$1.67 million, five-year contract extension gives researchers and educators rich and reliable network connections for big data applications
The Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) and Internet2 — two of the nation’s leading research and education networks — today announced the renewal of an agreement to remain anchor tenants at one of the world’s most critical Internet exchange points operated by the New York State Education and Research Network (NYSERNet).
Located at 32 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, NYSERNet’s “32AofA” global network exchange is a well-known international hub where the world’s leading research and education networks connect to content, data and telecom providers to seamlessly exchange traffic among their networks.
“One network alone cannot connect every scientist in the lab, every student in a classroom or every researcher in the field. By creating a rich interconnected fabric of networks, we are able to bring together the best ideas, minds and scientific resources no matter where in the world they may be,” said Inder Monga, director of ESnet and the Scientific Networking Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “This is how discovery in the era of big data will take place. We appreciate our continuing partnership with NYSERNet and Internet2 to provide this truly critical network connection.”
With the agreement, scientists at U.S. national labs and universities, including some of the most prestigious institutions in New York state, can seamlessly connect via NYSERNet, ESnet, and Internet2’s networks with collaborators and resources around the world. As a result, researchers can collaboratively use remote observatories to discover long-hidden secrets of the universe, enable efficiency-minded cities to use remote supercomputers to analyze traffic patterns and energy usage, analyze mountains of DNA data to identify patterns that help find cures for major diseases, and tackle other data-intensive problems.
NYSERNet negotiated the agreement on behalf of Internet2 and ESnet as part of its own contract renewal at 32AofA. “NYSERNet is pleased that we’re able to continue our partnership with ESnet and Internet2 to serve researchers and educators in the U.S. and around the world,” said Christopher M. Sedore, president and CEO of NYSERNet.
“This agreement is a testament to how the research and education community is able to share infrastructure resources to help support our researchers and scientists,” said George Loftus, associate vice president of business and relationship management for network services at Internet2. “Internet2 is proud to be an anchor tenant at NYSERNet’s leading New York facility and pleased to be part of this unique global exchange for research and education. This renewal allows Internet2 and ESnet to continue community investment that supports the global research enterprise.”
About ESnet
The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is a high-performance network that spans the U.S. and provides direct connections to Europe in support of science discovery. Funded by the Department of Energy and managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ESnet is operated and optimized for data-intensive science applications. ESnet connects more than 50 DOE research sites, including supercomputing facilities and major scientific instruments. ESnet also connects to more than 200 research and commercial networks. Together, ESnet supports tens of thousands of DOE-funded scientists around the world on innovative research in earth science, life science, cosmology and physics, material sciences, computational science and many other areas. ESnet is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. For more information: www.es.net
About Internet2
Internet2 is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 324 U.S. universities, 59 government agencies, 43 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 94,000 community anchor institutions, over 900 InCommon participants, and 78 leading corporations working with our community, and 61 national research and education network partners that represent more than 100 countries.
Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2’s research and education network infrastructure supports millions of user applications each day and delivers advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by a community-developed trust and identity framework.
Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Emeryville, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.
About NYSERNet
NYSERNet is a private not-for-profit corporation created to foster science and education across New York state. Its mission is to advance network technology so New York’s research and education community can thrive and find solutions to our generation’s greatest scientific challenges.