From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Participants Break Gigabit Speed Barriers (SC99)
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 16:55:53 -0600
SC99 Participants Break Gigabit Speed Barriers
PORTLAND, OR, November 10, 1999--Seven high technology leaders will
collaborate at SC99 to demonstrate that long-distance gigabit-per-second
networking is now ready for prime time and that next generation Internet
technologies and capabilities are now emerging in applications, in
end-systems, and in network infrastructure.
At the network infrastructure level, the National Transparent Optical
Network (NTON), the University of Washington-led Pacific/Northwest Gigapop
(PNWGP), and Nortel Networks will join forces to deliver 2.4 gigabits per
second (Gbps) of Internet capacity from the Microsoft Corp. and University
of Washington (UW) campuses to the SC99 exhibition hall. Microsoft, the
National Computational Science Alliance (Alliance), and the UW and Sony (in
support of the ResearchTV consortium) will each demonstrate gigabit
applications in their SC99 exhibits. These applications will run
concurrently over the PNWGP Internet and underlying NTON SONET fabrics from
Seattle to the SC99 show floor at the Oregon Convention Center. The
demonstrations will use more than 2 Gbps in aggregate bandwidth--the fastest
realtime applications ever run over a wide area network.
The Microsoft/Alliance demonstration shows that it is now possible to send a
gigabit-per-second TCP/IP stream from one Windows 2000 workstation to
another over a WAN. Microsoft teamed with the Alliance's NT cluster
development team and with the National Laboratory for Applied Network
Research (NLANR) to verify that Windows 2000 TCP/IP software performance
scales at Gbps rates on long-distance networks. This work demonstrates
speed breakthroughs in end-to-end workstation internetworking and shows the
capabilities of Windows 2000 TCP/IP.
"Our role in NLANR is to work with application teams to help them harness
the capabilities of high performance networks," said Larry Smarr, director
of the Alliance and NCSA, the leading-edge site for the Alliance. "Because
many of these applications involve Windows workstations, gigabit per second
performance of Windows over wide area networks is a capability that impacts
the entire high performance computing community."
Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft
Corp., said this demonstration will show that distributed computing over
high-speed, long-distance networks is a major part of the future for the
Windows OS. "This exhibition shows that Windows 2000 truly is a broadband
operating system prepared for the next millennium. Microsoft is thrilled
that Windows 2000 is able to display its gigabit-readiness through such a
tremendously innovative engineering feat."
Ed Lazowska, UW's head of computer science, added that "enabling gigabit
networking capabilities on what will eventually be millions or tens of
millions of desktops is the first step in unleashing developers worldwide to
create the next generation of applications, architectures and content."
The UW/Sony gigabit applications and content demonstration will transmit
five simultaneous channels of minimally-compressed studio-quality Internet
HDTV using industry standard video, computer, and networking equipment. Each
channel will require bandwidths in excess of 200 megabits per second (Mbps).
"This demonstration illustrates the feasibility of using Internet transport
technology for the real-time delivery of extraordinarily high quality video,
virtual reality, telemedicine, and other imaging streams," said UW vice
president Ron Johnson. He added that the demonstration shows it is now
possible to run distributed broadband applications over high-speed, next
generation Internet WANS using hardware and software available in the
consumer market. The demo will use broadcast and Internet standards, Sony's
suite of HDTV gear, off-the-shelf networking equipment, and commodity NT PCs
running custom software developed at UW with Microsoft Visual Studio.
The demonstration is the equivalent of concurrent transmission of the entire
channel lineup of a 150 channel cable TV system, or of 50 channels of
broadcast quality HDTV, five feature movies, or interactions among a number
of high-resolution video walls or immersive environments.
Together, these demonstrations show that the era of gigabit-per-second
networking and the next generation of Internet applications and content is
at hand.
For demonstration times, visit the Alliance research booth (R300) or the UW
research booth (RE602), where both sets of demos will run.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide
range of products and services designed to empower people through great
software - any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft and Windows are
either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United
States and/or other countries. Other product and company names herein may
be trademarks of their respective owners.
About The University of Washington (UW)
The University of Washington is one of the world's leading research
institutions. While the UW has great strength in a comprehensive array of
disciplines and professions in the technical realm, it is especially well
known for its programs in computer science and the health sciences, and for
its long and continuing role in the evolution of the Internet, Internet
messaging technologies, and digital convergence in new media. For more
information see http://www.washington.edu.
About the Alliance/NCSA
The National Computational Science Alliance is a partnership to prototype an
advanced computational infrastructure for the 21st century and includes more
than 50 academic, government and industry research partners from across the
United States. The Alliance is one of two partnerships funded by the
National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Advanced Computational
Infrastructure (PACI) program, and receives cost-sharing at partner
institutions. NSF also supports the National Partnership for Advanced
Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), led by the San Diego Supercomputer
Center. The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is the
leading-edge site for the Alliance. NCSA is a leader in the development and
deployment of cutting-edge high-performance computing, networking, and
information technologies. The National Science Foundation, the state of
Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners, and other federal
agencies fund NCSA.
About ResearchTV
ResearchTV is a consortium of many of the world's leading research
institutions that is dedicated to providing greater, much more timely, and
far broader access to progress in, and the findings and outcomes of
university, government and corporate R&D efforts. For more information see
http://www.washington.edu/researchtv.
About Sony
Sony Electronics is the premier provider of leading-edge digital video
technology for broadcast, production and HDTV, as well as exceptional
quality consumer electronics, computer, and display products. The University
of Washington and Sony have partnered successfully to pioneer HDTV over
Internet capabilities. For more information, see
http://www.sony.com/professional.
About the Pacific/Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP)
The Pacific/Northwest Gigapop is the northwest's next generation Internet
applications cooperative, testbed, and point of presence. PNWGP connects
universities as well as research institutions and R&D enterprises throughout
Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Oregon, to one another, to the next
generation Internet backbones (including vBNS, Internet2/Abilene and now
NTON), to federal research networks, and to super-high-performance commodity
internets. For more information, see http://www.pnwpg.org.
About NTON
The National Transparent Optical Network links government, research and
private sector labs and provides the ability to interface with most of the
broadband research networks in the U.S. NTON is a 2000 km 10-20 Gbs
Wavelength Division Multiplexed network deployed using in-place commercial
fiber. NTON provides direct access to nearly all of the major universities
on the West Coast at data rates up to, and potentially beyond, 2.5 Gbs.
-------------------------------------
Contacts:
Karen Green, NCSA/Alliance, kareng@ncsa.uiuc.edu, 217-265-0748
David Richardson, University of Washington, drr@u.washington.edu,
206-543-2876
Susan Brandt, ResearchTV, sbrandt@u.washington.edu, 212-414-4672
Lisa Young, Sony Electronics, lisa.young@am.sony.com, 408-955-5683
Jacqueline Brown, PNWGP, jbrown@cac.washington.edu, 206-685-6238