Order By Phone: 1-866-960-1137
8AM-8PM CST M - F
10AM-6PM CST SAT
promo code:
Find the best broadband deals in your area!
Home > A Look at Current Developments of Internet 2
Comcast High Speed Internet-Stamp Broadband Internet -Stamp Charter High-Speed® Internet-Stamp Digital TV -Stamp

A Look at Current Developments of Internet 2

What is Internet 2?

Internet 2 is the process of looking ahead to tomorrow to move the technology that powers the Internet into the next generation. A consortium of more than 207 universities working together with various Internet technology groups and associations are taking part in the Internet 2 project through which they hope to take advantage of the increased prevalence of high speed broadband Internet and wireless capabilities to produce a new and more powerful network. In an effort to speed up the process of unveiling Internet 2, the universities and Internet technology companies are collaborating on points like middleware, initiatives, applications, engineering and partnerships.

Those involved with the Internet 2 project realize that it can be a slow and arduous process, and as such, have laid out a series of attainable goals that they wish to achieve by the end of the project. The Internet 2 goals include:

  • Introduce new and revolutionary Internet technologies based on a faster and more powerful Internet network.
  • Create a network for the national research community that reflects the power of next generation Internet services.
  • Foster Internet 2 in such a way as to ensure its rapid spread throughout the Internet community as a whole.

IPv6

IPv6, or Internet Protocol version 6, is a next generation Internet model that is a part of the Internet 2 project. IPv6 was designed by Steve Deering at Xerox PARC and will soon replace the IPv4 standard that is currently in use. The problem with the current IPv4 model is that the number of network addresses in existence is beginning to dwindle due to the ever-increasing expansion of the Internet. (This problem has been closely tied to locations such as China and India where populations are extremely dense) IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long in relation to IPv4 addresses, which are much smaller creating a more limited number of addresses that are available.

In association with the Internet 2 project, New York University recently announced its plans to become the first American University to begin offering IPv6 connectivity to students and faculty. The IPv6 connection will be through the NYU supercomputer, which is currently the 117th fastest supercomputer in the world (capable of peak performance of 4.5 teraflops).

IPv6 is currently seeing a great deal of expansion throughout parts of Europe and Asia and will soon begin to see a spread throughout universities within the United States. The Internet 2 project will continue to press forward the progression of Internet technologies into the next generation as it works with some of the finest universities and IT companies in the world.