Internet2 To Deliver New Higher Ed Cloud Services
Internet2, an advanced networking consortium led by the research and education community, has announced partnerships with HP, SHI International, and Box to deliver new Internet2 NET+ cloud computing and other services to faculty, staff, and students of Internet2 member universities across the county.
These partnerships add HP Cloud service and Box service to the Internet2 NET+ suite of "above the network" services, which also includes The Commons IP-based collaboration technologies, middleware tools, and InCommon secure and privacy-preserving trust fabric.
HP Cloud service is based on the HP Converged Infrastructure and HP Cloud System solutions and provides a private community cloud suite of infrastructure services designed to meet the required levels of security, performance, and availability for higher education. HP and Shi International will provide and operate these services for the Internet2 community.
Box is a secure, scalable content-sharing and collaboration platform. Internet2 NET+ Box service is a customized offering developed for the Internet2 community. It will integrate with campus provisioning and security requirements and provide a higher education legal agreement, all bundled together as a click-through agreement for Internet2 NET2 InCommon members. Users can access Box content through mobile applications, and Box content can be extended to partner applications such as Google Apps.
Internet2 NET+ Box service includes:
- Ability for users to access, store, and share resources anywhere, anytime, and on any device;
- Storage based on institutional subscription level and full mobile device access and support;
- Administrative interface for managing and reporting on Box content; and
- Support for university efforts to protect information and ensure the privacy of personal data.
Internet2 participating universities, including Cornell University, Indiana University, Penn State, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of Utah, and other Internet2 participating campuses will begin testing and validating the services immediately.
Internet2, HP, and Box services will be available in early 2012 as part of the annual membership for higher education institutions that are Internet2 NET+ InCommon subscribers. Further information about Internet2 NET+ services can be found on the Internet2 site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].