CASE STUDY INTERNET2: Building America’s First National 100G Network

About the Client Internet2 is an advanced networking consortium led by the research and education community. An exceptional partnership spanning U.S. and international institutions that are leaders in the worlds of research, academia, industry, and government, the Internet2 community is developing breakthrough network technologies that support the most exacting applications of today—and spark the most essential innovations of tomorrow. Led by its members and focused on their current and future networking Ciena equipment provides virtually unlimited needs since 1996, Internet2 blends its unsurpassed human, IP, bandwidth to support research and education and and optical networks to develop and deploy revolutionary Internet close the digital divide technologies. Activating the same partnerships that produced Scientists and researchers access instruments and facilities remotely and share today’s Internet, our community massive datasets with colleagues around the world. Research and education is actively promoting the kinds networks, including Internet2 in the U.S., must ramp up the speed and capacity of of collaboration and innovation that can have—and have already their networks as demand for bandwidth grows. had—a fundamental impact on the future of the Internet. Internet2 worked in partnership with Ciena to deploy America’s first nationwide 100G Internet2 has only begun to discover network, which delivers 100G connectivity for individual customers, and total capacity the potential of Internet technology of 8.8 terabits—more than twice the capacity available from competing solutions. and its importance to the work of the research and education community, With the new Ciena network, scientists and researchers across the U.S. and globally commerce and business, healthcare and science, the arts can work and collaborate without limits, supporting the next generation of discoveries and humanities, and beyond. The and innovations. In addition, the network will connect thousands of community anchor company’s members believe that institutions such as schools, libraries, and hospitals. In doing so, it is closing the digital networking capabilities should divide, offering new opportunities for eHealth, distance learning, and public safety. be shared as freely as possible across disciplinary limits, political boundaries, and economic divisions. Challenges Summary Meeting growing bandwidth demands Challenges • Giving scientists access to remote In the past, scientists travelled to universities and research facilities to collaborate instruments and facilities over a on experiments and projects. In recent years, however, it has been more common large-scale, high-performance to access facilities remotely and share massive datasets internationally over research network, and enabling them to networks—putting severe pressure on network resources. share massive datasets with colleagues internationally This globalization of science is driving innovation in research and education networks • Meeting massive increases in worldwide. This is especially true at Internet2 in the U.S., which serves 300 members, demand for bandwidth, with many including universities, government research agencies, and non-profit research institutions needing more than 10G on the backbone to support networking organizations. increasingly large flows of data

Rob Vietzke, executive director of network services at Internet2, says, “We’re seeing • Extending the network to connect thousands of community anchor an exponential growth in members’ demand for bandwidth, with many members institutions, such as colleges, consuming 10G on our backbone and often a lot more. We were getting to the point libraries, schools, and hospitals where provisioning services over our existing 10G infrastructure was sub-optimal, • Covering previously underserved and we needed to upgrade and increase capacity to stay ahead of demand.” areas of the country, including the northern tier and tribal lands in As well as increasing available bandwidth for scientists and other researchers, Utah and Arizona Internet2 wanted to deliver advanced network services for community anchor Solution institutions across the U.S., including local colleges, libraries, schools, government • America’s first 100G national organizations, and hospitals. To achieve this, the company needed to increase both network built on Ciena technology the capacity and geographical reach of its existing 10G network. • Total throughput of 8.8 terabits, with scalability over time to “We knew we needed an even bigger, faster network to achieve our goals,” says support bandwidth beyond 100G Vietzke. “When federal stimulus funding became available as part of the Broadband to terabit networking Technology Opportunities Program, we put in a proposal to build America’s first • Support for innovative projects national 100G network to serve our members and deliver advanced network such as the ESnet deployment, connecting lead computing services to previously underserved institutions and areas.” facilities over the 100G bandwidth • Massive bandwidth for previously Solution underserved institutions and America’s first 100G national network geographies

Internet2 went to tender to source the best possible equipment and services to Benefits support its historic rollout. Receiving bids from all major network solution providers, • Offers successful deployment based on strategic partnership the consortium ultimately decided to build the new network on Ciena 100G equipment. with Ciena

