Wichita Business Journal, Feb. 22, 2001
With Internet2, WSU joins effort to build the next generation
Internet
By Ken Arnold
On the Internet of tomorrow, scientists across the globe will
simultaneously be able to see, manipulate and feel biological samples ranging
in size from a strand of DNA to a single atom. Students anywhere in the world
will be able to step through a virtual “portal” to 1930s-era Harlem, navigate
city streets, interact with figures and listen to music composed and
popularized during the era. Engineers in Detroit will be able to access
automobile designs in Germany, and even take prototype cars for a virtual test
run. Most of us will have to wait to enjoy such features of the next
generation Internet. But at Wichita State University, faculty, staff and
students are not only using them, they’re helping to create them — today.
“This research is helping us build the Internet of the future,” says Gary Ott,
WSU executive director of university computing and telecommunications
services. “This technology will eventually transfer to the regular Internet so
the entire public will have access to it.”
Internet2 partnership
Since Sept. 6, 2001, WSU has been part of Internet2, a parallel network to the
public Internet dedicated to developing advanced network applications and
technologies to help create tomorrow’s Internet. Like the original Internet,
it is a partnership among academia, industry and government designed to build
advanced capability for the national research community and encourage
revolutionary Internet applications. “The model is based on the original
Internet, before it went commercial,” says John Matrow, system
administrator/trainer and (no kidding) “Shameless Internet2 Promoter and
Webmaster.” “We’re solving the technical problems — bandwidth,
authorization, security — to bring this technology to the general public.”
Internet2 was formed in 1996 by 34 research institutions when it became
apparent that commercial Internet traffic was robbing research and academic
pursuits of bandwidth. About the same time, and for similar reasons, the
federal government launched the Next Generation Internet initiative for
government agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense. Over time, the
two began sharing resources. The consortium is open only to institutions of
higher education, research labs and technology companies such as AT&T, Cisco
Systems, Lucent Technologies and IBM. “They want to participate in this, too,”
Ott says. “You can’t imagine what could evolve from this that could become
future products. They can’t afford not to be involved.”
New capabilities
Internet2 members like WSU are collaborating to develop advanced applications
which include virtual laboratories, digital libraries, digital video and “tele-immersion,”
a technology that gives the illusion of having people from remote sites in the
same room. Internet2 uses two high-performance fiber optic backbones that
deliver connection speeds of 155 megabits per second — a hundred times faster
than a typical university lab connection and almost 3,000 times faster than
the average dial-up connection. WSU’s Internet2 connection now runs at 45
megabits per second and can be increased as needed. Internet2 groups are also
developing “Quality of Service” (QoS) schemes to prevent transmission delays
and loss of data packets. As with many Internet2 features, QoS is dependent on
abundant bandwidth. “With the regular Internet, you get bursts of data
downloaded, which causes jerky movements on video transmissions,” says Michael
Erickson, assistant director-manager of technical services. “By providing
excess bandwidth, you don’t get that on Internet2.”
Knocking down barriers
Through the advanced technology, WSU faculty, staff and students can tie-in
with universities around the world for distance-learning opportunities.
Videoconferencing costs, which formerly ran up to $65 an hour, are greatly
reduced. WSU staff can also simulate costly operations such as crash tests,
share applications in real time, view webcasts from other universities and
gain access to a wide range of services, databases and equipment. “It’s
knocked down a lot of barriers,” Ott says. “We can now access other super
computers around the country in real time.” Faculty members are now
participating in several projects via Internet2, including the Kansas
Biomedical Research Infrastructure Networks (KBRIN), a collaborative effort
among WSU, Kansas State, the KU Medical Center and Ft. Hays State University
that involves sharing databases on the human genome project. Other projects
include research into the atmospheric structure of cool stars. “We have a
collaborator in Georgia who transmits gigabits of data for us to do
computations on astrophysics,” says Jason Ferguson, assistant professor of
physics. “With Internet2, he can transmit in 15 or 20 minutes. With the
regular Internet, it would take about two days.”
The bottom line
Not surprisingly, such technology does not come cheap. Internet2 members are
required to spend $500,000 to $1 million, most of it in the form of upgrades
to university infrastructure. Over the past four years, WSU has spent $850,000
to install fiber optic, gigabite-capable cable to the 6,000 Internet
connections on campus. Much of that initial funding came from the state, other
government sources and research grants, Ott says. He adds that WSU is
committed to spending that much or more in the future. “It costs $10,000 per
month to pay for the circuit that connects WSU to Internet2,” Ott says. “We
received a National Science Foundation grant of $75,000 per year to help pay
for that.” In time, advances created by Internet2 will become available to
businesses. Who will benefit from what, however, depends on the nature of the
technology and the investment businesses are willing to make. “It will be a
while before it will have an impact on the business community,” Matrow says.
“It will probably be on a project-by-project basis as each company comes up
with the financial justification.” “Internet2 is for research only now,” adds
Erickson. “As it develops and the technology becomes proven, it will get
commercialized.”
Michael Erickson, left, Gary Ott and John Matrow help manage Internet2 activities at the WSU High Performance Computing Center.
Internet2
A nonprofit consortium of universities and research centers working in
partnership with industry and government to create tomorrow's Internet.
Members:
190 universities and research centers, 70 companies. Kansas members: Wichita
State University, Kansas State University, Kansas University, University of
Kansas Medical Center.
Number of users: 3 million in 50 states.
WSU Internet2 Web site:
www.wichita.edu/internet2.
REACH KEN ARNOLD at 266-6172 or on the Web at
karnold@bizjournals.com.
reprinted with permission