LIGHTING THE WAY: UH, ABOVENET FLIP THE
SWITCH TO ENORMOUS BANDWIDTH
Research & Education Network of Houston (RENoH)
Allows Massive Data Transfer Among Research Institutions
HOUSTON, Oct. 11, 2006 – Houston has now become a key stop
on the information superhighway thanks to a partnership between
the University of Houston and fiber optic provider AboveNet Communications
Inc.
The two organizations worked together to establish the Research
& Education Network of Houston (RENoH), a metropolitan fiber
optic network that allows massive amounts of data to be transferred
among UH, Rice University, the Texas Medical Center and other research
and educational institutions. Utilizing a $3.5 million dark fiber
optical network provided by AboveNet to the UH Texas Learning and
Computation Center (TLC2), the 22 route miles of fiber that make
up RENoH in the Houston Metropolitan area have now been activated
for day-to-day use with the ability to rapidly transfer from one
trillion bytes (or terabytes) to one quadrillion bytes (or petabytes)
of data.
“Dark fiber, which is optical fiber laid in the ground just
waiting to be activated for use, enables us to transparently transfer
data from one institution to another across the city or country
as though we are in the same building at the same facility,”
said Lennart Johnsson, Cullen Professor of Computer Science and
TLC2 director at UH. “Prior to the activation of optical fiber
networks like RENoH, Houston-area researchers literally had to transfer
large data quantities manually by carrying or shipping data tapes
or disks from one collaborating institution to another.”
AboveNet CEO Bill LaPerch adds, “Our technologically advanced
fiber network is designed to meet the bandwidth intensive needs
of the educational community. We’re happy to partner with
the University of Houston on this important technology initiative.”
By bringing Houston onto the national network, UH is leading the
way with AboveNet’s assistance in city, state and national
networking projects. Led by TLC2, RENoH provides the capability
to significantly advance the research and educational achievements
of several Gulf Coast universities and the Texas Medical Center,
as well as connect them with Texas’ fiber optic network LEARN
(Lonestar Education and Research Network) and the U.S. National
Lambda Rail (NLR), which is the United States’ state-of-the-art
computer network for its research and educational communities.
“This world-class research network infrastructure will provide
UH faculty and researchers with a new tool to further innovations
and enable collaboration with other community partners,” said
UH Associate Vice President and CIO Dennis Fouty. “The fact
that this new network interconnects the major research and educational
universities in Houston truly makes this a key asset for our city.”
According to Ken Kennedy, the John and Ann Doerr University Professor
of Computational Engineering at Rice, the 10 gigabyte fiber ring
made possible by this AboveNet/UH partnership will enable Houston
institutions like Rice, UH and TMC to explore distributed computing
strategies (also known as grid computing that uses multiple network-connected
computers) for the solution of scientific problems requiring powerful,
diverse data and computing resources. By connecting these resources
at high bandwidth, he said, the fiber network will reduce the delays
inherent in transferring data from one site to another in a complex
flow of computational work. He adds that by connecting the Houston
institutions to the NLR, the fiber network also will make it possible
to participate in national distributed computing experiments, thus
keeping Houston at the forefront of research in this emerging area
of activity.
“This new fiber optic infrastructure fundamentally changes
the ability for UH and its public and private research partners
to collaborate, cooperate and compete, as well as create new economic
development opportunities,” said UH President and UH System
Chancellor Jay Gogue. “The timing is perfect, as this echoes
many of the details in the UH System’s impact study that we
recently unveiled, which outlines the extent of our community outreach
and partnerships, as well as analyzes the university system’s
impact on the Houston economy and community.”
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
About AboveNet
AboveNet Inc. provides fiber connectivity solutions for businesses
and carriers. Its private optical network delivers key network and
IP services in and between 14 top U.S. metro markets and London.
AboveNet’s network is widely used in demanding markets such
as financial services, media, health care, retail and government.
About TLC2
The Texas Learning and Computation Center (TLC2) at UH fosters and
supports interdisciplinary research, education and training in computational
sciences and engineering through centers, laboratories and individual
faculty initiatives. TLC2 has state-of-the-art computation, visualization
and educational facilities for environmental studies, biological,
biomedical and energy research, undergraduate and graduate education
and teacher training.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, visit www.uh.edu/admin/media/sciencelist.html.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom
at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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