A Model for Evolving the Next Generation Internet.

PlanetLab is a network of computers strategically located at sites around the world, forming a testbed or platform for creating and deploying planetaryscale services massive applications that span a significant part of the globe. PlanetLab enables users primarily researchers to test and validate new planetaryscale services in an environment that is intended to replicate the environment of the Internet but does not disrupt the Internet's performance. It currently consists of 639 nodes at 305 sites around the world.

An Open Testbed for Developing, Deploying, and Accessing planetary-scale Services.

PlanetLab creates a unique environment in which to conduct experiments at "Internet Scale." The most obvious is that network services deployed on PlanetLab experience all of the behaviors of the real Internet where the only thing predictable is unpredictability (latency, bandwidth, paths taken). A second advantage is that PlanetLab provides a diverse perspective on the Internet in terms of connection properties, network presence, and geographical location. The broad perspective on the Internet enables development and deployment of a new class of services that see the network from many different angles. For example, today, researchers using PlanetLab have created worldwide Internet mapping software and identified a common cause of router failure.

 
 *Information on PlanetLab, available software, and current projects can be found at www.planetlab.org.