Neowin.net - Coming soon: superfast internet

Coming soon: superfast internet

Posted by Steven Parker on 07 April 2008 - 10:42 · 38 comments & 16671 views

THE internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.

At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection, “the grid” will be able to send the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from Britain to Japan in less than two seconds.

The latest spin-off from Cern, the particle physics centre that created the web, the grid could also provide the kind of power needed to transmit holographic images; allow instant online gaming with hundreds of thousands of players; and offer high-definition video telephony for the price of a local call.

David Britton, professor of physics at Glasgow University and a leading figure in the grid project, believes grid technologies could “revolutionise” society. “With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine,” he said.

The power of the grid will become apparent this summer after what scientists at Cern have termed their “red button” day - the switching-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the new particle accelerator built to probe the origin of the universe. The grid will be activated at the same time to capture the data it generates.

News Source: Times Online

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#1 Posted by TruckWEB on 07 Apr 2008 - 10:54: And in what year will a normal Web user be able to connect to "The Grid" ? How will it work? Will ISP have to upgrade their services to enable "The Grid"?

What about Internet2?

(1 reply) #2 Posted by ecotrojan on 07 Apr 2008 - 10:56: Where do i sign up ?

#3 Posted by +Antaris on 07 Apr 2008 - 10:59: Well, naturally it won't see the consumer light of day for a number of years. I'm more interested in the technical aspects of it, how is it better than the internet? What protocols does it use? Where are the results of speed/bandwidth tests?

#4 Posted by n_K on 07 Apr 2008 - 11:01: '... and yes the RIAA/MPAA/BFPI are all funding it and helping to implement useful features'
Sorry I didn't see that quote, but I imagine its true

(1 reply) #5 Posted by webeagle12 on 07 Apr 2008 - 11:15: How fast is "coming soon"? 2050?

(1 reply) #6 Posted by Jdawg683 on 07 Apr 2008 - 12:10: This reminds me of Terminator 3

#7 Posted by vipwoody on 07 Apr 2008 - 12:12: With this speed of connectivity, you can have your data anywhere in the world. Just imagine connecting to your 2TB hard disk and booting your own OS in Hong Kong while your computer is in New York.

(2 replies) #8 Posted by 4tehlulz on 07 Apr 2008 - 12:46: Comcast will have invisible caps, keeping you from downloading holograms at more than 5 fps.

Upload will still be 768 kbs.

Also,
the grid could also provide the kind of power needed to transmit holographic ~~images~~ pornography

Fixed.

#9 Posted by exotoxic on 07 Apr 2008 - 13:56: good news for pirates

#10 Posted by Joshie on 07 Apr 2008 - 14:34: I am very interested in this sort of thing and plan to keep up with future developments, oh yes.

(3 replies) #11 Posted by TRC on 07 Apr 2008 - 14:39: An entire film in seconds? My local hard drive can't copy data that fast.

#12 Posted by GEIST on 07 Apr 2008 - 14:41: Gotta love scientists and their use of the term "soon". I'm sure all the ISPs just need to click their heels to upgrade and replace all that infrastructure across the globe.

#13 Posted by tripleXit on 07 Apr 2008 - 15:09: I thought April fools was over...

(2 replies) #14 Posted by theyarecomingforyou on 07 Apr 2008 - 15:18: At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection, “the grid” will be able to send the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from Britain to Japan in less than two seconds.

In what format: WAV, ALAC, MP3, M4A? That's a pretty meaningless statement.

#15 Posted by Mike Frett on 07 Apr 2008 - 16:32: Do you know how many years they've been saying this crap?. I know that since I've owned a PC, they have been saying this with nothing to show for it.

Face it folks, what you have now is the best it's going to get for a long, long time.

(2 replies) #16 Posted by Hooya on 07 Apr 2008 - 16:39: Red Button day.

At 1:30am GMT Cern booted "the Grid"
At 4:54am GMT "the Grid" is the first witness to a mini big bang inside the particle accelerator
5:15am GMT the amount of data on the origin of the universe causes "the Grid" to become self aware.
6:37am GMT scientists realize their mistake and attempt to shut down "the Grid"
6:38am GMT "the Grid" initiates measures to ensure its own survival.
11:01am GMT John Connor communicates with the first resistance to the machines

#17 Posted by _dandy_ on 07 Apr 2008 - 16:51: Awesome. So after being online for a few seconds you'll have passed your ISP's bandwidth cap and you'll be throttled for the rest of the month...

Seriously, they're not solving the right problem here.

#18 Posted by rob.derosa on 07 Apr 2008 - 17:02: My guess is this will be mainly for sharing scientific data first.
Is bloody annoying having to try and remotley obtain 2TB datasets, would be so much faster with this!

#19 Posted by Danielx714 on 07 Apr 2008 - 17:25: Can't wait to see how the porn industry will take advantage of this

(1 reply) #20 Posted by +Zhivago on 07 Apr 2008 - 18:20: This new network will be bottlenecked by slow HDD reading/writing speeds.

Simple example: gigabit home/office network. How many have tried to get gigabit per second speeds and failed?

I guess we gonna have to place more bets on solid state drives now

#21 Posted by Tzimisce on 07 Apr 2008 - 19:55: I see this as also possibly being a viable method to transmit data fast into/out of space (assuming we can develop wireless techniques). Also, I see this less for the pirating joy, but more because this is another step towards William Gibson's "Matrix". Better yet, I'm more afraid of the implications of another supercollider than bottlenecked internet connections. Don't trust the things at all.

#22 Posted by macstorm on 07 Apr 2008 - 23:32: How soon is soon?
Keep dreaming in the meantime

#23 Posted by Mango on 08 Apr 2008 - 03:43: i think more than anything it will be a big thing for vmware. You wont even need to have a computer and HD when you have your own virtual workstation on 'the grid' provided by your ISP. All you would need is a monitor keyboard and mouse, and just plug yourself in. The bandwidth will be fast enough for you to not even notice that your actually working on a virtual server. You will then have unlimited resources, depending on how much you are willing to pay for it.

#24 Posted by intrinsik4 on 08 Apr 2008 - 20:18: Hmmm... the revival of the terminal workstation?

Tech business have been leaning in this direction for more than a few years now.

#25 Posted by +RuudJacobs.NET on 09 Apr 2008 - 09:18: Ok. If it ever happens, make it happen within now and 15 years. Worldwide. And sell SSDs for the same price as 5400 rpm IDE HDDs Oh, is there going to be any proof of some kind for this statement?

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