INTERNET II
Internet 11 now knows how to make the money.
National LambdaRail, Partners Awarded $62 Million BTOP Grant to Interconnect Community Anchors with
Advanced Broadband
Research and Education to Benefit from 100 Gbps Upgrade to NLR Backbone, Additional Fiber Routes .
Today the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $62 million in federal
stimulus funding to National LambdaRail (NLR), Internet2, the Northern Tier Network Consortium and the
Indiana
University Global Research Network Operations Center (GRNOC) to interconnect schools, libraries, healthcare
providers, public safety agencies and other "community anchors" across the country with advanced
broadband.
"National LambdaRail and our members and partners in the research and education networking community
already have 15 years collective experience serving community anchors, as well as an extensive, advanced
network footprint and expertise managing next-generation broadband applications like telepresence,"
said
Glenn Ricart, president and CEO, National LambdaRail. "U.S. UCAN is an historic opportunity for the
research and education community to work together and to extend broadband capabilities beyond the 66,000
anchors we are already serving, to all interested anchor organizations coast to coast."
Cisco also made a significant contribution to the success of the proposal and will be providing state of the
art networking equipment and other assistance to help ensure leading-edge capabilities are in place to
support
the most advanced needs of the community anchors.
The grant, awarded under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), will enable NLR to upgrade
its
infrastructure with a new, 100Gbps backbone to serve research and education (R&E) as well as the broader
anchor community. In addition, all routers on NLRs Layer 3, PacketNet network will be upgraded, reducing the
costs of connecting to NLRs network as well as doubling the number of places where NLR can connect to its
members and customers. Access to additional fiber optic routes will enable greater participation by the
R&E community and other community anchors in NLR services; the routes will also provide additional
alternate routes to help minimize downtime. For example, a new Dallas to Nashville route will provide
in-land
fiber optic connectivity in the South that is not as prone to possible hurricane damage. New fiber optic
paths
in the Northeast will give NLR greater capacity to serve institutions in that part of the country.
To extend the reach of R&E networks to all approximately 200,000 community anchors in the country while
ensuring that R&E governance remains focused on R&E, NLR and its partners will be forming a
non-profit
organization, the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN), to provide the coordination needed, in
collaboration with community anchor organizations, to serve the expanded set of anchor institutions. NLRs
member regional optical networks (RONs) will continue to play the role they have so successfully in the
past,
as the local connectors, under U.S. UCAN.
With regard to timeframe, the NTIA requires infrastructure projects to be substantially completed in the
first
two years of funding (2nd half 2010 through 1st half of 2012), with some work allowed in to the third year.
With NTIA funding being awarded in July, 2010, major elements of the upgrade could be online by late 2010,
with completion of final components in 2013.
More information on U.S. UCAN can be found at www.usucan.org
Questions specific to NLR may be sent to info@nlr.net
U.S. UCAN release: http://www.nlr.net/release.php?id=62
Contact NLR
We welcome your questions and feedback. Contact us at editor@nlr.net.
To learn more about National LambdaRail, visit www.nlr.net.
National LambdaRail (NLR)
P.O. Box 1610, Cypress, CA 90630 www.nlr.net
4/2007 data-transfer rate to 9.08 gigabits per second. That figure comes pretty close to Abilene's theoretical limit of 10 gigabits per second. A group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo has broken Internet speed records — twice in two days. Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced Tuesday that the researchers on Dec. 30 sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols.The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps. That likely represents the current network's final record because rules require a 10 percent improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2's current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps. However, the Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps. With the 10-fold increase, a high-quality version of the movie "The Matrix" could be sent in a few seconds rather than half a minute over the current Internet2 and two days over a typical home broadband line. [1]
2007 The latest twist in this soap opera between the two organizations issued an update on merger talks that were apparently and very quietly rekindled last month after an acrimonious split late last year.
"After
Breaking Off Talks, 2 High-Speed Networking Consortia Now Say They Will Merge"
Almost a year ago two consortia that run high-speed computer networks for researchers scotched plans to
merge,
announcing that they were unable to find common ground on a host of organizational issues. But now the two
groups -- Internet2 and National LambdaRail -- say the merger is back on. The governing boards of both
groups
agreed earlier this month to a complete a "definitive agreement to merge" by April 20, according
to
a
statement signed by Jeffrey S. Lehman, the chair of Internet2, and Tracy Futhey, the chair of LambdaRail. If
all goes as planned, the two consortia will become one by the end of June.
