GOVERNMENT
New nationwide Internet2 network complete
Over 100 Gbps capacity, point to point circuits, and on-demand optical networking capabilities now available to research and education community: Today at its annual Fall Member Meeting, Internet2 announced the completion of its new nationwide network infrastructure. With an initial capacity of 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) nationwide and revolutionary bandwidth-on-demand capabilities, the new Internet2 infrastructure provides researchers and educators the potential to transform disciplines across the board from science, to telemedicine, to network research, to the performing arts. 
"Today's milestone marks the completion of an ambitious effort to exponentially increase the capacity and flexibility of the networking resources available to serve the rapidly changing needs of the Internet2 community," said Doug Van Houweling, Internet2 president and CEO. "More importantly, we believe the Internet2 Network and its new capabilities will play an integral part in enabling our members to provide the robust cyberinfrastructure our community requires to support innovative research and education." The new optical infrastructure provides a uniquely scalable platform on which to build side-by-side networks that serve different purposes, such as network research and telemedicine. Internet2 is continuing to provide an advanced Internet Protocol (IP) Network, which supports production networking technologies such as IPv6, multicast, and other high-performance networking technologies. It is also introducing a new Dynamic Circuit Network (DCN). Beginning in January 2008, the DCN will enable researchers to provision up to 10 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth on demand. The new infrastructure also enables long-term dedicated point-to-point optical circuits up to 10 Gbps on separate wavelengths as part of the organization's WaveCo service. During the conference's first general session, Rick Summerhill, Internet2's chief technology officer, in collaboration with Dale Finkelson, director of Networking, and Dr. Carl Lundstedt of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) together with colleagues from ESnet, Fermilab, and the Great Plains Network demonstrated a dynamic circuit application on the Internet2 Network. Dr. Lundstedt, a physicist by training, serves as a grid system administrator with UNL for the U.S. CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), one of the highly-anticipated Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments and considered a major driver for early adoption of DCN services. Dr. Lundstedt used the network to seamlessly set up a 10 Gbps dedicated circuit between the UNL campus and Fermilab in Batavia, IL, which enabled a data transfer equaling one-third of a terabyte in five minutes. UNL is the first Internet2 member to take advantage of the DCN as a part of its development trial. "The LHC experimentation that our campus will be involved in over the next several years brought about an immediate need for us to explore new ways of networking that can support the intense short term demands of our researchers," said Finkelson. "Internet2's new Dynamic Circuit Network holds the promise of providing cost-effective, on-demand bandwidth that can easily handle these powerful requirements. Not only does the DC network provide a platform for our LHC needs, but it provides a pathway for our community to explore new applications and technologies." Rick Summerhill, Internet2's chief technology officer added, "Through the combination of dynamic and static network services as well as our IP network, we believe we are supporting the development of network capabilities that will help support a ubiquitous cyberinfrastructure. Just like you switch on a light or turn on a water tap, we envision a future where researchers, scientists, faculty, artists, etc. will be able to 'turn on' a high capacity network connection when and where they need it." In addition to its initial capabilities, the new infrastructure provides a smooth path for increasing wavelengths and bandwidth as required by the Internet2 community. Currently, ten 10 Gbps links are provisioned on each segment of the network, but this can be scaled to 20 or 40 or 100 or more wavelengths as required by the community. Internet2 is also working with its network partners to test and develop new 40 and 100 Gbps technologies. "The new network is the result of Internet2 listening to member needs and the vision outlined by our community," said Greg Palmer, executive director of MAGPI, an Internet2 member and advanced networking hub serving Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. "In doing so, not only will the network offer our community flexibility but it also makes the best use of our investment dollars to ensure that the limitations of what our researchers, faculty, students, and scientists can achieve are only those of imagination, and not of resources." In 2006, Internet2 announced an agreement with Level 3 to deploy the next-generation nationwide network. Level 3 has deployed Infinera's Digital Optical Networking equipment across the dedicated high capacity backbone to enable dynamic optical circuit provisioning for the Internet2 community. Internet2 has also partnered with Ciena Corporation to deploy the CoreDirector Multiservice Switch for switching and sub-wavelength grooming services. Additionally, Internet2 has deployed its current Juniper T640 routers to provide the enhanced IP capabilities on the new network. The smooth transition to the new Internet2 Network was made possible through the collaboration of Level 3, the Global Network Operations Center at Indiana University, the regional research and education networking organizations, Qwest Communications, and Internet2 staff.
