The Lore and Legend of SC’s SCinet

Every year at the high-performance computing (HPC) conference SC, a team of more than 200 dedicated volunteers from upwards of 80 organizations come together to develop SCinet, one of the world’s fastest temporary networks. As a co-sponsor of SC, the IEEE Computer Society (CS) plays a big role in SCinet, engaging members from its Technical Community on High Performance Computing (HPC) to support the annual massive-scale network development. Developed to support the network needs of SC exhibitors and their HPC requirements, SCinet requires countless hours of volunteer time. In fact, at SC24 in Atlanta, SCinet deployed 67,122 feet of fiber optic cable, matching the length of more than 185 football fields laid back-to-back. The network achieved a record-breaking 8.71 terabits per second (Tbps) – or one trillion bits per second – of peak bandwidth, supported by 30 wide-area network (WAN) circuits (18 at 400 gigabits per second [Gbps], 11 at 100 Gbps, and one at 10 Gbps) and 450 wireless access points. A project on this scale requires countless hours of planning, design, development,late nights to build it to specifications, not to mention round-the-clock support and maintenance during the conference. As leadership has been known to say, SCinet takes a year to design, a month to build, a week to operate, and one day to tear down. Yet, even with these intense demands, the IEEE CS TCHPC community and volunteer participants return year after year, taking on new roles in the program and helping to support the next generation build. Why? “You’re working with the best of the best. The SCinet team is the all-star team of the research and education world,” said Nathaniel Mendoza, SC25 SCinet Chair and senior network engineer at Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, U.S. “You get the opportunity to perform difficult tasks, work on the newest, greatest technologies, and bring those new skills back to your home institution.” Time and again, SCinet volunteers speak to the benefits they receive from participating in SCinet and how it supports both the HPC community and individual professional goals. In fact, participation boils down to five key reasons to tackle a project of this scale: SCinet advances HPC. With a vested interest in the future of computing, IEEE CS TCHPC leaders seek ways to advance HPC across a variety of disciplines, and the same is true of their roles within SCinet. “SCinet provides an opportunity to take the new use cases that arise within HPC and see what we can do to facilitate their execution,” noted Dylan Jacob, SCinet 26 Chair and acting group lead at Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), the Department of Energy’s dedicated network for scientific research, which is headquartered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., U.S. “HPC is everywhere, in all industries, and as AI emerges and is increasing network capacity, SCinet’s critical to advancing that infrastructure.” To that point, SCinet annually tests network limits to help ensure that as HPC’s needs continue to climb, network engineers can meet those demands. “HPC compute is great, but it doesn’t work if you can’t get data from point A to point B,” explained Kevin Hayden, SC26 General Chair, former SCinet Chair, and senior network engineer at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., U.S. “So, it is constantly about advancing network speeds and quality. We’re looking at 10, maybe 12, terabits per second for network connectivity, which are just incredible speeds. We are doing the real-world testing at the conference to make sure we can push that data as quickly as we can to get it wherever it needs to be around the world.” SCinet introduces you to a whole new professional network. Along with drawing the best and brightest network engineers from along the globe, SCinet helps connect IEEE CS TCHPC members with a broader community and new participants, enabling a way to forge new relationships. “SCinet runs on teamwork, collaboration, and the connections that we build along the way,” explained Jacob. “So, getting to work with volunteers from national labs, universities, and companies from the industry isn’t just a great way to pick up on some of the best practices and share our experiences, but it’s also how you make friends and build a network you can count on long after SC.” SCinet provides access to the most advanced technology available and offers first-hand experience with emerging solutions. Thanks to the dedication of its sponsors, nearly $65 million of the latest equipment is loaned to SCinet each year, and that state-of-the-art technology creates a new playing field for volunteers. With that backdrop, SCinet functions like a center for excellence in networking. “SCinet is the ultimate training ground. It allows participants to get their hands on the new, latest-and-greatest technology that they may not have an opportunity to work with in their day jobs,” shared Kate Petersen Mace, former SCinet Chair and High Performance Data Facility (HPDF) project director at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va., U.S. “It really does provide a significant return on investment for the organizations that support their people in participating.” SCinet creates career development opportunities. In many ways, SCinet offers the ultimate in workforce development: It creates a professional network of like-minded individuals and expands awareness of the varying career opportunities that exist for network professionals. In fact, leadership often hears from volunteers that SCinet allowed them to take the blinders off on the wide range of opportunities available to them, and at the same time gain the confidence to act on newfound passions. “SCinet literally changed the course of my professional career because of the people I met and the things I was exposed to, so it can change your trajectory,” said Mace. “And I still have people come up to me and say, ‘You were my SCinet chair, and you encouraged me to apply for this position that I didn’t know I could do. And it changed my life.’ I’m proud of the impact SCinet can have on people’s careers.” SCinet volunteers become a second family. SCinet welcomes volunteers from all backgrounds and experience levels, and with such an intense environment and focus, it establishes deep ties pretty quickly. Those bonds transcend the work experience. “That family atmosphere is why I keep coming back,” shared Hayden. “SC has become part of my life, and the SCinet team has become part of my family, literally. My wife is involved. My father-in-law was a volunteer at one point on the fiber network team. My son has volunteered as a photographer. When I say it’s a family, it’s truly a family.” “Volunteers come to SCinet, find their people, and get to be a part of a community that they appreciate. I think that’s one of the strongest things you can offer in a professional setting: Here are your people,” summed up Mendoza. “SCinet creates an opportunity to learn, connect, and grow—with a healthy dose of friendship and fun in the process. With that as your backdrop, why wouldn’t you return every year?” Why not, indeed? To learn more, check out SCinet at SC25 and watch for calls for participation for SCinet at SC26 to open in early 2026.