Frequently Asked Questions
General |
Maryland Connectivity to Internet2 |
Video |
Traffic
General
What is Internet2?
Internet2 is an educational endeavor led by a consortium of over 190 universities in partnership with industry and governmental
organizations. The mission of the group is to design tomorrow's sophisticated network, which will support state-of-the-art
applications and technology. For more information please visit the Internet2 web site.
Does the use of the Internet2 network at Maryland require any special
hardware?
The Internet2 network offers large bandwidth. At Maryland our network infrastructure equipment offers switched 10/100 Mb to the desktop. This speed is more than adequate to take advantage of the Internet2 network. In special circumstances, if a GigE connection to the desktop is desired, then special hardware will be needed. Please e-mail Internet2@nts.umd.edu for more information.
Are there associated charges for use (hourly, monthly, etc.)?
There are no specific Internet2 charges at the moment. The only charge
one will incur is the regular campus data charge for an active jack.
Does a building or classroom at Maryland require special network connections to use the Internet2 network?
The outgoing campus network connections automatically route all Internet2 traffic, therefore no special network connections are required.
What sort of time frame is needed to use Internet2 on campus?
You can use the Internet2 connection at any time.
Does the fact that the University of Maryland is a gigaPoP for Internet2 ensure reliable end-to-end connectivity?
Theoretically, Internet2 connections will prove to be
very fast, "wide" (i.e. large bandwidth) and reliable. UM being a gigaPoP site does indeed provide us with a direct high-speed connection to the Internet2 backbone. However, it is impossible to know the kind of traffic congestion issues that may occur once you are off the "Internet2 highway" and on local networks.
Maryland Connectivity to Internet2
How is Maryland connected to Internet2?
Maryland is connected to the MAX gigaPoP which is the local mid-Atlantic region aggregation point to Internet2.
At what speed are we connected to MAX?
We are connected to MAX at one gigabit per second.
At what speed is MAX connected to the Internet2 backbone?
MAX is connected to the Internet2 backbone at 2.4 gigabits per second.
Video
Can videoconferencing equipment utilize Internet2 with the H.323 standard via
standard ethernet connections?
Yes.
How does the quality (frames per second and resolution) of Internet2 video compare with 3-site
128 ISDN? 2-site 384?
The older H.320 standard works over ISDN which is essentially a dedicated point-to-point connection for the involved
parties. In H.323 the packets travel over the internet which in turn involves routing, switching, etc. Considering these
factors, the quality is pretty good.
Traffic
Are there congestion issues associated with Internet2?
In theory, one should not experience congestion on an Internet2 network because the Internet2 networks are "over-built" such that congestion never occurs. However, congestion could occur on parts of the network that are not Internet2. For example, when packets arrive at a destination campus through an Internet2 connection, the packets could experience congestion on that local campus network (which is not
Internet2).
Is any sort of scheduling necessary to use Internet2?
No scheduling is necessary.
Additional Internet2 FAQs
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