IPv6 hasn't exactly caught on - even with v6 IP space around and available for the asking. Ask your ISP for it, lots of ISPs offer it - or get it from a tunnel provider like sixxs.net or tunnelbroker.net .. or if you need a rather larger block of v6 addresses - though a /48 has a huge number of IPs all by itself - ask APNIC, RIPE, ARIN etc - you'll get it. Without much trouble at all. Though v6 is - again - available for the asking, and just about every modern operating system from Windows XP on, has a ipv6 stack, does hotmail, or yahoo, have a v6 address? Do their chinese equivalents like (say) sina.com, have v6 addresses? NO.
2006
National LambdaRail is dead. Abilene shuts down in October 2007. Internet2's will replace Abilene high-speed network with "Newnet" in 1 year which will carry data on 10 different wavelengths of light, each of which could handle 10 gigabits of data per second.Faulkner and Van Houweling said that academe would benefit if a single organization were to provide high-speed networking to colleges and called upon university presidents to use "presidential power to forge a consensus with consequences." Internet2 would not own the fiber-optic links in Newnet but the consortium's contract with the telecommunications company would give Internet2 the right to "operational control" of the network. That arrangement would make sure that the network was run in researchers' interest while freeing Internet2 from tending to more-mundane matters such as repairs of broken fiber cables. Institutions connected to the new network would have access to one light wavelength that, like Abilene, would carry conventional Internet traffic, he said. Each institution also would have access to a second wavelength that could be used however the institution desired, or even subdivided for multiple uses, he said. Douglas E. Van Houweling, the president of Internet2, declined to describe the sticking point in the negotiations. Houweling was also associated with Educause / Educom
2006 RUCKUS MOVES TO NEW BUSINESS MODEL - Music and video download company Ruckus Network
is
dropping its subscription model for an ad-based model and has announced a deal with Internet2 to distribute
content over its high-speed network. Ruckus was not able to attract significant numbers of subscribers under
its old plan. Campuses that sign up for Ruckus's new service will pay only minor marketing fees, rather
than a per-student subscription fee. Officials at Ruckus hope that by partnering with
Internet2, the company will be seen as a provider of academic materials rather than just entertainment,
similar to a change made at Cdigix, another company created to provide legal downloads to
college students. Nearly 30 institutions are
currently clients of Ruckus and members of Internet2. Faculty at those institutions will be able to
use
the Internet2 network to share course materials with students. Ruckus, which has joined Internet2 as a
corporate member, will also use Internet2's network to develop "new content-distribution and
authentication technologies," according to Lauren Rotman, media-relations manager for Internet2.
Napster, Ruckus and Cdigix
William M. Mahon III, a spokesman
for Pennsylvania State University, said the court's ruling would have no impact there. Penn State
was one of the first universities to sign a deal with Napster, enabling students to listen to a large
selection of music legally and at no cost. They must pay per-song fees, however, to download music
permanently. Penn State students will have access to Napster as part of tuition. Normal subscription rates
are
$9.99 a month.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 September 2005
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) have become corporate members of Internet2, joining companies including the
Ford Motor Company and C-Span. "Internet2 is a stepping stone between the research lab
and the commercial sector," said Lauren Kallens, a spokesperson for the organization. Earlier this
year,
the entertainment groups sued hundreds of Abilene users for using the network to illegally trade files, but,
according to Gayle Osterberg, a spokesperson for the MPAA, the groups' membership in
Internet2 is unrelated to their antipiracy efforts. "This particular
partnership,"
she said, "is more of an opportunity for us to have a technology testing ground." The groups plan
to
collaborate with the Internet2 community to study distribution and digital rights
management
technologies for networks faster than today's commercial Internet.
