Enabling Grid-Network Services via Control Plane: the Phosphorus G²MPLS way to the e-Infrastructures

The Phosphorus project has built a pan-European research networking testbed that delivers advanced network services to grid users and applications, interconnected by heterogeneous grid and network infrastructures. Phosphorus researchers are demonstrating different approaches to the seamless provisioning of on-demand grid and network services: on the one hand, vertical integration among grid middleware, the AuthN/AuthZ Service Plane, the Network Control Planes and the underlying optical transport infrastructure; on the other hand, horizontal interoperations between multiple and technologically heterogeneous administrative domains that deploy different Network Control Plane architectures (either NRPS or enhanced ASON/ GMPLS). Phosphorus research records are achieved using demanding e-Science applications running on its distributed optical testbed, with remote laboratories interconnected through GÉANT2 to the worldwide optical infrastructures.

Grid-aware network services and the Grid-GMPLS (G²MPLS)
The paradigm of grid-aware networking (Grid Network Services), based on the flexible and holistic control of network and non-network resources, promises to be a key enabler for the optimized control of massive data transfers, very fast and guaranteed connections, and scheduled and transport services through multiple administrative domains. Phosphorus has designed and is experimenting with solutions that facilitate vertical and horizontal communication among applications middleware and different types of Control Planes. In particular, Phosphorus researchers have developed an extremely challenging grid-aware GMPLS Control Plane (G²MPLS), capable of implementing new GNS scenarios on top of a first-class pan-European optical and multi-domain field trial, deploying the most innovative optical transport technologies interconnected through GÉANT2.

G²MPLS rationale
G²MPLS is an enhancement of the ASON/GMPLS Control Plane architecture with single-step provisioning of network and grid resources, though a set of seamlessly integrated procedures. G²MPLS innovations include:
• fast dynamics for service setup in the same time-scale as for Network Control Plane setups
• availability of well-established procedures for traffic engineering, resiliency, crankback and multi-domain reservations at the network layer
• generalised interface for users to trigger grid and network reservations (Grid-Optical User Network Interface, G.OUNI)
• support for advance reservations on network transport services
• ability to implement innovative “anycasting” network transport services (i.e. with the dynamic selection of the optimal transmission sink by Control Plane, e.g. in case of distributed storage).
From a user’s perspective, G²MPLS enables a real node-to-node deployment of on-demand grid services, because it exposes specific interfaces towards the grid layer. From a network operator perspective, G²MPLS allows the integration of grids and automated network control plane technologies in real operational networks. This overcomes the current limitation of grids that operate as stand-alone overlaid infrastructures upon “always-on” networks.

G²MPLS experimental facilities
The G²MPLS Control Plane currently runs in two Phosphorus laboratories interconnected through the GÉANT2 infrastructure. These local test-beds, one at PSNC-PIONIER (Poland) and the other at the University of Essex (UK), represent two different administrative domains that internally deploy two types of optical switching capabilities:
• the Fiber Switching Capability (FSC), built around the Calient Diamond Wave Fiber Connect equipment;
• the Lambda Switching Capability (LSC), based on an optical DWDM ring of ADVA FSP 3000RE-II ROADMs with 40 wavelengths. Each is individually controlled by a G²MPLS controller and the overall Control Plane is bridged to the application/grid layer through G.OUNI client nodes. Different e-Science applications have been adapted and integrated in the G²MPLS testbed: the Distributed Data Storage Systems (DDSS), the Collaborative Data Visualisation (KoDaVis) for atmospheric simulations, and Wide In Silico Docking On Malaria (WISDOM) for large-scale molecular dockings on malaria study. DDSS and G²MPLS were publicly demonstrated at Supercomputing 2008 and ICT’08, showing the successful and dynamic any cast storage of data contents.