Internet2 Network
Read the Internet2 Advanced Layer 3 Service infosheet (PDF) for more details.
The Internet2 Network offers a full range of network services tailored to the unique needs of research and education (R&E), and built upon proven operational expertise and service delivery.
Internet2 Network Services provide the most complete toolkit for building specialized R&E collaborations through advanced network technologies. Whether you need reliable, high-capacity, best-in-breed building blocks for private networks, integration with the global R&E fabric, or the ability to customize services and operations for the most demanding Big Data and science requirements, Internet2's portfolio of advanced networking solutions is designed to meet the needs of all R&E users.
Dependable IP solutions—engineered specifically
for research and education.
Internet2's Advanced Layer 3 Service delivers specialized R&E network service, just for our community. Internet2 members take advantage of:
- A network dedicated to specialized R&E traffic
- A network engineered to allow wide reachability across the R&E community with abundant "headroom" optimized for peak performance. Average use and traffic congestion are not part of the discussion when it comes to network planning for this network. The network is engineered for the most demanding peak-plus-potential network traffic, ensuring optimal performance. The goal of this service is for users to never experience the dropping packets, jitter or other underperformance characteristics of commodity networks.
- A network that's highly reliable, and connects to a fabric of other national research and education networks around the globe
See Internet2 Network Fees for participation fees.
Internet2 members have commercial traffic needs, too. Internet2's TR-CPS:
- Provides higher quality peering to Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and other commercial content providers
- Introduces IPv6 and multicast capabilities into commercial peering arrangements
- Allows unused capacity on R&E pipes with/for high value peers
See Internet2 Network Fees for participation fees.
Global Ethernet Network flexibility—delivered.
Internet2's Advanced Layer 2 Service provide effective and efficient wide area Ethernet services that allow CIOs and IT staff to support long-term or short-term global collaborations for data-intensive science or production services.
Read the Internet2 Advanced Layer 2 Service infosheet (PDF) for more details.
- Dedicated bandwidth—free of policy or capacity restrictions—to support scientists' and researchers' "big data" networking needs
- Interconnections with global R&E and Global Optical Lightpath Exchange fabric enable Ethernet VLANs throughout the U.S. on Internet2, and around the world through partner networks
- The option to enable software-defined networking (SDN) through technologies such as OpenFlow allows network innovators to innovate
- Maximum value of Internet2 Network bandwidth, and better management of network traffic for network operators
See Internet2 Network Fees for participation fees.
Control your own network—without building it.
Read the Internet2 Advanced Layer 1 Service infosheet (PDF) for more details.
Internet2's Advanced Layer 1 Service is the most specialized and cost-effective way to build a custom, high-capacity network. And not just any network, but a state-of-the-art network at 10, 100, 400 gigabit—and eventually 1 terabit speeds—with more access points than any other national R&E network, including paths through regions never served before. Internet2's national fiber network, optical system and network operations center (NOC) provide a set of leading edge resources and capabilities that offers the most reliable, high-capacity network solution. See Internet2 Network Fees for participation fees.
The network you need—where you need it.
Does your organization have a special need that requires a different solution? Internet2 has extensive expertise in working with key industry, government, research and educational institutions to develop custom network solutions that integrate the right blend of Internet2 Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 services.
Whether you need dark fiber procurement to reach a new site; coordination with regional partners for last-mile connectivity; identification of collocation possibilities; hardware deployment; or a dedicated NOC to support the most demanding, on-going service levels—Internet2 has the right experience to design, build, integrate and operate your custom private network.
For more information on custom networks, email networkdevelopment@internet2.edu.
Enabling Discovery, Accelerating Research, Empowering Community
The Internet2 Innovation Platform: Abundant bandwidth; fewer bottlenecks; and a new class of control to unlock a whole new dimension of research and education (R&E) solutions.
Abundant bandwidth
Extraordinary increases in network capacity and speed, delivered across a 100 gigabit Ethernet (GE) national backbone, deep into the places where tomorrow's innovators are at work.
Fewer bottlenecks
Pioneering concepts like the Science DMZ* provide a blueprint for architecting and optimizing local networks to support the very unique needs of research data. Using this model, campuses experience amazing levels of improved application performance without sacrificing security—and as a result, can fully leverage their investments in 100GE connectivity.
New class of control
Entirely new dimensions of possibility through software-defined networking, allowing previously untouchable, inflexible networks to be programmed and optimized for particular applications.
The Internet2 community is building these three advanced technologies into an Innovation Platform that can be used to develop a new generation of common community applications and deliver a new breed of more efficient, better-yielding services for scientific researchers and educators—including those available through Internet2 NET+.
This unique new environment will provide as-yet-unimagined solutions that accelerate collaborative scientific research and transform university business services—strengthening the nation's position as a global R&E leader for decades to come.
Creating new innovation opportunities begins with understanding what enabled innovation in the past...
A few decades ago, R&E community innovation sparked a little thing called the Internet, transforming our global economy into an information-based powerhouse, and turning a $250 million total investment into an estimated $1.4 trillion return annually**.
The Internet2 community (including the same players and partnerships that launched that transformation) believes investing in this new Innovation Platform will transform again, generating new applications and driving a new cycle of global economic development. They believe the time for building it is now.
The Internet2 Innovation Platform is open. Help build the future.
Email innovation@internet2.edu for more information.
