Internet2

The Internet2 Network provides the U.S. Research and education community with a dynamic, innovative and cost effective hybrid-optical and packet network to meet the community's special needs.

CSSD connects Pitt's researchers and educators to Internet2 and its member communities through the Pittsburgh GigaPop. The Three Rivers Optical Exchange (3Rox) is a regional network aggregation point, providing high speed network access to research and commodity networks.

Internet2 InCommon Federation/Shibboleth Communities

You can easily and securely access valuable information at other institutions using your primary University Computing Account username and password. This is made possible by the University's membership in the InCommon Federation and Shibboleth (a behind-the-scences authentication and authorization mechanism). Anyone at Pitt can currently access resources from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and EDUCAUSE.

National Lambda Rail

12,000 Mile Innovation Platform

CSSD connects Pitt's researchers and educators to the National Lambda Rail (NLR). The Network for Advanced Research and Innovation founded by the U.S. research and education community is the ultra high-performance, 12,000-mile innovation platform for a wide range of academic disciplines and public-private partnerships.

National LambdaRail (NLR) provides the testbed for advanced research at over 280 universities and private and U.S. government laboratories and advanced programs across the country.

Examples include:

• NASA uses NLR for high-speed links between its facilities in California, Houston and Maryland and others.
• TeraGrid, the world's largest, distributed cyberinfrastructure for scientific research funded by a major grant from the National Science Foundation, uses NLR for major portions of its backbone network.
• The U.S. Large Hadron Collider network, funded by the Department of Energy, leverages the NLR platform to connect U.S. institutions to the Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.
• NLR enabled the supercomputer Ranger, located at the Texas Advanced Computing Center in Austin, to retrieve and analyze comprehensive U.S. and global data in order to study mutations of the H1N1 virus that could lead to drug resistance.
• Schools in Barrow County, Georgia are using NLR to bring top scientists in to the classroom via real-time, high-definition video.
• The Iowa Health System peers with NLR at the Starlight facility on Northwestern University's Chicago campus so that its hospitals and clinics in over 70 communities in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska can securely and reliably connect with data and specialists elsewhere in the U.S. and  in other countries.

Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)

ESnet - The Energy Sciences Network

ESnet provides high-bandwidth connections to link scientists at national laboratories, universities, and other research institutions, enabling them to collaborate on scientific challenges including:

• Energy
• Climate Science
• Origins of the universe

Funded by the DOE Office of Science, and managed and operated by the ESnet team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, ESnet provides scientists with access to DOE research facilities and computing resources.

Pitt is a sponsoring member of Oak Ridge (ORAU: Oak Ridge Associated Universities), which is one of 40 Energy Sciences Network sites.

CSSD can bring new connections and collaboration opportunities on the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) to Pitt's researchers and educators.

KINBER (Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research)

Pennsylvania Research and Education Network (PennREN) PennREN offers Pitt researchers strategic opportunities for collaboration and networking with:

• Dedicated dark fiber
• Connectivity to a shared, statewide research and education backbone
• Dedicated ethernet connections (point to point, multi-point)
• Access to other national research and education backbones

CSSD will bring new connections, communities and capacities to Pitt's researchers and educators through our Pittsburgh campus and regional campus PennREN nodes.

The University of Pittsburgh is a charter member of KINBER, the Keystone Initiative for Network-Based Education and Research, and is actively engaged in the establishment of the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network (PennREN).

PennREN will connect researchers, educators, and health care providers through affordable access to scalable high-speed broadband capabilities with connections to national research institutions and networks.