INTERNET2 ABILENE BACKBONE NETWORK UPGRADE PASSES TRANSCONTINENTAL MILESTONE
First phase of 10 gigabit per second network for research and education
complete
Washington, DC--February 17, 2003--Abilene, the farthest reaching and
most advanced research and education network in the US, today announced
that the first transcontinental path in its nationwide upgrade to the
next generation of networking is in service. When completed later this
year, the upgrade will quadruple the capacity of more than 13,000 miles
of network to 10 gigabits per second, more than 15,000 times faster than
a typical home broadband connection.
The Abilene upgrade will provide scientists, teachers and students at
the more than 225 Internet2 member universities and research centers
access to advanced networking capabilities, such as line-speed native
IPv6 and scalable multicasting, required by advanced network
applications that do not work well or at all on the commercial Internet.
The upgraded network includes significantly expanded network
measurement capabilities and an enhanced capacity to support experiments
by the computer science research community.
"Thanks to the combined effort of our Abilene partners, the path to this
milestone in the upgrade process has been extremely smooth," said Steve
Corbató, director of backbone network infrastructure for Internet2. "We
expect Abilene will continue to be a catalyst for innovation, providing
the research and education community a unique, large-scale leading-edge
network environment."
Qwest Communications International, Juniper Networks and Indiana
University are providing equipment and services to implement the network
upgrade.
"The Abilene upgrade ensures that as research and education
institutions' ideas grow, this super-high-capacity network is there to
support them," said Cliff Holtz, executive vice president for Qwest
global business markets. "This solidifies the Abilene Network's position
as the leading communications infrastructure for the research and
education community."
"Juniper Networks is pleased to play such a key role in this
groundbreaking project," commented Pradeep Sundhu, chief technology
officer, Juniper Networks. "The Juniper Networks solution ensures that
member universities and research centers can operate the most advanced
network-based applications and leverage next generation protocols such
as IPv6- all with the predictable, high performance they demand."
"Upgrading Abilene is a significant milestone in achieving the goal of
providing advanced network capabilities for teaching and research," said
Indiana University vice president for information technology and CIO
Michael McRobbie "Indiana University is delighted to be a partner in
Abilene, to host the Abilene Network Operations Center, and to provide
the hands-on expertise for this upgrade of Abilene."
Abilene, an Internet2 backbone network, enables nationwide testing of
applications such as uncompressed high-definition television quality
video; remote control of scientific instruments such as mountaintop
telescopes and electron microscopes; collaboration using immersive
virtual reality; and grid computing. Upgraded links currently reach from
Washington, DC to Los Angeles, passing through New York City, Chicago,
Kansas City and Sunnyvale.
About Internet2(R)
Led by over 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government,
Internet2 is developing and deploying advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the
creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships
among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today's
Internet in its infancy. For more information about Internet2, see: http://www.internet2.edu/
About Indiana University
Indiana University is one of the oldest state universities in the
Midwest and also one of the largest universities in the United States,
with more than 110,000 students, faculty, and staff on eight campuses.
IU has a growing national and international reputation in the areas of
information technology and advanced networking. IU, at its Indianapolis
campus, is home to the Abilene Network Operations Center as well as the
Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC®). For more
information, see: http://www.indiana.edu.
About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks transforms the business of networking by converting a
commodity - bandwidth - into a dependable, secure, and highly valuable
corporate asset. Founded in 1996 to meet the stringent demands of
service providers, Juniper Networks is now relied upon by the world's
leading network operators, government agencies, research and education
institutions, and information-intensive enterprises as the foundation
for uncompromising networks. Juniper Networks is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, California. Additional information can be found at
About Qwest Communications
Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) is a leader in
reliable, scalable and secure broadband data, voice and image
communications for businesses and consumers. The Qwest Macro Capacity®
Fiber Network, designed with the newest optical networking equipment for
speed and efficiency, spans more than 190,000 miles globally. For more
information, please visit the Qwest Web site at www.qwest.com.
Contacts:
Internet2
Greg Wood
ghwood@internet2.edu
202-331-5360
Juniper Networks
Kathy Durr
kdurr@juniper.net
408-745-5058
Indiana University
Greg Moore
gmoore@indiana.edu
812 855-0429
Qwest Communications
Vince Hancock
vince.hancock@qwest.com
303-965-6950
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