The GÉANT Network
GÉANT is a pan-European multi-gigabit data communications network, reserved specifically for research and education use. It is creating the biggest interconnected community of scientists and academics in the world today, enabling them to share and distribute research data faster than ever before. It delivers exciting benefits to its users and will play an important role in shaping the future of European science.
GÉANT is the latest generation of pan-European research network infrastructure and is one of the most advanced and reliable networks in the world. It provides the highest capacity, and offers the greatest geographic coverage, of any network of its kind in the world. By the end of the project in June 2005, GÉANT served over 3,500 research and education institutions in 34 countries through 30 national and regional research and education networks.
GÉANT supports researchers by allowing them to:
- Rapidly transfer large quantities of data at up to 10Gbps
- Make use of advanced network applications such as grid computing
- Collaborate on research projects in real-time
- Perform previously unimaginable cutting-edge research
Many types of research activity are facilitated by the GÉANT network. Some examples are:
- DNA sequencing, where the network is used to transfer the huge amounts of data generated by gene sequencing, helping to speed up the notoriously slow process of developing new drugs and therapies.
- Distributed (or ‘GRID’) Computing, in which GÉANT plays a significant role.
GÉANT also provides a platform for research into networking itself. It facilitates, and in some cases makes possible, many of the other activities carried out by the GÉANT project.
