[Infowarrior] - Internet2's network to get a facelift

[Richard Forno]

Internet2's network to get a facelift
Denise Pappalardo, Network World
26/04/2006 08:26:16
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;102071774

Internet2's network is growing up. That was one of the key topics discussed
Tuesday at the group's Spring Member Meeting in Arlington, Virginia.

The research group is phasing out its Abilene network after about seven
years of service with a big backbone that will support 10 10Gbps Lambdas,
says Douglas Van Houweling, president and CEO of Internet2.

Internet2 is a consortium of 201 universities that works with government and
the IT industry to develop and deploy advanced network applications and
technologies with the goal of accelerating development of the public
Internet.

In early April, Internet2 announced to its members that it would not renew
its contract with Qwest Communications, the prime network provider of its
Abilene network. At the same time, Internet2 said it has a "non-binding"
contract with another carrier to support the group's next generation network
needs.

Because Internet2 is a member organization, all contracts have to be
approved by members. Once that happens the name of the new service provider
will be revealed, the group says.

The new network, which will likely receive its own name akin to Abilene,
will initially support 10 10Gbps Lambdas, but will eventually scale to 80
10Gbps Lambdas, Van Houweling says.

The new network will allow Internet2 to "focus on the trains, not the
tracks," he says.

The additional bandwidth is needed to support high-speed experiments that
are already being conducted. Van Houweling says Internet2 members are
running an experiment that uses 7Gbps, but currently Abilene can only
support one such experiment at a time.

The research group is still working out some details such as what type of
service level agreements (SLAs) will be offered to Interent2 users. Today,
no SLAs are offered over the Abilene network.

The new network will also include self-provisioning support so universities
that are about to launch a new experiment will need only go to a Web site to
have additional bandwidth provisioned.

All Internet2 members are expected to be transitioned off of Abilene by
September 2007.