To the uninitiated, dark fiber sounds a bit mysterious, maybe even daunting.
But to network researchers dark fiber means an environment removed from the demands of a production network; a place in cyberspace where they can conduct experiments and explore the future of networking removed from the demands of a commercial network and partitioned off so [...]

The NC State node of BEN, consisting of Infinera digital optical networking hardware, connects campus researchers to the experimental network through RENCI at NC State.
RALEIGH, NC, March 11, 2009—RENCI’s NC State engagement center recently completed upgrades to support the installation of the Breakable Experimental Network (BEN).

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