The next internet

CERN, the Swiss physics lab that is the 'home' of the internet is building the replacement for this network. This new generation network, dubbed 'the grid', is necessary because of the new Large Hadron Collider (HCL). This enormous instrument is built to uncover some very complex physics problems. Don't ask me about the details, but a fact is that this installation produces as much data as 56 million CD-ROMS annually, that is 2 CD-ROMs per second (yikes!). Because the data is delivered with ups and downs it actually delivers data that could fill dozens of CD-ROMs per second (even more yikes).

Obviously, the normal intenet is not very suitable to transport all this data to research centers outside CERN. Therefore, a complete new network was created that already has 55.000 servers attached to it. It serves as some kind of 'parallel' network besides the current internet and is only used in the world of academics at the moment. The speed is up to 10,000 times as fast as the broadband connections we now use. Scientists used this power to calculate millions of combinations for new malaria medicines.

It will take some time before the current internet is replaced by this new grid. Although, some techniques developed for the grid are already tested by internet providers in current situation. Dynamic switching for example makes it possible to create temporary channels if much bandwith is needed towards a certain point. This should make it possible to download a movie in seconds instead of hours. The developers of the grid believe that eventually a complete new way of working with the web will arise if everyone switches to the grid. We will see!

bron: DailyTech