Contact: Bob Ratliff
Mississippi State is joining five other Southeastern universities to form what one day may be an important link in the next generation of the information superhighway.
To help relieve pressure on the Internet and open up new resources for research and instruction, MSU and more than 100 of the nation's other universities have been working to find ways to establish what will be Internet 2. The newly established South East Partnership to Share Computational Resources Network--SEPSCoR--will be a part of this effort.
The network officially opens tomorrow [Jan. 28] in ceremonies at the University of Kentucky, another of the regional schools involved in the project.
"Twenty years ago, most people had not heard of the Internet," said Mike Rackley, MSU director of systems and networks. "Today, the demands for the information services on the World Wide Web made possible by this linking of computers are straining the system's resources."
The other institutions in the network include the Alabama Supercomputer Authority, Louisiana State University, University of South Carolina, and West Virginia University. In addition, the collaborative effort includes researchers at the National Science Foundation, and the Southeastern University Research Association.
"This is a pilot project with funding for one year," said Joe Thompson, an aerospace engineering professor and leading university researcher. "However, it could lead to a much more extensive network."
One of only a handful holding the rank of Giles Distinguished Professor at MSU, Thompson was appointed last year to President Clinton's Advisory Committee for High Performance Computing and Communications, Information Technology and the Next Generation Internet.
Rackley said, "Once Internet 2 is in place, university researchers and instructors will have access to a system that is 30 to 100 times faster than what is currently available. The increased speed will allow for more effective exchange of information between universities."
An important part of the new Internet system will be "gigapops," regional switching centers that will serve as high-speed routing centers for information, Rackley explained.
Mississippi State's role includes a project to link a series of gigapops from Washington, D.C., south to Florida and from Atlanta west to Texas. To be known as the "Southern Crossroads," the project is being coordinated by the Southern University Research Association and will be a significant part of Internet 2.
"Gigapops are being put in place through private investment by telecommunications companies in cooperation with universities," said Thompson.
Computer hubs "already are in place in Atlanta and other locations along the Southern Crossroads route," Thompson said, adding, "We hope to establish a gigapop in Mississippi as part of the project."
Although the initial goal of Internet 2 will be to provide more efficient sharing of information among universities and other research centers, both Thompson and Rackley envision additional benefits for the state.
For instance, the amount of traffic moving on the current Internet makes the system too slow to be used effectively in providing university classes by computer.
"The increased audio and video capabilities of Internet 2 will help Mississippi State and other universities make distance learning opportunities available to more people," Rackley said.
He and Thompson said MSU faculty members and others are being encouraged to propose research or instructional projects using the SEPSCoR network.
Thompson can be reached by telephone at (601) 325-7299 or by e-mail at joe@erc.msstate.edu.