A two-year, $496,948 grant from the National Science Foundation will provide funding for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville to purchase equipment to upgrade its connection to the Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network, the university announced Tuesday.
The network, referred to as ARE-ON, is a statewide fiber-optic network built with state funds in 2006, according to the network's website. Its purpose is to help institutions connect to national research networks such as Internet2. The grant will also help improve connections for the 35 other institutions using the network.
"These upgrades will directly support research, research training and education at the University of Arkansas and a broad range of other educational institutions in Arkansas," Rick McMullen, principal investigator for the grant and director of the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center at UA, said in a statement.
With the upgrade, UA will be able to connect to the Internet2 network at a speed of 100 gigabits per second, about 10 times the current speed, according to the university.
NW News on 12/10/2014