CC*DNI Networking Infrastructure: Campus Network Enhancement to Support Data Intensive Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville

University Of Alabama In Huntsville, Huntsville AL

Investigators

Abstract

This project, "CC*DNI Networking Infrastructure: Campus Network Enhancement to Support Data Intensive Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville", establishes a high-performance campus network dedicated to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) scientific research community. Implementation of this project enables UAH researchers to perform leading edge research impacting the entire nation, particularly in the areas of big data management and analysis, space exploration and space science, cybersecurity, earth and atmospheric science, optical engineering, aerospace, and propulsion. Scientific research is not only vital to scientific discovery and UAH's expansion of undergraduate and graduate STEM education programs, the research done at UAH contributes to local, state, and national economic development and job creation. Many of the research initiatives at UAH involve the collection, analysis, visualization and sharing of large amounts of data, and include use of sensors and other real-time data sources. To better support data-intensive science, this project enables a fast, highly secure, and highly flexible network environment called a Science DMZ. The Science DMZ is comprised of both 100GE and 40GE connections between major research facilities on the UAH campus. By using Software Defined Networking (SDN) and OpenFlow, the network intelligently selects the Science DMZ exclusively for secure, protected research data flows. An expanded PerfSONAR implementation is utilized to monitor and continuously tune the Science DMZ network performance. Scientists and researchers experience a secure, friction-free network through the use of the UAH Science DMZ, further enabling future data-intensive research.