Network-intensive applications are increasingly being used on Merit's backbone, Merit's Member networks,
Internet2, and the commodity Internet. Many of these applications, such as videoconferencing and remote
instrument manipulation, require sustained low-latency and high-bandwidth connections. As the Internet2 GigaPoP for
Michigan, Merit's network must be able to support these requirements and provide very high speed data connectivity
to Abilene, Internet2's cross-country backbone network.
In order to provide reliable connectivity for these applications, Merit analyzes performance on each of the relevant network segments, including:
Local campus networks at each endpoint
Merit backbone network
Internet2
Commodity Internet
Merit is actively working with the Internet2 End-to-End Performance Initiative (E2EPI) working group to assure high-speed
connectivity on Merit's backbone, and to make tools and best practices available to our customers.
Merit is developing a network measurement infrastructure of servers and testing tools that can not only provide a regular health
report on the Merit backbone, but also allow ad hoc measurements from end-user locations to known points on the backbone.
Flamingo is a powerful visualization
tool that Internet engineers use to keep track of Internet data flowing in and out of their networks.
