Abilene Network was a high-performance backbone network created by the Internet2 community in the late 1990s. In 2007 the Abilene Network was retired and the upgraded network became known as the "Internet2 Network". [1]
Abilene Network was a high-performance backbone network created by the Internet2 community in the late 1990s. In 2007 the Abilene Network was retired and the upgraded network became known as the "Internet2 Network". [1]
One of the aims of the Abilene project was to achieve 10 Gbit/s connectivity between every node by the end of 2006. Over 230 member institutions participated in Abilene, mostly universities and some corporate and affiliate institutions, in all of the US states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. [2] It connected to European research networks NORDUnet and SURFnet. [3] The legal entity behind the network was the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development. [3]
When it was established in 1999, the network backbone had a capacity of 2.5 Gbit/s. An upgrade to 10 Gbit/s began in 2003 [4] and was completed on February 4, 2004. [5]
The name Abilene was chosen because of the project's resemblance, in ambition and scope, to the railhead in Abilene, Kansas, which in the 1860s represented the frontier of the United States for the nation's railroad infrastructure.
The media often incorrectly used the term "Internet2 Network" when referring to the "Abilene Network". Some sources[ which? ] even suggest that Internet2 is a network wholly separate from the Internet. This is misleading, since, at the time of the Abilene Network, Internet2 was the consortium and not a computer network. It is possible that many news sources adopted the term Internet2 because it seems like a logical name for a next-generation Internet backbone. Articles that reference Internet2 as a network were in fact referring to the Abilene Network. Internet2 adopted the name Internet2 Network for its entire network infrastructure.
Abilene formed a high-speed backbone by deploying cutting edge technologies not yet generally available on the scale of a national network backbone. Abilene was a private network used for education and research, but was not entirely isolated, since its members usually provide alternative access to many of their resources through the public Internet.
Abilene's Network Operations Center (NOC) was hosted at Indiana University since its inception. "The cross-country backbone is 10 gigabits per second, with the goal of offering 100 megabits per second of connectivity between every Abilene connected desktop." [6]
The Abilene project had used optical fiber networks donated by Qwest Communications. In March 2006, Internet2 announced its upgrade plans and migration to Level 3 Communications. Internet2's Abilene transport agreement with Qwest expired in October 2007. Unlike the previous architecture, Level 3 manages and operated an Infinera Networks based DWDM system devoted to Internet2. Internet2 has control over provisioning and uses the 40 wavelength capacity to provide IP backbone connectivity as well as transport for a new SONET-based dynamic provisioning network based on the Ciena Corporation CoreDirector platform. The IP network was based on the Juniper Networks T640 routing platform. [7]
When the transition to the new Level3-based infrastructure was complete, the name Abilene ceased to be used in favor of The Internet2 Network.
Janet is a high-speed network for the UK research and education community provided by Jisc, a not-for-profit company set up to provide computing support for education. It serves 18 million users and is the busiest National Research and Education Network in Europe by volume of data carried. Previously, Janet was a private, UK-government funded organisation, which provided the JANET computer network and related collaborative services to UK research and education.
The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1985 to 1995 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States. The program created several nationwide backbone computer networks in support of these initiatives. Initially created to link researchers to the NSF-funded supercomputing centers, through further public funding and private industry partnerships it developed into a major part of the Internet backbone.
Internet2 is a not-for-profit United States computer networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government. The Internet2 consortium administrative headquarters are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Emeryville, California.
A leased line is a private telecommunications circuit between two or more locations provided according to a commercial contract. It is sometimes also known as a private circuit, and as a data line in the UK. Typically, leased lines are used by businesses to connect geographically distant offices.
AARNet provides Internet services to the Australian education and research communities and their research partners.
NORDUnet is an international collaboration between the National research and education networks in the Nordic countries.
FUNET is the Finnish University and Research Network, a backbone network providing Internet connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities. It is governed by the state-owned CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. The FUNET project started in December 1983 and soon gained international connectivity via EARN with DECnet as the dominant protocol. FUNET was connected to the greater Internet through NORDUnet in 1988. The FUNET FTP service went online in 1990, hosting the first versions of Linux in 1991.
The Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association was a not-for-profit association of European national research and education networks (NRENs) incorporated in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The association was originally formed on 13 June 1986 as Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne (RARE) and changed its name to TERENA in October 1994. In October 2015, it again changed its name to GÉANT and at the same time acquired the shares of GEANT Limited.
The very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS) came on line in April 1995 as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored project to provide high-speed interconnection between NSF-sponsored supercomputing centers and select access points in the United States. The network was engineered and operated by MCI Telecommunications under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.
SURF is an organization that develops, implements and maintains the national research and education network (NREN) of the Netherlands, It operates the national research network formally called SURFnet.
BSNL Broadband is an Indian Wireline Broadband Operator, is division of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited which is under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications under Ministry of Communications of the Government of India. It provides both wired and wireless broadband services as well as many value added services. BSNL Broadband launched its services on 14 January 2005 as Data One.
EMMAN was a company limited by guarantee and jointly owned by its members, eight Higher Education Institutions in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom.
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe (DANTE) is a not-for-profit company that plans, builds and operates the consecutive generations of the backbone network that interconnects the national research and education networks (NRENs) in Europe. The organisation is based in Cambridge, United Kingdom and was formed in 1993 as a limited liability company owned by Réseaux Associés pour la Recherche Européenne (RARE). Ownership was transferred to a number of NRENs and government agencies in 1994.
The use of the Internet in Iceland places Iceland among the top countries in the world in terms of Internet deployment and use. The use of internet in Iceland is widespread. Iceland has been at the forefront of adopting new internet access technologies starting in the early 1990s with dial-up connections. Today, 1Gbit/s speeds are available to 90% of citizens through full-fibre networks. Iceland has 60.2Tb/s of submarine bandwidth capacity through 3 cables.
The Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet) is a state-funded IT organization that provides member organizations with intrastate networking, virtualization and cloud computing solutions, advanced videoconferencing, connections to regional and international research networks and the commodity Internet, colocation services and emergency web-hosting.
Gulf Bridge International (GBI) is the Middle East's first privately owned submarine cable system linking the countries bordering the Persian Gulf on a self-healing ring to each other and onwards to Europe, Africa and Asia. Gulf Bridge International (GBI), both owns and operates this submarine cable asset as a carrier's carrier as well as offering a full suite of wholesale transmission, IP capacity options, and Enterprise Services. Its main headquarters are located at the Qatar Science & Technology Park in Doha, Qatar.
GARR is the Italian national computer network for universities and research. The main objective of GARR is to design and manage a very high-performance network infrastructure that delivers advanced services to the Italian academic and scientific community. The GARR network is connected to other national research and education networks in Europe and the world, is an integral part of the global Internet, and thereby promotes the exchange and collaboration between researchers, teachers and students worldwide.
SANET is the national research and education networking organisation of Slovakia. The SANET association is a non-profit organisation whose members contribute to the operations of the network. It is a member of TERENA.
ACOnet is the name of the national research and education network in Austria. The ACONET association promotes the development and use of that network. ACOnet is not managed and operated by ACONET, but by a unit in the Computing Centre of the University of Vienna that also operates the Vienna Internet Exchange. The University of Vienna represents ACOnet internationally, for example as a member of TERENA and as a participant in the project that funds the European backbone network GÉANT.