New Internet Data Speeds Set

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

April 25, 2007, 2:58 PM

A group of researchers testing out the so called Internet2 network said it had broken speed records by first sending data at 7.67 gigabits per second, and breaking it the next day with a data transfer rate of 9.08Gbps.

"These records are final for the 10Gbps network era because they represent more than 98% of the upper limit of network capacity," University of Tokyo researcher Dr. Kei Hiraki said. "Through collaboration by a number of institutions, we have demonstrated the ability to overcome the distance and achieve this newest mark."

Data was sent over a 20,000-mile path, which is over three-quarters the circumference of the earth. Data was sent from the University of Tokyo and then sent to Chicago, Amsterdam and Seattle and back to Tokyo.

The first test was done using standard TCP protocols, while the second used a modified version of the technology.

Internet2 is said to have a theoretical limit of 10Gbps, so its likely the last record for this generation of the network has been set. However, the group is not resting on its laurels: a 100Gbps network is now in the planning stages.

To give an idea of this type of speed, it currently takes about two days to transfer a high-quality version of a feature length film. On the current Internet2, that has been cut to 30 seconds, and on a 100Gbps network, it would be a fraction of that.

IPv6 was used to break the records, which offers better address handling capabilities. Previous speed records, were set using the current protocol, IPv4.