Other than that, we are looking into various TCP performance issues.
Kiaina Schubert reported that Subaru has accepted an agreement with Hawaiian Telcom similar to the ones offered to the other observatories.
CSO - ready, and need to schedule with Miranda for the switchover. IRTF - not ready, need to schedule time for configuration of equipment. SMA - working with some problems with their new firewall. UH88 - waiting for additional GBICs which are expected to ship soon. Gemini - not ready, need to acquire equipment with GE support.
In Hilo:
CSO - CSO has yet to decide on what equipment to use. JAC - Miranda to check with Henry Stilmack on their schedule. SMA - encountered some problem in February but is ready to try again. Subaru - ready, need to schedule with Miranda.
Pui Hin reminded everyone that the MKOCN ATM router as well as observatories' ATM routers on the Summit have all reached EOS -- End of Support. That means if new vulnerabilities are exploited, a security patch might not be available. Observatories depending on the shared link from the Summit to Hilo should take that into consideration in prioritising the switching from the ATM to the GE connection among their projects.
CFHT, Gemini, as well as JAC, are interested in archiving data to Canada and one would think that the three observatories will fill up the pipe in no time. However, utilizing the bandwidth seems to be easier said than done. Using IPERF, Kanoa Withington from CFHT is only getting 3 Mbps between Waimea and France, and 10 to 11 Mbps between Waimea and Victoria. JAC is seeing 1 Mbps to the UK. Yet I have been able to get ~500 Mbps between Manoa and Victoria along the northern path.
It is clear that more tests are needed to pinpoint where the problems are. Dedicated servers need to be installed at intermediate locations to allow breaking down the problems. Alan Whinery from UH-ITS is planning to deploy such servers in Hilo and Waimea. Pui Hin will work at putting one on the summit and one at Manoa. In addition, Alan Whinery will also be hosting a listserve mailing list to facilitate discussions pertaining to network performance issues.
Pui Hin also talked briefly about the Network Performance Workshop she and Jon Chock attended at TIP2008.
UH-ITS has acquired a block of /32 addresses in the 2^128 address space and we are welcomed to a piece of it at any time. The main UH routers, as well as the new 3750 switches in Hilo and Waimea, are all capable of running dual-ipv4-and-ipv6 stack.
For learning and testing purposes, Pui Hin suggested that we acquire an additional 3750 switch to be installed in Hilo on a separate vlan. Observatories may connect to it through their regular connections or through entirely separate equipment -- and even fiber in the case of Hilo facilities.
However, all agreed we should wait a little to allow ourselves some time to get a handle on the TCP performance issues over long distance.
Note: This meeting has been rescheduled for June 17th.