[[PageOutline(2-3, Table of Contents)]] = Experimentation with GENI = == 1.0 Why GENI? == GENI might be right for your experiment if: * Your experiment requires more resources than would ordinarily be found in your lab. Since GENI is a suite of infrastructures it can potentially provide you with more resources than is typically found in any one laboratory. This is especially true for compute resources: GENI provides access to large testbeds with hundreds of PCs and to cloud computing resources. * Your experiment requires non-IP connectivity across resources. Some GENI aggregates allow you to set up Layer 2 connections between resources within the aggregate. Experimenters may install and run their own Layer 3 and above protocols on these resources. It is also possible to setup Layer 2 connections between many GENI aggregates that connect to GENI backbone networks (Internet2 and NLR). You can even set up your network to route through experimenter programmable switches in the GENI backbone. * Your experiment requires requires geographically distributed resources. Some GENI aggregates include resources distributed around the world. == 2.0 An Experimenter's View of GENI == GENI is a suite of infrastructures for networking and distributed systems experimentation. GENI supports at-scale experimentation on shared, heterogeneous, highly instrumented infrastructure and enables deep programmability throughout the network. As an experimenter you will need to know about GENI ''clearinghouses'' and GENI ''aggregates''. A GENI clearinghouse authenticates experimenters and issues them credentials needed to obtain GENI resources for experimentation. GENI aggregates provide resources to experimenters with GENI credentials. GENI has a number of different aggregates that provide a variety of resources for experimentation. An important aspect of planning your experiment is deciding what resources you need (type and numbers) and which aggregates might meet your needs. The following figure illustrates the role of GENI clearinghouses and aggregates: [[Image(GENIComponentsPicture-2.png, 30%)]] You will also need to know about GENI ''slices''. A slice holds a collection of computing and communications resources capable of running an experiment or a wide area service. An experiment is a researcher-defined use of resources in a slice; an experiment runs in a slice. A researcher may run multiple experiments using resources in a slice, concurrently or over time. == 3.0 GENI Aggregates == The following table lists GENI aggregates that are currently available for use by experimenters and the networks (GENI backbone network or the Internet) to which they connect. GENI has two backbone networks: [http://www.internet2.edu/ Internet2] and [http://www.nlr.net/ National Lambda Rail (NLR)]. The Internet2 backbone provides 1Gbps of dedicated bandwidth for GENI experiments and the NLR backbone provides up to 30Gbps of non-dedicated bandwidth. Some aggregates that connect to GENI backbone networks may be connected to other resources on the network using Layer 2 VLANS, giving experimenters the option of running non-IP based Layer 3 and above protocols. === 3.1 GENI aggregates currently available to experimenters: === {{{ #!html
Aggregate | Description | Compute Resources | Programmable Network | Wireless | Network Connectivity | Experimenter Tools |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PlanetLab | Testbed consisting of 1090 nodes at 513 sites around the world | Virtual machines on PlanetLab nodes | No | No | Internet | Gush, Omni, Raven, SFI |
GPO Lab myPLC | PlanetLab installation consisting of 5 multi-homed nodes | Virtual machines on PlanetLab nodes | No | No | Internet2: IP; NLR: IP; Internet | Gush, Omni, SFI |
Utah ProtoGENI | Over 400 co-located PCs that can be loaded with an experimenter specified OS image and connected in arbitrary topologies | Complete PCs or virtual machines on PCs | PCs can be set up as routers | 18 nodes with 2 WiFi cards each | Internet2: IP and Layer 2; Internet | ProtoGENI Tools, Gush |
Kentucky ProtoGENI | Over 50 co-located PCs that can be loaded with an experimenter specified OS image and connected in arbitrary topologies. Strong instrumentation capabilities | Complete PCs or virtual machines on PCs | PCs can be set up as routers | No | Internet2: IP and Layer 2; Internet | ProtoGENI Tools, Instrumentation Tools |
GPO Lab ProtoGENI | 11 co-located PCs that can be loaded with an experimenter specified OS image and connected in arbitrary topologies | Complete PCs | PCs can be set up as routers | No | Internet2: IP and Layer 2; NLR: IP and Layer 2; Internet | ProtoGENI Tools, Gush |
Deter | Testbed for security experiments consisting of about 200 co-located PCs that can be loaded with an experimenter specified OS image and connected in arbitrary topologies | Complete PCs | PCs can be set up as routers | No | I2? NLR? Internet | ProtoGENI Tools, SEER |
ORBIT Wireless Testbed | 400 nodes, each with two 802.11 a/b/g interfaces, arranged in a grid. Nodes can be loaded with experimenter specified OS and software. | Full access to nodes in the testbed | MAC layer and above programmable by experimenter. Topology control by changing transmit power levels and noise floor. | Yes | ??? | OMF Tools |
DOME | ||||||
Million Node GENI | Compute resources on thousands of platforms donated by individuals and institutions. Platforms may be mobile and/or behind firewalls and NATs. | Experimenter software, written in a subset of Python, runs in sandboxes on Million Node GENI platforms. | No | Million Node GENI includes wireless platforms | Internet | ProtoGENI Tools, Million Node GENI Tools |
ViSE | ||||||
Kansei | ||||||
Supercharged PlanetLab Platform (SPP) Nodes | Internet2 | |||||
ProtoGENI Backbone Nodes | Nodes at 5 Internet2 co-location sites. The ProtoGENI backbone runs Ethernet on a 1Gbps Internet2 wave, and slices it with VLANs. Researchers select the topology of VLANs on this infrastructure. | No | Yes | No | Internet2: Layer 2 and IP | |
BGP Mux | Internet2 | |||||
Stanford OpenFlow Network | Internet2 | |||||
Indiana Openflow network | Internet2 | |||||
Rutgers Openflow network | Internet2 | |||||
GPO Lab Openflow network | Internet2 |