Networking

The Center for Computation & Technology has spearheaded an initiative (LONI:
Louisiana Optical Network Initiative) in Louisiana to improve statewide networking and computing resources via the installation of a 40 Gigabit (4 x 10 Gb lambdas) optical network connecting eight research sites along with the deployment of a grid of five substantial computational systems. These systems are IBM p575 systems with 14 nodes, each containing 8 POWER 5 processors and 16 GB of RAM, interconnected with IBM’s Federation switch. LONI is now funded by the state to a level of $40 million over the next 10 years, and is expected to be operational from October 2005. CCT Director Edward Seidel holds the position of Chief Scientific Officer for LONI.

Louisiana has also recently become a member of the National Lambda Rail, which will provide highspeed 40 Gbps networking (4 x 10 Gbps lambdas) from LSU, and, via LONI, all major academic sites in the state, to other national and international sites. The Baton Rouge POP of the National Lambda Rail is expected to be operational in September 2005, with the LSU connection following in October 2005.

The CCT SuperMike cluster will be connected by at least two 10 Gbps circuits to both LONI and NLR. The CCT itself is currently connected by two 1 Gbps connections to the LSU network core, and from there LONI and NLR. These will soon be upgraded to 10Gig connections.