“We wanted to build the new network on the most technologically advanced platform • Provides a clear roadmap toward 400G and 1,000G connectivity in available—and that came from Ciena,” says Vietzke. “Ciena was the only network the future partner that could demonstrate successful 100G implementations in 2010 and • Drives innovation across the previous years, which gave us great peace of mind for our own project.” country with virtually unlimited bandwidth for scientists and The new network is built on Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform with embedded researchers 100G coherent wavelength technology. It is capable of delivering 100G connections • Gives communities across the for members, with a total throughput of 8.8 terabits per second on a single strand of U.S. access to fast network optical fiber. “We are also confident that the Ciena solution can take us to terabit connections through their networking in the coming years over the 6500 footprint we’re deploying today,” community anchor institutions, reports Vietzke. “This means we get double the capacity based on the same helping them benefit from eHealth, e-learning, online business equipment, co-location, and ongoing power costs.” opportunities, and more

2 With 88 wavelengths available on the Ciena network, Internet2 Benefits can provision and scale up bandwidth where it is needed most. Driving innovation and closing the digital divide As a result, it can support important research projects, such as Internet2 wanted a network partner, not just an equipment the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Sciences Network supplier. At every stage of the project, Ciena provided great (ESnet), which is deploying its 100G prototype network under support, and the partnership is going from strength to the DOE Advanced Network Initiative. ESnet connects lead strength. “Ciena is extremely interested in working with the computing facilities—including the National Energy Research research and education sector to innovate their own products Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Oakland, California, and services,” says Vietzke. “Through strategic partnership Argonne National Lab in the Chicago area, and Oak Ridge Labs with Ciena, we have created the first nationwide 100G in Tennessee—over the 100G bandwidth using the new infrastructure in the U.S., and our two organizations have a Internet2 network. shared vision for deploying 400G, and even 1,000G Furthermore, the new network provides high-speed connectivity in the future.” connections to thousands of community anchor institutions Based on the new Ciena infrastructure, scientists and across the country. “We’re providing fast connections for researchers across the U.S. are accessing remote instruments schools, libraries, and hospitals,” says Vietzke. “The potential and facilities and collaborating with international partners in applications are endless—from doctors viewing patients’ real time. “Scientists can view the latest data from leading high-resolution healthcare images remotely, to teachers research projects such as the Large Hadron Collider, housed accessing multi-media learning resources, to large-scale, at CERN in Switzerland, and radio telescopes distributed cloud-based application delivery serving U.S. higher education across Latin America,” says Vietzke. “With no bandwidth institutions.” barriers to accessing and sharing research resources online, The new Internet2 network, which spans 17,000 miles, is 5,000 our scientists can work and collaborate more effectively, and miles longer than its predecessor. The upgraded footprint also contribute to tomorrow’s scientific and technical innovations.” dramatically increases the number of on-ramps to the network. By extending the network to connect underserved areas and As well as delivering massive bandwidth for research and institutions, the Ciena infrastructure is helping to close the education institutions in all major U.S. cities, from San Diego digital divide in the U.S. “History shows us that when you to Boston, it links areas of the country that were previously provide virtually unlimited bandwidth to students and members underserved. of the public, interesting things start to happen,” says Vietzke. “We’re extending our network through the northern tier of the “Facebook and Napster were invented in country between Seattle and Chicago—connecting states that college dorms, and our new network is creating great had been left off the national networking map,” says Vietzke. new opportunities for the next generation of Internet “We’re also connecting other underserved areas, including entrepreneurs. What’s more, online services such as eHealth rural Mississippi and tribal lands in Utah and Arizona.” and distance learning will help to improve the quality of life and economic prosperity of individuals and entire communities.”

Visit the Ciena Community Get answers to your questions

Ciena may make changes at any time to the products or specifications contained herein without notice. Ciena and the Ciena Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Ciena Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. A complete list of Ciena’s trademarks is available at www.ciena.com. Third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners and do not imply a partnership between Ciena and any other company. Copyright © 2017 Ciena® Corporation. All rights reserved. CS043 8.2017