Internet2 Membership FAQ

1) What are Internet2´s membership categories? There are four types of membership in Internet2: Regular membership, Affiliate membership, Corporate membership and R&E Network membership. Corporate membership is further broken down into three types: Corporate Partner, Corporate Sponsor, and Corporate Member. Affiliate membership is also broken down in two categories: Affiliate members and Afilliate members with Collaboration Site Status.

2) Who is eligible to apply for each type of membership? Regular membership is open to institutions of higher education located in the United States. Affiliate membership is open to not-for-profit organizations that are operated for research or education purposes (such as research labs and agencies). All for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Corporate membership. R&E Network members are nonprofit organizations that are sub-state, state, or multi-state in scope and that have a principal mission to provide network infrastructure and services primarily to the research and education community in the relevant geographic area, including, but not limited to, access to the Internet2 national network infrastructure and services.

Regular, Affiliate, and Corporate Applicants must be making a definitive, substantial and continuing commitment to the development, evolution and use of advanced networking services and applications in the conduct of research and education.

To request an application, send an email to: membership@internet2.edu

3) Can individuals apply for Internet2 membership? At this time, Internet2 membership operates on an institutional/organizational basis and is not open to individuals.

4) What are the requirements that must be met in order to qualify for University membership? University member applicants should commit to the following goals: (a) establish broadband Internet connectivity on an end-to-end basis between and among University member institutions and other related development sites; (b) make plans and preparations to connect to the Internet2 Network via an Internet2 Network Connector; (c) develop and demonstrate advanced network-based applications for the purposes of research and/or education and create a project team within the organization to support the development of such applications; (d) participate at the executive level in the overall management of the Internet2 project; (e) contribute necessary financial support to the above activities and to the central management and administrative expenses of Internet2.

5) What are the requirements that must be met in order to qualify for R&E Network membership? R&E Network member applicants should be nonprofit organizations that are sub-state, state, or multi-state in scope and that have a principal mission to provide network infrastructure and services primarily to the research and education community in the relevant geographic area, including, but not limited to, access to the Internet2 national network infrastructure and services.

6) What are the requirements that must be met in order to qualify for Affiliate and Corporate membership? Affiliate, as well as Corporate Member applicants should be committed to promoting the development and deployment of advanced Internet applications and network services in the conduct of research and education.

7) What are the financial commitments (costs, dues, etc.) that Internet2 members are required to make?
Please refer to the Member Dues page for current financial information.

8) What must be submitted in reference to applying for University membership? University Member applicants must submit the following items: (a) a letter from the institution's Chief Executive Officer, formally applying for membership and confirming the applicant's commitment to the mission and goals of Internet2 as well as the requirements outlined in #4 above; (b) along with the above letter, a more detailed (no more than 2 pages) statement of the applicant's status/progress towards meeting the goals of end-to-end broadband connectivity, including campus network upgrades, participation/formation of an Internet2 Network Connector, and development of advanced applications; (c) a completed Internet2 membership application.

9) What must be submitted in reference to applying for Affiliate membership? Affiliate member applicants must submit a completed Internet2 membership application that includes a statement of commitment to the goals of Internet2.

10) What must be submitted in reference to applying for Corporate membership? Corporate Member applicant must submit a completed Internet2 membership application. The application must include a description of the applicants relationship to research and education, and its research and development focus and organization.

Corporate Partner and Corporate Sponsor applicants must submit the following: (a) a project proposal; (b) a brief executive summary describing the applicants existing partnerships and contributions to higher education and research networking and its quantified contribution; (c) a completed Internet2 membership application.

11) What must be submitted in reference to applying for R&E Network membership?
R&E Network Member applicants must submit a complete Internet2 application including specified contacts information. The complete application must include a statement and supporting text which demonstrates the network member’s interest in the mission and goals of Internet2 as well as how it meets the requirements and definition for network membership.

12) Are universities abroad eligible to apply for Internet2 membership? We do not extend membership to non-US institutions. Internet2 does enter into agreements known as Memoranda of Understanding with non-US networking organizations that have similar goals with respect to supporting advanced applications and network services development and use in research and education. These networking organizations connect many international higher education and research institutions, and Internet2 members in the US are currently pursuing collaborative work with these organizations.

13) As a member, how can my organization get involved with Internet2? If you are currently an Internet2 member, there are a variety of mailing lists to subscribe to, meetings to attend, working groups to join and other members to contact. Members receive a login and password to access these resources.

14) As a non-member of Internet2, how can my organization get involved? If your organization is interested in becoming a member, and you are willing to commit to the goals of Internet2, please refer the appropriate decision-makers at your organization to this web site to learn more about the Internet2 project, goals, and commitments. If your organization is not a member of Internet2, you may subscribe to our non-member mailing lists.

15) Describe the Internet2 Network. Internet2 provides the U.S. research and education community with a dynamic, innovative and cost-effective hybrid optical and packet network. The Internet2 Network was designed to provide next-generation production services as well as a platform for the development of new networking ideas and protocols. With community control of the fundamental networking infrastructure, the Internet2 Network provides the necessary scalability for member institutions to efficiently provision resources to address bandwidth-intensive requirements of their campuses such as, collaborative applications, distributed research experiments, grid-based data analysis and social networking. The Internet2 Network's physical implementation is made up of several robust, logically different, but related networks, each on its own overlaid infrastructure. These networks include:

• Advanced IP network (provided by Juniper routers)
• Dynamic Circuit network (provided by the the multiservice switching capabilities of the Ciena CoreDirectors)
• Core optical network (provided by the Infinera platform)

16) Who can connect to the Internet2 Network? Internet2 provides high-performance networking among participating members, as well as other organizations whose connectivity benefits higher education in the United States. Any organization that subscribes to or uses Internet2 services through a connector, through a direct connection, or through any other route is considered an Internet2 Participant.

Internet2 exists to advance the goal of facilitating and enabling the development of advanced network applications, services, and content that enable routine collaboration on instructional, clinical, and/or research projects, services, and content among participants. Participants fall into two categories: Primary and Sponsored. Within the Sponsored Participation category there are two classes, Sponsored Individual Institutions, and Sponsored Educational Group.

Primary participants will typically be research and doctoral degree-granting colleges and universities, other non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, or Collaboration Sites of Affiliate and Corporate Members located in the United States. These organizations are able to commit and deploy the substantial resources necessary to implement Internet2 capabilities. In addition to participation by Primary participants, other educational institutions (including both non-profit and for-profit K – 20, technical, and trade schools), museums, art galleries, libraries, hospitals, as well as other non-educational, non-profit, or for-profit organizations that require routine collaboration on instructional, clinical, and/or research projects and services with Primary participants or with other Sponsored participants may become Sponsored participants. Those parts of corporations and government agencies that require routine collaboration on instructional and/or research projects with Primary participants or with other Sponsored participants also may become Sponsored participants.