(notice the ® being used - it's the first time I've seen this 5/05)
U.S. and Foreign Universities Use Internet2's Advanced Network and Real Time Video-Conferencing
to
Form an Online, Global Classroom
http://tinyurl.com/brst9
Using Internet2®'s advanced high-performance network and Apple technology with
Access Grid video software, a team of Drexel University students is sharing virtual classroom space with
student teams at eight universities in four countries and five states. The teams are working together to
create media files for Descent to the Underworld, a new Game-Film ® project created and produced by
Druid Media. The bleeding-edge project models the next generation of collaboration, not only for education,
but also for the corporate sector. The Internet2 community's high-performance network provides users 100
to 1,000 times more bandwidth than traditional broadband; the Access Grid software enables real-time,
TV-quality video and audio on multiple screens. Together the two technologies create an immersive
“in-the-same-room” environment. <snip>
RIAA to Sue Internet2 Users http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111332296709604743,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_usHundreds
of College Students Accused
Of Using Research Network to Swap Songs
Associated Press April 12, 2005 12:57 p.m.
The recording industry intends to sue
hundreds of college students accused of illegally distributing music and movies across
Internet2, the super-fast computer network connecting leading universities for researching
the next generation of the Internet, industry officials said Tuesday.
The Washington-based Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group for the largest labels, said
it will file federal copyright lawsuits Wednesday against 405 students at 18 colleges with access to the
Internet2 network, which boasts speeds hundreds of times faster than the Internet.
Researchers at Internet2 once demonstrated they can download a DVD-quality copy of the
popular movie "The Matrix" in 30 seconds over their network, a feat they said would take roughly
25
hours over the Internet.
Internet2 is used by several million university students, researchers and professionals around the world but
is generally inaccessible to the public.
"We don't condone or support illegal file-sharing," said Internet2's
chief
executive, Doug Van Houweling. "We've always understood that just like there is a lot of
file-sharing
going on on the public Internet, there's also some file-sharing going on on
Internet2."
The recording industry said some students were illegally sharing across Internet2 as many
as
13,600 music files -- far more than most Internet users -- and that the average number of songs offered
illegally by the students was 2,300 each. It said it found evidence of more illegal file-sharing at 140 more
schools in 41 states and sent warning letters to university presidents.
"We cannot let this high-speed network become a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules don't
apply," said Cary Sherman, president of the recording association.
The Motion Picture Association of America also was expected to file federal copyright lawsuits Wednesday
against college students with access to Internet2.
"The high performance of Internet2 makes it attractive for a lot of applications, not
just file-sharing," Mr. Van Houweling said. He cautioned universities against filtering data to block
illegal activity in ways that would slow the research network's performance.
"It's possible to attack this problem in ways that do compromise the performance," he
said.<snip>
Penn State and Internet2 Announce Release of Academic File-sharing Open
Source
Code
AUSTIN, TX - September 28, 2004 - Plans for secure, high-powered, peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technology
for academia has come one big step closer to fruition when today Penn State and Internet2(R) announced the
release of open source code for their collaborative software project, LionShare.
Funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, LionShare merges electronic file-exchange
capabilities
with information gathering tools into one dynamic application.
Gary Augustson, Penn State's vice provost for information technology said, This is a technology that
promises to significantly improve the way institutions collaborate and support each other's academic
endeavors, while simultaneously ensuring a secure authenticated computing environment for researchers who
use
its file-sharing capabilities."
This week's LionShare source code release will provide all interested programmers and developers with
the
opportunity to contribute valuable feedback and suggestions. At the same time, Lionshare partners including:
Internet2, Simon Fraser University of Canada; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will continue to
fine-tune the project software which is slated for official beta release for universities and institutions
this upcoming January.
"We knew we had something special here, but there was no way we could have anticipated the enthusiasm
that LionShare has generated, commented Michael Halm, the project's lead architect and manager.
"Organizations from around the world have contacted us with questions about the technology and requests
for the open source code release date, and many groups have expressed interest in collaboration. We're
pleased that the code is now available."
Several educational and research institutions have expressed interest in Lionshares unique capabilities for
resource exchange - including its ability to transfer audio, video, scientific simulations, text, documents,
research papers, Web resources and a variety of other learning activities.
LionShare has enormous potential," remarked Loukas Kalisperis, professor of architecture at Penn State.
"With this single application, collaborating faculty can build digital repositories such as 3-D
architectural image collections, Web-based video archives and art collections. Faculty will also have a
range
of tools at their fingertips for managing and exchanging their own personal collections, in addition to
having
access to large-scale data repositories throughout the United States and Europe."
