The OneOklahoma Friction Free Network: Towards a Multi-Institutional Science DMZ in an EPSCoR State

Abstract

The OneOklahoma Friction Free Network (OFFN) is a dedicated multi-institutional research-only "Science DMZ" network that connects the state's academic Cyberinfrastructure resources -- including all four high performance computing centers -- that is available for use by all Oklahoma academics plus their collaborators. A project of the OneOklahoma Cyberinfrastructure Initiative (OneOCII), OFFN is based on a collaboration of three universities, a nonprofit, and Oklahoma's research, education and government Regional Optical Network. OFFN consists of common configurations of Software Defined Networking infrastructure connected across a new set of optical links, at a minimum of 10 Gbps, and foreshadowing the state's transition to widespread 100 Gbps research connectivity. OneOCII, the parent initiative of OFFN, is a statewide collaboration to offer shared access to resources, both technology and human, to enable the use of advanced computing by research and education statewide. To date, OneOCII has served 52 academic institutions and 48 non-academic organizations.