Energy Sciences Network - Overview

Overview

ESnet is a high-speed network serving thousands of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientists and collaborators worldwide. ESnet links researchers at national laboratories, universities and other research institutions. It was formed in 1986, combining the operations of earlier projects known as HEPnet (for high-energy physics) and MFEnet (for magnetic fusion energy research).

Managed and operated by the ESnet staff at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ESnet's high speed network provides direct connections to 30 major DOE sites, as well as interconnections to over 100 other research and education networks. ESnet is funded principally by the DOE Office of Science through the Advanced Scientific Computing Research program.

From 1990 to 2007, ESnet's average traffic has grown by a factor of 10 every 47 months. By 2005, the core network used packet over SONET links at 10 Gbit/s.

ESnet development programs include:

• OSCARS: The On Demand Secure Circuits and Reservation System software developed at ESnet, and now open-sourced to the community, creates multi-domain, virtual circuits guaranteeing end-to-end data transfer performance on the network.

• perfSONAR: A test and measurement framework that provides end-to-end monitoring of multi-domain network performance. ESnet is a key member of the international perfSONAR collaboration.

• Advanced Networking Initiative (ANI): Launched in 2009 by $62 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, ESnet's Advanced Networking Initiative was a project to handle the expanding data needs between DOE supercomputing facilities. The mission of ANI is to accelerate the deployment of 100 Gbit/s technologies to support science research and education, that will transition into a production network.

A 100 Gbit/s plan was announced in July 2011 along with the Internet2 consortium to lease "dark fiber" otherwise unused capacity.