GÉANT2 network managers get a consistent view with the new perfSONAR network monitoring prototype
In collaboration with ESnet and Internet2, the GÉANT2 joint research activity on performance monitoring has released the first working prototype of its network monitoring architecture, provisionally named perfSONAR. The prototype is now providing information on link capacity and link utilisation across all the circuits of the Abilene, ESnet and GÉANT backbone networks. Access is being provided initially to a restricted group, but with the intention of enabling more widespread access once the tool is stable and proven.
The prototype represents a real breakthrough for monitoring across complex networks like GÉANT2. It is the first time that data from disparate network locations has been made available in a consistent manner. Up until now, monitoring data has been presented in a different way depending on where in the networks it was collected from, requiring network managers to use different tools for each network from which they needed to collect monitoring data. If successful, the prototype service will establish a new seamless monitoring method that wipes out such differences between interconnected networks, enabling a true end-to-end view of network performance.
The positive impact of this new development is already being felt by the EGEE (Enabling Grids for E-SciencE) project, which is participating in the prototype phase. EGEE is receiving data through the perfSONAR interface for analysis by its own prototype diagnostic tool. This will allow the EGEE project to make decisions about network use based on the amount of available bandwidth between its participating sites, and to troubleshoot data transfer problems more easily.
The development of the prototype has been made possible by close co-operation with research teams in North America. Engineers at the US organisations ESnet and Internet2 have been central to the system’s development, and are also deploying the system on their own networks. This means that networks in both continents are presenting the same data in a consistent manner. This ground-breaking piece of co-operation represents a step towards fulfilling the GEANT2 project’s vision of a seamless, end-to-end service, both across the GÉANT2 cloud and beyond to its intercontinental partners.
Notes
1. GÉANT2’s performance measurement and monitoring joint research activity focuses on getting more and better information on network performance out to network users of all kinds ­ through the expansion of data collected, the enhancement of monitoring tools to collect it, the construction of a new tool for visualising the data, and the implementation of unified interfaces for accessing it.
