Choate students can now access the Internet in a whole new way: Internet2. Internet2 is a relatively simple fiber-optic system that allows the Choate community to access the Internet at much faster speeds than the old DSL connection.

According to Dr. Larry Faulkner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Internet2, “Internet2 enables the research and education community to unlock new frontiers in the development of true next-generation Internet technologies by providing reliable and cutting-edge network infrastructure. Internet2 exists to advance the missions of its members and the broader research and education community.”

Internet2 allows only a restricted range of users to reap its benefits, specifically, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and museums, with minimal commercial users. The few commercial clients include companies like Microsoft, which uses Internet2 to facilitate online Windows system updates.

Internet2’s main function at Choate, as well as at numerous other academic institutions such as Stanford, Dartmouth, and the University of Virginia, is to provide high-speed access to the Internet without the hassle of having commercial sites to shuffle through. Unlike Internet1, Internet2 only caters to educational resources and the like, eliminating excess traffic normally caused by commercial websites. The absence of commercial clients provides for much faster Internet access as well as program and media downloads.

Andrew Speyer, Acting Director of ITS, gave this analogy to demonstrate the difference between 1 and 2: “Internet1 is like traveling along US Route 5, a congested, crowded highway, whereas using Internet2 is similar to speeding through a three lane highway dedicated exclusively to a certain group of travelers.”

Internet2 is wired to its clients with a fiber optic installation running directly to the client’s location, in this case, to our regional sponsor, Wallingford’s Public School system. Wiring was done down North main Street to the Wallingford Public Library and Moses Y. Beach Elementary School. Internet2 requires its privately operated educational clients, like Choate, to pay to wire the fiber optics from the closest wired location to the school itself. For Choate, this distance was miniscule, and so the school paid the minimal $25, 000 fee to have Internet2 wired directly at Choate. In addition, Internet2 is set up with several varying increments of speed, reaching a maximum of one hundred MEGS (standard unit of Internet speed). “Choate capped off at 20 MEGS,” says Speyer. “Theoretically, we could be going five times faster than we are now.”

Internet2 is has enormous potential to put Choate in the forefront of our peer schools that have not invested in Internet2. With Choate being the first private high school in Connecticut to have Internet2. Choate is the trendsetter, leading the pack in terms of advanced technologies.

Internet2 will allow the sharing of computing and technological resources previously unattainable. Mr. Speyer provided one example: a researcher at a small college would be able to remotely access and use an electron microscope in use at Lehigh University. The ability of Internet2 to facilitate the sharing of resources is one of the most exciting features about Internet2.

The implementation of Internet2 is a vast improvement over the Internet connection experienced last year. Choate’s internet setup last year consisted of combined DSL lines, a slight improvement over the standard DSL connection found in most homes, but still frustrating to many with its slow processing speed. Day students face additional challenges in accessing the Internet from home. In order to access the Choate network, day students must use a VPN connection, which creates a secure pathway to the Choate system. The combination of VPN and the DSL system provided painfully slow connections to day students. Although day students still have to use VPN, Internet2 results in dramatically faster Internet speeds. From personal and school computers on campus, connection to Internet2 is direct.

Internet2 is rapidly becoming a national presence, becoming ubiquitous at public schools, libraries, and universities across the country, and an increasing amount of private elementary and high schools are becoming clients as well. In Connecticut, colleges like Yale, UConn, Connecticut College, and Wesleyan have all begun using Internet2. On a larger scale, many state governments are working on Internet2 for possible incorporation into their respective school systems.

Because Internet2 is restricted, one drawback of the system is that when one attempts to connect to the commercial Internet, Internet2 will go as far as it can to get to the commercial website before routing back to Internet 1 to reach the site. The inability to access commercial websites through Internet2 is Internet2’s only drawback, and even then, most of the connection process is through Internet2. In order to resolve this minor setback, commercial websites would have to be granted use of Internet2, which is unlikely as it undermines Internet2’s original purpose.

Regarding Internet2’s origins, its website says, “Internet2 is a not-for-profit advanced networking consortium comprising more than 200 U.S. universities in cooperation with 70 leading corporations, 45 government agencies, laboratories and other institutions of higher learning as well as over 50 international partner organizations.”

When Internet2 is fully adopted by schools, universities, museums, and its other clients, it will dramatically enhance the educational experience.