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a state-of-the-art model designed to address With Pacific Wave, institutions are able to this unique requirement. leverage new levels of scale and performance, Pacific Wave is an international Internet exchange facility that connects the research and education community of the Pacific Rim. It is operated in collaboration with the University of Southern California and the University of Washington and is a joint project between CENIC (the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California) and PNWGP CENIC AND PNWGP Pacific Wave Network Enables Researchers to Push New Boundaries enabling them to access scientific instruments and exchange data with their research collaborators throughout the region. It enables on-demand connectivity between the various global points of presence and includes the following services on its own dedicated but interconnected wavelengths: • A distributed, fully open, peering and (Pacific Northwest Gigapop). Pacific Wave exchange fabric with access points on a provides connectivity for research and 100-Gigabit backbone that spans Seattle, education institutions across the United States Sunnyvale and Los Angeles to which nearly through Internet2 (I2). It was the world’s first all Pacific Rim R&E networks connect — 100-Gigabit per second (Gbps) Research and and which is in turn interconnected with all Education (R&E) network link between Asia USA R&E backbones including Internet2 and the United States and is the official USA and ESnet (each with multiple 100-Gigabit National Science Foundation (NFS) funded connections) as well as the major cloud interconnection and peering facility and providers and international ISP; Software Defined Internet Exchange (SDX) for Pacific Rim research networks. • A wide-area Research DMZ platform with a dedicated 100-Gigabit backbone among Los The Pacific Wave Network’s fiber connects Angeles, Sunnyvale and Seattle and also From finding the next new medical breakthrough to investigating particle physics and beyond, almost all of today’s research involves a great deal of collaboration. Seattle down to Los Angeles, with landing access in Tokyo (at WIDE/T-REX and Tata stations that work with the international pops), Denver, Albuquerque, El Paso and networks across the Asia Pacific region. Chicago (at StarLight) via shared In order to effectively work on projects datasets are involved, it is important to have International circuits land onto the Pacific 100-Gigabit wavelengths that typically span multiple institutions an exchange point where international and Wave backbone and then peer with each throughout the U.S. and the world, researchers domestic networks can land and where data other and with I2, CENIC, PNWGP and the need reliable, high-speed access to extremely can be sent directly between the networks of U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences the collaborators at unprecedented speeds, Network (ESnet) — becoming an international and extremely low latency. Ensuring simplified exchange point for research and education access, rock solid reliability and, direct serving the entire Asia Pacific area. Pacific The NSF funds Science DMZs, an architecture connectivity, with research-level performance, Wave also now has a presence in Japan with a developed by ESnet (Department of Energy’s is becoming table stakes to the work and recently established 100-Gigabit circuit that science network) that enables large amounts of effectiveness of today’s researcher. The goes from Seattle to Tokyo. scientific data to be moved between labs and large datasets and intensive computing resources. In the western United States, many universities have field study areas throughout the Asia Pacific region and beyond. When continuous connectivity to extremely large 20 | CURRENT SPRING 2017 recently developed Pacific Wave Network is PACIFIC WAVE IN ACTION: Pacific Research Platform and the Future of Collaboration collaborators’ sites, supercomputer centers, Stronger Together | 21