NOAA s NWS Telecommunication Gateway RTH Washington Office of

NOAA’s NWS Telecommunication Gateway RTH Washington Office of the Chief Information Officer NOAA’s National Weather Service

NWSTG Functional Overview Ø The NWSTG is: Ø the central communication facility of the NWS; Ø the primary acquisition and distribution center for NWS data and products; Ø the primary acquisition and distribution center for international data and products to meet WMO, ICAO and bi-laterally agreed US requirements; Ø A major data exchange hub for NOAA and other agency data and products. “Taking the pulse of the planet”

NWSTG Functional Overview The NWSTG includes Ø WMO Regional Telecommunication Hub (RTH) Washington Ø ICAO OPMET Databank Ø the ASOS Operations and Monitoring Center • Operational oversight of U. S. federal automated surface observing systems Ø the AWIPS Network Control Facility • AWIPS is the main NWS’ system which supports the NWS forecast and warning mission requirement • The NCF is the central communications hub and technical support center for AWIPS “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Data Input to the NWSTG Ø MPLS Ø IP / Sockets Ø X. 25 Ø Asynchronous Ø FTP – http: //weather. gov/tg/ftpingest. html Ø Email – http: //weather. gov/tg/emailingest. html Ø Web - http: //weather. gov/tg/bullguid. html “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Dissemination Systems International National Ø GTS Ø NWWS Ø ISCS Ø NWR Ø EMWIN Ø LDAD Ø Internet Ø GMDSS Ø Family Of Services (FOS) Ø Interagency Connections Ø NWS Telecom. Gateway Ø AWIPS SBN / NOAAPORT “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Dissemination and Distribution NESDIS Specialized Customers • Commercial Weather Services • Research Institutions • FAA, etc. WMO GOES Imagery Commercial Satellite Legend: EMWIN NOAAPORT NWWS EMWIN FOS (> 1 min) SBN/NOAAPORT • GOES • NCEP Product Suite • Observations ISCS ICAO Designated Local Customers Telecommunications Operations Center NCEP NWSTG NCF NWWS Media & Other Customers (10 sec) LDAD WAN Other Agencies Data Servers Private line Dissemination GTS Internet-Based Dissemination EMWIN Field Offices NWR WSR-88 D Public “Taking the pulse of the planet”

“Taking the pulse of the planet”

Replacement / Backup TG Description NWS users • Nat’l Centers for Environ. Prediction • NWS Regional Offices • Domestic/int’l observation & forecast offices • AWIPS 120 GB/46 600 GB 90 GB/46 375 GB NWS Telecom Gateway • Located in Silver Spring • New message switching 80 GB/38 200 GB system allows future upgrades • 2 x upgradeability • Much improved response time 700 GB/38 • Redundancy ensures uninterrupted service 2000 GB • Full configuration management Geographically separated backup system Worldwide users • ICAO / WMO • Govt. agencies • Family of services • Internet users • Foreign countries • Emergency mgrs Daily Throughput/# of circuits Legacy over Replacement “Taking the pulse of the planet”

RTH Washington Ø Can route more than 50 routine messages per second with reliability for all dissemination to all of its users of 99. 9 percent Ø Latency for high priority traffic of 10 seconds or less and routinely disseminates 1. 2 terabytes of information per day Ø On Main Trunk Network (MTN) of the WMO Global Telecommunication System (GTS) – GTS delivers tsunami data and warnings to connected MTN centers within two minutes “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Replacement NWSTG Ø Full functional replacement of existing capabilities Ø Expanded capacity and capability – Input data growth from 200 to 800 GB/day – Output data growth from 800 to 2400 GB/day Ø Transition to new technology – Middleware for internal transport – Network-centric systems interconnectivity – Central switching engine with relational database – SAN and NAS storage solutions Ø Highly scaleable architecture Ø Hardware refresh “Taking the pulse of the planet”

