IRNC: Core Improvement: Network for European, American, African, and Arctic Research (NEA3R)

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The Networks for European, American, African, and Arctic Research (NEA3R) collaboration is a cross-organizational project that will expand and enhance network services and capacity to support US research and education. NEA3R offers a collaborative suite of high-speed network connectivity offerings with additional targeted science support and measurement capabilities. The International Networks at Indiana University (IN@IU) team will jointly lead the NEA3R collaboration with an extensive set of partners and collaborators, including GÉANT, the European regional research and education network (REN), NORDUnet, the Nordic regional REN, and the east African REN, the UbuntuNet Alliance (UA). We will coordinate domestically with Internet2 and the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet). The NEA3R project will provide two high-speed US-Europe circuits to provide reliable production services with 24x7 NOC support. These circuits will be part of the Advanced North Atlantic (ANA) collaboration and will enable dependable, redundant capacity required by US researchers. These links will support advanced networking technologies, as well measurement and monitoring using NetSage. The NEA3R project will support a system of logical circuits, referred to as Sister Circuits, that are provided by partners including GÉANT’s ANA link between New York and Paris, two NORDUnet links with endpoints in Amsterdam, one to Svalbard, Norway, and the other to Kajaani, Finland, and the UbuntuNet alliance link between London and Cape Town, South Africa. The project will also assist large scale physics, astronomy, and weather satellite applications, and establish reliable paths to advance the use of network test beds, such as our partner FABRIC. NEA3R, through its resources and activities, has the potential to significantly enhance NSF-funded international science collaborations. Research partners include astronomy, high energy physics, and Earth observations, all of which can increase the economic competitiveness of the US. This project can enable faster time to scientific results and access to a broader set of resources and data. Through our extensive partnerships, NEA3R will provide enhanced infrastructure for research and education and provide US researchers and educators with access to a broad array of geographical, ethnic, and cultural resources. This increased access to educational materials and public engagement will, in turn, assist in the development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.