| Last week, after a comprehensive review of the
offers from about a dozen Internet service providers, we signed
contracts with Genuity and Qwest. We will be doubling the bandwidth
of the service we get from Genuity from 3 Mbits/sec to 6 Mbits/sec
and getting an additional 9 Mbits/sec of access from Qwest.
This combination will not only compensate for the anticipated
loss of service from Vitts, but also increase our total bandwidth
to the Internet from 9 Mbits/sec to 15 Mbits/sec. Both Genuity
and Qwest have committed to having the new service operational
before Vitts is currently expected to terminate operations.
Although it is still possible that Vitts will cease providing
access prematurely or Genuity or Qwest will fail to meet their
promises, if all goes as planned there should be a smooth increase
in the amount of Internet access we have rather than a loss
of service.
For those of you interested in the details... We are adding
two more T1 (1.5 Mbits/sec) lines to the two we already have
with Genuity. We chose this option because Verizon can provision
these lines faster than higher speed circuits and because
Genuity (formerly GTE/Internet and before that BBN) has been
a reliable Internet service provider for us for many years.
We chose Qwest as our second service provider because they
are one of the largest and highest rated Internet service
providers and offered us the best terms for an expandable,
high speed access line. We will initially be getting 9 Mbits/sec
of service on a DS3 line which has a maximum capacity of 45
Mbits/sec. This arrangement is similar to the service we purchased
from Vitts and gives us the ability to rapidly increase the
bandwidth we get from them should we need it. Qwest is also
the operator of the primary Internet 2 backbone, called Abilene.
This combination of Internet access service from Genuity
and Qwest should give the Institution continuity of service
as well as provide for future growth. It meets our requirements
of having two independent service providers, increasing our
current bandwidth to the Internet, and allowing for rapid
future expansion. It should be noted that this is not the
least expensive way to meet either our current or near-term
future Internet access needs, but that it is the best way
to insure high quality, reliable access and plan for longer
term needs. This new service arrangement is significantly
more costly than what we had before, but has been supported
by the Directorate in recognition of the great importance
of the Internet to the scientific mission of the Institution.
Please contact either Hartley
Hoskins or me should
you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Art
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