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Paper: Astronomy, Data and the Problem of Large File Transfers
Volume: 394, Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) XVII
Page: 727
Authors: Bryant, J.; Sutorius, E.; Bunclark, P.S.
Abstract: During the lifetime of a survey a considerable amount of data are produced, this data needs to be moved between processing centres quickly and efficiently. Over time there has been a jostling as to which method of transferring data from one location to another is best: tape, disk or network, as they say “Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.” With the VDFS the most painless solution seems to have been using network transfers. We started by using JANET to transfer our data but the rising monetary cost and unreliable transfer speeds when dealing with terabyte scale data volumes led us to investigate alternatives. Here we describe our work on connecting to the UKLight network, run by UKERNA, alongside JANET. This network provided us with a dedicated 1Gbit/s dark fibre for our sole use that allows us to transfer astronomical data between CASU and WFAU at speeds that are limited more by end server hardware than by the network (so maybe we can beat that station wagon).
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