Ciena optical network gear ramp up U.S. UCAN capacity
Internet2 has announced it will use Ciena packet-optical gear to boost capacity of its new U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network designed to give 200,000 libraries, K-12 schools, community colleges and healthcare centers access to network capacity previously reserved for big companies, educational and research organizations, and government agencies.
Internet2 says the Ciena gear will boost capacity of the national U.S. UCAN backbone network from 100Gbps to 8.8Tbps. Such capacity should enable network participants to run applications such as telemedicine and distance learning.
In November, Internet2 said it was partnering with Juniper Networks to implement its T1600 routers across 10 core network nodes and would be announcing an optical networking partner soon. Internet2 said at the time it would have a fully upgraded core backbone by 2013.
The project is being funded through a federal stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.
