Georgia Aquarium connects dark fiber network to telx carrier hotel

AUGUST 7, 2007 -- The Georgia Aquarium has chosen to construct a dark fiber (search for dark fiber) network into telx's (search for telx) Carrier Hotel at 56 Marietta Street in Atlanta, GA. The new network build enables interconnections to Southern Light Rail (SLR), which provides access to the National Lambda Rail research and education network.

As the world's largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium features more than eight million gallons of water supporting varied habitats of marine life. The aquarium features entertainment and educational exhibits and hosts a 10,000-square-foot aquatic veterinary care facility and is the only facility that integrates an aquarium and veterinarian teaching hospital.

In order to achieve its goal of being the leading facility for aquatic animal conservation and research, the Georgia Aquarium had to assess its ability to communicate to the greater research networks.

Upon review and evaluation of telx's colocation Meet Me Room and Core Interconnection Facility at 56 Marietta Street, aquarium representatives discovered the availability of diverse and varied providers. Network providers include major fiber providers offering access to key research networks, including the Southern Light Rail (SLR), a research network aggregator providing access to the Internet 2 network and the National Lambda Rail (NLR), and the Southern Crossroads (SoX), a research network peering service. SLR and SoX are designed to facilitate access to current and future highly integrated, digital communications services for education, research, and economic development within the region and across the United States.

The Aquarium colocates its core interconnection equipment with telx, which manages the cross connects interconnecting its dark fiber network to an array of providers. Through this connection, the Georgia Aquarium gains the ability to collaborate with other aquariums and educational institutions on various research initiatives.

"By choosing telx, we have opened various avenues to enhance and share our research capabilities that make the Georgia Aquarium unique," explains Beach Clark, vice president of information technology, Georgia Aquarium. "By building our own dark fiber network into telx, we save money on various local loops that would otherwise be necessary to gain access to these invaluable research networks."

"We are honored to have been chosen by the Georgia Aquarium as a primary interconnection point on their network," adds Hunter Newby, chief strategy officer of telx. "We are committed to enhancing enterprise networks in Atlanta and throughout the rest of the country by providing the highest quality environment and options for network connectivity. This announcement and our relationship with the Georgia Aquarium, SoX, and NLR is a testament to that," he contends.

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