SNAG: SDN-managed Network Architecture for GridFTP Transfers

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is driving transformations in Research and Education (R&E) networks, enabling innovations in network research, enhancing network performance, and providing security through a policy-driven network management framework. The Holland Computing Center (HCC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) supports scientists studying large datasets, and has identified a need for flexibility in network management and security, particularly with respect to identifying data flows. This problem is addressed through the deployment of a production SDN with a focus on integrating network resource management for large-scale GridFTP data transfers. We propose SNAG (SDN-managed Network Architecture for GridFTP transfers), an architecture that enables the SDN-based network management of GridFTP file transfers for large-scale science datasets. We also show how SNAG can efficiently and securely identify science dataset transfers from projects such as Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). We focus on exposing an Application Program Interface (API) between the trusted GridFTP process and the network layer allowing the network to track flows via application metadata.

D. Nadig, et al., “SNAG: SDN-managed Network Architecture for GridFTP Transfers,” in INDIS ’16, SLC, Utah, November 2016.