CESNET has increased the capacity of the CESNET2 network connection with the NIX.CZ peering node to an unsurpassed 20 Gbps

At the end of January this year, the CESNET association increased the capacity with which the national CESNET2 network for science, research, development and education is connected to the NIX.CZ peering node, to 20 Gbps. It is the fastest connection among all domestic networks connected to the NIX.CZ node. The connection of the CESNET2 network utilizes two independent optical fiber links with 10 Gbps capacity each.

To connect to networks abroad, the CESNET2 network utilizes two independent links. One of them leads to the Prague node of the European GÉANT network, providing a capacity of 2.5 Gbps. This link mostly carries traffic between academic institutions. The other link is completely independent of this one. It is provided by Telia and leads to the United States. It provides a capacity of 800 Mbps and serves as the main outgoing link of CESNET for communication with the commodity Internet.

At the end of last year, CESNET brought into operation the first backbone link built using DWDM technology with a capacity of 10 Gbps. Other backbone links of the CESNET2 network use POS (Packet Over SONET) technology providing 2.5 Gbps capacity, and Gigabit Ethernet with 1 Gbps capacity. Links to smaller nodes utilize speeds from 10 to 100 Mbps. Their capacities are upgraded continuously according to the needs and actual traffic of the particular nodes.

The CESNET association was established by colleges and universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. At present it is financed from the funds of the Government's Council for Science and Research and of its members. The association builds and develops the national optical gigabit network CESNET2 designed for science, research, development and education and conducts research and development in the field of information and communications technologies. Thanks to its research activities and the results achieved, the CESNET association is the representative of the Czech Republic in the European project GN2 and in other international projects. At present, among other projects, it is working together with Canada, the Netherlands and the US on the building of the global lambda network GLIF (Global Lambda Integrated Facility), the Czech part of which is called CzechLight.