Virginia to Offer First Access to Internet2 [named MAX. Coincidence?]
By Frank Swoboda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 5, 1998; Page D04
washingtonpost.com
The nation's first access point to a high-speed computer network known as
Internet2 is to be opened in the Washington area this fall by a consortium
of local universities and corporations, officials said yesterday.
The project, which is to be formally announced tomorrow, will be called
Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX). Similar projects have been announced
elsewhere in the country, but MAX would be the first to be finished.
The Internet was originally a network connecting universities and
laboratories. As it has gone commercial and become congested,
researchers have begun building Internet2, which has much higher capacity.
It would allow transmission of video and other data-intensive research
material.
The new facility, serving as an "on ramp" for users, will be located in
Northern Virginia, but a precise site is still being decided.
MAX is the creation of a consortium of the Southeastern Universities
Research Association, the Washington Research and Education Network,
the University of Maryland, Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp.
"This is really about the economics of access to the advanced network,"
said Erv Blythe of Virginia Tech, which will provide the logical maintenance
on the new system. He predicted that within the next two to three years
there would be similar sites constructed in every major urban area of the
nation.
The new system is basically a way for researchers to connect their
computers to a local point and gain access to all government research
networks nationwide, as well as other networks.
"Normally if someone wanted access to various government networks they
would have to have a dedicated, high-capacity link to every one of them,"
said Virginia Tech's Blythe.
For GTE and Bell Atlantic, the potential commercial payoff for the new
facility is still down the road, according to Elwell, who said the companies
envision eventually selling the interconnecting service in the private sector.
Glenn Newcomb of GTE said his company will house the equipment for
the new site as well as provide the physical maintenance.
c Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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