This architecture/infrastructure of parallel optical networks couples data exploration, visualizationy and ' •• collaboration technologies through IP at multi-gigabit speeds. he OptlPuter exploits a new world of distributed Grid infrastructure in which the ' central architectural element is optical networking, not computers, creating "supernetworks," or networks faster than te the computers attached to them. As in supercomputing a decade ago, parallelism makes this transition possible. But this time, parallelism takes the form of multiple wavelengths of light, or lambdas, capable of traversing individual strands of optical fiber.