News for and about the Internet2 community

[Angela Stark <>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Internet2 and Connecticut Education Network (CEN) Announce 100 Gbit/s Connection for University of Connecticut

 

WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 10, 2015—The Connecticut Education Network (CEN) in cooperation with the University of Connecticut (UConn) and the State of Connecticut, is now providing a 100 gigabit per second (100G) Layer 2/Layer 3 fiber connection, via the Internet2 Network backbone to UConn researchers. This Internet2 link capability benefits UConn's research community by facilitating high-performance data intensive research collaboration and exchange among peers at both national and international institutions.

 

The CEN-Internet2 link enables UConn researchers to advance their work in the following ways:

 

·      The Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) Department can perform wide area network performance research.

·      The Geography Department can continuously access high-resolution satellite images stored at external servers.

·      The Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) Department can transfer huge genome sequence reads produced by next-generation sequencers and the processed outputs within campus and with external sites.

·      The Physics Department can participate in the Open Science Grid, a global community of scientists, researchers, and experts in high-throughput computing, and regularly transfer terabytes of jobs to and from the grid within a day.

·      The Statistics Department can conduct research on high-dimensional statistical modeling and inference using large data sets produced by health and biomedical studies.

·      UConn Health can conduct research on quantitative cell biology and simulations as well as computational genomics that require terabytes of data transfer on a daily basis.

 

These projects are part of a wider research agenda at UConn focusing on big data and complex systems. Jeff Seemann, vice president for research at UConn, explains the importance of engaging with cutting edge technology. “The robust CEN-Internet2 network expands the boundaries of science that researchers can explore,” he says. “It forms the foundation for enhanced collaboration among research institutions and advanced utilization of consolidated high-tech resources and services within the state. Especially as high-performance integration of compute and big data become critical to emerging initiatives in the biosciences, improvements to the network enable the scientific breakthroughs that are of strategic importance to the economy of Connecticut.”

 

The Internet2 Network is built by and for the research and education community, and is designed to offer uninhibited performance to support and propel advanced research forward. The UConn 100G Layer 2/Layer 3 connection spurred the addition of a new Internet2 access point in Hartford with upgraded connections to the UConn Health Center, Storrs, and other CEN campuses. This will serve to not only support the growing needs of UConn researchers, but also increase connectivity and resiliency in a region with an active R&E community.  

 

“UConn approached Internet2 because their data-intensive research needs were growing exponentially each year and, as a result, they needed a superior network to carry out their work,” said Rob Vietzke, vice president of network services at Internet2. “UConn is now directly connected to the most advanced global fabric of research facilities available, which will enable the university to accelerate its cutting-edge research in biological and physical sciences.”

 

About CEN

Connecticut Education Network (CEN), the nation’s first all-optic research and education network, delivers reliable, high-speed Internet access, data transport, and value added services to its members throughout Connecticut. CEN helps deliver on the promise of equality in education by providing access to technology that schools and libraries would not be able to afford on their own.  This investment is supported by private schools and institutions of higher education that are committed to the idea of overall improvement in education and broad support for access to technology. For more information: www.cen.ct.gov/cen or follow @CTEDUNET on Twitter.

About Internet2

Internet2® is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 provides a collaborative environment for U.S. research and education organizations to solve common technology challenges, and to develop innovative solutions in support of their educational, research, and community service missions. Internet2 also operates the nation’s largest and fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network, in which the Network Operations Center is powered by Indiana University. Internet2 serves more than 90,000 community anchor institutions, 260 U.S. universities, 65 government agencies, 40 regional and state education networks, 85 leading corporations working with our community and more than 65 national research and education networking partners representing more than 100 countries. Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Emeryville, Calif.; Washington, D.C; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

Media contacts:

Angela Stark

Internet2

202.803.8996

 

Brynn Deprey

Connecticut Education Network

860.622.4574