In 1992, USC/ISI and CalTech together developed the ATOMIC LAN, a gigabit LAN based on economical stateless, queue-free switches and byte-wide parallel copper point-to-point links. In 1994, based on lab prototypes, a company called Myricom was created to produce a commercial version of this LAN, primarily for use as a machine room interconnect for networks of workstations (NOWs). In the past two years, the ATOMIC-2 project at USC/ISI has continued research on this network technology, focusing on the problems that remain in providing gigabit access to typical office workstation applications.

In addition to the research aspects of ATOMIC-2, we have also been investigating the more mundane issues of bringing a fledgling technology out of the lab and machine room, and into general office LAN use. Here we describe our experience with this process, and the related issues with making "gigabits to the desktop" a reality.

During the past two years, we have installed the ATOMIC LAN throughout the Computer Networking Division of ISI, reaching all 56 office or desk locations. Our current network includes 37 office Sun SPARCs and 11 switches, in addition to our lab of 5 Suns and 4 PCs where configurations and software revisions are tested. Our LAN has been in operation since Feb. 1995, and is the longest operational gigabit LAN, as well as the largest Myrinet installation, as well as the only Myrinet based on permanent infrastructure.

Because we are using an emerging technology, we had to address user comfort in participating in an experimental network. We developed an automatic backup routing configuration, which allows user to control their own participation independently. We also developed substantial configuration tools to facilitate network management and monitoring.

We developed a staging area in our lab, where configurations were tested and tuned prior to deployment. This also allows us to search for anomalies in a controlled environment, while the remainder of the network is separately and more conservatively managed.

We also experienced a number of unanticipated managerial and logistical issues. These included the complexity of bringing lab-issue equipment into the permanent infrastructure, including electrical, fire, and (yes) earthquake codes. Additionally, the LAN uses limited-span cabling (80' per hop), with distributed, powered switching.

During this presentation, we will also present the current state of the ATOMIC-2 research, which is focused at bringing gigabits to the application.