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To: Mad Bomber who wrote (15088)	2/9/1999 11:30:00 AM
From: Chemsync	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

Need Bandwidth? Internet 2 is ready... Internet2 Is Ready To Enter Cyberspace Private online research network is much faster than current Internet Jon Swartz, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, February 9, 1999 Backers of Internet2 -- a faster, more powerful sequel to the Internet -- are launching the online system nationwide this month. A coalition of universities and high-tech companies yesterday announced that a key technological piece of the private research network -- dubbed the Abilene project -- will connect 70 college campuses, including Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard University, as well as major corporate sponsors Cisco Systems, Qwest Communications and Nortel. When operational on February 24, the 13,000-mile, 2.4 gigabits-per- second network will be 100 to 1,000 times faster than the commercial Web. But it will be available to far fewer people: Only researchers and employees at the colleges and corporate sponsors can use it and it will not be offered to consumers. Some 140 universities that have financially contributed to Internet2 should have access to the new network by 2000. Consumers will eventually be able to use cutting-edge applications developed on Internet2, but only after they have been developed and sold by Internet2 members for commercial purposes. Yesterday's rollout was ''like driving in the final golden spike on the transcontinental railroad,'' said Stephen Wolff, executive director of advanced Internet initiatives at Cisco Systems in San Jose. ''After pieces of the network have run for a few months, the full-fledged national network is operational.'' Cisco, in fact, is providing a ''golden router'' as the final technology piece to tie together the network, according to Internet2 organizers. Regional segments of Internet2, including California, have been in use since last year. The high-speed fiber-optic network, which serves as a virtual university for students and professors, can transmit a 30-volume encyclopedia in less than two seconds. The Abilene project, based in Washington, D.C., would link together the disparate geographical segments. It will enable educators and government officials across the country to perform ultra-fast online research and develop real-time visual and sound applications that are not possible over the Internet today. ''This Internet is not restricted by bandwidth,'' said Internet2 spokesman Greg Wood, who predicts the new Net will be a breeding ground for 21st century applications for the research, education and consumer markets. Engineers in different states could design products together in 3-D environments. Hospitals would be able to collaborate on diagnosing diseases by using computer-generated images broadcast over the Net. And college professors and students could mine vast databases of information from ''digital libraries'' at more than 100 universities nationwide. Internet2 and a similar project, the government-backed Next Generation Internet, are modeled after the original Internet -- except they'll use fiber-optic circuits instead of standard telephone lines and more sophisticated software. Both projects plan only limited links to the Internet. SF Gate Business Bloomberg services, stocks, portfolios... SF Gate Technology It's a high-tech world -- we just plug you into it... ©1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page B2