The second generation of the Internet, initially developed by a consortium of more than 200 universities, private companies and the U.S. government. Formed in 1997, Internet2 was not developed for commercial use or to replace the Internet but is the reincarnation of it, intended primarily for research. Whereas the Internet was first designed to exchange text, Internet2 was designed for full-motion video and 3D animations.
Originally named UCAID (University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development), Internet2 spawned the Abilene backbone and eventually the first nationwide 100 Gigabit Ethernet network. See
Abilene,
UCAID and
vBNS.