Ed.—This post is the third in a series on ultra-fast network topics in recognition of the first anniversary of OARnet's 100 Gbps network backbone deployment. For others in this series, follow the 100 Gig tag.
The Research & Education community’s networks have always been the platform upon which new innovations have launched. From the creation of the basic routing protocols that underpin the Internet, to the invention of search, social networking and online media, research and education delivered the platform upon which new applications were built and where whole new classes of sophisticated users developed.
Internet2 has just taken the concept of an innovation platform to a whole new level. With the aid of over $100M in investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus program, and deep new partnerships with other leading R&E networks and commercial collaborators, Internet2’s new network is positioned like never before to unleash innovation. Building on nearly 10 terabits of optical capacity per second on multiple links that blanket the country in nearly 20,000 miles of optical cable, Internet2’s network begs the adoption of new capabilities for research, education and scholarship of all types. The network now extends its reach to include schools, libraries, health care facilities and other public institutions as well, creating a large-scale ubiquitous platform to stimulate the adoption of life-changing Internet applications in fields such as telemedicine, public safety, and and distance education.
By driving advanced broadband capabilities deep into communities through community anchor institutions, Internet2 and its partner networks, such as OARnet in Ohio, create a system of capabilities where the nation’s most advanced users can try out new ideas and invent new Internet technologies. Just like the campus networks of the 90’s brought us Google and Facebook, today’s research and education networks will bring us tomorrow’s software-defined networks, advanced content delivery platforms, and other yet-unimagined innovations. As these innovations are created, they also create new user expectations that drive demand and create a whole new class of consumers that larger scale commercial providers will support for generations to come.
The new network’s design and operations fundamentally reposition the U.S. R&E community with abundant bandwidth, support for data intensive science, and capacity to evolve in to increasingly software-defined network architectures. The network is purpose-designed to foster and support users who have intensive data transfer and advanced applications needs. From the ability to add bandwidth to end users and the backbone itself in multiples of 100G, to support for advanced software-controlled applications, to customized support staffing to assist researchers and virtual organizations, the Internet2 Network is propelling breakthrough science and research applications forward.
In addition to empowering the R&E community with an extensive range of new capabilities, the network also complements and links new regional community anchor networks created through the stimulus program as well as Internet2 partner regional networks and network connectors. The goal? Deliver a high performance national network capable of fully supporting advanced applications, innovation and economic development by furnishing 200,000 community anchor institutions with the most cutting edge set of broadband capabilities ever provided anywhere. These next-generation capabilities, at the leading edge of an advanced national broadband network, will foster the adoption of transformational applications that can materially improve education, healthcare, public safety, and job-creating economic innovation.
Learn more: http://www.internet2.edu/vision-initiatives/initiatives/innovation-platform/
