NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE OVERVIEW
CENIC’s tagline is “CENIC connects California to the world,” and we’ve accomplished this largely through the development and management of the California Research and Education Network (CalREN). However, this implies much more than is obvious to the casual observer. CalREN is a multi-tiered network, offering differentiated services in each tier. The foundation that underpins this advanced network is CENIC’s statewide fiber backbone. One of the first R&E networks to own and operate their own dark fiber, CENIC has engineered an 8-terabit (Tb) Layer 1, dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical platform. Overlaid on top of this bedrock are CalREN’s three independent networks serving the vast majority of research and education institutions in the state. CalREN-DC. CENIC’s Digital California network provides high-quality, predominantly Layer 3, network services for students, faculty, researchers, and staff at educational institutions, libraries, and other member organizations. Connectivity to the commercial Internet through ISPs and commodity peering is handled at this tier for all CENIC members. CalREN-HPR. CENIC’s High-Performance Research network provides leading-edge Layer 2 and 3 services for large-application users, predominantly at research institutions. Connectivity to other researchers internationally, through interconnection with Internet2, ESnet, and Pacific Wave/WRN, is handled at this network tier. CalREN-XD. CENIC’s eXperimental/Developmental network comprises built-to-order resources to support bleeding-edge services for network researchers at sites such as the San Diego Supercomputer Center, the University of California Institutes for Science and Innovation, High Energy Physics researchers at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Southern California and its Information Sciences Institute, Stanford University and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, national laboratories, and other major network research entities that collaborate with these researchers in California. In addition to providing the entire California research and education community with the most cost-effective advanced services network available, the multi-tiered CalREN infrastructure includes network tools, such as the Pacific Research Platform (PRP), necessary to conduct high-performance research activities. Network Layers 1-3 CENIC was one of the first research and education networks in the US to purchase Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRUs) for dark fiber and currently manages more than 8,000 miles of CENIC-operated fiber, lighting this fiber with hundreds of optical components. CENIC’s Layer 1 optical backbone consists of three linear routes (Inland, Coastal, and Southern) that provide network on-ramps at 27 key Point-of-Presence (PoP) sites throughout California.
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