Indiana launches 100GbE research and education network

The State of Indiana has launched a 100-Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) research and education network using routers from Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD). The Monon100 network is up to 10X faster than current networks in the state and will enable Indiana University scientists, medical researchers, and students to share and expedite the processing of the massive amounts of data created by modern digital instruments, such as revolutionary DNA sequencers, advanced electron microscopes and large-particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider.

Monon100 takes its name from the Monon Railroad, which connected Indiana's higher education institutions in major metropolitan areas to Chicago. Indiana University and Purdue University Indianapolis will be the first institutions to connect directly to Monon100. The link will be a resource available to all Indiana GigaPoP members, including Purdue, Notre Dame, and IU.

"A network as fast as Monon100 dramatically improves researchers' ability to handle very large data sets," said David Jent, associate vice president of networks for Indiana University. "It's not uncommon for scientific instruments used to study things like human genes and complex climate change to produce data sets of 1 petabyte or greater. To move a data set this large on our current network connection takes 10 or 11 days. On Monon100 with Brocade 100GbE connections it will take just over 24 hours."

The Momon100 network use Brocade MLXe Series Core Routers, which support 32 wire-speed 100GbE ports, delivering a total switching capacity of 15.36 terabits in a single chassis. The two-port 100 GbE blades are significantly less expensive than competing offerings, Brocade asserts, and offer the widest range of supported CFP optics. When installed in the Brocade MLXe routers, these blades enable customers to deploy the industry's first Terabit-per-second trunk, which utilizes multiple ports in a single logical link for greater bandwidth and reduced management up to capacities of 1.6 terabits, Brocade adds.