University Times

Pitt, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), has joined a consortium of research universities to access the National LambaRail (NLR), a new high-speed, fiber optics network dedicated to research.

For Pitt, “NLR provides flexibility in high-speed networking that hasn’t been available before,” said Jinx Walton, director of Pitt’s Computing Services and Systems Development.

“Membership gives us the opportunity for experimentation with network technology. This NLR initiative exceeds performance limitations of current Internet network architecture, while also providing an environment for research with network technology.”

Greg Wood, NLR director of communications, likens the research potential of LambdaRail to “opportunities in 1970s and 1980s that led to e-mail and the web.”

Walton said, “The potential will be realized by the researchers. The most important benefit to the University is that NLR provides the environment to experiment and conduct research.”

The technology will appeal to researchers involved with information networks, especially in physics, engineering, chemistry, medicine and other sciences, Walton said.

The University is still working on the final details of the service, which should be available to faculty in the near future, Walton said. Pitt and PSC became members about two weeks ago, Walton said. Funding from Pitt and PSC will pay the $5 million membership fee -spread out over five years, she said. The cost of the LambdaRail, which is still adding new members, is expected to come in between $80 and $100 million, according to NLR officials.

Walton is asking faculty interested in NLR to contact her at jpw@pitt.edu or 412/624-6114. Although the University is an NLR member, Walton said, there are incremental costs with specific services. Her office is still working out those details.

The consortium links its networks according to the locations of its members. The first segment of the network, running from PSC to Chicago, was lit in November. More members have been added to extend lines nationwide to over 10,000 miles, according to NLR officials.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported that NLR will operate four separate national computer networks, “each with a capacity equal to the most powerful national research network now in operation, the Abilene network operated by the Internet2 organization.”

NLR provides more flexibility than Abilene for research universities, Walton said. “We’re interested in NLR for research. They’re committed to using this network for research purposes – which isn’t happening anywhere else in the marketplace.”

NLR’s Wood explained: “If researchers need dedicated bandwidth between two points, NLR can provide this. What makes this possible is NLR owns the fiber optic infrastructure. Up until now, traditional academic and educational networks have been built on services provided by commercial companies. NLR gives faculty a lot more unprecedented flexibility to designing a network.”

In addition to Pitt/PSC, LambdaRail members include the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California; the Pacific Northwest GigaPop; Duke University, representing a coalition of North Carolina universities; the Mid-Atlantic Terascale Partnership and the Virginia Tech Foundation; Cisco Systems; Internet2; Florida LambdaRail; the Georgia Institute of Technology; the Committee on Institutional Cooperation; Cornell University, representing New York and New England; the Louisiana Board of Regents; the Oklahoma State Board of Regents; the Texas Lonestar Education and Research Network; the University of New Mexico, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research representing Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.