Internet2-National+LambdaRail-SEG-P

Internet2 is a nonprofit consortium of universities and corporate sponsors that work with advanced technologies to develop future Internet applications and increased bandwidth capabilities. It is the foremost advanced networking consortium in the United States, with an access capacity from 1.5 Mbps to 622 Mbps. Internet2 created a private network for education and research known as the Abilene Network. It advances Internet2’s goal of facilitating and enabling the development of advanced network applications, services, and content that enable routine collaboration on instructional, clinical, and/or research projects, services, and content. The consortium also invested in National LambdaRail (NLR), a high-speed national computer network developed by research institutions that runs over fiber-optic lines. National LambdaRail is the first transcontinental Ethernet network. Led by the research and education community since 1996, NLR provides both leading-edge network capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that facilitate the development, deployment, and use of revolutionary Internet technologies. NLR is similar to the Abilene Network but allows for more experimentation. National LambdaRail is a university-owned network, while the Abilene Network is a university-corporate sponsorship. This university ownership of NLR ensures the research community unprecedented control and flexibility to meet the most advanced network application requirements and provide the resources demanded by cutting-edge network research. The network bandwidth of NLR is on OC192. Any organization that subscribes to or uses Internet2 services through the Abilene gigaPoP, direct connection, or any other route is considered an Abilene Participant. Abilene provides high-performance networking for data traffic among participating gigaPoPs, regular members, and other organizations whose connectivity benefits U.S. higher education. Abilene Participants fall into two categories. //Sponsored// participation includes two classes: Sponsored Individual Institutions and Sponsored Educational Group. The Sponsored Educational Group Participant (SEG-P) is allowed expanded access to Abilene for state and regional education networks through sponsorship by Internet2 university members. State and regional networks may include nonprofit and for-profit K-20 educational institutions, museums, libraries, art galleries, or hospitals that require routine collaboration on instructional, clinical and/or research projects, services, and content with Internet2 members or other sponsored participants. As of March 2006, 35 state K-20 networks participated with SEG-P. Virginia school divisions connected to the Internet through Network Virginia can access Internet2/NLR resources through the SEG-P program, provided the school infrastructure has sufficient bandwidth. To participate, a minimum connection capacity of T1 should be available directly to the network containing the individual PCs that will be accessing Internet2/NLR. See Appendix B for educational applications.