Researchers Break Internet Speed Records

Brutuskend

Lifer
Apr 2, 2001
26,558
4
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Researchers Break Internet Speed Records
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer
4 hours ago

NEW YORK - A group of researchers led by the University of Tokyo has broken Internet speed records _ twice in two days. Operators of the high-speed Internet2 network announced Tuesday that the researchers on Dec. 30 sent data at 7.67 gigabits per second, using standard communications protocols.

The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps.

That likely represents the current network's final record because rules require a 10 percent improvement for recognition, a percentage that would bring the next record right at the Internet2's current theoretical limit of 10 Gbps.

However, the Internet2 consortium is planning to build a new network with a capacity of 100 Gbps. With the 10-fold increase, a high-quality version of the movie "The Matrix" could be sent in a few seconds rather than half a minute over the current Internet2 and two days over a typical home broadband line.

Researchers used the newer Internet addressing system, called IPv6, to break the records in December. Data started in Tokyo and went to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle before returning to Tokyo. The previous high of 6.96 Gbps was set in November 2005.

Speed records under the older addressing system, IPv4, are in a separate category and stand at 8.8 Gbps, set in February 2006.

The Internet2 is run by a consortium of more than 200 U.S. university. It is currently working to merge with another ultrahigh-speed, next-generation network, National LambdaRail.

The announcement of the new record was made at the Internet2 consortium's spring meeting, which ends Wednesday in Arlington, Va.

 

d3n

Golden Member
Mar 13, 2004
1,597
0
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Interesting. Any details on the systems used to test this? I have a hard time imagining that any one node could feed that much bandwidth. I know SAS is the thing. Maybe with multiple SAS controllers and some sas exspanders with a whole bunch of spindles behind them... and then a 10GB NIC that had enough CPU to drive it and a PCIe bus with a couple 16x slots... nah, this was one of those very specialized clustered distributed systems that couldn't have downloaded 'the matrix' if it had wanted too.

 

Mill

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
28,558
3
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I've hated Internet 2 for years because I assumed my backwards University would not be part of it. Well, I just looked and I was wrong. Go UAB!
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
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"The next day, using modified protocols, the team broke the record again by sending data over the same 20,000-mile path at 9.08 Gbps.
"

Important part bolded.

This is not really news. It does not affect the Internet as a whole. IPv6 solves a lot of problems with IPv4. It's not gonna happen anytime soon.

If I'm reading the snippet correctly, IPv4 still beats IPv6. Only when v6 protocols are modified do they deliver. Literally.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: clickynext
What does this mean for the home user?

Nothing. It's good research however. TCP wasn't designed to handle the kind of speeds we have today so people are trying to rework the algorithms to maximize throughput and distance.
 

broon

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2002
3,660
1
81
It primarily benefits telecom because they will have the ability to increase available capacity without adding additional fibers in the ground.