Towards Deploying a Science-Driven Regional Interoperable Science DMZ

High-performance networking is a key enabler of data-intensive science, as researcher collaborations and the sharing/accessibility of data require large, fast transfers of data on a national and international scale. This workshop focuses on regional-level interoperability of campus “Science DMZs”, so that researchers can move data to/from their labs and their collaborators, national supercomputer centers or data repositories, traversing multiple, heterogeneous Science DMZs without performance degradation. This capability leverages substantial investments by NSF, DOE, and regional networks, and will advance data-intensive scientific discovery by advancing collaborations, making data readily accessible to large communities, and increasing researcher productivity.

It has always been a technical challenge to achieve high-speed networking performance between end-points where researchers typically work (instruments, computers, labs). The Science DMZ concept is a major advance in removing these roadblocks within a campus, and interoperability between heterogeneous Science DMZs is the next logical step in successfully addressing performance at both ends. This workshop is to address interoperability challenges by focusing near-term on a few specific scientific applications at a regional level while laying the foundation for extensibility to other applications and institutions.