Internet 2

[Peter Marshall <techdiff@ix.netcom.com>]

Internet2 Poised for Launch
Abilene Project
http://www.internet2.edu/abilene/
The Internet2 Project
http://www.internet2.edu/

Internet2, a project to bypass the congested public Internet and link
research institutions via a high-speed network, takes its first big step
forward this month with the launch of the Abilene test-bed. Abilene will
initially link 70 research institutions with 13,000 miles of fiber-optic
cable looped between New York and Seattle and operating at 2.4G bits per
second.

Designed to serve the academic research community, Internet2 will
not be accessible to the general public, but new technologies developed and
tested on the network will certainly eventually find their way to ordinary
end-users.

At the Abilene site, users can learn about the project's history and
participants, view a network map and technical information, and read the
latest news and highlights. the main Internet2 site also offers a
project overview, information on participants and goals, notices of
Internet2 events, and news and highlights. The site also contains links to
information on Abilene's sister projects: I2-DSI (Distributed Storage
Infrastructure) and I2-DVN (Digital Video Network).