Alliance to Advance 100gigE

Internet2, ESnet, Infinera, Juniper Networks, Level 3 Cooperate on Testbed

Internet2, ESnet, Infinera, Juniper Networks and Level 3 Communications Inc. have agreed to work together to develop and test emerging 100 gigabit Ethernet technologies in an effort to meet growing bandwidth demand from the research community in fields such as high-energy physics, telemedicine and climate research.

The initiative will build on lab-tested technologies to create a 100 gigE testbed on the Internet2 and ESnet networks with an operational network capability soon thereafter.

“Today, researchers have shifted from working in local laboratories to collaborating on a global scale. Massive data streams generated by this new environment are driving exponential growth in the networking needs of our community that could require 100 [gigabit Ethernet] services by as early as 2010,” said Rob Vietzke, Internet2 executive director of network services. “Together with our collaborators we are working to make 100 [gigabit Ethernet] a reality so researchers will never be bound by their geographic location or bandwidth requirements.”

In 2006, Internet2 announced an agreement with Level 3 Communications to deploy a new nationwide network, designed to seamlessly add capacity as Internet2 members’ needs evolve. Internet2 and the Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) also announced a partnership to build the next-generation of ESnet on the shared Internet2 infrastructure. Both networks already have experienced rapid growth and as global collaborations continue to expand to nearly every research discipline making the path toward 100gigE a natural next step.

In support of the development, Juniper Networks plans to leverage its T1600 core router, which is 100gbps-ready. With 100gbps of capacity per slot, the T1600 ensures Internet2 and ESnet could quickly deploy 100gbps interfaces.

Infinera plans to develop the 100 gigE interfaces for the existing Internet2 and ESnet optical networks. Two years ago, Infinera collaborated with Level 3 to demonstrate the first pre-standards implementation of 100gigE services over a live network.

The development of standards for 100gigE is a key part of the process to support widespread cost-effective deployment of 100gigE technology. The IEEE is currently targeting mid-2010 for industry agreement on a 100gigE standard. The parties will support the effort to create a standard and look forward to implementing that standard.

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