UA is currently upgrading network hardware to support an OC12 circuit to UA with OARnet vBNS. The UA will also make staff available to support researchers in establishing and maintaining their vBNS connectivity. This support will benefit research at UA, the greater Akron region, and across the country in a number of ways including:
 

• More effective and efficient collaboration through more efficient sharing of expensive campus resources with UA off campus collaborators.
• Better access to UA resources, such as the NMR Center, The Mass Spectrometery Center, GIS, and The Mathematics Computer Graphics and Computation Center.
• Innovative broadcast quality video conferencing facilities for instructional activities and collaboration throughout UA and its virtual branch campus and extension of this facility to all vBNS universities running native ATM.
• Make new opportunities possible for researchers and educators not currently involved in high performance  computing or requiring highspeed networking.