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Jointly funded and operated by European internet R&E networking organisation G?ANT and its Chinese counterpart CERNET, the link provides long-term direct and super-fast connectivity between the two regions.
The circuit is contracted for a 10 year term and—with costs of less than 4 cents per user over its lifespan—represents a substantial cost saving compared to current connectivity.
Running between Beijing and London, the circuit connects the Chinese national research and education networks (NRENs) CERNET and CSTNET to the 50 million users of the pan-European G?ANT network.
Supporting science
It supports a wide range of data-intensive and/or time-critical scientific collaborations between Europe and China including the Large Hadron Collider, cosmic ray observation, radio-astronomy, agriculture, severe weather forecasting and life sciences projects.
Supporting students
The high-capacity link also opens new possibilities for students and academics, supporting i knowledge transfer through e-learning and stable videoconferencing—helping to overcome the complexities of multi-cultural and interdisciplinary learning.
Memorandum of understanding
This link was launched yesterday at a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. It is hoped this will further strengthen ICT collaboration between the European and Chinese research and education communities.
The signatories agreed to review link utilisation and plan to achieve 100Gbps+ as soon as required and affordable.
“CERNET has been closely linked to the G?ANT community for over 10 years”, said Professor Jianping Wu, Director of CERNET Center. “From starting out together in 2005 to building a regional R&E network across Asia-Pacific, we quickly established the first direct connection between G?ANT and China through the ORIENT and ORIENTplus projects, which were jointly funded by the European Commission, the Chinese government as well as the Chinese and European NRENs until the end of 2014. With the new link, we have guaranteed seamless continuity of network connectivity to support millions of users. We at CERNET look forward to continuing our fruitful working relationship with G?ANT over the next decade and beyond”.
“The growing number of research programmes and academic collaborations between Europe and China clearly highlighted the need for high-capacity connectivity to continue post ORIENTplus”, commented Pierre Bruy?re, Chair of G?ANT Board of Directors. “For many applications with significant economic impact in the long term, such as the ITER global energy fusion programme, this new link will be the only viable solution. We are proud to be able to provide this solution jointly with our Chinese partners”.
