News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren Rotman" <>]

Internet2 Commercial Peering Service Enters Production

New service provides cost effectiveness, ease of implementation, and
high-performance potential

Ann Arbor, Mich. - July 17, 2007 - Internet2 today announced it is offering
a production Commercial Peering (CP) Service to members on an opt-in basis
at no additional charge through their existing connections to the Internet2
Network. By leveraging settlement-free connections between the Internet2
Network, and major content providers and Internet Service Providers, the
service enables members to cost-effectively meet their community's
commercial Internet needs. 

More cost-effective commercial Internet access enables Internet2 members to
invest additional resources in advanced networking infrastructure and
capabilities. In turn, by using high-performance links to the Internet2
Network, the service has the potential to expand the performance envelope of
the commercial services to which it provides access. The production service
builds on successful trials begun in 2006, and current participants report
that up to 40% percent of their commercial traffic now travels over the CP
service.

"The Internet2 CP service provides tangible value to our members enabling
immediate cost savings on their commercial Internet services and providing a
mechanism for our members' to increase their investments in next-generation
network services," said Steven Wallace, Internet2 CP Service program
manager. "Looking beyond the obvious benefits of cost savings, we see that
our members are finding new ways to work with partners who are limited to
commercial Internet connections, and realizing performance improvements in
applications that run over the network."    

The service currently includes three major peering points across the country
with plans to expand to five. The service today includes over one-third of
the global routing table and is continuing to rapidly grow. Several
Internet2 regional network connectors have taken advantage of the trial and
have reported many benefits from the campuses and institutions they serve
including immediate month to month cost savings, enhanced network
performance, as well as additional opportunities for collaboration with
partners and content providers connected via the commercial Internet. 

"Participating in the Internet2 Commercial Peering service made perfect
sense for our organization's business goals and our community's interests.
From a technical standpoint, we are able to quickly and easily connect to
the service and almost immediately saw performance improvements and cost
savings," said Dave Jent, associate vice president for networks at Indiana
University. "But at the end of the day, we feel that our participation
serves an even greater purpose - enabling our community to re-allocate
important dollars back into our advanced networking infrastructure that
serves as the backbone for new and exciting innovations and breakthroughs by
the community we serve."

A case study released today details the experiences of the Indiana GigaPOP,
which provides connectivity to Indiana and portions of the Midwest, and the
Connecticut Education Network Advanced Services Center at the University of
Connecticut, which provides connectivity to the K20 community in Connecticut
and Internet2 connectivity via Northern Crossroads, during the service
development trial. Additional information on the service as well as the case
study can be found at this link: http://www.internet2.edu/network/cp.html

About Internet2
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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