May 22, 2006
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Chronicle of Higher Education (04/26/06) Kiernan, Vincent
Leaders of the Internet2 academic-computing consortium announced plans on Tuesday for a new national academic fiber-optic network, tentatively called "Newnet," that would replace the Abilene high-speed network. Internet2 President Douglas E. Van Houweling says Newnet would initially carry data on 10 different wavelengths of light, each of which would be able to handle 10 gigabits of data per second--or the total capacity of Abilene--at a time. Institutions connected to the new network would have access to one light wavelength that, like Abilene, would carry conventional Internet traffic, said Steve Cotter, director of network services for Internet2. Cotter added that each institution would also have access to a second wavelength that could be used however the institution desired, or even subdivided for multiple users. He said Internet2's goal is to develop a Web-based system that scientists could use to order extra fiber-optic capacity as needed for their research. The system would be able to find unused capacity on the network and deliver it to the researcher within moments, which is far faster than three months' lead time that is often required when requesting extra fiber-optic capacity from a telecommunications company, Cotter said. Newnet is expected to become operational in about 18 months, and will be offered at a cost that is "comparable" to Abilene's, Van Houweling said.
For the complete article, see http://chronicle.com/free/2006/04/2006042601t.htm
Posted by rab5 at 06:01 PM
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