Topographical map shows GLORIAD's fiberoptic ring of rings structure: current and future connectivity. GLORIAD is a modern communications cyberinfrastructure constructed from a fiberoptic ring around the northern hemisphere. It connects universities, research institutes and national laboratories across the globe for science and research applications. The map describes GLORIAD network topology and the ring of rings structure. Current links are shown in blue and the proposed Taj expansion links are shown in orange.

Credit: GLORIAD.

Named for the ancient landmark and lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt--one of the technological wonders of its day and providing light for centuries from the academic heart of the ancient world--Pharos is a proposed cooperative program by the U.S. and Egypt. It will establish a new, modern lighthouse, a state-of-the-art optical network and exchange facility interconnecting scientists, educators and students across Egypt and Muslim-majority countries with counterparts in the U.S. and around the world. It builds on the NSF's GLORIAD program, which is a cutting-edge communications cyberinfrastructure constructed atop a fiberoptic network ringing the northern hemisphere, connecting universities, research institutes and national laboratories around the globe.

Credit: GLORIAD

The GLORIAD network "Infrastructure" connects users at very high speed, 10 Gbps. The network is open to all non-commercial use across political boundaries. Monitoring data flow ensures mutual "Cybersecurity." Applications and databases from disparate sources can interact across the network through the help of "Grid Middleware." The system enables "Global Collaboration:" researchers, the end users, may share data, instrumentation and processing power.

Credit: Zina Deretsky, NSF