Internet2 project gets boost from IBM donation

The University has been selected as one of seven universities that will receive donated hardware, software, switches and other pieces of network infrastructure from IBM to facilitate development of Internet2.

Chicago is one of the principal institutions in the 112-member higher-education initiative that is developing Internet2 -- advanced networking and technology that will transform the way people work and interact with computers. Internet2 will be 100 to 1,000 times faster than current Internet technology.

The donated resources will be used by the Metropolitan Research & Education Network (MREN), a collaborative network in which the University plays a leading role, with Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, Northwestern, the University of Illinois-Chicago and many of the major research universities in the Midwest. Using advanced digital video computing systems, MREN will initiate a variety of innovative projects that will utilize audio, video, animations, simulations, scientific visualizations and virtual-reality movies in a networked environment.

For more information on Internet2, see the Jan. 8 issue of the Chronicle at www-news.uchicago.edu/Chronicle/index.html or the MREN website at www.mren.org.