CC* Regional: You Can Get There from Here: Advancing Cyberinfrastructure Connectivity in Underserved Northern New England

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This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This is a regional project led by University of Maine to build 400 Gbps network connections to large research computing centers in New England, the University of Massachusetts' Green HPC Center and the Northern Crossroads Giga Point of Presence (PoP). It also offers intermediate add/drop support in three other locations (including Keene State College and University of Southern Maine), which would allow for future partners to connect using the existing network. This project funds networking equipment to create a geographically diverse 400 Gbps network connection from the University of Maine to the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center and the Northern Crossroads GigaPoP with intermediate add/drop support in Keene, New Hampshire and Portland, Maine to interconnect other northern New England research partners in the future. These connections use the existing Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network to deliver more than 10 times the prior capacity. This project has potential to improve the ability to collaborate, share data, and share resources between Maine and the rest of the world. The main beneficiaries will be researchers at small, under-resourced institutions, typically with limited access to world-class cyberinfrastructure. Additionally, because the networking updates from this grant also has potential to increase the ability of others to reach Maine, the infrastructure will help world-class researchers to reach Maine K-12 students. This access to diverse leaders and innovative technology and research serves to increase aspirations for Maine students. This effect is particularly significant for rural and less affluent school districts. The project's Maine researchers will leverage several highly valuable collaborations, including the Northeast Cyberteam, the Eastern Regional Network, the Northeast Research and Education Network, the Open Storage Network and the Open Science Grid, as well as many personal contacts from these relationships. Maine borders only one other state (New Hampshire) and no state or regional network has a strong reason to build networking resources to reach or pass-through Maine.This project is funded through the collaborative efforts of the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.