The Internet2 Network is a dynamic, innovative and cost-effective hybrid optical and packet network designed to deliver to the research and education community next-generation production services as well as a development platform for new networking ideas and protocols. With a community-owned infrastructure, the Internet2 Network provides the scalability member institutions need to efficiently manage resources and meet bandwidth-intensive requirements ranging from collaborative applications like videoconferencing to global-scale distributed research, from grid-based data analysis to social networking.

The Internet2 Network was created to assure the U.S. higher education and research community a secure position of technical and thought leadership within the global Internet operations, policy and research spaces. Through a federal stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), Internet2 began to deploy the fourth generation of its national network in 2011.

Through strategic investments with partners Level 3, Ciena and Juniper Networks, the new network will have a dramatically enlarged footprint and enhanced capacity to meet the high-performance, high-capacity needs of research and higher education—and extend new capabilities to community anchor institutions nationwide. The new network infrastructure will include:

• 15,000+ miles of owned fiber optic cable nationwide with expanded capabilities into the northern tier in partnership with the Northern Tier Network Consortium
• 8.8 Terabits of total capacity with the ability to seamlessly scale as community requirement grow
• First national implementation of 100 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities deployed across the entire footprint

These building blocks will enable a portfolio of emerging services that will increasingly be required to meet the rigorous networking demands of the Internet2 community. For more on the project, see 100G Upgrade.

Internet2 has received a $62.5 million federal stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The total project value is approximately $97M. The grant is funding a dramatic expansion of the Internet2 Network footprint and capacity. The upgraded network will have an unprecedented 8.8 Terabits of capacity and use brand new 100 Gigabit Ethernet technology. 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 upgraded network will be capable of supporting connectivity for all of the approximately 200,000 U.S. community anchor institutions (CAIs) as mandated by the grant, enabling CAIs to provide their communities with telemedicine, distance learning and other advanced applications not possible with consumer-grade Internet services, improving and creating new economic opportunities across the U.S. The enormous capacity can also be easily partitioned, enabling simultaneous support of logical networks for such diverse needs as GENI and national interconnect of public safety wireless networks.

Project technical details

Internet2 has acquired the first 10,000 route miles of an expected 15,000 miles of dark fiber as a critical, long‐term asset for the community. The majority of this fiber was acquired from Level 3 Communications. Through a managed fiber network agreement with Level 3, Internet2 owns the optical infrastructure and dark fiber, direct provisioning and capacity planning. Level 3 will install the optronics and provide 24/7 monitoring, field support, colocation facilities and power for the network.

Internet2 has partnered with Ciena to provide the optical transport using its ActiveFlex 6500 platform. Internet2 is likely to skip 10G long-haul wavelengths on the footprint and will move directly to 40G and 100G long-haul waves. 10G waves will still be available through muxponders on to 40G and 100G waves.

Juniper Networks will provide T1600 routers equipped with 100Gbps standards‐based interfaces. The current MX960 routers will be repurposed to support TR-CPS and other applications.

The Northern Tier Network portion of the footprint will leverage Infinera's forthcoming XTN system for optical transport, increasing capacity from 400 Gbps to over 3 Tbps on that path.

Project implementation

The first phase of the project, from New York and Washington to Sunnyvale and Chicago to Atlanta, will be completed in summer, 2011.

Internet2 will continue 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.

More information on the project, including a progress map and status reports, will be posted here as they become available.