CC* Regional Networking: Connecting Colorado's Western Slope Small Institutions of Higher Education to the Front Range GigaPoP Regional R&E Infrastructure

CC* 区域网络：将科罗拉多州西坡小型高等教育机构与前沿 GigaPoP 区域 R 连接起来

• 批准号: 2346635
• 负责人: Marla Meehl
• 金额: $ 110.35万
• 依托单位: University Corporation For Atmospheric Res
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2026-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2346635&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CC; Regional; Networking; Connecting; Colorado

High-speed, reliable, networking infrastructure is vital to an organization’s ability to thrive and flourish in today’s rapidly evolving scientific and technical environments. Such network connectivity is essential for success in business, scientific investigation, communication, global collaboration, education, and outreach. Western Colorado is geographically challenged for network connectivity, with expansive rural areas, low population density, and natural impediments of mountains and rocky terrain. Colorado’s “Front Range” benefits from larger, denser populations where high-speed network connectivity is prevalent and relatively affordable. A “continental” digital divide separates the level of Research and Education (R&E) network access available to the Front Range compared to the communities west of the Continental Divide, the “Western Slope.”The project extends the Front Range GigaPoP’s (FRGP's) R&E network connectivity to two universities (Colorado Mesa University and Western Colorado University) and to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory on the Colorado’s Western Slopes. This project partners with an established regional non-profit middle mile network provider to create a Virtual Routing and Forwarding network overlay to deliver R&E services. This creates a regional aggregation point with its partners and connects the institutions using 10 Gbps leased fiber circuits. The aggregation point replaces commercial, low-bandwidth internet services. This project provides R&E organizations on the Western Slope the infrastructure to aggregate their network traffic and fully participate in the FRGP. This model can be replicated to connect additional communities to the R&E infrastructure, which optimizes the value of partnerships and existing network infrastructure investments.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.

高速、可靠的网络基础设施对于组织在当今快速发展的科学和技术环境中蓬勃发展至关重要。 这种网络连接对于商业、科学调查、通信、全球合作、教育和推广的成功至关重要。 科罗拉多西部在网络连接方面面临地理挑战，农村地区广阔，人口密度低，山区和岩石地形的自然障碍。 科罗拉多的“前线”受益于更大，更密集的人口，高速网络连接是普遍和相对负担得起的。 与大陆分水岭以西的社区（“西坡”）相比，“大陆”数字鸿沟将前沿山脉的研究和教育（R E）网络接入水平分开。该项目将Front Range GigaPoP（FRGP）的R E网络连接扩展到两所大学（科罗拉多梅萨大学和西科罗拉多大学）以及位于科罗拉多西部斜坡的落基山生物实验室。该项目与一家成熟的区域性非营利中间英里网络提供商合作，创建一个虚拟路由和转发网络覆盖，以提供R E服务。这为其合作伙伴创建了一个区域聚合点，并使用10 Gbps租用光纤电路连接各机构。聚合点取代了商业、低带宽的互联网服务。 该项目为西部斜坡的R E组织提供了基础设施，以聚合其网络流量并充分参与FRGP。 这种模式可以被复制，以连接更多的社区到R E基础设施，这优化了合作伙伴关系和现有网络基础设施投资的价值。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。