News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren Rotman" <>]

New Nationwide Internet2 Network Deployment Reaches Major Milestone; 
First Coast to Coast Span Completed and in Production

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - June 13, 2007 - Internet2 today announced that the first
East to West Coast span on its new nationwide 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps)
network has been completed and is providing production IP and circuit
services. This deployment marks another major milestone in bringing
leading-edge networking resources to the research and education community in
the United States. 

Since beginning its network build out plans in fall 2006, Internet2 has
worked with Level 3 Communications, the Global Research Network Operations
Center (GRNOC) at Indiana University, and the regional network connectors to
rapidly deploy the enhanced optical and packet network platform. In April
2007, Internet2 announced that the first major phase of the deployment was
complete which included nodes in the Northeast and Midwest regions. With
today's announcement, Internet2 and Level 3 have now completed deployment of
important nodes across the northern span of the network including those in
Washington DC, Chicago, IL, Kansas City, MO, Salt Lake City, UT, and
Seattle, WA. Additionally, network rings have been completed from Washington
DC to Atlanta as well as from Kansas City to Atlanta. For a detailed
deployment schedule, visit: http://www.internet2.edu/network/deployment.html

"Today's announcement marks another key milestone in bringing more advanced
network technology to the research and education community," said Steve
Cotter, Internet2 director of network services. "Through collaboration with
Level 3, the GRNOC, and the regional network connectors, we have been able
to continue to deliver on our aggressive roll out schedule and make the
transition to this new backbone seamless for our members."

The new Internet2 Network will initially provide members with 100 Gbps of
capacity as well as increased bandwidth flexibility to serve the evolving
needs of the research and education community. In 2006, Internet2 announced
an agreement with Level 3 to deploy a next-generation nationwide network.
Level 3 is deploying Infinera's Digital Optical Networking equipment across
the dedicated high capacity backbone to enable dynamic optical circuit
provisioning for the Internet2 community. Internet2 has also partnered with
Ciena Corporation to deploy their CoreDirector Multiservice Switch for
switching and sub-wavelength grooming services which allows members to
customize their connections from 10 Gbps down to 51 Mbps to meet their
institutional networking needs. Internet2 will deploy its current Juniper
T640 routers to provide advanced IP capabilities.  

"We are pleased to have been a part of achieving this milestone," said Randy
Brogle, senior director of the research and education segment for Level 3's
business market group. "Level 3 takes pride in enabling collaboration and
innovation across the research and education community, and we look forward
to supporting Internet2 and their network's growth."

By supporting reliable, cutting-edge IP services as well as new on-demand,
dedicated circuits and sub-wavelength services for the most demanding
network applications and experimentation, the new network serves as a
platform for Internet2 members to develop even greater innovations in
advanced technology. For instance, medical researchers will be able to
develop and fine tune virtual surgery techniques; musicians can leverage
multiple high definition videoconferences for international master music
classes; and researchers can utilize dedicated circuits for direct short or
long term connections to supercomputing facilities. Network researchers will
also have dedicated national facilities that will serve as a testing ground
for brand new networking architectures. 

With the completion of the nodes on the northern route, Internet2 will
continue work with its network connectors to transition traffic from the
Abilene Network onto the new platform by September 2007. 

About Internet2(R)
Internet2 is the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium. Led by the
research and education community since 1996, Internet2 promotes the missions
of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities and
unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the development,
deployment and use of revolutionary Internet technologies. Internet2 brings
the U.S. research and academic community together with technology leaders
from industry, government and the international community to undertake
collaborative efforts that have a fundamental impact on tomorrow's Internet.
For more information: http://www.internet2.edu

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