Victorian Education and Research Network prepares to go live
Victorian Education and Research Network prepares to go live
November/December Edition, 2007: A high-capacity network servicing nine Victorian universities and the CSIRO looks set to soon launch Victoria into the International sphere of high-speed and distributed networks.
The Victorian Education and Research Network (VERN) managed and operated by VERNnet, has been on the case for high-speed networks in the education and research sector well before it was incorporated by a group of Victorian institutions in 2004.
Not only do university networks set the limit of academic operations on the basis of the capacity of their networks, but as research progresses and the data explosion continues, the problem is expected to only get worse. According to John Carruthers, CEO of VERNnet it’s a problem that must be dealt with in order for Australia to stand-up internationally.
“If we’re going to be a clever country, supported by world class research and education, it’s only half the equation solved if you’ve got universities packed with good people, but lacking for communications networks,” says Carruthers.
Now after inking a five year deal with Nortel to deliver the Metro Ethernet network, the vision is one step closer to reality. With the assistance of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Newtork portfolio, Common Photonic Layer (CPL,) VERNnet will be able to scale up its network capacity to a massive 720 GBps in the future.
The Nortel deal marks a significant step towards VERNnet’s ultimate goal of allowing more than 100 research and education institutions in Victoria to introduce services including real-time, high-definition video broadcasts, offsite disaster recovery and connections to radio telescopes.
With the network infrastructure made up of a mix of leased deals and VERNnet’s own construction and partnerships with others, the network is likely to exist outside the paradigm of major telecommunication companies. “The universities in Australia have a history of wanting to produce their own networks. They have been doing this for a long time,” says Carruthers.
Carruthers declined to comment on similar arrangements and comparisons to other states, but he does believe individual states will solve the problem in different ways. “Research and institutions understand the vital importance of their communications networks. They can see data growth growing exponentially,” he says.
“It’s a tsunami hitting them, and they’re all actively planning for it in different ways. The Federal policy makers are there to frame things and to spur action, backed with some funding as an incentive.
After assembling and deploying the physical infrastructure, finalising negotiating with fibre owners, obtaining land permits and other approvals as well as negotiating contracts and of course digging the holes and building, VERNnet looks set to launch early next year