*The Science DMZ model was developed by the Department of Energy's ESnet. More info on Science DMZ can be found at ESnet's website: fasterdata.es.net/science-dmz
**See Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet for more info and links to the study.
ASU's Rich Vision for the Innovation Platform
Gordon D. Wishon
Andrea Richa
Guoliang Xue
and others
Clemson's Opportunities with Internet2 Technologies
Jim Bottum
Orville V. Burton
David Kwartowitz
Indiana U: Early Adopter of the Platform
Bradley C. Wheeler
Stephen Simms
Michael Lynch
Innovation Campus Pilot Program
- Innovation Campus Pilot Sites (PDF) – Includes list of participating campuses and supporting regional networks and some implementation details
Rob Vietzke, Internet2's VP of Network Services, explains how the Internet2 Innovation Platform is removing barriers and opening new possibilities for researchers and educators.
Innovation Platform Docs
- Internet2 Innovation Platform FAQ (PDF)
- Enabling Innovation on the Campus (PDF)
- Innovation Campus Pilot Sites (PDF)
- Internet2 Advanced Layer 2 Service (PDF)
- Building the Next Innovation Platform – Presented April 25 at Spring 2012 Internet2 Member Meeting
Network overview (PDF) – Includes network services overview and map
Resources
- Internet2 Network Contacts
- Internet2 Network Operations Center, supported by the Indiana University GlobalNOC
- Internet2 Observatory – Integrated network data archive
- Interactive Network Map – Includes connectors and participants
- Internet2 IP Layer Realtime Atlas – GlobalNOC
- Network maps
- Internet2 Network wiki
Engineered for Innovation, Open for Imagination
The Internet2 Network is turning "4th gen," and is undergoing a dramatic expansion in footprint, capacity and capability.
Funded in part by a federal stimulus grant through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), along with Internet2 partners, the upgraded network uses brand new 100 Gigabit Ethernet technology and will have an unprecedented 8.8 Terabits of capacity. The Internet2 Network is the first national network to deploy 100 GigE waves on its entire footprint, and will become the most sophisticated research and education platform in the world.
The network's enormous capacity can also be easily partitioned, enabling the simultaneous operation of networks for diverse needs—from the National Science Foundation's Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) to a national interconnect of public safety wireless networks.
Why does the U.S. need a 100 Gbps backbone for research and education?
Not only does the U.S. lag behind other countries in average broadband speeds (it ranks 25th), it still lags behind the Federal Communications Commission's 2010 National Broadband Plan minimum broadband standard of 4 Mbps: The median download speed for the nation in 2010 was 3 Mbps, only a .5 Mbps increase from the 2009 median. At this rate, it would take the U.S. 60 years to catch up with current Internet speeds in South Korea. (The 2010 Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States, speedmatters.org.)
But there's far more than national pride at stake here. Our nation's ability to compete in the world of "big data" and globally distributed science demands a dramatic increase in our broadband performance.
A single human genome sequence file can easily weigh in at 1 terabyte by the time you factor in multiple reads (required for reliable results) and analysis data. At the 2010 U.S. median download speed of 3 Mbps, it would take nearly 31 days to download one file. At 100 Gbps, it takes only 80 seconds. It's not hard to see how the ability of U.S. researchers to compete and collaborate with their global counterparts in sciences like human genomics—and a growing number of others—depends on our networks' ability to handle big data at big speed.
The new Internet2 Network doesn't just level the playing field. It builds a completely new one. It does more than enable innovation—it inspires it.
Internet2 Planned 100G Infrastructure Topology (draft)
Project multimedia
The Road to 100G – Get the latest news on the Internet2 Network 100G upgrade on our network blog. RSS feed available.
Internet2 Network on YouTube – Watch interviews, demos and other videos highlighting interesting details of the new network.
Project documentation
- BTOP Award Info Space – Various documents related to the BTOP award.
U.S. UCAN
The grant proposal calls for creation of an organization called the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S.UCAN) that will build on the R&E network model for the expanded set of CAIs, although there is no funding for this purpose. To learn more, see usucan.org.
Internet2 was awarded its $62.5 million BTOP grant in 2010. The total project value is approximately $97M. The upgraded network will be capable of supporting advanced broadband capabilities for approximately 200,000 U.S. community anchor institutions (CAIs) including public libraries, schools, community colleges, research parks, public safety and health care institutions. CAIs will now be able to provide their communities with telemedicine, HD and multicast video, distance learning and other advanced applications not possible with consumer-grade Internet services, improving and creating new economic opportunities across the U.S.
Only about 66,000 of these organizations are being served today. Internet2 continues to partner closely with regional and state networks to deliver its services to end institutions. This may include the addition of new regional and state networks being created through BTOP funding or other funding.
Internet2 Network Partners
Transparent operations
Focused on the unique needs of the research and education community, the Internet2 Network provides transparent operations and is under constant evaluation and optimization by the community, to deliver leading edge network characteristics—such as adequate headroom—to meet the constantly evolving needs of high-speed research and collaboration.
Community input into the design and management of the network is done though the Network Architecture Operations and Policy program advisory group and the Network Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC).
Internet2 Network design, development, deployment, management and support are collaborations between the Internet2 Network Services staff and the Internet2 Network Operations Center (NOC). Current Internet2 Network information can be found there, including live network data, maps and documentation and research data.
The Internet2 NOC is supported by the Indiana University Global Network Operations Center (GlobalNOC), which provides world-class production and research and development support services to Internet2 Network participants.
