This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Project Proposed: This project, building a Scalable Energy Efficient Datacenter (SEED), develops an integrated solution that encompasses physical layer hardware, protocols, and topologies that can provide the expected size and performance scaling for future data centers while minimizing the cost and energy per switched bit. The work creates the knowledge base required for the development of next generation scalable, energy efficient datacenters. Unique features of this instrument include novel statistical multiplexing modules to reduce connection complexity, a circuit switched optical interconnection fabric, and the ability to accommodate novel protocols, components and subsystems in a realistic system environment. With a design based entirely on commodity components and a non-blocking and scalable switch, the baseline configuration of the SEED instrument will connect more than 250 servers, each operating at 10 Gb/s. The fully configured instrument is a hybrid electrical packet/optically circuit-switched network designed to efficiently route large data flows into a circuit-switched optical core utilizing an optical switch from a previously funded MRI, Quartzite. The instrument supports several newly established multidisciplinary projects including the ERC Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN), the MRI GreenLight project, the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture, and Archaeology (CISA3), and projects at the San Diego Supercomputer center. Specifically, SEED is expected to create the technology base for an order of magnitude improvement in both the cost and energy per switched bit. This will be accomplished by the development of new protocols and topologies, measuring and optimizing application dependent traffic patterns, providing critical system-driven specifications of a technology roadmap for the development of novel photonic technologies, and acting as a platform for training the next generation network engineers that are equally versed in both optical and electrical networks. The following four issues are associated with the SEED instrument. - Design of flow scheduling techniques for fat trees that fit both electrical and hybrid systems, - Algorithms for fault tolerance (components in large scale communication switches fail), - Optimal Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) design (uses multiple lasers and transmits several wavelengths of light (lambdas) simultaneously over a single optical fiber) - Technology road map based on findings on performance metrics pertaining to building, testing, and operating the initial optical aggregation, transmission, and switching hardware to inform the Center for Integrated Access Networks (CIAN) ERC.
Broader Impacts: The engine of the 21st century economy, the creation of wealth through information processing, utilizes data centers as its cornerstones. Hence, technologies that can enable larger and more energy efficient information processing will affect many, if not every, aspect of modern life. Access to efficient remote processing should dramatically reduce the amount of physical transport and avoid the expense and human costs of unnecessary commuting, minimize environmental impact from infrastructure and pollution, substantially reduce our dependence on energy imports, improve educational opportunities, enhance the distribution of medical services, and increase overall national security. Thus, the infrastructure to carry these services constitutes a precious national resource, perhaps as precious as the air, rail, and road transportation. Indeed, it should enable this country to better compete globally.
