MPLS: 10G Network Gives NOAA Hi-Res Weather Data and Images

By Michelle Amodio, TMCnet Contributor

Scientists and researchers over at the National Oceanic (News - Alert) and Atmospheric Administration are using their 10-gigabit Ethernet network to better help them with their high-performance computing sites, as well as access to hi-res climate and weather images.

The network, N-Wave, is a highly scalable, stable and secure network built using 10GB per second Wave Division Multiplexed (WDM) fiber-optic links and relies on Cisco’s (News - Alert) carrier routing system (CRS) to manage data traffic on its multi protocol label switching (MPLS) backbone.

NOAA climate researchers use high-performance computing to run computationally intensive climate models for near-term weather forecasts and long-term climate change predictions that span several centuries.

This sort of news highlights how multi protocol label switching (MPLS) is a vital part of our connectivity, and not just on the enterprise or business communication level. Because MPLS is a method of ensuring packets of data get where they’re supposed to via a sensible route and that packets are prioritized appropriately, it improves uptime and user experience, reduces network congestion and improves bandwidth utilization.

Due to the labeling technology, the speed of performing lookups for destinations and routing is much faster than the standard IP table lookups non-MPLS routers have to perform. What’s more, MPLS networks are able to assign priorities to the different packets based on what the labels say about that packet.

Like the NOAA news points out, the NWave network provides a secure way for the researchers to stay on top of weather trends, using MPLS is an attractive choice. MPLS offers greater security and is often required for companies which need enhanced privacy and security for their network needs.

MPLS boasts better performance, lower total cost of ownership, greater flexibility to accommodate new technologies, better security and survivability. For the NOAA, using the network based on MPLS technology allows it to not only stay on top of the latest findings, it also provides the ability to link with partners such as the Energy Department and well as the Interior Department and NASA.

To find out more about UNSi visit the company at ITEXPO Miami 2013. Taking place Jan. 29- Feb 1, in Miami, Florida, be sure to visit UNSi in booth #923 and #925. For more information on ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami 2013, click here.