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Grid computing and fibre broadband - Netherlands style

January 31, 2005 on 4:36 pm | No Comments
Categories: broadband, grid computing, netherlands, technology
Tags: almere, broadband, bt, city, fibre, fibre-to-the-home, ftth, grid computing, netherlands, technology, the-register

The Dutch are responsible for some great things. Vincent Van Gogh, Edam and of course, 2 Unlimited. It also seems that they have their eye on the ball when it comes to internet connectivity. 2200 homes and offices in the town of Almere (situated on a polder in the southern Netherlands) have been wired up by UNET and SARA for 100Mbps over fibre to the premises for the purposes of a grid-computing project. They’re hoping to sell the computing power eventually, though it will be used initially for academic and medical research.

The Almere-based initiative is a special project in four regards. First the heterogeneity of the Grid is remarkable. From the central AlmereGrid Exchange, communication will be initiated with all possible operating systems on which the connected processors are running. Second, the citizens and companies located within the Almere Fiber-to-the-Home project (Almere Fiber Pilot) will be involved. AlmereGrid will be implemented in a tight social structure which will connect the pioneers in the test-bed area. The third special project feature is strongly related with this fact. The fiber network is connecting the computers with a fixed speed of 100Mbit/s. This can be guaranteed since the SARA subsidiary in Almere and the service provider UNET are taking part as Technology Providers in AlmereGrid. The fourth feature consists in the technical but especially human enforcement of leading technology companies, which are collaborating to deploy the project.

This is the latest development in the recent trend of urban areas organising their own high-speed broadband - though unlike the steps several American towns - notably Lafayette, Louisiana - are taking, this one looks like it’s commercially-driven. BT currently has a limited trial in place of fibre to the home as part of their (admittedly impressive) 21CN strategy.

AlmereGrid, the world’s first city supercomputer, is taking shape

(Via The Register.)