CC*Integration-Large: Programmable Network Testbed for 400 Gbps Science DMZ

The data storage and transfer needs of science drivers such as high energy physics far exceeds regular campus traffic already, and continues to grow. This explosive growth in turn challenges the task of monitoring and managing research networks. This project will design, implement and deploy PRONET, a testbed to support cutting-edge research for managing Science DMZ traffic.

PRONET will enable (i) real-time monitoring of Terabits per second of traffic for tasks such as security and performance; (ii) enable complex processing at network line rate to support both current Science DMZ use cases (e.g., detect security attacks) and emerging ones (e.g., process IoT traffic); and (iii) validation of programmable networking research on real-world traffic.

Major areas of innovation are: (i) the design of a system for monitoring Science DMZ traffic in real time for both operational and experimental needs that can scale to Tbps of traffic; (ii) new capabilities to monitor traffic within the Science DMZ which will enable both enhanced security, and characterization of new types of traffic; (iii) demonstrating how programmable networking can enable a wide range of emerging use cases in Science DMZ environments related to security attack detection, machine learning-based traffic classification, and IoT traffic processing through support for offloading functionality to heterogeneous and distributed programmable hardware; and (iii) insights obtained by experimenting with programmable networking prototypes on real-world traffic which can advance research in the area.

The team comprises PIs with complementary expertise in both networking research and management of campus cyber-infrastructure. The PIs will collaborate with Purdue's central IT organization to integrate PRONET into Purdue’s network infrastructure.

The project will influence future Science DMZ designs by demonstrating use cases of programmable networking in these environments. The experiences will be disseminated to both networking researchers as well as practitioners who manage Science DMZ environments. The project will drive the adoption of programmable networking, leading to more secure, reliable, and agile network environments.

The project will extensively involve graduate and undergraduate students, and the PIs will work to actively recruit students from underrepresented groups.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.