Poster: Big Data Networking at Fermilab

Exascale science translates to big data. In the case of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the data is not only immense, it is also globally distributed. Fermilab is host to the LHC Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment's US Tier-1 Center, the largest of the LHC Tier-1s. The Laboratory must deal with both scaling and wide-area distribution challenges in processing its CMS data. Fortunately, evolving technologies in the form of 100Gigabit ethernet, multi-core architectures, and GPU processing provide tools to help meet these challenges. Current Fermilab R&D efforts in these areas include optimization of network I/O handling in multi-core systems, modification of middleware to improve application performance in 100GE network environments, and network path reconfiguration and analysis for effective use of high bandwidth networks. This poster will describe the ongoing network-related R&D activities at Fermilab as a mosaic of efforts that combine to facilitate big data processing and movement.