Kalisperis is among a number of scholars and scientists who have offered their suggestions to team members
as
project plans unfolded this past year. Feedback from faculty at Penn State and other institutions is
enabling
developers to enhance the software's features with cutting-edge security, authentication, and password
handling capabilities - plus a high performance text search engine and a technology (developed by Simon
Fraser) that will make secure, single-search inquiries of certain worldwide digital repositories
possible.
The continual dialogue with developers and potential network users has significantly furthered the
development
of the technology.
"With the source code release on September 30, interested programmers and application developers can
now
access the code to use and/or modify for their needs and specifications, added Halm. Feedback from
programmers, as well as our peer institutions, will be essential in our efforts to further the development
of
the software. These efforts will culminate in the launch of an academic file-sharing network that
researchers
will be able to test and use this January."
To learn more about LionShare and to access the new open source code - or to join the developers community,
go
to http://lionshare.its.psu.edu/main/.
About LionShare
The LionShare project, funded by Andrew W. Mellon, is a collaboration between Penn State and partner
organizations including Internet2; Simon Fraser University of Canada; and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI). The LionShare project grew out of VIUS
(Visual
Image User Study), an experimental software development project designed to assist Penn State University
faculty with digital file management.
LambdaRail Fiber-Optic Network Gains 6 New Members, Enough to Go National
http://chronicle.com/free/2004/06/2004060301n.htm
A consortium of research universities that is creating an $80-million fiber-optic computer network announced
on Wednesday that it had added six members, enough to extend the network to most portions of the
country.
The system, called the National LambdaRail, initially will operate four separate national computer networks,
each with a capacity equal to the most powerful national research network now in operation, the Abilene
network operated by the Internet2 organization. LambdaRail will accomplish that feat by
transmitting data over four different wavelengths of light. Each wavelength will be able to carry as much
data
as Abilene, and the fiber-optic network eventually could offer 40 such wavelengths.
The consortium of research universities owns the LambaRail network. Other research networks, like Abilene,
instead have used leased telecommunications lines. Thomas W. West, president and chief executive of National
LambdaRail, said groups of scholars -- like physicists around the world who want to collaborate with one
another -- eventually may be able to lease wavelengths for their own use.
LambdaRail is being constructed from unused fiber-optic lines sold or donated by telecommunications
companies
and network equipment sold to the consortium at a steep discount by Cisco Systems Inc., an Internet-network
company.
The consortium is selecting its network links according to the locations of its members, which must each pay
$5-million over five years. "We're sort of following the money," said Mr. West.
Since the first segment of the network, running from Pittsburgh to Chicago, became operational, in November,
the network has added service to several other cities, including Atlanta; Portland, Ore.; Raleigh, N.C.;
Seattle; Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Washington. The network is scheduled to be completed by the spring of
2005.
Four of the new members are consortia or state education bodies: the Louisiana Board of Regents, the
Oklahoma
State Board of Regents, the Texas Lonestar Education and Research Network, and the University Corporation
for
Atmospheric Research. The latter group will provide connections for institutions in Colorado, Utah, and
Wyoming.
The other two new members are individual institutions: Cornell University and the University of New
Mexico.
Officials at Cornell hope to share their connection -- and its cost -- with other institutions. Other
colleges
in New York and New England, and computer networks serving those regions, were unable to find the funds to
join LambdaRail on their own, said Polley Ann McClure, Cornell's chief information officer. But with
Cornell's having made the upfront commitment, the others avoid having to commit the full $5-million,
making it cheaper for them to join, she said.
With enough partners, Cornell's cost could drop to $100,000 annually, she said. Cornell will save at
least
that amount from other savings on its network costs, made possible by routing some of its Internet traffic
along the same fiber-optic line that will connect the Ithaca campus with National LambdaRail's facility
in
New York City.
STUDENT FILE-SWAPPERS GO INTO OVERDRIVE ON INTERNET2
(CNet News.com 29 Apr 2004) <http://news.com.com/2100-1027-5202107.html
Internet2, the high-speed network designed to facilitate scholarly collaboration among university
researchers,
has spawned a new turbo-charged file-trading network dubbed i2hub. The network has drawn rave reviews from
students dazzled by its blazing speed, but some Internet2 denizens see trouble brewing ahead. And while
students maintain they're only making use of bandwidth that otherwise would go begging, some also see it
as a way to circumvent the limitations that some universities have imposed on peer-to-peer networking.
