CRPC Helps Nordic Universities Obtain High-Speed Network Connection

CRPC sites and affiliated sites across the nation are linked to the very-high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS), an experimental network launched in 1995 that connects national supercomputing centers and universities to collaborate and share high-performance computing and information resources. Operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and MCI Telecommunications Corporation, the vBNS offers scientists speed and data capacity far beyond what is now available on the Internet. Recently, CRPC researchers at affiliated site University of Houston (UH) helped foster a new agreement to connect five Nordic countries to this powerful network.

UH Professor and affiliated site director Lennart Johnsson and his students participated in a collaborative virtual reality demonstration at Alliance '98 last spring that convinced Nordunet to seek a vBNS connection agreement with the NSF. Nordunet provides network services for academic institutions in Nordic countries. It will connect to the vBNS at the Science, Technology, and Research Transit Access Point (Star Tap), which anchors the vBNS connections program.

Nordunet also has completed negotiations with the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) to become its first foreign member. UCAID provides leadership and direction for advanced network development within the university community. Members have access to Internet2 and Abilene, a project that provides an advanced network testbed and supports Internet2 applications development.

For more information on CRPC vBNS participation, see "CRPC Sites Connect to National High-Speed Network," Winter 1998 Parallel Computing Research. For general information on the vBNS, see http://www.vbns.net.