GrangeNet II upgraded with Cisco gear

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 23 November 2005 15:36

Business IT - Networking

The core of the GrangeNet II has been upgraded with the replacement of the original optical core network with a network of four Cisco 15454 Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) systems and the edge of the network upgraded using the latest Cisco 7609 routers.

According to GrangeNet, "The benefits of this latest technology include additional versatility, enhanced Internet Protocol multicast and IP version 6 performance, better levels of latency and jitter, and support for 10Gbps services."

Cisco Australia and New Zealand managing director, Ross Fowler, said: "The equipment Cisco has contributed has helped GrangeNet to migrate from a network that only offered layer three routing services to a network which can offer layer three, layer two (LAN switching) and layer one (optical wavelength) services. For Cisco, this is a major testament to our technology."

GrangeNet is a key part of the federal government's $40 million Advanced Networks Program (ANP), which is in turn part of the $158 million Building on IT Strengths (BITS) program announced by the Department of Communications, IT and the Arts in 2002.


In early 2005 a further $4.1 million of federal government funding was injected into the GrangeNet project to provide dedicated optical-based connectivity, improving bandwidth provisioning and control for end users within universities and other research organisations.

GrangeNet II is the second phase of the development of Australia's advanced networking capability. This phase will provide a significant communications improvement for higher education and research organisations in Australia that participate in astronomy, supercomputing, telemedicine and other disciplines including social sciences.
 
The GrangeNet advanced network program is a five member consortium, originally awarded a $14 million, three-year grant by the Federal Government to develop and operate a high-speed backbone network linking universities and other public and private research facilities in Australia and internationally. GrangeNet is comparable to, and integrated with, other advanced research and education networking initiatives such as Internet2 in the United States and CANARIE in Canada. GrangeNet has been fully operational as of early 2003.