CERN creates a new super-fast internet, invites tons of people to a deathmatch

Posted Apr 7th 2008 10:29AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Networking

Apparently, when CERN isn't colliding particles (and ripping massive holes in the space-time continuum), it's busy working on a new "internet" which will be 10,000 times faster than our current version. The project -- known as "the grid" -- is built atop completely fiber optic networks, and utilizes modern routing centers. By keeping traffic out of our current phone and data systems, the researchers have been able to achieve speeds heretofore unseen on previous networks. The system connects from CERN to 11 centers around the globe, and will be switched on when the Large Hadron Collider is activated, on what the group is calling "Red Button Day." Project heads believe a network with this speed will lead to all sorts of futuristic innovations -- like true cloud computing, holographic video conferencing, and really, really fast pirating of the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Tags: cern, fiber optic, FiberOptic, internet 2, Internet2, large hadron collider, LargeHadronCollider, new internet, NewInternet