News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren B. Kallens" <>]

Internet2 Selects Team from IU, MAX, and NCREN to Lead Testbed Support
Center Services for National Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure
Testbed

Ann Arbor, MI - August 11, 2005 - Continuing progress towards building and
deploying its Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) testbed,
Internet2 today announced that a team from the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads
(MAX), the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), and
Indiana University (IU) was selected to lead the HOPI Testbed Support Center
(TSC). The selection was based on their demonstrated ability to support the
implementation of new and inventive techniques in hybrid networking as well
as the team's deep experience in providing standard network monitoring and
management of cutting-edge network applications. 

"The collaborative and well-experienced team from IU, NCREN, and MAX will
enable HOPI researchers from around the world to experiment with
next-generation networking technologies by providing a sustainable
environment with consistent monitoring and comprehensive feedback on
multiple levels," said Rick Summerhill, director of network research,
architecture and technology. 

In order to most effectively support the testbed, each TSC organization will
manage specific areas in accordance with their core competencies. The MAX
will be responsible for essential software development needed to allow
dynamic provisioning of circuit-oriented services over a diverse network.
With its work on the Dynamic Resource Allocation over GMPLS Optical Networks
project or DRAGON, MAX has made great strides toward the development of the
common control plane architecture needed to provision circuit-oriented
services on varied multi-domain networks. This work will become an essential
part of the HOPI TSC's role.

The Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) at Indiana
University will be responsible for engineering services including HOPI
network operations, administration, and maintenance. With its experience
providing network engineering services to the Abilene network, the National
LambdaRail (NLR) Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks, and MANLAN, the Global NOC
Engineering Team has the expertise to provide effective support for the wide
assortment of equipment being deployed for HOPI.

NCREN will be responsible for the applications support function. This is a
broad and ambitious area of responsibility and includes a wide range of
activities such as software consulting to applications developers,
development of middleware services and prototypes for circuit based
services, and performance engineering and evaluation for applications.

"Our team is poised to provide the most advanced support services to this
important investigation which we believe will pioneer the future of high
performance networking for the research and education community," said Jerry
Sobieski, director, research initiatives for MAX and lead TSC coordinator.
"By working hand in hand with the HOPI design team and the HOPI corporate
advisory team, the TSC provides a robust platform for cutting-edge research
and global collaboration." 

The national testbed infrastructure, which is now near completion, will
serve as a foundation for cutting-edge experimentation and a model for the
next generation of Internet2's network architecture. 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.  

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
LambdaRail (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.

About MAX
The Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) is a multi-state, metaPoP consortium
founded by Georgetown University, George Washington University, the
University of Maryland, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University.  The MAX mission is to bring the most advanced, high
performance, end-to-end connectivity to the mid-Atlantic region for the
advancement of its constituent institutions.  MAX is assuming a leadership
role in the area of integrating commodity Internet services and advanced
research network services for a large base of public sector organizations.
For more information about this cohesive group of universities, federal
research labs, and commercial and non-profit institutions, visit
http://www.maxgigapop.net/.

About Global NOC
The Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) at Indiana
University provides engineering and operations services for leading high
performance research and education (R&E) networks and for international
connections to US and global R&E networks, and is undertaking research and
development for support of Grid operations. For more, see:
http://globalnoc.iu.edu/

About NCREN
Since 1985, MCNC has developed and operated the North Carolina Research and
Education Network (NCREN) in collaboration with the University of North
Carolina's 16 campuses. The fiber-optic, private network is dedicated to
research and education, providing a statewide network backbone to foster
innovation. NCREN provides high-speed Internet, video, audio and data
network services for North Carolina public universities, Duke University,
Wake Forest University, other private universities and community colleges,
state government and non-profit institutions. NCREN also provides access to
national research networks. MCNC, founded in 1980 to be a catalyst for
technology-based economic development throughout North Carolina, is located
in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park. For more information, please
visit www.mcnc-gcns.org

Contact:
Lauren Kallens
Internet2

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