A preliminary report previewed at TechEX recommends that Internet2 establish a plan to move NET+ and Cloud services out of the R&E routing instance and combine them with the TR-CPS routes in a new service called Cloud Exchange.

A TechEx 18 break-out discussion on Next Generation Infrastructure led to a call for regional workshops, and a Security break-out session recommended a shift for Network Operators.

By early December, Internet2 will release an RFP for the refresh of its optical line system and related components. 

At TechEx, a multi-organization working group presented its results on the community's exploration of Juniper node-slicing. These efforts indicated that the technology should be further explored to facilitate infrastructure sharing, particularly in cases where multiple, legacy Juniper chassis units are collocated.

Internet2 continues to experience significant sustained year over year growth in the TR-CPS and cloud services. Today Internet2 has over 2 Tbps of provisioned bandwidth to peers across seven interconnection points.

A continuing goal of the Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) program is to iterate on community requirements for the next iteration of the infrastructure.

The Network Architecture, Operations and Policy Program Advisory Group has formed a subcommittee focused on the Next Generation Infrastructure.

To facilitate the development of next-generation AL2S and AL3S services, Internet2 has augmented its network testing facilities and enhanced its traffic simulation and network failure testing capabilities.

We are happy to announce we have added Wasabi to the Internet2 Cloud Exchange.

Internet2 released the Cloud Connect Portal (OESS 2.0) which allows connectors, participants and researchers to provision Layer3 Networks between themselves and others connected to the Internet2 network in seconds.

We are pleased to announce that effective November 1, 2018, Internet2 is increasing the amount of TR-CPS peering capacity provided on each 100G AL2/3S connection from 20Gbps to 50Gbps.

It is now possible to use Cloud Connect to reach Microsoft Azure Express Route, Amazon AWS Direct Connect, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Dedicated Interconnect in three cities across the U.S. 

Internet2 continues its commitment to the NET+ program in meeting our members’ needs. One aspect of strengthening the program is improvements around information security.

Internet2 has been a long-time supporter of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. We're providing another update to the community on the information security activities and resources we provide to higher education.

At TechEX 2018, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Florida are planning two presentations focused on helping universities with controlled unclassified information.

Internet2 is committed to managing the NET+ program to deliver continuing value, and to effectively evolve the program to meet the ever-changing market and needs of higher education. Today, NET+ will be added to the executive responsibility portfolio of Kevin Morooney, VP for Trust and Identity. 

Many of us find that researchers are unaware that Identity Federation services exist to make their work easier by enabling seamless, faster, and better collaboration.

The 2018 Technology Exchange features a number of sessions devoted to the Next Generation Infrastructure as well as other Advanced Networking Topics. You are invited to be part of the conversation.

Identity-as-a-Service (IdaaS) has emerged as one of the many cloud-based Software-as-a-Service offerings. Some of the more well-known names in this field include Okta, Forgerock, OneLogin, and Auth0. The biggest tech players also offer IdaaS which includes AWS Cognito, Google IdP, and Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).