NYSERNet Internet Access - Overview

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At NYSERNet, we always distinguish between the commercial Internet, which is also commonly referred to as “Internet1” or the “commodity Internet,” and our dedicated statewide research and education network service, sometimes referred to inaccurately as Internet2. The distinction is sometimes confusing to prospective members, but it is an important one.

The NYSERNet Research and Education (R&E) network provides high-performance network connectivity for a statewide community of universities, colleges, corporate and federal research labs, libraries, museums and K-12 schools. The network has external connections to various national and international R&E networks including Internet2’s national R&E network. NYSERNet’s R&E network was designed and is managed to support the deployment of demanding network-based applications. However, it does not connect to all the places connected in the commercial Internet. That’s why most NYSERNet members maintain connections to both Internet1 and NYSERNet.

NYSERNet is the sole-source in New York State for R&E network access services, but NYSERNet itself does not provide a commercial Internet service. We do, however, offer commercial Internet services through resale partnerships with several vendors. While there are hosts of competing commercial Internet service providers to choose from, most of our members choose to buy their commercial Internet services from NYSERNet because of the outstanding service and value NYSERNet offers its members.

The over 4.0 Gbps aggregate commercial Internet bandwidth used by our members affords NYSERNet the opportunity to negotiate below market pricing. It also means that our partners are eager to deploy specialized and premium services in support of our members, and that our partners are highly responsive to their needs.

But those aren’t the only reasons that our members buy their commercial Internet from NYSERNet. NYSERNet provides design and implementation support, secondary connection monitoring and NOC services, and tailored billing around every connection we provide. NYSERNet manages our partners on behalf of our members and provides a critical layer of expertise between the two that ensures that our members receive the consistently high level of service and performance from each of our partners that they have come to expect from NYSERNet.