Internet2 Selects Team from IU, MAX, and NCREN to Lead Testbed Support Center Services for National Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure Testbed

Ann Arbor, MI – August 10, 2005 – Continuing progress towards building and deploying its Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) testbed, Internet2 today announced that a team from the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX), the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), and Indiana University (IU) was selected to lead the HOPI Testbed Support Center (TSC). The selection was based on their demonstrated ability to support the implementation of new and inventive techniques in hybrid networking as well as the team’s deep experience in providing standard network monitoring and management of cutting-edge network applications.

“The collaborative and well-experienced team from IU, NCREN, and MAX will enable HOPI researchers from around the world to experiment with next-generation networking technologies by providing a sustainable environment with consistent monitoring and comprehensive feedback on multiple levels,” said Rick Summerhill, director of network research, architecture and technology.

In order to most effectively support the testbed, each TSC organization will manage specific areas in accordance with their core competencies. The MAX will be responsible for essential software development needed to allow dynamic provisioning of circuit-oriented services over a diverse network. With its work on the Dynamic Resource Allocation over GMPLS Optical Networks project or DRAGON, MAX has made great strides toward the development of the common control plane architecture needed to provision circuit-oriented services on varied multi-domain networks. This work will become an essential part of the HOPI TSC’s role.

The Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) at Indiana University will be responsible for engineering services including HOPI network operations, administration, and maintenance. With its experience providing network engineering services to the Abilene network, the NLR Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks, and MANLAN, the Global NOC Engineering Team has the expertise to provide effective support for the wide assortment of equipment being deployed for HOPI.

NCREN will be responsible for the applications support function. This is a broad and ambitious area of responsibility and includes a wide range of activities such as software consulting to applications developers, development of middleware services and prototypes for circuit based services, and performance engineering and evaluation for applications.

“Our team is poised to provide the most advanced support services to this important investigation which we believe will pioneer the future of high performance networking for the research and education community,” said Jerry Sobieski, director, research initiatives for MAX and lead TSC coordinator. “By working hand in hand with the HOPI Design team and the HOPI corporate advisory team, the TSC provides a robust platform for cutting-edge research and global collaboration.”

The national testbed infrastructure, which is now near completion, will serve as a foundation for cutting-edge experimentation and a model for the next generation of Internet2’s network architecture. The testbed will allow researchers and scientists from around the world to participate and experiment with new networking technologies such as dynamically provisioned bandwidth, circuit switched environments, and new transport protocols.

About HOPI
Commissioned in early 2004, the Hybrid Optical and Packet Infrastructure (HOPI) initiative is examining a hybrid of packet and circuit switched optical infrastructures to understand next generation architectures and how to create scalable future networks. The first stage of the project is the HOPI testbed. Utilizing facilities from both Internet2 and the National Lambda Rail (NLR), the testbed will provide a facility to understand and experiment with next generation architectures with the goal of creating a model leading to the next-generation of the Abilene Network by 2007. For more information, visit http://networks.internet2.edu/hopi.

About Internet2®
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow’s Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today’s Internet in its infancy. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu.

About MAX
The Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) is a multi-state, metaPoP consortium founded by Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Maryland, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The MAX mission is to bring the most advanced, high performance, end-to-end connectivity to the mid-Atlantic region for the advancement of its constituent institutions. MAX is assuming a leadership role in the area of integrating commodity Internet services and advanced research network services for a large base of public sector organizations. For more information about this cohesive group of universities, federal research labs, and commercial and non-profit institutions, visit http://www.maxgigapop.net.

About Global NOC
The Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) at Indiana University provides engineering and operations services for leading high performance research and education (R&E) networks and for international connections to US and global R&E networks, and is undertaking research and development for support of Grid operations. For more, see http://globalnoc.iu.edu/.

About NCREN
Since 1985, MCNC has developed and operated the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) in collaboration with the University of North Carolina’s 16 campuses. The fiber-optic, private network is dedicated to research and education, providing a statewide network backbone to foster innovation. NCREN provides high-speed Internet, video, audio and data network services for North Carolina public universities, Duke University, Wake Forest University, other private universities and community colleges, state government and non-profit institutions. NCREN also provides access to national research networks. MCNC, founded in 1980 to be a catalyst for technology-based economic development throughout North Carolina, is located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. For more information, please visit www.mcnc-gcns.org.