SURA Crossroads Initiative
About the SURA Crossroads Initiative
(formerly the SURA Regional Infrastructure Initiative)As the number of network based collaborations and regional network services supported by SURA and its members grows, the need to find more economic methods to interconnect our member institutions will also grow. This need is magnified by the desire to provide advanced network services to the broader education community within the SURA region. While providing individual advanced network services to SURA members in large metropolitan areas may be economically possible, extending this connectivity to secondary and tertiary metro areas and rural areas will continue to be difficult. Through this region-wide collaborative project, it is hoped that we will be able to leverage our collective requirements and buying power to dramatically reduce the cost of advanced network connectivity within the SURA region.
More information on the SURA Crossroads Initiative is available in:
Project Scope:
The initial scope of this project will be to determine the practical and economic feasibility of impacting the overall cost of advanced network connectivity to existing SURA member institutions. The basic purpose of this initiative is to address the infrastructure needs of the largest possible community while maintaing a clear focus on SURA member requirements. The following principals will be used to help guide the final outcome of this initiative:
- particular attention will be paid to improving network connectivity options for non-metropolitan SURA member institutions;
- preference will be given to models that will avoid limitations on the use of the infrastructure imposed by restrictive use policies;
- this initiative will not focus on individual services but attempt to lower the cost of all networked services both production and research;
- benefit the broadest community by aggregating connectivity at carrier hotels where possible and hubbing out of SURA member campuses only where necessary;
- creation of an infrastructure that can be priced at or near actual cost with the goal of significantly disrupting the existing market based pricing models for network infrastructure.
The SURA Crossroads Working Group:
The SURA Crossroads Initiative is moving forward under the direction and through the work of the SURA Crossroads Working Group. The Working Group is composed of CIO-level representatives from SURA institutions and gigaPoPs who have volunteered to contribute their time and expertise to this project. SURA Crossroads Working Group members meet regularly with each other, with SURA IT program leadership and staff, and with project consultants and vendors to ensure ongoing progress and alignment with SURA's mission and the mission and goals of its members.
Working Group Participants include:
- Jed Diem (Tulane) - Chair
- Charles Anderson (Gulf Coast GigaPoP)
- Carl Baker (FSU)
- Brice Bible (UT)
- Jeff Crowder (VA Tech)
- Gary Crane (SURA)
- George Davis (UT)
- Joel Dunn (UNC)
- Larry Flournoy (TX A&M)
- Doyle Friskney (U of KY)
- Joe Grissom (OKU)
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- Jack Hall (FAU)
- Don Halverstadt (UAH)
- John Hurley (CAU)
- Ron Hutchins (GaTech)
- Mark Johnson (NCREN)
- Tom Lindsay (MSState)
- Zia Mafaher (Catholic)
- Jerry Sobieski, MAX Gigapop
- Troy Travis (U of SC)
- Mary Fran Yafchak (SURA)
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Other meeting of interest to the SURA membership:
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