Network Facts and Stats

Between Data and Discovery, There is a Network

ESnet is the Department of Energy’s dedicated science network, helping researchers meet their goals from experiment to discovery.

• 5,000 Times Faster than a Home Network

ESnet is the world’s fastest science network. While home network speeds average 315 megabits per second, ESnet can move data at up to 1.6 terabits per second. Thanks to ESnet’s cutting-edge network and team of expert engineers, science datasets reach their destinations in record time.

• Moving Datasets Equal to Millions of Movies

Experiments and simulations can produce enormous data sets that need to be transferred, shared, and accessed remotely by scientists around the world. Every month, ESnet moves 217 petabytes of data—the equivalent of streaming 54 million high-def movies, or the storage of nearly a million smartphones!

• Optimized for Elephants, not Mice

Compared to the tiny data transfers we generate when using email, listening to music, or watching videos online, scientific data flows are like enormous elephants. ESnet is optimized to help those elephants move quickly and efficiently around the world, so that scientists can pursue discoveries that increase our knowledge about the world and sustain our economic growth.