ESnet, The Shadow Internet
As discussed in lecture, the internet can be described as a network of nodes. Each node would be a computer or a set of computers, depending on how deep the graph is, and each edge would be a wire or a set of wires connecting the computers. And unlike other networks which include social, transport, and physical networks, the web is an information network. The purpose of the internet is to make possible the sharing of information and transferring of data from one computer to another.
Most of us use the internet these days to surf the web. We go onto websites such as YouTube and Facebook, and we use video streaming services such as Netflix. When we go on these sites, our computers are essentially communicating with other computers in a location far away, and depending on our internet speed, which for some of us caps at 100 mbps, such communication may be fast or slow. As it turns out, there is actually a separate internet called ESnet used by the United States Department of Energy scientists and collaborators around the world. This separate internet has a speed of up to 100 gbps, which is much greater than that of the commercial internet. This super fast separate internet can also be represented by a network of nodes.
Each research facility or city and its computers are the nodes, and the speedy fiber optic cables are the edges. Although it is not completely surprising that there is a separate network for research and government purposes, it is a bit shocking to see the speed difference. In the conclusion of the article, it is argued that it is expensive to add high speed fiber into the homes of billions of consumers. That point is definitely true, for upgrading a vast network with new high speed edges is quite a daunting task.