SoX has been serving the research and education networking needs of the Southeastern region of the United States since 1997. SoX participants over the years have included universities, state networks, and research labs from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Over those 25 years, SoX has worked hard to establish a community by working collaboratively with individual participants, always seeking ways to provide value to the community-at-large. Their humble beginnings started with an idea on a beverage napkin and has grown into a R&E network that strives to fully support the smallest to the largest members.
In the past 25 years, we have grown to here.
Recent achievements from SoX include the addition of Alabama A&M University, the University of South Alabama, Tennessee Tech, and Middle Tennessee State University as new participants. In addition, the recent NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) grant solicitations focusing on underserved institutions has allowed SoX to support small, minority serving institutions (MSI) with connectivity, technical support, and collaboration opportunities. This growth allows the community to become stronger and more diverse through the variety of participants and their research and education endeavors.
SoX is looking forward to additional growth particularly with smaller universities and MSIs in the coming years. SoX recently published its updated mission, vision, and values statement. The mission, vision and values statements are the guiding principles for the organization, and a reflection of the value placed on meeting the needs of participants and the community they serve.
The future of Southern Crossroads is bright with support of the R&E networking community!
Southern Crossroads (SoX) also known as Southern Light Rail (SLR) is a 501(c)3 organization that serves the Southeastern U.S. Research and Education community. SoX provides high-speed, global connectivity and other commodity services. SoX also serves as the Southeast connector to Internet2, ESnet and other major U.S. and international research networks. Through its membership in The Quilt, SoX is able to offer low cost Internet bandwidth throughout the region with Internet Service Providers like CenturyLink, Telia Carrier, GTT, and Cogent. SoX supports universities, K-12 education networks, federal agencies, government laboratories, and non-profit institutions that promote research in the Southeast region of the United States. SoX services are enabled at 55 & 56 Marietta Street in Atlanta, Georgia. This presence provides SoX access to multiple peer groups already present at these carrier hotels.