IT takes lead in bringing Internet2 connection to Kentucky
June 25th, 2007
Thanks to the efforts of the University of Louisville’s Office of Information Technology, a connection point to the most advanced Internet network in the country is in Kentucky — and that’s huge news for education, research and economic development in the state.
“UofL and the state of Kentucky are very fortunate that we have direct access to the new generation of Internet2 right here in Louisville,” said Mike Dyre, director of research and development for the Office of Information Technology (IT). “This network is required for researchers to be able to compete for many kinds of federal research funding, and it gives the university a seat at the table with the other major research universities nationally.”
Internet2 started in the mid-1990s when research universities formed a coalition to develop a better Internet because they felt the commercial Internet did not meet their needs for speed and capacity.
UofL, the University of Kentucky and other colleges, universities and K-12 schools in the state have been connected to Internet2 for several years. Just some of its applications are providing researchers the high data capacity they need to collaborate with colleaugues on their work; high-definition, real-time video conferencing; virtual field trips to other cities and countries, and real-time discussions with the people there; and use of remote equipment, such as students in the southern hemisphere using UofL telescopes to see the northern hemisphere sky, and students in Kentucky observing the southern hemisphere sky with equipment in Australia.
But Abilene, the physical network in use today, is being replaced. Not having a connection point in Kentucky to NewNet, its successor, would make it difficult for UofL to connect to the network.
And it almost happened.
Think of the miles of fiber optic wires that run across the country hidden underground as an interstate highway. The farther away someone is from an on ramp, the more it costs them to connect to the network, and that cost might be unaffordable.
UofL found out in 2006 that the new fiber optic cable would come within 100 yards of existing fiber optic cable it had in downtown Louisville, but there would be no way to connect to it there — or anywhere in Kentucky. Kentucky users would have to run fiber optics to Indianapolis, Nashville or Cincinnati to “get onto” NewNet — and that could cost as much as $1 million a year.
Tom Sawyer, acting vice president of information technology, found the situation unacceptable.
One of Internet2’s criteria for locating connection points is the existence of a regional optical network (RON) in the area. Sawyer said he talked to the University of Kentucky and the Council on Postsecondary Education and convinced them to put their efforts to develop a Kentucky RON on the fast track. Then he lobbied Internet2.
Internet2 laid its fiber optics through Louisville in April and UofL connected to the line that month. UK is scheduled to connect this summer, and within the next two to three months, other colleges and K-12 schools should be connected. It may take as long as two years before every institution in Kentucky’s RON is connected via fiber optics.
NewNet is 10 times faster than Internet2 and has connection speeds up to 100 times faster.
It’s a technological step forward that will help UofL and UK compete in the top research arena, especially since some grant-making research organizations will require access to it as a prerequisite for some grants. It also will help recruit faculty.
In time, Kentucky businesses also will be able to connect to this version of Internet2 has fewer restrictions on what the network can be used for than existed previously, Dyre said.
There “probably will be a lot of economic development and other benefits we haven’t started to see,” he said. “It’s bringing Kentucky into the 21st century.”
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