INDUSTRY

Internet2 Network Transition in Key Northeast Corridor Complete, Node Goes Live In Philadelphia: Internet2 today announced that the MAGPI advanced networking hub at the University of Pennsylvania has connected to the new Internet2 Network, providing the research and education community in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware region access to the most high-performance nationwide networking capabilities available. The new network node located in Philadelphia extends the reach of Internet2's 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps) nationwide network to its members in the region. With over ten times the capacity of its current network and with new on-demand bandwidth capabilities, the new Internet2 Network provides the foundation for even greater breakthroughs in research, teaching and learning. The University of Pennsylvania, one of 11 Internet2 university members in the MAGPI region and a founding member of the Internet2 consortium, has been an active collaborator in the Internet2 community. In addition to serving as the regional network aggregation point for the tri-state area, the school has leveraged Internet2 network connectivity in several research and education applications across Penn's 12 schools and many centers. Over the past several years, Penn's use of the Internet2 network has included: research in tele-immersion, which involves connecting users in geographically distributed locations as if they were in the same physical environment; distributed telepathology consults within the School of Medicine which enables live analysis of complex medical images by experts around the world; as well as numerous international education and outreach projects involving the Wharton Business School's French Project and the Graduate School of Education's Penn Literacy Network Dublin project which each used real time communications technologies. Penn also uses the Internet2 network for distance-learning - connecting its Wharton West campus in San Francisco with the West Philadelphia campus for live distributed lectures and class interaction. These are just a few examples of the many ways Penn and the other Internet2 member schools in this region are leveraging the unique and advanced resources of Internet2. Penn engineering professor Kostas Daniilidis, who uses the network for high-bandwidth experimentation in tele-immersion technologies, is thrilled with the news. "This is terrific for all of us who want to see telepresence as a plug and play routine in education, training, medicine, and entertainment. Having a 100 Gbps network at your fingertips makes the physical location of your computer and even the location of the user irrelevant." "We are delighted to support the extension of our Internet2 hub," Penn Provost Ron Daniels said. "Connectivity has empowered teaching and research on this campus in countless ways. The transformational potential of such technology demands that we share its fruits with the educational community at large." In June 2006, in a joint release with Level 3 Communications, Internet2 announced its plan to deploy its new advanced nationwide research network. Level 3 is deploying Infinera's Digital Optical Networking equipment across the infrastructure to enable dynamic optical circuit provisioning. Internet2 has also partnered with Ciena Corporation to deploy the CoreDirector Multiservice Switch for switching and sub-wavelength grooming services. Additionally, Internet2 will deploy its current Juniper T640 routers to continue to provide IP capabilities on the new network. The network, which went live from New York to Chicago in December 2006, is on schedule for full nationwide deployment by mid-2007 and will support a full range of production IP services as well as new on-demand, dedicated circuit capabilities that provide custom capacity for the most demanding network applications and experimentation. "Internet2 members connected via MAGPI have had a long tradition of developing unique and innovative applications for the Internet2 network which have had a significant impact on teaching and learning in the U.S. We believe the new network will provide this region with an even greater platform for experimentation that will help to inspire the next-generation of researchers, students, and entrepreneurs." said Steve Cotter, Internet2 director of network services.