News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren Rotman" <>]

Internet2 Deploys Experimental Phoebus Service 

New Session Layer Protocol and Framework Aims to Improve Performance for
Long Distance Data Transfers

LINCOLN, Neb. - July 22, 2008 - Internet2 today announced it is deploying
the Phoebus framework on its network as an experimental research and
development prototype that aims to provide significant performance
improvements for long distance, high-capacity data transfers like those
critical to large-scale research projects like the Large Hadron Collider. 

Conceived and under active development by computer science researchers at
the University of Delaware, the Phoebus platform embeds greater
"intelligence" in the network, enabling it to automatically off-load large
data flows from the IP network onto dedicated links on the Internet2 Dynamic
Circuit Network (DCN). By transparently moving high-demand applications onto
dedicated paths, the project hopes to help users benefit from the improved
performance and precise quality of service that characterize circuit
networking while at the same time placing far less strain on the shared IP
infrastructure.

"The Internet2 Network provides our members a proving ground for new
technology and services like Phoebus. We are excited about the potential of
Phoebus to enable our members to experiment with and better leverage the
high performance capabilities of the Internet2 hybrid optical and IP network
environment," said Rick Summerhill, chief technology officer of Internet2. 

Phoebus works by segmenting a connection into a series of transport layer
connections at adaption points in the network called Phoebus Gateways. The
technology then finds the best transport protocol for the data on a
segment-by-segment basis. On the Internet2 infrastructure, this means
applications could access the DCN using a standard TCP connection to the
closest Phoebus Gateway on the backbone. The gateway then shifts the data
onto a dynamically created circuit to traverse the long-haul portion of the
path where it is then transferred back onto the shared IP network to reach
its destination. 

"Phoebus builds on standard Internet infrastructure at the edge of the
network, while creating a bridge to advanced architectures like the
Internet2 DCN to enable a broader range of applications and systems to
immediately experience the improved performance of dynamic circuit network
capabilities," said Martin Swany, assistant professor of computer and
information sciences at the University of Delaware and lead developer of
Phoebus. 

While Phoebus Gateways are currently deployed at Internet2 IP backbone
nodes, gateways can also be installed at any regional network and university
campus having an Internet2 DCN connection to experiment with the technology
to provide even greater application performance improvements. NYSERNet, the
advanced networking provider for the New York research and education
community, is among the early users of Phoebus technology to support a
Syracuse University researcher involved with the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) project. 

Funded by the NSF and operated by the California Institute of Technology and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, LIGO was created for the purpose
of detecting cosmic gravitational waves and for the development of
gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Researchers
involved in this project require occasional access to several terabytes of
data from other remotely-located LIGO participants. 

"To date, our Phoebus testing has shown dramatic performance increases, even
while using well-tuned applications that were already achieving good
performance over the routed IP network," said Bill Owens, director of
advanced technology and networking for NYSERNet. "For instance, one LIGO
researcher in our region has been able to increase his application
performance by over 10 times, reducing the time needed to transfer a dataset
that is central to his research from 40 days to less than four." 

Phoebus developers will continue to work with the Internet2 member community
and working groups to refine existing functionality and identify additional
features that address user needs that will enable it to potentially progress
beyond an experimental prototype.

Martin Swany, assistant professor of computer and information sciences,
University of Delaware and lead developer of Phoebus will present a session
on the technology at the ESCC/Internet2 Joint Techs Workshop, July 22, 2008
at 3:20pm CDT. The session will be netcast for worldwide viewing. 
For more information, visit:
http://events.internet2.edu/2008/jt-lincoln/sessionDetails.cfm?session=10000
067&event=281

The netcast will be archived for future viewing.

For more information on Phoebus, visit:
http://www.internet2.edu/performance/phoebus/index.html

Media contact:
Lauren Rotman

202.331.5345

About Internet2(R)
Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by the
research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes the missions
of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities and
unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the development,
deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies. Internet2 brings
the U.S. research and academic community together with technology leaders
from industry, government and the international community to undertake
collaborative efforts that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet.

For more information: http://www.internet2.edu