EUGENE–Computer network specialists at the University of Oregon are in the process of connecting the university–and the state–to a high speed network that makes the current information superhighway look like a traff ic jam.

The new fiber-optic network, called Abilene, is a key component in the Internet2 project. Internet2 is a collaborative project of more than 130 U.S. research universities, in partnership with industry leaders and U.S. federal agencies, to develop a new family of advanced applications to meet emerging academic requirements in research, teaching and learning.

"Internet2 is an effort to create the Internet of the future, and Abilene is a vastly important networking tool for that creative effort," says Joanne Hugi, director of UO campus computing. "It will provide a leading-edge network capabil ity, enabling a new generation of applications to be developed and integrating these efforts with the current academic Internet services."

The UO Abilene connection will consist of establishing two high-speed links, one going to Sacramento, Calif., and the other to Denver, Colo. This double-connection will serve to protect the system from disruptions that are more likely with a single av enue of access. The two new circuits operate at 155 megabits per second. This is 100 times the speed of the typical T1 connection used by local Internet service providers (ISPs).

"The new network has primarily two functions," Hugi says. "First, it will give researchers a high-speed proving grounds on which to test out the technologies that will dramatically surpass the capabilities of the current Internet."

These advanced capabilities will be commercialized and then become widely available to the broader academic and networking communities. In other words, many of the technological advances that will someday speed service on commercial Internet service pr oviders–from small, local providers to giants such as America Online–are likely to be developed by academic researchers using Abilene.

"A second important benefit of Abilene," Hugi explains, "will be to open the door to university researchers in many fields to access the complimentary tools of high-performance computing and advanced networking. This applies to both UO r esearchers and those at other Oregon institutions who choose to use our connection as an entryway to Abilene."

Oregon scientists using Abilene can collaborate with colleagues across the country or connect to distant instruments and data on heretofore-impossible high-performance computing projects.

One example of a high-performance computing project fostered by the Abilene project is the work of UO physicists such as Jim Brau and Ray Frey. Their research involves experimental high-energy physics exploring the outer reaches of what is known about sub-atomic particles and the forces associated with them. Key to this exploration are the enormous volumes of data created at particle accelerators such as the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). Using Abilene, UO researchers will access and share this da ta with researchers at other institutions in collaborative research projects that would be impossible without the capabilities afforded by high-speed networking.

The Abilene Project, which operates over fiber-optic cable running along railroad rights-of-way, is named after a railhead established in Abilene, Kan., during the 1860s. In its time, the ambitious railhead of the 1800s staked a claim on what was then the frontier of the United States.

The Abilene Project establishes a similar presence from which to explore and develop pioneering network technology. The links of last century’s railway changed the way people worked and lived. The vision of the Abilene Project is to transform the work of researchers and educators into the next millennium.

These new high-performance connections were made possible by a $350,000 National Science Foundation award made to the UO in October. The Oregon University System matched this grant. In addition, networking equipment vendor Cisco Systems, Inc., has cont ributed to the project.

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