The new internet: Indiana hosts its ultra-high-speed network, but it's not for everyone.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Information Technology

WAITING FOR A SLOW download and wondering why the Internet can't run more efficiently? Eager for the next generation of the Internet to come along?

That next generation is already a reality for a small handful of fortunate Internet users, and it's based in Indiana. But don't hold your breath waiting for a connection to the high-speed network run by an organization known as Internet2. It's there for research, not for commerce.

"Many people think that it's somehow a brand-new Internet, and Internet1 will disappear when Internet2 comes along," says Brian Voss, associate vice president for telecommunications at Indiana University. It's a common misconception.

Internet2 was founded in the mid-'90s by universities, including IU, and corporate members. The goal was to create a high-speed, secure, collaborative environment where research can occur and advanced applications can be used and tested. Today, more than 200 universities work in partnership with industry and government Internet2 members to develop and deploy the new technologies.

The Michigan-based organization hired IU in 1998 to host the actual high-speed "backbone" network. The network is named Abilene after the Kansas railhead of the 1860s that opened the Western frontier, just as the Abilene network aims to transform the work of researchers in the 21st century The Abilene Network Operations Center, or NOC, is under Voss' jurisdiction and is located in the new 214,000-square-foot, $43.6 million Informatics and Communications Technology Complex, dedicated in October on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.

It's fast. When fully deployed at the end of 1999, the Abilene network ran at 2.5 gigabits per second. With a 2003 upgrade, it's at 10 gigabits. That's about 15,000 times faster than a typical home broadband connection.

For IU, there's a lot of prestige and responsibility attached to the project, says Voss, because Internet2 is the premier network organization nationally and internationally Hosting the NOC gives Indiana and IU a bigger place on the map when it comes to IT networking, which he says can lure top researchers and attract grant dollars.

Advanced network applications include interactive distance learning, remote access to such scientific instruments as microscopes and telescopes, real-time access to large databases, and streaming high-definition video. Middleware, that behind-the-scenes software that links the Internet to applications, lacks...