This project upgrades University of Arkansas (UA) campus and shared network infrastructure provided by the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (ARE ON), which connects institutions of higher education in Arkansas. These upgrades increase ARE-ON's backbone bandwidth to 100 Gbps between the UA and the Internet2 point-of-presence (PoP) in Tulsa, OK, provide scalable bandwidth greater than 10 Gbps to an existing science DMZ at the UA, and create a 10 Gbps science DMZ at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). The result is a faster, more reliable network connection for the UA and for 35 other ARE-ON universities, colleges, two-year institutions, and educational affiliates. The project also provides connectivity to the Internet2 Advanced Layer 2 Service with support for OpenFlow traffic between ARE-ON members and other Internet2 member institutions, and OpenFlow tagging and traffic management on the UA and UALR campuses. These upgrades provide needed capacity to meet research needs and will enable new network services such as dynamically provisioned layer 2 circuits in support of specific data intensive and instrument-related research collaborations and training programs that will have state, national and international scope.
The new network capabilities will enable research in human and agricultural genetics powered by XSEDE computing resources, the development and characterization of novel materials at the Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, and will provide a technical framework for research, education and training in software defined networking for the UA and other institutions in the state.
