The University now has a voice in the development of a new and faster Internet system that brings greater computing power to researchers.
University President Dave Frohnmayer was appointed to the Internet2 board of trustees in May. As a member of the board, Frohnmayer will provide policy guidance for the combination of hardware and software that defines the new network. His term will last until June 2008.
Frohnmayer described Internet2 as “the next-generation Internet.” For the academic world and select industries, the Internet has become overcrowded, he explained.
Internet2 offers significantly higher speed and bandwidth to these select users, who need the extra power for projects such as monitoring brain waves and viewing detailed astronomical images.
“It’s a much more reliable and fast way to use the Internet,” Frohnmayer said.
Internet2 began with 130 universities. Joe St. Sauver, director of user services and network applications at the University’s Computing Center, said the University joined the network in winter 1999 as one of the original members. It now includes more than 200 U.S. universities, more than 70 companies, and more than 40 affiliated organizations including U.S. government research laboratories, according to an Internet2 statement.
According to the statement, the research and development consortium is “recreating the partnership among academia, industry and government that fostered today’s Internet in its infancy.”
St. Sauver said that while Internet2 mainly provides connections between the University and other universities, it is also connected to federal networks that connect to international networks all over the world.
“The focus is really on research and educational sites,” St. Sauver said. “Yahoo is not on Internet2.”
St. Sauver said the national infrastructure for Internet2’s 10 gigabit-per-second connection is called Abilene, and that the Oregon University System institutions as well as Oregon public K-12 partners connect to Abilene via the Oregon GigaPOP in Eugene. Frohnmayer said the fiberoptic cables that make up this infrastructure follow the lines of the old Southern Pacific Railroad.
“By default, members of the University community use Internet2 when connecting to another site that is also on Internet2,” St. Sauver said in an e-mail. “For example, a student on Gladstone accessing a Web page at Berkeley would go via Internet2.”
Another aspect of Internet2 is its applications. Using the network, applications for purposes including digital video, digital libraries, research collaboration and remote instrumentation have been developed, according to an Internet2 information sheet.
“The real advantages of Internet2 are in the advanced software applications,” Frohnmayer said.
“Some very exciting developments are occurring on a daily basis and the University is really honored to be on the board of directors,” Frohnmayer said.

[email protected]