07
October
2020

Advanced Networking

Internet2, Cisco Team Up To Deliver Advanced Networking Technology in Support of Research and Academic Collaboration

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Cisco’s Internet for the Future routers and software will deliver key services for the Internet2 nationwide research and education network

Washington, D.C., October 7, 2020 – Internet2 today announced a strategic alliance with Cisco to deliver next-generation capabilities and software solutions across the U.S. research and education (R&E) infrastructure that enables scientific collaboration at a global scale. The new agreement between the two organizations focuses on delivering a national R&E network with increased capacity incrementing at 400 gigabits per second, on-demand cloud-connectivity, and a reduced carbon footprint that will remove 6681 metric tons a year of carbon from the environment. The agreement also includes collaborative opportunities for Internet2 and Cisco to support research activities and multi-domain service orchestration with campus and regional partners.

Cisco’s selection was the result of a rigorous proposal process that was reviewed by networking experts from the Internet2 community and organization, and was part of the Internet2 Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) program, which focuses on supporting the data intensive researcher, enabling campuses to connect to the cloud, delivering edge-to-edge performance, and creating a software enabled environment. 

“Research and education networks have never been more critical than they are today, and the selection of Cisco is a very exciting and critical milestone for the R&E community,” said Howard Pfeffer, President and CEO, Internet2. “Cisco is supporting the delivery of a software-driven infrastructure that enables rapid deployment of new services and tight integration with applications and scientific workflows on the campus and in the cloud, both of which are essential to our nation’s future. Cisco has also made substantial commitments not only to Internet2, but to the broader R&E community, by pledging ecosystem-wide support that helps us bridge campus, regional, national, and international needs.” 

Internet2 will deploy Cisco’s latest 8200 series routing platform powered by Cisco Silicon One ASICs, running IOS® XR7 and Network Services Orchestration (NSO) software as part of the packet infrastructure upgrade to its national backbone. With some intercity routes topping 1.2 terabits per second, Internet2’s network infrastructure between the East and West coasts will feature multiple contiguous routes equipped with 800 gigabits per second of bandwidth. This will provide abundant headroom to support big data research across disciplines, including the Large Hadron Collider, infectious disease research among academic medical centers, and access to global genomics databases.

“Now more than ever, we believe that technology can be used for good to build a more inclusive future for us all,” said Cisco Senior Vice President of U.S. Public Sector Nick Michaelides. “Innovation is in Cisco’s DNA and we are proud to stand with and support leading researchers by providing a technological backbone that will help them connect, share data, collaborate and accelerate all their great work. Internet2 members are some of the brightest minds in the world, working to solve the biggest problems on the planet and we’re honored to help them connect and work together to help build that more inclusive world we envision.”

The upgraded Internet2 network, which connects U.S. universities and government agencies, and supports community anchor institutions, will feature software interfaces and orchestration capabilities that enable an edge-to-edge R&E ecosystem, ultimately providing a seamless user experience for both researchers and campus administrators. Programmability for on-demand, dedicated and secure cloud connectivity is one example of the NGI capabilities being planned with the end-user in mind. 

Benefit Details

  • Cisco 8201 and 8202 routers will be deployed in 48 locations across the country utilizing between 1 and 4 devices per location. A typical node which connects national backbone resources with regional networks has between 24 and 96 400G network access ports.
  • Cisco NSO will become the basis for an extensible network-wide automation platform that will immediately deliver Internet2 services and can eventually support campus to regional to national to cloud service orchestration.
  • The system will be interconnected using native 400G wavelengths on Internet2’s optical network to deliver Nx400G capacity between cities.
  • A move to segment routing with multiprotocol label switching (SR-MPLS) and Ethernet virtual private network (EVPN) will allow researcher applications to eventually claim up to an entire 400G link for a particular application while other network uses are dynamically moved to other paths.
  • As part of the agreement, Cisco is also offering incentive programs for regional networks and campuses to adopt similar technologies for their own network upgrades.
  • While delivering 4 to 12 times more capacity across the national footprint, the new Cisco solution is expected to require 668 metric tons less power and cooling.

1Based on engineering models, the Cisco 8200 routing platform is projected to reduce the total operating power used by Internet2’s packet platform by a minimum of 61% – calculated to drop from 88,100 watts to 34,125 watts. Taken annually, the proportional savings in kilowatt hours for direct power results in 334 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoidance. Factoring in an equivalent amount of cooling, the total rises to 668 metric tons of carbon dioxide reduction. This is equivalent to taking 144 cars off the road per year, or approximately 1.6 million driven miles by an average passenger vehicle per year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

About Internet2
Internet2® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 323 U.S. universities, 60 government agencies, 43 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 100,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, and 56 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network partners that represent more than 100 countries.
 
Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2’s core infrastructure components include the nation’s largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework.
 
Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and inclusive future. Discover more at newsroom.cisco.com and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks.

Media Contact:
Sara Aly
Communications Manager, Internet2
saly@internet2.edu