[LINK] next-gen networks

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Project to rebuild web gets $12M, bandwidth 

Donations will support the development and testing of next-generation 
internet prototypes. From eSchool News staff and wire service reports 
 
Groups are coming together to help rebuild and redesign the internet.A 
massive project to redesign and rebuild the internet from scratch is 
inching along with $12 million in new government funding and donations of 
network capacity by two major research organizations.

Many researchers want to rethink the internet's underlying architecture, 
saying a "clean-slate" approach is the only way to truly address security 
and other challenges that have cropped up since the net's birth in 1969.

On behalf of the federal government, BBN Technologies Inc. is overseeing 
the planning and design of the Global Environment for Network Innovations, 
or GENI, a next-generation network on which researchers will be able to 
test new ideas without damaging the current internet.

The $12 million in initial grants from the National Science Foundation 
will go to developing prototypes for the GENI network.

To test these prototypes, the Internet2 organization is contributing 10 
gigabits per second of dedicated bandwidth, so researchers won't have to 
worry about normal internet traffic interfering with their experiments.

National LambdaRail is offering another 30 gigabits per second of capacity
though it won't be dedicated to GENI at all times.

The bandwidth is thousands of times faster than standard home broadband 
connections--enough to run 30 high-quality movies into your home or 
classroom simultaneously.

Craig Partridge, chief scientist at BBN Technologies, said the commitments 
amounted to an important endorsement of GENI by two organizations that run 
ultra-high-speed networks for universities and other researchers to 
conduct data-intensive projects.

Construction on GENI could start in about five years and cost $350 
million. Congress still has to approve those funds, however..

http://geni.net/

http://www.internet2.edu/

http://www.nlr.net/

This article: http://www.eschoolnews.com

Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, Australia