January 8, 2009

BYU-Idaho Connects to the Idaho Regional Optical Network

Brigham Young University–Idaho received a sizable injection of Internet bandwidth when the school connected with the Idaho Regional Optical Network, Inc. (IRON) this week.

The connection with the IRON network has provided BYU–Idaho with significantly more Internet bandwidth at a much lower cost. BYU–Idaho’s connection to IRON will also provide the university with a more direct, mission-critical connection to BYU Provo through the Utah Education Network (UEN). The UEN will also provide connectivity to Internet2, a collaboration of premier universities and companies building the future’s advanced, high-speed Internet.

BYU–Idaho’s Chief Technology Officer, Spalding Jugganaikloo, said, “With the growth of the university, we have been unable to meet our increasing need for Internet bandwidth. The limited options were cost prohibitive. We are excited that IRON has now made it possible. A year ago the university had a 22 megabit per second connection to the Internet; now the university has a one gigabit per second connection.”

Prior to establishing IRON, Idaho’s research and higher education institutions worked independently to solve their individual network infrastructure needs. In addition, there was no cost-effective solution to connect secondary institutions. IRON creates a dynamic virtual environment and provides higher education institutions and research institutions with the ability to collaborate.

Last year, BYU–Idaho joined with Boise State University, Idaho Hospital Association, Idaho National Laboratory, the State of Idaho, University of Idaho and Washington State University to create IRON. The founding charter associates are the principal investors in IRON and together have formed the IRON board. Other entities can join IRON as general associates and benefit from its services. BYU–Idaho encourages other organizations in the Rexburg community to take advantage of the network.

The Idaho Regional Optical Network, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation formed to provide an economical high-speed optical network infrastructure for the State of Idaho. IRON’s mission is to facilitate, build and operate a powerful optical infrastructure targeting Idaho’s research, education, health care and government entities to enable research, teaching, learning, clinical and civil collaborations throughout the state. Moreover, IRON is Idaho’s connection to research and education (R&E) networks throughout the United States and around the world.