Server: Netscape-Enterprise/2.0a Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 03:48:19 GMT Set-Cookie: Am_UserId=8002d19146c272bd; path=/; expires=1/1/2001 Content-type: text/html Internet2 to the Rescue NewMedia - the only free magazine devoted to helping you make wise new media choices.

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(Published in NewMedia December 15, 1997 Contents)

Upgrading the Internet
Internet2 to the Rescue
By Rich Wiggins



Thirty Years Ago
From its modest beginning in the '60s to today's all-purpose global network, the Internet has managed to hold together. Now, the framework's starting to buckle under the load, and universities are again at the forefront of building a better Internet.

67 Larry Roberts at Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a division of the Department of Defense, publishes paper proposing ARPANET.

69 Stanford and UCLA connect computers; ARPANET is born.

73 Harvard grants Ph.D. to Bob Metcalfe; his thesis describes Ethernet.

74 Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn discuss the idea of connecting networks together into an "internet"; they collaborate on creating Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

84 The Domain Name System (DNS), designed by Jon Postel, comes online.

86 NSFnet is created, providing first national backbone.

91 CERN announces the World Wide Web.

92 Multicasting is demonstrated; the Mbone is born.

93 NSFnet is decommissioned in favor of multiple private national backbones in the United States; universities build vBNS.

96 Internet II project announced (later renamed Internet2).

The big blackout that some predicted would hit the Internet this year hasn't happened -- yet -- but, to put it mildly, traffic has been erratic. To ensure that the academic world will continue to have a fast conduit, a group of universities is working on a joint project called Internet2.
      The name seems to imply a new network, which would replace the current Internet. However, Internet2 is more of a testbed, where new applications, protocols, and high-speed networks will lay the groundwork for tomorrow's global Internet. Internet2 was the result of a 1995 meeting of higher education CIOs and government and industry network leaders. Together they concluded that today's Internet could not meet tomorrow's remote collaboration and distance education needs. Since then, the group has grown to include more than 100 universities, as well as virtually every major research institution. Recently, a new company, the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), was formed to serve as a support umbrella for Internet2.
      Internet2 plans to connect universities at rates up to a gigabit per second (1,000Mbps) -- to give an idea of how fast that is, a T3 line is 44.7Mbps. Internet2 links are being built on top of existing Internet links, typically on Sonet or ATM networks, including the vBNS (very high speed Backbone Network Service). The vBNS is an existing OC-12 (622Mbps) backbone originally designed to connect a few supercomputing sites. Today, vBNS sites communicate at OC-3 (155Mbps). The goal is to allow applications to exchange data at 100Mbps from end to end. At these data rates, the network requires very fast switches -- thus the "gigapop," a point of presence (POP) that can route a gigabit per second. The first gigapops are being installed this year.
     The UCAID/Internet2 initiative is about testing new Internet technologies in addition to pushing the bandwidth envelope. Ted Hanss, director of applications development for Internet2, emphasizes its mission of delivering "enhanced functionality through differentiated levels of service."
      One of the bandwidth-saving applications that will be road tested is IP Multicasting. Based on experience with the Mbone, Internet2 designers are working on a multicasting standard that can be massively implemented. Bandwidth reservation, and multiple levels of network service are also being prototyped. For instance, a surgeon demonstrating a heart bypass procedure online would be able to reserve a certain amount of bandwidth for a period of time. In addition, different grades of service would allocate bandwidth where it was most needed. Internet2 seeks to build upon RSVP and other approaches to define protocols that allow a single, very high speed network to support multiple classes of service. Internet2 is also researching network-aware applications. For better performance over a distributed network, an application should be able to adapt to large numbers of users, varying amounts of bandwidth, and varying quality of service.
      Hanss adds that a big goal of the project is transferring the technology to industry for general deployment. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) will continue to be the standards body for ratifying any new protocols and technologies from Internet2.
      Vice President Gore hails Internet2, saying: "I am delighted that America's research universities and high-tech companies are working together to develop the next generation of Internet technologies and applications. This will lead to new capabilities in research, distance learning, and telemedicine that we can only dream of today." The Clinton Administration has announced its own Next Generation Internet initiative as well, which should complement Internet2.
      Throughout the history of the Internet and its predecessor, the ARPANET, government funding and university research were fundamental. With today's Internet, where .com sites far outnumber .edu sites, and major software and computer hardware companies race to develop their own new technologies, there's some debate over universities' being the right places to develop tomorrow's Internet. Tony Rutkowski, former executive director of the Internet Society, believes that more valuable work is being done in the private sector. "The old ARPANET and NSFnet models don't fit very well today," says Rutkowski, "The effects are likely to be much more limited than in the past, when competing in the marketplace." Barbara Ells, industry analyst with Zona Research, is more optimistic. "We definitely think it's going to happen. But it's going to be difficult to move the technologies over to the public Internet, because they have to be rolled out all at once or be crippled in order to accommodate older infrastructure." Ells adds that companies building extended intranets (a.k.a. extranets) may be the first who are able to reap the benefits of Internet2.

Freelance writer Rich Wiggins doesn't yet have gigabit connectivity, but was one of the first people to get a cable modem.

Internet2 to the Rescue  December 15, 1997 Contents


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