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

Meta Launches Stand-Alone AI App

Meta Platforms has introduced a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.
Navigating CMMC 2.0: New Cybersecurity Standards Impact Higher Education

In October 2024, the Department of Defense published a new update to its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification enforcing new cybersecurity standards on universities and colleges. With Phase 1 beginning this year, here's what the new requirements mean for higher ed.
Educause HECVAT Vendor Assessment Tool Gets an Upgrade

Educause has announced HECVAT 4, the latest update to its Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit.
Kennedy-King College Rolls Out Holistic Student Support Program

Chicago's Kennedy-King College is expanding student support services through a collaboration between City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees (OMD), a Chicago-based nonprofit serving low-income community college students.