SIG-SYS Fall 2008 - Talk on 10/15/2008

Title: Experiences Using The Phoebus Session Layer To Improve GridFTP Performance

Speaker:Ezra Kissel
University of Delaware

Abstract:
Phoebus is an infrastructure for improving end-to- end throughput in high-bandwidth, long-distance net- works by using a “session layer” protocol and “Gate- ways” in the network. Phoebus has the ability to dy- namically allocate resources and to use segment-specific transport protocols between Gateways, as well as apply- ing other performance-improving techniques on behalf of the user.

One of the key data movement applications in high- performance and Grid computing is GridFTP from the Globus project. GridFTP features a modular library interface called XIO that allows it to use alternative transport mechanisms. To facilitate use of the Phoebus system, we have implemented a Globus XIO driver for Phoebus.

This talk presents tests of the Phoebus-enabled GridFTP over a network testbed that allows us to modify latency and loss rates. We discuss use of various trans- port connections, both end-to-end and hop-by-hop, and evaluate the performance of a variety of cases. the interaction between them can lead to less than de- sirable end-to-end performance using existing transport protocols.

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