CENIC’s connections and services help independent universities build the future

Incredible things are happening within the walls of California’s independent universities, ranging from groundbreaking research to educating the next generation of leaders. Whether the goal is finding a cure for cancer or connecting students to the resources they need, independent university members are working closely with CENIC to design and implement highly dynamic networks.

These networks are essential to the work of independent universities, which are filled with innovators and early adopters of new experimental technologies. From the University of Southern California (USC) to the Naval Postgraduate School, CENIC’s independent university members serve the unparalleled networking needs of more than 125,000 students, faculty, and staff.

Independent Universities in Action with CENIC

As California’s independent universities push the boundaries of innovation in every field, CENIC partners with them to support, protect, and empower Californians to flourish. CENIC proudly supports legendary independent universities, including CalTech, the Naval Postgraduate School, Stanford, and the University of Southern California.

Whether we’re solving network connection issues on Catalina Island or helping private universities stay connected during wildfires, CENIC is committed to helping these schools meet their networking needs.

For instance, if you’re a leading private research university with a prominent environmental studies program on an island twenty-two miles off the coast of California, spotty internet network connections to the rest of the country can pose serious problems. Fortunately, if you’re a member of CENIC, like the University of Southern California, you can call on the network engineering talent at CENIC. As a founding member of CENIC, USC has a 25-year history of working with innovative talent that ensures the California Research and Education Network (CalREN) keeps the state’s research and education communities connected to the world. Read the full story.

CENIC has also helped schools remain online during natural disasters. Such was the case with Pepperdine University in 2019 when the campus’s primary Internet connections burned from the Woolsey wildfire. When it went down, CENIC contacted Pepperdine engineers right away. Pepperdine had planned for such an emergency and had routing protocols that prevented the university from losing its Internet connectivity entirely. Still, their bandwidth was about to saturate on the remaining alternate pathways. Pepperdine IT staff put in an emergency request for increased capacity. With assistance from AT&T, CENIC engineers increased capacity from 100 Mbps to 850 Mbps within about three hours. Typically, it takes about 60 days after the execution of a contract to upgrade a circuit. Read the full story.

The university research community in California uses the CENIC network to engage with diverse partners regionally, nationally, and internationally. Through a globally interconnected community of research and education networks, California researchers and students can access global-scale research instruments and vast amounts of data via CalREN, one of the most advanced fiber-optic networks in the world, designed to support research.

Many of the most significant advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science (AI/ML/DS) have been spearheaded by California’s K-20 research and education community. To maintain its leadership position in an accelerating world, that community will need an ever-increasing CalREN backbone bandwidth, and CENIC has provided that.

CENIC AIR helps to engage California’s Diverse Research & Education (R&E) Communities so California can continue its leadership in AI. Faculty and students need access to training, research, and class lab facilities in a persistent, sustained infrastructure that will continue to evolve well into the future. CENIC AIR provides that infrastructure to CENIC member institutions, including the UCs and their R&E communities. It enables their faculty and students to contribute constructively and collaborate extensively with colleagues nationwide over the same infrastructure. Learn more about CENIC AIR.

CENIC partners with national and international research and education networks, governmental networks, and commercial networks to expand access. It works to support broad public access to the educational, research, and cultural assets that position California for a prosperous future.