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Collaborative Net Data Transfer Record

December 10, 2002 Collaborative Project Breaks World Record for Fastest Data Transfer VANCOUVER, BC - BCNET, a non-profit society for the development of advanced networks within the province, announced today with its project partners, the completion of a high-speed data transfer project across Canada and the United States. The project demonstrated a data transfer of five Terabytes from Chicago, Illinois to Vancouver, BC and then to Ottawa, ON. The record-breaking demonstration transferred data at incredibly fast speeds of just over 11 Gigabits per second, which is 15 times faster than previous records for similar type data transfers. [Ed note - the transfer used TCP with no special modification over dedicated lightpaths]. BCNET, together with YottaYotta, CANARIE, WestGrid, StarLight, Netera Alliance, Logistical Computing and Internetworking, and the University of Carleton have been working on this project to increase the speed of data transmission over a given geographical distance. The data transfer project utilized a storage Wide Area Network (WAN) architecture, fibre optic cable, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and YottaYotta’s NetStorager® System. “BCNET is very excited to be working with technology companies such as YottaYotta to showcase the capabilities of the province’s first and only Optical Regional Advanced Network - the ORAN,” said Michael Hrybyk, President & CEO of BCNET. “We are also excited about projects such as this one that allow us to discover new ways to use the network to further research and education initiatives across the province.” During the project testing, up to 93% of the existing bandwidth on CA*net 4 was used, with available WAN bandwidth being the primary constraint on data transmissions. Loop-back experiments were also conducted where data was transmitted “round-trip” from Vancouver to Chicago and then back to Vancouver again. The distance covered was approximately 6,214 miles or 10,000 kilometres. “This is a new world record, equivalent to transferring all printed collections from the Library of Congress within two hours time,” said Wayne Karpoff, Vice-President and CTO for YottaYotta. “It’s proof that YottaYotta uniquely enables the global sharing of massive amount of information in ways that today’s business applications and recovery schemes require. Additionally, emerging GRID computing schemas will demand the type of data accessibility and transfer that YottaYotta is delivering today.” Together with CANARIE and StarLight, BCNET contributed optical network infrastructure for the project. YottaYotta provided the enabling NetStorager® System technology, the high-performance storage wide area network solution, and the overall project management for the collaborative test. WestGrid, Netera Alliance, the Logistical Computing and Internetworking (LoCI) Laboratory at the University of Tennessee and the University of Carleton supported the project with WAN networking expertise and assisted in securing network infrastructure. About BCNET BCNET is a non-profit society supporting and promoting advanced networks for the province’s research and education communities. The organization serves BC’s universities, research and development institutions, government bodies, community organizations and industry groups. BCNET is the province’s foremost leader in advanced network technology and is leading the way for enhancing education and research capabilities over the Internet. BCNET is supported by the provincial and federal governments as well as by its regional university members. About Project Partners YottaYotta’s NetStorager* System, the next generation storage solution, converges storage & communications technologies to enable globally networked, coherent storage. CANARIE is Canada’s advanced Internet development organization and a not-for-profit corporation supported by its members, project partners and the Federal Government. WestGrid is an 8-institution project for high-performance computing and advanced visualization and collaboration in Western Canada. BCNET is a non-profit society developing advanced Internet networks for education, health and research facilities in British Columbia. StarLight is an advanced optical infrastructure and proving ground for network services optimized for high-performance applications. Netera Alliance, a not-for-profit corporation of universities, research institutions, government and private-sector companies facilitating advanced information infrastructure in Alberta. The Logistical Computing and Internetworking (LoCl) Laboratory at the University of Tennessee is devoted to information logistics in distributed compute systems and networks. The Physics Department at Carleton University is a member of ATLAS, a Particle Physics Experiment at CERN that will require high bandwidth long distance data transfer capabilities. Contact: Lucy Cook BCNET lucy.cook@bc.net