GÉANT2 Has Completed the First Year of Operation

The CESNET association, which is building and developing CESNET2, the national research and education network of the Czech Republic, celebrated the first anniversary of the European research and education network GÉANT2. This network was officially launched in June last year by Viviane Reding, the European Information Society and Media Commissioner. Ensuring connectivity in Europe as well as with the rest of the world, GÉANT2 and its partner networks contributed to increasing international cooperation among scientists and researchers.

CESNET2 is one of 30 European national research and education networks (NREN) that are co-financing GÉANT2 together with the European Commission. At the end of June this year, the last stage of migration of the Prague node from the original GÉANT to the GÉANT2 network was completed, including necessary configuration changes within the CESNET2 network. CESNET2 has therefore fully migrated to the GÉANT2 network.

GÉANT2 is maintained by DANTE, a research networking organization, on behalf of the European community of NRENs. GÉANT2 is a key mediator of the pan-European cooperation. With 30 million users from 34 countries. GÉANT2 is the largest network for the European research and science community, spreading over 50,000 km of cables, 12,000 km of which comprises dark fibers. The network offers unrivalled geographic coverage, high transfer rates, innovative hybrid network technology and a wide range of user-oriented services.

Among other achievements, GÉANT2 has successfully established network connections with Latin America (ALICE-RedCLARA), the Asia Pacific region (TEIN2/ORIENT), North Africa and the Middle East (EUMEDCONNECT). This intercontinental connection along with the high-speed link leading to North America forms a global gateway for European research.

"While building the GÉANT2 network, we have been relying on close cooperation among all project participants. Results achieved by GÉANT2 would not be possible without support from the European NREN community and the European Commission," stated Hans Döbbeling, General Manager at DANTE. "Our joint efforts led to creation of a network that will provide for and improve the cooperation within research in Europe and on the global level, since the network will interconnect scientists from the whole world."

The member countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

GÉANT2 represents a next-generation research and education network for Europe. With 30 million users in 34 countries over the entire continent, GÉANT2 offers unrivalled geographic coverage, high transfer rates, innovative hybrid network technology and a wide range of user-oriented services. Its large geographic range supports connection with other regions of the world, enabling global research cooperation. The universally oriented program of the GÉANT2 research and services development means that GÉANT2 ranks first in worldwide research. GÉANT2 is co-financed by the European Commission based on the 6th Framework Program for Research and Education. Partners of the project include 30 European national research and education networks (NREN), TERENA and DANTE. The project coordinator is DANTE, a research networking organization, planning, controlling and developing research networks throughout the world. (More information available at www.geant2.net.)

The CESNET association has been founded by universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The association is currently financed mainly from the resources of the governmental Committee for Research and Education and the resources of the members of the association. The association performs research and development in the area of information and communication technologies, building and developing the national gigabit optical network, CESNET2, designed for research and educational purposes. Due to the research activities and results achieved, the CESNET association acts as a representative of the Czech Republic in the project within which a pan-European network called GEANT2 is constructed, actively taking part in the implementation of this project too. Among other projects, the association participates in the development of a global lambda infrastructure named GLIF (Global Lambda Integrated Facility), to which the Czech experimental network CzechLight is connected.