Editing Abilene Network

[[File:Abilene Network logo.jpg|thumb |180px |right]]
{{Internet history timeline}}

'''Abilene Network''' was a high-performance [[backbone network]] created by the [[Internet2]] community in the late 1990s. In 2007 the Abilene Network was retired and the upgraded network became known as the "Internet2 Network".<ref name="line">{{cite web |author= Robert H. Zakon |url= http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/ |title=Hobbes' Internet Timeline 10.1 |accessdate= September 16, 2011 }}</ref>

==History==
One of the aims of the Abilene project was to achieve 10&nbsp;Gbit/s connectivity between every [[node (networking)|node]] by the end of 2006. Over 230 member institutions participated in Abilene, mostly [[university|universities]] and some corporate and affiliate institutions, in all of the [[US states]] as well as the [[District of Columbia]] and [[Puerto Rico]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Abilene Network |publisher=Internet2 |date=February 2, 2005 |url=http://www.internet2.edu/pubs/200502-IS-AN.pdf |accessdate=September 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324103518/http://www.internet2.edu/pubs/200502-IS-AN.pdf |archivedate=March 24, 2012 }}</ref>
It connected to European research networks [[NORDUnet]] and [[SURFnet]].<ref name="news99">{{cite news |title= Internet2, SURFnet and NORDUnet connect advanced R&E networks |work= News release |publisher= Internet2 |date= April 26, 1999 |url= http://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/i2-news/1999-04/msg00001.html |accessdate= September 16, 2011 }}</ref>
The legal entity behind the network was the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development.<ref name="news99"/>

When it was established in 1999, the network backbone had a capacity of 2.5 [[Gigabit per second|Gbit/s]]. An upgrade to 10&nbsp;Gbit/s began in 2003<ref>{{cite news |title=Internet2 Abilene Backbone Network Upgrade Passes Transcontinental Milestone |work=News release |publisher=[[Indiana University]] |date= February 17, 2003 |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~uits/cpo/abilene021703/  |accessdate=September 16, 2011}}</ref> and was completed on February 4, 2004.<ref>{{cite news |title=Abilene Network Upgrade to 10 Gbps Complete: New OC-192 circuits provide Abilene participants leading-edge networking capability |work= News release |publisher= Internet2 |date= February 4, 2004 |url= http://lists.internet2.edu/sympa/arc/i2-news/2004-02/msg00001.html  |accessdate= September 16, 2011 }}</ref>

The name ''Abilene'' was chosen because of the project's resemblance, in ambition and scope, to the railhead in [[Abilene, Kansas|Abilene]], [[Kansas]], which in the 1860s represented the [[frontier]] of the [[United States]] for the nation's [[railroad]] [[infrastructure]].

==Abilene and Internet2 and the Internet2 Network==
The media often incorrectly used the term "Internet2 Network" when referring to the "Abilene Network". Some sources{{which|date=September 2011}} even suggest that Internet2 is a network wholly separate from the [[Internet]]. This is misleading, since, at the time of the Abilene Network, Internet2 was the consortium and not a computer network. It is possible that many news sources adopted the term Internet2 because it seems like a logical name for a next-generation [[Internet backbone]]. Articles that reference Internet2 as a network were in fact referring to the Abilene Network. Internet2 adopted the name ''Internet2 Network'' for its entire network infrastructure.

Abilene formed a high-speed backbone by deploying cutting edge technologies not yet generally available on the scale of a national network backbone. Abilene was a private network used for education and research, but was not entirely isolated, since its members usually provide alternative access to many of their resources through the public Internet.

==Operations Center (NOC)==
Abilene's [[Network Operations Center]] (NOC) was hosted at [[Indiana University]] since its inception. "The cross-country backbone is 10 gigabits per second, with the goal of offering 100 megabits per second of connectivity between every Abilene connected desktop."<ref>{{cite web |title= Abilene Backbone Network |url= http://abilene.internet2.edu/ |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080113120821/http://abilene.internet2.edu/ |archivedate= January 13, 2008 |accessdate= September 16, 2011 }}</ref>

==2006/2007 Upgrade==
The Abilene project had used [[optical fiber]] networks donated by [[Qwest|Qwest Communications]]. In March 2006, Internet2 announced its upgrade plans and migration to [[Level 3 Communications]]. Internet2's Abilene transport agreement with Qwest expired in October 2007. Unlike the previous architecture, Level 3 manages and operated an [[Infinera]] Networks based [[DWDM]] system devoted to Internet2. Internet2 has control over provisioning and uses the 40 wavelength capacity to provide IP backbone connectivity as well as transport for a new SONET-based dynamic provisioning network based on the [[Ciena Corporation]] CoreDirector platform. The IP network was based on the [[Juniper Networks]] T640 routing platform.<ref>{{cite web |title= Internet2 Network Upgrade |work= Blog |author= Chris Robb |date= October 9, 2007 |url= http://i2net.blogspot.com/ |accessdate= September 16, 2011 }}</ref>

When the transition to the new Level3-based infrastructure was complete, the name ''Abilene'' ceased to be used in favor of ''The Internet2 Network''.

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://www.internet2.edu/network/ Internet2 Network]
* [http://www.qwest.com/about/qwest/internet2/faqs.html Qwest Abilene and Internet2 FAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627010836/http://www.qwest.com/about/qwest/internet2/faqs.html |date=2013-06-27 }}

{{American research and education networks}}

[[Category:Academic computer network organizations]]