Use of Fiber-Optic Cables in the Seikan Tunnel

We will provide guidance on the use of the fiber-optic cables installed in the Seikan Tunnel to data center operators who wish to establish a telecommunications network between Hokkaido and the mainland.
Fiber-optic cables for telecommunication are installed in the Seikan Tunnel (in the work tunnel) with the New Hokkaido-Honshu Link power transmission cables.

• Status of Telecommunications Cables in the Seikan Tunnel
  Source: Hokkaido Electric Power Network, Inc.
• Hokkaido-Honshu Link Route
  Source: Hokkaido Electric Power Network, Inc.

Hokkaido Data Center Campus Network

The transmission lines a data center requires varies depending on the type of business; e.g. a telecommunications company, a cloud service provider, a business that mainly provides colocation, etc.
Specifically, there may be cases in which the company operating the data center needs communication solutions themselves, cases in which the company provides communication solutions to its tenants (such as with colocation data centers), cases in which the tenants can provide their own communication solutions, and so on.
In all of these cases, it is important to secure fiber optics in the region where the data center is located, as fiber optics are now the primary means of communication.
Meanwhile, as the internet continues to grow in scale, more and more companies are acquiring multiple data centers to provide their services. In such cases, access to data within the data centers and data center interconnection (DCI) are important issues.
By interconnecting data centers, data center resources can be used more effectively, driving costs down. Also, it has become essential to provide redundancy (increasing fault tolerance and guaranteeing reliability and security) by making backups and expanding scale.
DCI is a technology that connects two or more data centers at short, medium, or long distances apart using a high-speed packet optical network.

Accordingly, data center experts have proposed the need for a Hokkaido Data Center Campus Network. Their vision is to create an information infrastructure connecting Hokkaido’s data centers by fiber-optic cables, facilitating business operations at data center sites in the prefecture.

Image of constructed Data Center Campus Network in the Do-o area
(Proposed network by experts)

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• (Map source: Google Map)

Hokkaido Internet Exchange Data Center (H-IX)

The Hokkaido Internet Exchange Data Center (H-IX) is a data center that Hokuden Information Technology, Inc. of the Hokkaido Electric Power Network Group established in 2001. As a completely carrier-neutral data center, it installs fiber optics via multiple routes to various telecommunications companies.
H-IX is located in an area with very low risk of natural disasters. It is on geologically stable land 3km from central Sapporo and approximately 15km from the coast. It is about 3km from Toyohira River, a class A river, in an area where flood maps estimate a maximum flood level of 60cm or less.
Also, the building has no openings under 150cm, eliminating the risk of water damage from typhoons or heavy rain.
It was built to be a durable facility with strict security management, equipped with high-voltage two-system power receiving equipment supplied by different transformer substations, multiple uninterruptible power supplies, and an emergency power generator.

The Hokkaido Nutopia Data Center Study Group has established a special interest group (SIG) to research and study Sapporo IX.
Specific discussions toward actual implementation will soon begin.
Sapporo IX will be constructed within H-IX, and talks are proceeding with ISPs and content providers to make it a traffic exchange base between Hokkaido and the mainland.
Sapporo IX will be connected to SINET6, and the SIG is considering how academic networks can be used in Hokkaido via IX.

Hokkaido University Information Initiative Center

The Hokkaido University Information Initiative Center, as a research center of Hokkaido University, is working to promote informatization through research and development and the development and operation of an information infrastructure. Its goal is to further the advancement of education research, as well as to support and implement education using information media. In addition, it is collaborating with Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Osaka University, and Kyushu University to promote interdisciplinary joint research using large-scale computing resources such as supercomputers. These eight institutes make up the Joint Usage/Research Center for Interdisciplinary Large-scale Information Infrastructures, an organization certified by MEXT.

Hokkaido University Information Initiative Center Website

https://www.iic.hokudai.ac.jp

Storage system (16PB)

Interdisciplinary Large-scale Computer System

The interdisciplinary large-scale computer system at the university’s data center, made up of a supercomputer system, a research cloud system, and big data storage, has a total computing performance of 4 petaflops (meaning that it can perform 4 quadrillion floating-point operations per second). It is one of the fastest supercomputers in Japan, and was ranked 95th in the world at the time of installation.
The Hokkaido University High Performance Intercloud has also been implemented. An advanced cloud system covering the entire nation from Hokkaido to Kyushu, it will support researchers in Hokkaido and across all of Japan.

Interdisciplinary Large-scale Computer System: Hokkaido University High Performance Intercloud Website

https://www.hucc.hokudai.ac.jp

Polaire(0.9PFLOPS/288ノード)