"Today's milestone marks the completion of an ambitious effort to exponentially increase the capacity and flexibility of the networking resources available to serve the rapidly changing needs of the Internet2 community," said Doug Van Houweling, Internet2 president and CEO. "More importantly, we believe the Internet2 Network and its new capabilities will play an integral part in enabling our members to provide the robust cyberinfrastructure our community requires to support innovative research and education." The new optical infrastructure provides a uniquely scalable platform on which to build side-by-side networks that serve different purposes, such as network research and telemedicine. Internet2 is continuing to provide an advanced Internet Protocol (IP) Network, which supports production networking technologies such as IPv6, multicast, and other high-performance networking technologies. It is also introducing a new Dynamic Circuit Network (DCN). Beginning in January 2008, the DCN will enable researchers to provision up to 10 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth on demand. The new infrastructure also enables long-term dedicated point-to-point optical circuits up to 10 Gbps on separate wavelengths as part of the organization's WaveCo service. During the conference's first general session, Rick Summerhill, Internet2's chief technology officer, in collaboration with Dale Finkelson, director of Networking, and Dr. Carl Lundstedt of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) together with colleagues from ESnet, Fermilab, and the Great Plains Network demonstrated a dynamic circuit application on the Internet2 Network. Dr. Lundstedt, a physicist by training, serves as a grid system administrator with UNL for the U.S. CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), one of the highly-anticipated Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments and considered a major driver for early adoption of DCN services. Dr. Lundstedt used the network to seamlessly set up a 10 Gbps dedicated circuit between the UNL campus and Fermilab in Batavia, IL, which enabled a data transfer equaling one-third of a terabyte in five minutes. UNL is the first Internet2 member to take advantage of the DCN as a part of its development trial. "The LHC experimentation that our campus will be involved in over the next several years brought about an immediate need for us to explore new ways of networking that can support the intense short term demands of our researchers," said Finkelson. "Internet2's new Dynamic Circuit Network holds the promise of providing cost-effective, on-demand bandwidth that can easily handle these powerful requirements. Not only does the DC network provide a platform for our LHC needs, but it provides a pathway for our community to explore new applications and technologies." Rick Summerhill, Internet2's chief technology officer added, "Through the combination of dynamic and static network services as well as our IP network, we believe we are supporting the development of network capabilities that will help support a ubiquitous cyberinfrastructure. Just like you switch on a light or turn on a water tap, we envision a future where researchers, scientists, faculty, artists, etc. will be able to 'turn on' a high capacity network connection when and where they need it." In addition to its initial capabilities, the new infrastructure provides a smooth path for increasing wavelengths and bandwidth as required by the Internet2 community. Currently, ten 10 Gbps links are provisioned on each segment of the network, but this can be scaled to 20 or 40 or 100 or more wavelengths as required by the community. Internet2 is also working with its network partners to test and develop new 40 and 100 Gbps technologies. "The new network is the result of Internet2 listening to member needs and the vision outlined by our community," said Greg Palmer, executive director of MAGPI, an Internet2 member and advanced networking hub serving Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. "In doing so, not only will the network offer our community flexibility but it also makes the best use of our investment dollars to ensure that the limitations of what our researchers, faculty, students, and scientists can achieve are only those of imagination, and not of resources." In 2006, Internet2 announced an agreement with Level 3 to deploy the next-generation nationwide network. Level 3 has deployed Infinera's Digital Optical Networking equipment across the dedicated high capacity backbone to enable dynamic optical circuit provisioning for the Internet2 community. Internet2 has also partnered with Ciena Corporation to deploy the CoreDirector Multiservice Switch for switching and sub-wavelength grooming services. Additionally, Internet2 has deployed its current Juniper T640 routers to provide the enhanced IP capabilities on the new network. The smooth transition to the new Internet2 Network was made possible through the collaboration of Level 3, the Global Network Operations Center at Indiana University, the regional research and education networking organizations, Qwest Communications, and Internet2 staff.