Demystifying Internet2
Through the 1980s and early 1990s, many colleges and universities were connected to the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet), which allowed researchers to share data and computing resources. As this network transitioned from limited-access, research-only to an open-to-anyone commercial enterprise, the needs of researchers began competing with everyday user traffic, such as cat videos and dancing babies. Realizing something needed to be done, a group of visionaries met in 1996 to meet the challenge of building a world-class research infrastructure.
The outgrowth of that meeting was Internet2- a national research and education network (NREN) for the United States. At its core, Internet2 is a separate, private, facilities-based network that provides ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, low loss, and other advanced features that enable demanding research workloads and novel network experimentation. Need to transfer petabytes of particle physics or radio astronomy data? How about no-loss, low latency, real-time audio and video for ultra-high definition video conferencing for distributed performing arts? The commercial Internet is unable to meet these demands.
More than just a network, Internet2 enables collaboration among members through various identity and access services, including single sign-on, federated identity, wireless roaming, and certificate services.
Internet2 is a thriving community of passionate people dedicated to enabling world-class research.