Research and Education Networks Boost Trans-Atlantic Bandwidth -- Campus Technology

Breaking News

Research and Education Networks Boost Trans-Atlantic Bandwidth

By Leila Meyer
04/24/17

The Advanced North Atlantic (ANA) Collaboration has expanded its trans-Atlantic network connectivity to support research and education (R&E) in North America and Europe, bringing the total bandwidth to 740 gigabits per second (Gbps).

Members of the ANA Collaboration include:

CANARIE (Canada);
ESnet (United States);
GÉANT (Europe);
Internet2 (United States);
NORDUnet (European Nordics); and
SURFnet (The Netherlands).

ANA was formed in 2013 and its members serve as backups for each other in case of a major outage.

In January 2017, the Networks for European, American and African Research (NEAAR) project — co-led by Indiana University and GÉANT — added a 100 Gbps connection between New York City and London, bringing the total amount of general-purpose trans-Atlantic network connectivity to 400 Gbps. ESnet also operates four separate trans-Atlantic circuits providing an additional 340 Gbps of bandwidth.

Jennifer Schopf, principal investigator for the NEAAR project at Indiana University, said NEAAR is implemented on a cable system not previously in use by the R&E networks and which provides increased resilience.

Meanwhile, senior R&E network architects from ANA and other organizations have been working to define a reference architecture and roadmap for national and regional R&E networks. This work is part of the Global Network Architecture (GNA) initiative, and the first public version of the GNA Reference Architecture was released in January 2017. The ANA Collaboration has announced that it is compliant with this architecture.

"The vision to establish a more robust set of architecture principles upon which advanced international research networks could be built was launched a couple of years ago, and I am happy to see that we have agreed to initial standards and moved to implementation so quickly," said Dave Lambert, president and CEO of Internet2, in a prepared statement. "What this creates is a much more solid foundation upon which global research and science projects can advance their outcomes."

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

E-Mail this page

Printable Format

Featured

University of Illinois System Sets Sights on Community College Transfers with One Million Degrees Partnership

In a multiyear pilot program, the University of Illinois System is working with nonprofit One Million Degrees to bridge the community college transfer gap and improve student outcomes.
Meta Forms 'Superintelligence Group' to Pursue Artificial General Intelligence

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is assembling a new team focused on achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), amid internal dissatisfaction with the performance of its current AI offerings. The team, known internally as the superintelligence group, is part of a broader effort to enhance Meta’s AI capabilities.
New Anthropic AI Models Demonstrate Coding Prowess, Behavior Risks

Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, its most advanced artificial intelligence models to date, boasting a significant leap in autonomous coding capabilities while simultaneously revealing troubling tendencies toward self-preservation that include attempted blackmail.
Researchers Develop AI-Powered Method for Business Process Redesign

Researchers have developed a novel AI-powered approach that enables non-technical users to modify complex process models through simple conversations with chatbots.