NETWORKS

Core Verizon Business Network Infrastructure Connects up to 18 Million Users Across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Verizon Business today announced the successful deployment of SuperJANET5, the U.K.’s new national research and education network, over a Verizon Business state-of-the-art, fibre-optic network. SuperJANET5 will link 19 regional educational networks across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, supporting a potential user base of up to 18 million users drawn from education and research communities. JANET, the U.K.’s education and research network, provides a high-speed infrastructure to connect all further and higher-education institutions and research councils and U.K. schools. SuperJANET, the network core, provides fast, resilient, always-available and secure access to all JANET organisations to enable them to communicate effectively, with the necessary bandwidth to support heavy data flow. SuperJANET5 is the latest version of this backbone and replaces SuperJANET4, which has been operational since March 2001. Tim Marshall, chief executive, UKERNA, commented: “JANET is essentially the infrastructure that will help the U.K. stay at the forefront of global research and development. From primary schools in Preston to particle physics research at Rutherford, JANET has to provide a unifying network communications infrastructure that can support these users’ diverse needs.” Verizon Business has delivered an autonomous network backbone, with a dedicated, geographically diverse fibre infrastructure, that provides UKERNA with control and flexibility to support existing and future user requirements. The resulting infrastructure, one of the U.K.’s most technologically advanced independent networks, can scale to terabit-per-second capabilities. This advanced network design, plus a personally accountable local support team, enabled Verizon Business to meet the rigorous service level agreements defined by UKERNA. Verizon Business is also the first service provider to retain a contract with UKERNA through the network procurement exercise to facilitate the move from SuperJANET4 to SuperJANET5. Bob Day, chief technology officer, UKERNA, commented: “SuperJANET5 needs to be able to support both bandwidth-intensive demands of academic research, as well as ongoing data traffic from applications such as e-mail and Internet usage. Flexibility was therefore key in our search for a service provider. We need to adapt network configuration and bandwidth to support research activities, while ensuring consistent high-quality availability to our other users. Our choice of technology partner was crucial.” Day affirmed: “Verizon Business ticked all the boxes.” Rory Cole, COO International, Verizon Business, said, “SuperJANET5 helps support the U.K.’s future by facilitating a strong academic and educational research environment. We’re delighted and proud to work with UKERNA to keep U.K. academic communities on the leading edge of networking. We look forward to continuing to support UKERNA as it continues to encourage collaboration and cooperation in the shared interests of education and research.” Professor Sir Ron Cooke, chairman of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the organisation funding the JANET network, concluded: “SuperJANET5 further advances the U.K.’s position as a leading-edge player in the global research and education networking arena. The project sets a new benchmark for network technology in this area, and we’re delighted to bring the project live.”