We recently upgraded our internet connection from 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps (gigabits per second). This will significantly improve data transfer capabilities from the SDU eScience Center to other data centers in Denmark and Europe.
What’s new?
With 100 Gbps speed, the SDU eScience Center gains the capacity to handle the ever-increasing data loads of modern applications. The upgrade applies to all the hardware managed by the SDU eScience Center.
“If you have to move 500 TB (=5000 GB) of data, it will make a big difference whether you can transfer 1 GB per second or 10 GB per second. With this upgrade, you could transfer as much as two DVDs every second,” says Martin Lundquist Hansen, team leader for research infrastructure at the SDU eScience Center.
It is not uncommon for our users to have huge data sets – and the need to store a significant amount of data in connection with the use of digital tools in research is only increasing.
“Over the past years we have seen a rapidly growing increase in the amount of data that our users store and analyse. The amount of data stored on UCloud is currently growing with more than 100TB every month. If we want to offer our users the possibility to collaborate on and transfer this data between different providers, a 100 Gbps network connection is a necessity,” says Martin Lundquist Hansen.
Improved Collaboration
The SDU eScience Center participates in the HALRIC project, consisting of 21 members from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Norway. One of the work packages of the project involves the development of the Hanseatic Science Cloud (HSC). The ambition of HSC is to be the enabling factor that provides users from life sciences, healthcare, and the tech-sector with a uniform entry point for easy and secure cross-border access to tools for the analysis of, access to, and collaboration on data (you can read more about our role in connection with the development of HSC here).
By enhancing data transfer capabilities, the SDU eScience Center can seamlessly collaborate with other research institutions and High-Performance Computing (HPC) providers across borders.
“Our goal is to have a simple method for moving datasets from one location to another directly from the UCloud user interface,” says Martin Lundquist Hansen.
This goal will also impact the DeiC Integration Portal (based on the UCloud platform), where national HPC providers connected to the portal will be able to transfer data to and from the hardware managed by the SDU eScience Center with the improved speed.
Network redundancy
With the new upgrade, we continue to offer network redundancy. The backup-line is connected to a different location on the research network than the primary line, ensuring that your data transfer will not be interrupted even if the primary network connection is offline.
Future-Proofing
As technology evolves, the demand for faster data transfer will only increase. By adopting 100 Gbps, the SDU eScience Center ensures that it remains at the forefront of research and innovation. Whether it’s simulating complex physical phenomena, analyzing genomics data, or running large-scale simulations, the upgraded connection will ensure that we provide the best service possible for our users.
