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Internet 2
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How Does Internet 2 Work? It is vital to its development that Internet 2 maintain an infrastructure flexible enough to work with current requirements, yet be adaptable to future now-unknown needs. The Internet 2 network design, which will remain compatible with the current Internet, will provide a pathway for higher bandwidth traffic. I2 uses Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) instead of the current Internet Protocol (IPv4). IPv6 uses a different package scheme, the advantage of which is that it incorporates native multi-casting, high reliability, and high capacity along with QoS controls. IPv6 will allow applications requiring high bandwidth to coexist with each other simultaneously.
Because IPv6 includes native multi-casting and employs the QoS principle, users are able to send one content packet to many locations--instead of the current method of sending many packets to many locations--and/or send data with guaranteed delivery and performance. Real-time data can now be utilized in real time. This means that a physician at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles can perform a retinal exam on a patient who is hooked up to a machine in rural San Joaquin, California. Or, according to Dr. William H. Graves, President of the COLLEGIS Research Institute at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, "Data from a telescope might be transmitted in real time to a group of astronomers working at different sites from around the world. They might collaborate to analyze the data and decide how to adjust the aim of the telescope to optimize the value of data being collected. The same data might be multicast to amateur astronomers who have 'subscribed' to the appropriate 'channel.' These amateurs probably would not have the privilege of participating with the collaborating experts who are controlling the telescope, but they might have real-time access to the data generated by the telescope."This example can almost be realized on today's Internet, but, in the final analysis, it demands a quality of service that cannot be extracted from today's Internet. The quality of service sometimes may depend solely on the high-probability availability of raw bandwidth, but it often depends on the availability of differentiated network services designed, for example, to insure against problems of latency in delivering 30-frames-per-second (fps), synchronized video from distant server to personal computer," says Graves. Unlike today's Internet, 30 fps can be guaranteed over I2--no jerkiness, no delays, and no frames dropping out. Internet 2 will continue to follow the current "common bearer service" model in communicating from one connected node to any other connected node. One of the ways to ensure bandwidth, and keep it affordable for the institutions involved, is to establish what's come to be known as a gigapop, which stands for "gigabit capacity point of presence." According to UCAID, a gigaPOP is a high-capacity, state-of-the-art interconnection point where I2 participants can exchange advanced services traffic with other I2 participants. Campuses in a geographic region will join together to acquire a variety of Internet services at a regional gigapop. This is a great advantage, because it means that instead of each institution having to build their own high bandwidth networks between each other, they can build a connection just to the gigaPOP, which is already connected to other member institutions. Also, the consortium that manages I2 will be responsible for building, maintaining, and, if necessary, fixing the connections between gigaPOPs. By using this method, nothing really changes for the end user, and the institution can guarantee delivery of high bandwidth data while only bearing the cost of connecting to their gigaPOP.Besides building the I2 network, participants will be substantially upgrading their own networks to support the traffic. In doing so, the I2 project has sought to buy technology wherever possible, as long as it uses open standards and doesn't tie them to only one vendor or service provider. The map below indicates the location of Internet2 gigaPOPs being formed by Internet2 member universities in collaboration with Internet2 and other regional organizations. Other resources available:
gigaPOP--Defnition Short for gigabit Point of Presence, a network access point that supports data transfer rates of at least 1 Gbps. Currently, only a few gigaPOPs exist, and they're used primarily for accessing the I2 network. Each university that connects to I2 must do so through a gigaPOP, which connects the university's LANs and WANs to the I2 network. Originally, 12 gigaPOPs were planned, each one serving half a dozen I2 members, but the number of gigaPOPs is likely to grow. Whereas the POPs maintained by ISPs are designed to allow low-speed modems to connect to the Internet, gigaPOPs are designed for fast access to a high-speed network, such as I2. Abilene is a project of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development developed to support the Internet2 project. Abilene is an advanced backbone network that connects regional network aggregation points, called gigaPOPs, to support the work of Internet2 universities as they develop advanced Internet applications. The Abilene Project complements other high-performance research networks. Abilene Network Goals
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