News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren B. Kallens" <>]

Internet2 Announces Key Milestone In Its Hybrid Optical And Packet
Infrastructure Initiative

Project's Design Team Introduces Testbed For Advanced Network Architecture
Experimentation; Testbed to Serve as Model for Next-Generation Networks

Ann Arbor, MI - January 26, 2005 -- The Internet2(R) Hybrid Optical and
Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) initiative today announced its design for a
national network testbed infrastructure that, once built, will serve as a
foundation for cutting-edge experimentation and a model for the next
generation of Internet2's network architecture. As a part of its mission to
design and deliver an advanced network infrastructure to meet the emerging
needs of its member community, Internet2 has initiated the Hybrid Optical
and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) initiative to investigate next-generation
high performance network architectures.

"Today scientists, doctors, and researchers throughout the world are using
Internet2's Abilene Network to collaborate and share bandwidth-intensive
resources.  Through the HOPI initiative we hope to explore and develop a new
network architecture that can support our ever-evolving community and its
growing capacity needs," said Rick Summerhill, director of network research,
architecture, and technologies for Internet2 and HOPI Design Team co-chair.
"By providing a fundamental roadmap for the next generation network, we hope
to continue to facilitate the most innovative uses of networking."

Representing technology leaders from the foremost research institutions
around the world, The HOPI Design Team was created to provide a strategic
plan and technical oversight for development and execution of the HOPI
testbed facility. Based on in-depth research, expert discussions, and an
examination of future networking technologies, the Design Team has created a
rich set of guidelines and an outline for this national scale testbed
effort.  
 
"The HOPI Design Team sought to create a testbed facility that could provide
a platform to experiment with hybrid networks constructed from both circuit
switched and packet switched infrastructures," said Linda Winkler, senior
network engineer for the Argonne National Laboratory and HOPI Design Team
co-chairperson. "We believe the resulting architecture combines the best
means for experimenting with the attributes of IP and optical networking,
dynamic provisioning, and the scalability of future hybrid networks." 

The testbed will allow researchers and scientists from around the world to
participate and experiment with new networking technologies such as
dynamically provisioned bandwidth, circuit switched environments, and new
transport protocols. To accomplish this, each HOPI node will consist of an
Ethernet switch with 10GigE capabilities, a fiber cross connect switch, and
servers to control HOPI's network infrastructure and measure network
performance, all designed to model future optical infrastructures.
  
The HOPI testbed will utilize facilities from Internet2's Abilene Network,
the National Lambda Rail (NLR) network, The MANLAN exchange point, and
regional optical networks. Over the next three months, HOPI nodes will be
deployed in sites supporting substantial international connectivity,
including the Pacific Northwest GigPoP in Seattle, StarLight in Chicago, and
the NYSERNet/MAN LAN location in New York City. HOPI nodes will also be
deployed in Los Angeles for connectivity to the UltraLight project and in
Washington D.C. for connectivity to the DRAGON project. Both UltraLight and
DRAGON are projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Additionally,
all of the HOPI nodes will connect to the existing Abilene routers in their
corresponding cities. These nodes will in turn, connect to Internet2's
experimental facilities on the NLR footprint. This configuration will allow
Abilene-connected researchers access to the HOPI facilities.

Summerhill added, "With the testbed design in place, we are now poised and
ready to work with our members and our international partners to bring this
global experiment to fruition. By combining the technical expertise and
leading-edge resources of our members and partners, we are confident that
the HOPI initiative will yield breakthroughs for the future of high
performance networking."

About HOPI
Commissioned in early 2004, the Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure
(HOPI) initiative is examining a hybrid of packet and circuit switched
optical infrastructures to understand next generation architectures and how
to create scalable future networks. The first stage of the project is the
HOPI testbed. Utilizing facilities from both Internet2 and the National
Lambda Rail (NLR), the testbed will provide a facility to understand and
experiment with next generation architectures with the goal of creating a
model leading to the next-generation of the Abilene Network by 2007.  For
more information, visit: http://networks.internet2.edu/hopi/

About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government,
Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and
technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of
tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships among academia,
industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet in its infancy.
For more information, visit: www.internet2.edu.

Contact:
Lauren Kallens
Internet2



###