RTG/BTG Performance Metric Threshold System Availability (averaged monthly) Warning Message Latency (averaged monthly) Routine Message Latency (averaged monthly) Daily Traffic Volume (averaged monthly) 99. 90% 10 seconds 60 seconds 1. 2 TB NWSTG Performance Results (Feb 06, 2007) Performance Category Threshold Actual System Availability Warning Message Latency Routine Message Latency Daily Traffic Volume 99. 90% 10 seconds 60 seconds 1. 2 TB 100% < 1 second 1. 1 TB “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Backup NWSTG “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Government Networking Requirements - NOAANet • IP-based networking solution − Any-to-any connectivity − High degree of bandwidth scalability − Optimum redundancy and survivability − IP convergence (i. e. , voice, video and data over IP) − High-end performance • Network security remains paramount, particularly in light of today’s socio-political threats • Segmentation from the public Internet • Minimizes risk of security or privacy breaches “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Sprint Peerless IP Network Map Tacoma Stockton Chicago Cheyenne New York Pennsauken, N San Jose Relay, MD DC Kansas City Anaheim Atlanta OC 48 (significant portions upgrading to OC 192) Internet Transport Node Fort Worth “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Logical Design “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Primary / Backup NWSTG Access “Taking the pulse of the planet”

“Taking the pulse of the planet”

Major Software Components Core software components of the NWSTG replaced in 2006 Ø Data switching software – Core software rewritten and implemented in IBM Web. Sphere Message Broker – Message Broker provides an application execution environment, threading, and fourth generation language support (ESQL), integrated with middleware services Ø Data transport infrastructure (middleware) – Shared data stores replaced with IBM MQSeries Middleware – Applications send data to each other without concern for target location – Data delivery guaranteed even during failures Ø Data storage infrastructure (relational database) – All data stores moved into Sybase relational database “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Internal Redundancy Internal redundancy implemented for critical processes Ø Active – Warm Standby – Standby system running at all times, system disks moved to standby system during failover – EXAMPLES: Individual front-end processors, application servers Ø Active – Hot Standby – Data replicated to Hot Standby system in realtime, automatic failover – EXAMPLE: Sybase relational database servers Ø Active - Active – Multiple systems active in parallel, data shared/routed between systems groups – EXAMPLES – Switching system, HTTP/FTP server groups “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Architecture Overview “Taking the pulse of the planet”

Architecture Overview “Taking the pulse of the planet”

System Extensibility Virtualized server hardware platform selected for extensibility Ø Virtualization – System resources (CPUs, Memory, Internal Storage, Network Interfaces, etc. ) available within hardware frame – Individual resources selected to create virtual servers – Major storage implemented in Storage Area Network – Virtual disks allocated to virtual servers Ø Extensibility – Unused resources can be allocated to virtual servers, as needed – Underused resources can be removed from a virtual server – Virtual disks can be extended or reduced as storage requirements change “Taking the pulse of the planet”

System Extensibility Virtualized server hardware platform selected for extensibility Ø Advanced Virtualization – Network and SAN I/O interfaces can be shared through virtual I/O – CPUs can be carved into fractional components down to 1/10 th of a CPU Ø Advanced Extensibility – Resources (CPU, Memory) included within system that were not purchased – If additional resources are needed, resources are “turned on” via software key after purchase and are immediately available “Taking the pulse of the planet”

System Extensibility “Taking the pulse of the planet”

RTH Washington WIS approach RTG/BTG upgrades made with knowledge of coming WIS/GISC requirements – Production and Replicated core systems • All functions not essential to mission critical operations (i. e. switching) execute against replicant – SOA Approach to design – Integral file, message and application switching – RDBS core design • ~ 2000 destinations defined • ~ 400 K defined products • ~ 10 M entries (rows) in switching table – Many tables used for managing bulletin, file and report storage including dissemination and services metadata. “Taking the pulse of the planet”

RTH Washington WIS approach View DAR as the only truly new service provision – Plan to lay this service on to existed architecture – Will probably break up DAR functions • DAR catalog creation & update • discovery & access servicing – DAR will not execute on primary production system (at least in early stages of implementation “Taking the pulse of the planet”

RTH Washington WIS approach Develop metadata catalog first in conjunction with national & regional partners – Regional WIGOS Development Project • RA-IV Integrated Atmosphere Observing System • With initial emphasis on upper-air observations – Will leverage knowledge of partner expertise – Will expand to all RTH (GISC) data holdings and holdings of appropriate Centers (RSMC/DCPC/NC) and willing partners. – Work will be made available to all Members – Will collaborate with WIS Project Team, WMO ETs and developers in other Regions “Taking the pulse of the planet”