"Some universities put a restriction on commodity Internet line speeds but don't put any
restriction
on Internet2," says one i2hub manager, who estimates students at about 100 universities are making use
of
the network. Officials at Internet2 say theoretically they have no objection to the students' use of the
network, providing no copyright violations are occurring, but some university network administrators have
expressed concern that that's exactly what is happening. "Internet2 is for research. It's not
for
downloading music. The fact is, (the network) cost a lot of money and downloading games and music should be
the last priority on any campus network. I think it's borderline taking advantage of the system,"
says a computer support specialist at Florida State University.
Internet2: File Swapping Haven? 2004 --
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?&story_id=23903
In response to the music industry's efforts to curb digital piracy on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, many
college students have begun trading files over Internet2, also known as i2hub, the high-speed network used
by
universities and technology companies to transmit data at speeds up to 10,000 times faster than the typical
broadband connection. Universities have started working with music and movie companies to limit trading over
campus networks, whether by limiting bandwidth or denying access to individual students. Internet2 uses
advanced network technology to provide such services as television quality video-conferencing and access to
grid computing and supercomputers, which the Internet cannot support. NeoModus has developed Direct Connect,
a
P2P system designed to exploit Internet2's high capacity. However, Internet2's Greg
Wood notes that the architecture of i2hub would allow colleges to restrict P2P traffic on
the
campus level.
Internet2 Spin is required to show some token effort at the public school level July 10,
2001 see: http://www.internet2.edu/ and
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/tynan/tynan071001.asp
"To join Internet2, you must be an educational institution or private firm willing to
use the network to collaborate and support the development of new applications. Annual costs run between
$500,000 and $1 million per university, according to Internet2 spokesperson Greg Wood, most of it
going toward upgrading campus networks. " "We're not in it for altruism," says
Stephen Wolff, manager of business development for Cisco in Washington, DC. "It costs us something to
participate in Internet2, and we hope to regain that and more by translating the technology
into products people will want to buy."
CAMPUSES MAKING ADVANCES WITH INTERNET2 (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2000 July 13)
Universities involved in the Internet2 project, a test-bed for advanced applications, are
experimenting with technologies such as virtual reality and distance medicine that would be impossible on
the
commercial Internet. The University of Pennsylvania, is creating an integrated database for digital
mammograms
allowing doctors to view a patient's mammogram taken years earlier in a different city. At Northwestern,
researchers this summer expect to launch a technology that will allow students to view high-quality videos
of
professors' lectures from PCs in their dorm rooms. Meanwhile, several Internet2 universities have teamed
with the National Tele-Immersion Initiative to develop virtual reality tools that would allow professors
wearing 3D goggles to take part in roundtable discussions with colleagues around the world.
INTERNET2 TEAM SEEKS SPEEDY APPS From Edupage, 23 February 2000 (PC World Online, 22 Feb
2000)
The Internet2 consortium is hosting a Land Speed Record competition "for the most
demanding end-to-end, bandwidth intensive Internet applications in the world," with winners to be
announced March 29. The winning application will transmit the most bits the greatest distance, says
Internet2's Greg Wood. Data-intensive applications, such as programs that transmit terabytes of data or
HDTV, are likely winners. Eventually, Internet2 might enable tele-immersion applications
that
would let holographic images of people interact in a virtual space, Wood says. Four universities have formed
the National Tele-Immersion Initiative to help make this technology a reality, and the group is now working
on
a way to send 3D data over two-way Internet links. Another university group called the Research Channel has
already used Internet2 to send high-quality video. Last November the Research Channel used Internet2 to
transmit five simultaneous
HDTV streams that totaled 1 Gbps, says the group's Amy Philipson.
