Bandwidth challenge issues call for participants

released July 15, 2003

SCinet and Qwest Communications are sponsoring the Fourth Annual High Performance Bandwidth Challenge. Contestants must use the SCinet infrastructure to demonstrate emerging techniques or applications, many of which consume enormous amounts of network resources. Potential contestants must submit notification of their intent to participate by Friday (July 18).

Last year's winner of the competition for the "Highest Performing Application" was Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with a peak data transfer rate of 16.8 gigabits per second, nearly 300,000 times faster than an Internet user with a typical 56K connection.

For SC2003, to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, November 15-20, applicants are challenged to stress the SCinet network infrastructure while delivering innovative application value across the multiple research networks that connect to SCinet. SCinet anticipates delivery of as many as four OC-192c wide area network interconnects to the Phoenix Convention Center. To support contestants, SCinet facilitates access to the networks, provides technical support to applicants, and makes arrangements for equipment and floor and rack space to applicants with demonstrable needs.

The judging criteria have been expanded to include:

• Measurement of sustained TCP utilization
• Quality of IPv6 implementation
• Innovative features of non-stock TCP implementations
• Applicability to the real world
• Efficiency and effectiveness of multi-continent implementations
• Improvement over previously demonstrated method
• Quality of first-time demonstrations

Qwest is sponsoring the award of one or more monetary prizes for the applications that make the most effective and/or courageous use of SCinet resources. The primary measure of performance will be the verifiable network throughput as measured from the contestant's equipment through the SCinet switches and routers to external connections.

Further details will be sent to participants once the notification of intent is received. More information is also available at http://scinet.supercomp.org/2003/ExhibitorKit/EK-BWC.html. Questions can be sent to Kevin Walsh at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at bwc@scinet.supercomp.org.

 

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