ESnet Lights up First Superfast Science Data Network
When the new 100-gigabit-per-second Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) goes live next month, it will be the world’s fastest continent-spanning science network.
Writing in the October issue of IEEE Spectrum, Ariel Bleicher describes the science drivers behind ESnet’s move to a 100 gigabit-per-second network.
“When the new 100-gigabit-per-second Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) goes live next month, it will be the world’s fastest continent-spanning science network. But this distinction will probably be temporary: Research networks around the world are in the midst of their own big upgrades,” wrote Bleicher. “Now more than ever, science depends on the ability to quickly and reliably move massive amounts of data over great distances. Breakthrough predictions and discoveries, such as climate change and exoplanets, rarely happen at one institution anymore. This summer’s sighting of a particle resembling the Higgs boson, for instance, required sharing about 26 petabytes of data per year among more than 150 computing centers in 36 countries.”
