GU Virginia Data Center (VDC) are securely extended via encrypted Layer-2/3 connection into cloud services, including access to Amazon Web Services, Internet2 Net+, and compute and storage resources. These enhancements provide a friction-free, high-speed network to support Big Science and Big Data. Campus data use is expanding from terabytes to petabytes, extending into campus labs, commercial cloud services, and Mid-Atlantic Crossroads Regional Gigapop and Internet2 researchers through a layer 3 Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). The GU Science DMZ and campus MPLS network architectures securely and deterministically separate research traffic from general Internet and administrative traffic. This flexible infrastructure enables faculty and others involved in STEM to work with colleagues on campus and at off-campus sites as though they were in the same lab, leveraging the speed of the 10 Gbps connection to Internet2. The Science DMZ includes the addition of a Data Transfer Node (DTN) host to support high-speed data transfers, Software Defined Networking (SDN) to extend services beyond GU?s borders and perfSONAR to maintain performance data on network throughput, availability, and latency. The Science DMZ, with the ability to access cloud compute and storage resources, leverages 10Gbps network enhancements on campus and to Internet2, STEM research and education are expanding at GU. Strategic investments have been and are being made in faculty, programs and infrastructure. The GU network, including the Science DMZ, enables flexible access to on campus and cloud resources, enabling more compute and storage intensive research. As research programs expand, the quality of education and research available to STEM undergraduate and graduate students is enriched.