LLNL, Livermore, USA
As the National Ignition Facility (NIF) enters its second decade of full-scale operations, the demands on all aspects of the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure are becoming more varied, complex, and critical. Cybersecurity is an increasing focus area for the NIF IT team with the goal of securing the data center whilst providing the flexibility for developers to continue to access the sensitive areas of the controls system and the production tools. This must be done whilst supporting the interoperability of controls system elements executing on legacy bare metal hardware in an increasingly homogenized virtual environment in addition to responding to the user’s requests for ever-increasing storage needs and the introduction of cloud services. While addressing these evolutionary changes, the impact to continuous 24/7 Shot Operations must also be minimized. The challenges, strategies and implementation approaches being undertaken by the NIF IT team at the NIF to address the issues of infrastructure modernization will be presented.
