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NLRview has also been designed to aid the NLR Layer2/3 Service Center identifies and

troubleshoots performance problems on the NLR backbone or between NLR and its member

RONs and their customers.

Telepresence Support Service--- NLR has implemented the Cisco-Telepresence Solution as a

service to be accessible to the universities and other NLR affiliates that have telepresence

capabilities. It is designed to make it simple for researchers, educators and administrators to

leverage this next generation service. The service enables multi-point meetings among multiple

locations. This capability enables virtual meetings with participants in multiple--up to 36

segments--locations simultaneously, while retaining the in-person experience.

TransitRail ---TransitRail is an NLR-affiliated project initiated and managed by two of our

members ­ CENIC and PNWGP. This project, which has received financial support from NLR,

has successfully has been fully operational since the first quarter of 2007. Transit Rail is an

excellent example of ways in which equity members are taking the leadership in leveraging the

benefit of NLR "owning" its own infrastructure to provide more cost effective services for all

NLR members and other RONs.

Organization:

Formed in May 2003 and launched in September 2003, NLR represents the common interests of

the nation's higher education academic and research communities in achieving robust, high

capacity, experimental communications services. Members and strategic corporate particiants

have already provided significant volunteer effort, especially in NLR's formation, and have

committed nearly $150 million, to date to deploy and operate the NLR infrastructure.

NLR Class A members include: Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California

(CENIC); Pacific Northwest GigaPop, (PNWGP); Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and the

University of Pittsburgh; Duke University, representing a coalition of North Carolina

Universities; Mid-Atlantic Terascale Partnership, MATP and the Virginia Tech Foundation;

Florida LambdaRail, LLC; Southern Light Rail; the Committee on Institutional Cooperation

(CIC); the LoneStar Education and Research Network (LEARN); the Oklahoma State Board of

Regents; the Louisiana Board of Regents; the University of New Mexico;, on behalf of the state

of New Mexico; and Cornell University representing universities that comprise the Northeast

LambdaRail consortium; and, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR),

representing a coalition of universities and government agencies from Colorado, Wyoming, and

Utah. Case Western Reserve University, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Southern

Universities Research Association are Class C members, with non-voting seats on the Board.

Cisco Systems is a strategic corporate participant having contributed nearly $50 million to this

effort, to date.

The Board of Directors, comprised of representatives selected by members and researchers,

provides oversight and guidance to a compact, agile, and effective core staff. The NLR Network

Research Council advises the Board in establishing and achieving the network research goals of

the NLR, and the NLR Science Research Council advises the NLR organization on how best to

support the variety of disciplines that use the NLR infrastructure to conduct major scientific

research.

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