ESnet6 sets new benchmark in research networks

Long-standing collaboration between ESnet and Ciena helps enable 46.1 Tbps bandwidth and intelligent network services to accelerate scientific discoveries.

  • Wednesday, 12th October 2022 Posted 2 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) has deployed Ciena's (NYSE:CIEN) coherent optical technology across ESnet6 – the newest generation of the DOE’s high-performance network dedicated to science. 

 

Providing 46.1 Terabits per second (Tbps) of bandwidth and intelligent network services, ESnet6 will support multi-petabyte dataflows typical of science research today and will also scale to manage the emerging exabyte data era of the future. ESnet6 will enable scientists to significantly advance their ability to gain insight from massive datasets produced by experiments that use large scale instruments like genome sequencers, telescope observatories, X-ray light sources and particle accelerators, among many others. 

 

ESnet6 utilizes Ciena's Waveserver 5 powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme to support 100GbE and 400GbE interconnectivity. Ciena’s optical technology provides reduced cost per bit per kilometer, simplified operations via a web-scale operational model, and smarter software and analytics derived from real-time network data that it reveals. These benefits are critical to ESnet6 as it fuels data for scientific discovery for tens of thousands of DOE-funded researchers at more than 50 U.S. laboratories and supercomputing facilities to research partners around the world. 

 

“​​ESnet6 provides the foundation for the future of the DOE mission science as we enter an age where discoveries will rely on the integration of scientific experimental facilities, supercomputers and global science teams working together, regardless of location,” stated Inder Monga, Executive Director at Esnet. “ESnet6 could not be built without critical industry pioneers like Ciena. Ciena’s WaveLogic technology allows us to scale the capacity and capability of our network to support the next evolution of data-intensive science.” 

 

“ESnet6 sets a new benchmark in network programmability, intelligence and capacity. The innovation and technology implemented within this network is truly cutting-edge and will support seamless access to data and compute resources, as well as fuel critical scientific research on things like high energy physics, climate change, genomics and astronomy,” said Steve Alexander, Chief Technology Officer at Ciena.