RNP - Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa

português | español


 

 
RNP News 
 

RNP2 is connected to Internet2


As of today, August 29th 2001, RNP will exchange data with the North American Internet2 (I2). The implanted line, of 45 Mbps, permits the interaction with the international scientific community through a high performance network.

The 45 Mbps link was offered to RNP for free for a period of three years, as part of the project Americas Path Network (AMPATH). This link must be used only for interconnection and cooperation among academic networks for the development of new applications and protocols. The AMPATH project is a joint initiative of Florida International University (FIU) and the telecommunications operator Global Crossing in order to interconnect research and educational networks in Latin America and the Caribbean to the Internet2. Brazil is the third Latin American country to have access to the Internet2 through the AMPATH. Other countries connected to it are Puerto Rico and Chile.

The new 45 Mbps link was installed on August 21st between RNP's Point of Presence in Rio de Janeiro (PoP-RJ) and the GigaPoP in Florida, Miami. From this GigaPoP, located at FIU, RNP2 is connected to Abilene, the major Internet2 backbone, through which RNP's clients have access to the over 180 participants in the Internet2 in the United States, as well as to other international academic networks also connected to the I2 project.

International 155 Mbps link will also be used to access Internet2

RNP will have a second access to the Internet2 starting from the STAR TAP in Chicago. The connection will be made using the 155 Mbps link which joins the PoP-RJ to New York. The STAR TAP - Science, Technology, And Research Transit Access Point - was created by the National Science Foundation to work as a convergence point to the advanced international networks.

This 155 Mbps channel has been operating since February 16th. Besides being a second door to enter the I2, it is used for the flow of production traffic, that is to say, the traffic which is not associated to the experimentation and development of new protocols and network applications.

RNP is studying the possibility of activating a third international connection by means of a Cooperation Agreement on Science and Technology between Brazil and Germany. This new line would connect RNP2 directly to GEANT, the Pan-European backbone.

Connection to Internet2 completes the cycle of RNP2 project

RNP2 project started in 1997 with the launching of the edital of High Performance Metropolitan Networks (Redes Metropolitanas de Alta Velocidade) (ReMAVs), which enabled the development of regional initiatives on advanced networks. In May 2000, when the optical fiber infrastructure was better spread in the country, the first lines of RNP2 backbone were inaugurated. Today it already reaches all the 27 Brazilian states with a speed of up to 155 Mbps.

The third and last step of the present phase of RNP2 project consisted of connecting the network to the Internet2. The partnership between RNP2 and I2 was established in March 2000, when RNP signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), organization which maintains the North American project. The next steps include the connection to STAR TAP and the incentive of joint projects involving Brazilian and foreign institutions.



[RNP, 08.29.2001]

News search