Networking & Wireless

U Connecticut Upgrades to 100 Gbps Fiber Connection

• By Leila Meyer
• 02/11/15

The University of Connecticut (UConn) has implemented a 100 gigabit per second (Gbps) Layer 2/Layer 3 fiber connection through the Internet2 network backbone to support data intensive research collaboration and exchange between UConn researchers and their peers around the world.

UConn's 100 Gbps connection is provided by the Connecticut Education Network (CEN), an all-optic research and education network, in cooperation with UConn and the State of Connecticut.

"The robust CEN-Internet2 network expands the boundaries of science that researchers can explore," said Jeff Seemann, vice president for research at UConn, in a prepared statement. "It forms the foundation for enhanced collaboration among research institutions and advanced utilization of consolidated high-tech resources and services within the state."

According to information from CEN and Internet2, the upgraded UConn connection will:

• Enable the computer science and engineering department to conduct wide area network performance research;
• Provide the geography department with continuous access to high resolution satellite images stored on external servers;
• Enable the molecular and cell biology department to transfer huge genome sequences within the campus and with external sites;
• Enable the physics department to participate in the Open Science Grid and transfer terabytes of jobs to and from the grid within a day;
• Help the statistics department conduct research on high-dimensional statistical modeling and inference using large data sets produced by health and biomedical studies; and
• Help UConn Health conduct research on quantitative cell biology and simulations, as well as computational genomics that require terabytes of data transfer daily.

To support UConn's connection, Internet2 created a new access point in Hartford, which also serves the UConn Health Center and other CEN campuses.