ESnet6 Design Enters Homestretch

ESnet passed another major milestone on the way to building the Department of Energy's next-generation, exabyte-scale science network. Known as ESnet6, the project was put through a final design review by an independent panel of experts in networking, research, and science, held May 15-17 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The ESnet6 design review team and members of an independent panel of expert reviewers pose for a group photo following a successful final design review held May 15-17 at Berkeley Lab. (Margie Wylie/ Berkeley Lab)

A successful final review signals the network design will fulfill the project's mission to

• Design, deploy, and commission a new exabyte-scale network that will have at least twice the networking capability as the current networking facility.

• Provide advanced automation for network operations, including security services, using an integrated network orchestration platform.

• Instantiate a highly programmable platform to facilitate exploration and implementation of transformative science data services.

A wide range of ESnet technical staff walked the review team through the ESnet6 design, from overviews to technical deep dives. The comprehensive briefing covered a range of topics, including network design, automation, orchestration development, and security measures targeted at all design points. In their review readout, the committee remarked favorably on the wealth and clarity of information, candid discussion with ESnet staff, and the skills and drive of the ESnet team that created and presented the design.

Following this successful design review, an Independent Project review will be conducted by the DOE Office of Project Assessment in December. This is the final critical decision point to clear ESnet6 for project implementation.

ESnet6 final design review committee members were, from left (front row) Raj Kettimuthu (Argonne National Laboratory), James Deaton (Great Plains Network), Shawn McKee (University of Michigan), Mark Foster (SLAC National Laboratory), and Caroline Carver Weilhamer (Global Research Network Operations Center/Indiana University) (back) Phil DeMar (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), Sebastiano Buscaglione (GEANT), Cees de Laat (University of Amsterdam), and Jamie Van Randwyk (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory). [Margie Wylie/Berkeley Lab]