The Future of the Internet - Topic Analysis

Essay by ProrationMarkA+, April 2004

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Introduction

When the Internet began in the 1960's, it was used mainly by the government for sharing files and software as well as exchanging electronic mail (Zakon). There were only a few hosts to a network and there was only a small amount of data flow. Now, there are millions of people who connect to the Internet every day from all around the globe. There is a much larger amount of data flowing across the Internet and it is continually growing each and every day. As the amount of data transferring grew, so did the number Internet connections. Personal computers started off using analog modems, and today they are beginning to turn over to broadband connections such as DSL and T-1 lines. Internet2 is the next step in the future of the Internet. Internet2 promises to be better and faster than the current infrastructure.

What is Internet2?

Internet2 is defined by its website: "Internet2® is a not-for-profit consortium, led by over 200 US universities, developing and deploying advanced network applications and technology, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet.

With participation by over 60 leading companies, Internet2 recreates the partnership of academia, industry and government that helped foster today's Internet in its infancy." Along with this definition, the Internet2 organization has three primary goals: 1. To create a leading edge network capability for the national research community. 2. To enable revolutionary Internet applications. And 3. To ensure the rapid transfer of new network services and applications to the broader Internet community (Internet2.edu).

The current backbone of the Internet2 system is called Abilene. A backbone is defined as a "Part of a network that handles the major traffic and provides the primary path for traffic flowing to or from other networks (Laudon & Laudon, 253)." Abilene currently supports data transferring...