The University of Arkansas will use a National Science Foundation grant to upgrade its campus connection to the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network, better known as ARE-ON, and to the Internet2 national research and education network, the school announced Tuesday.
The two-year, $496,948 grant will pay for equipment that will lead to much faster network connections for the UA and 35 other universities, colleges, two-year institutions and educational affiliates served by ARE-ON.
The UA’s network connections to the Internet2 research and education network will increase to 100 gigabits per second – 10 times the current capacity following the upgrade. The grant will also fund other equipment that will enable the use of next-generation Internet protocols and the development of a high-speed data transfer facility to support data-intensive research.
ARE-ON connects Arkansas to the Internet2 research network and a national fiber optic network for universities and research institutions with data speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second, the university said.
That speed allows institutions to quickly trade large volumes of data, hold high-resolution video conferences and virtual classes, and connect to supercomputers that process and manage research-related projects.
“These upgrades will directly support research, research training and education at the University of Arkansas and a broad range of other educational institutions in Arkansas,” said Rick McMullen, principal investigator for the grant and director of the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center at the UA, in a news release. “Education programs we expect to support and further enable include life sciences education programs aimed at establishing STEM pipelines for students from underrepresented groups, bridging two- and four-year higher education institutions with research-intensive universities.”
ARE-ON is governed by the presidents and chancellors of participating institutions, in cooperation with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. The network’s offices are at the UA in Fayetteville.
“These enhancements to our cyber connectivity will have a profound and direct effect on all research and education efforts conducted at the University of Arkansas and other ARE-ON member institutions,” said Steven Fulkerson, executive director of ARE-ON. “By providing this advanced connectivity, ARE-ON continues to be a platform for innovation that will enable our research-intensive institutions to attract and retain top researchers from around the world.”
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