Firm to Give Research Schools Super-Fast Computer Services April 1998
Source: Washington Post (C5)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/14/078l-041498-idx.html>
Author: Rajiv Chandrasekaran Issue: Corporate Philanthropy
Description: Qwest Communications will provide $500 million worth of transmission services to a
computer network that is to connect a consortium of research universities working on a project called
"Internet2" at 1,000 times faster than commercial Internet, according to senior White
House and academic officials familiar with the plan. The consortium's project is a component of the
Clinton administration's Next Generation Internet Initiative, which aims to connect several national
labs
and universities with a super-fast network by the year 2000. Qwest said it has completed a third of a $1.8
billion, 16,000-mile national data network on which it will carry commercial customers and Internet2.
Va. to Offer 1st Access to Internet2 Source: Washington Post 5/5/98 (D12) Author: Frank
Swoboda
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-05/05/063l-050598-idx.html
Officials announced Monday that the nation's first access point to Internet2, a
high-speed computer network, will be opened in theWashington area this fall by a consortium of local
universities and corporations. The project, to be formally announced tomorrow, will be called Mid-Atlantic
Crossroads (MAX).
Universities at work to build faster Internet 2 http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/100597/info15_23638_noframes.html
Nando.net Mon, 6 Oct 1997 The Associated Press
Victor Sparrow makes sound waves dance on a computer screen to teach acoustics engineering to his
Pennsylvania
State University students, but he can't splash his fancy images beyond his office. Today's congested
and outdated Internet also gives Sparrow trouble bringing in teaching tools developed by his peers at other
campuses. So like other researchers eager to find better ways to share their knowledge, he looks forward to
Internet 2, a faster computer network that 112 universities are working on. Internet 2's enhanced voice,
video and data capabilities are being unveiled at a demonstration this week in Washington. "In
acoustics,
many things have to do with (sound) waves," Sparrow said from Penn State. "Waves move, and ...
currently with the Internet, it's hard to do real-time animation." The problems stem largely from
the
very nature of the Internet and its growing commercial popularity. Computer files travel across the Internet
as equals. A video clip needed in a classroom right now commands the same attention as an electronic message
likely to languish in the recipient's mailbox for hours or days. Back when Internet use was limited
primarily to government and academia, the network had plenty of capacity to go around. Handling information
that way was fine. These days, with more business and residential users connected, researchers face delays
that affect their work. "Universities which were at the heart of the original Internet now are finding
themselves competing for space on this network," said David Katz, global education industry manager at
3Com Corp., a Santa Clara, Calif., company helping schools develop Internet 2. The Internet restricts
Sparrow's demonstrations of wave properties to simple computer drawings akin to stick figures.
Connections
are not good enough to produce complex teaching aides without unpredictable delays, Sparrow said. Internet 2
seeks to fix that by improving computer connections among and within campuses and by developing ways to sort
and prioritize information to allow real-time video presentations to cruise past less-urgent e-mail on the
information superhighway. The ultimate goal is to create a network that researchers could rely on to
obtain the high-volume computer files they need when they need them. Professors could effectively
reserve network capacity. With blazing connections, capable of transmitting the contents of the Library of
Congress in half a day instead of a month as now, researchers on opposite coasts could observe a computer
simulation or a medical chart together and discuss on-screen changes as they happened. The same connections
could let the most powerful computers at different locations work together to solve a single problem, such
as
predicting the behavior of advanced rocket engines. Such complex calculations would eliminate some of the
trial-and-error experimentation now required. The Indiana University Music Library is eyeing Internet 2 to
broaden its music collection. With the current network, six or seven people listening to music at once would
consume the school's entire capacity, said Jon Dunn, a technical director at the library. "There
are
recordings unique to a particular library, and making those (electronically) available" expands the
number of people who can listen to them at once, Dunn said. Each participating university has committed at
least $2.5 million over five years to upgrade their equipment. The National Science Foundation is financing
much of the major intercampus wiring. About two dozen schools are to be linked by year's end, with the
remaining connections expected within five years. Organizers say Internet 2 would help fulfill
President Clinton's $100 million-a-year initiative to improve Internet links for government agencies,
national laboratories and research institutions. Eventually, concepts developed by Internet 2
could
become commercially viable, at which point universities would begin working on a successor, said J.
Gary Augustson, a computer director at Penn State and chairman of the Internet 2 steering committee.
"If we're successful," Augustson said, "Internet 2 will be cluttered, and we'll
probably go to Internet 3.