Intel unveils plan for a new Internet

SAN FRANCISCO: Intel is playing God to Internet. It wants to change the way Internet works. It wants to put a wrap around the current network of networks which will put you and me safely away from the unnecessary technical stuff. If Intel''s Planet Lab experiment gets cracking commercially, then the Net will step out of its ‘Stone Age'', as described by father of the Net and inventor of TCP/IP, Vincent Cerf.
Hang on, as a user, you may still be worrying about pinging, setting Internet options to disallow cookies or enabling Java applets or even bother about jumping the proxy server in our IT departments that sits between us and the Internet service provider.What Planet Lab is supposed to do is to help the sagging Internet to take on more users, the next five billion, and yet deliver reliability, security and quality of service.
The goal is lofty and Intel was quick enough to position itself as the creator of the "New Net" on the final day of Intel Developer Forum here on Thursday. Doing the honours will be a 2-year old experiment called Planet Lab which is a network of computers running one layer above the Internet and delivering services, such as web services, digital content distribution and web casting.
Intel sought to add credibility to its efforts by bringing in Cerf who said TCP/IP, his invention, is basically a wrap around on existing networks so that there is a single communication protocol.
Intel''s chief technology officer, Pat Gelsinger, likened his own company''s network wrap around (overlay) the TCP/IP. Positioning thrives Intel''s true ambitions of getting behind every Internet gateway in every enterprise, ISPs, data centres and other networks with its Planet Lab nodes.
Gelsinger announced Intel''s partnership with HP to commercialise Planet Lab services but was quick enough to decline having any intentions of becoming a service provider.
While, Intel''s Planet Lab can be a path-breaking effort in fixing the Internet for the coming new population depending on it, analysts asked how come Intel is appropriating the mandate of creating a new Net.
Since Net has grown due to public efforts outside private ownership, isn''t Intel trying to control the Net?
(This correspondent is in San Francisco at the invitation of Intel Corp)