A NEW ERA –HIGH SPEEDUBUNTUNET NETWORKWILL TRANSFORMEU-AFRICANCOLLABORATION

CCOONNNNEECCTTTHE MAGAZINE FROM THE GÉANT COMMUNITY | ISSUE 10 JANUARY 2013

CERN’S NEW DATA CENTRE GETS 100GBPS LINKSGROWING ROLE OFRESEARCH NETWORKS

SERVICES BEYOND EUROPETAKING EUROPEANINNOVATION GLOBAL

TTRRAACCKKIINNGG KKYYRRGGYYZZSSTTAANN’’SSMMEELLTTIINNGG GGLLAACCIIEERRSSHIGH-SPEED NETWORKSHELP PROVIDE EARLYFLOOD WARNING

CONTENTS

WELCOME 01

FEATURE – THE NEW UBUNTUNET NETWORK 02

FEATURE – SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE 06

DATA FOCUS 12

TECHNOLOGY BRIEFING – INFINERA 14

CONNECT Q&A WITH DORTE OLESEN 16

CONNECT NEWS 18

COMMUNITY NEWS 20

PARTNER PROFILES 24

GLOBAL NEWS 28

USER FOCUS 31

CONNECT Q&A WITH VICKY FORD MEP 32

ABOUT GÉANT 33

CONNECT is the quarterly magazine from the GÉANT community. The aim is to highlight keyareas of interest, provide updates on the project and its vital work in supporting Europeanresearch and education, as well as give an insight into the users who depend on the network,and the community that makes GÉANT what it is. If you’d like to get in touch with us aboutanything CONNECT related, we’d love to hear from you at connect@geant.net

CONNECT is published by the GÉANT (GN3) project, under the NA2 Communications Activity,Task 5 | Editors: PPaauull MMaauurriiccee ((TTaasskk LLeeaaddeerr)) aanndd TTaammssiinn HHeennddeerrssoonn ((MMaarrkkeettiinngg OOfffificceerr)).

Hyperlinks: CONNECT is produced as a digital magazine also made available in print. To view the digital edition and benefit from hyperlinks to further information, please see:http://connect.geant.net

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2013 started for our community with the sad tidings that Milan Sova, ourcolleague at CESNET diedunexpectedly. Milan was a valuedmember of several international workinggroups including TERENA and GÉANT,and most of all a dear friend to many ofus. He put his mark on manydevelopments in our community and we will greatly miss his contributions,innovative thinking, his humour, wisdomand friendship. I’m sure you will join mein extending our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

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WELCOMEBy Cathrin Stöver, Chief International Relations and Communications Officer, DANTE

Our community enjoyed far bettermoments at the end of last year whenthe combined effort of many people wasat long last realised with the launch ofthe regional component of the high-speed UbuntuNet network. The firstregional interconnect in Africa whichensures African traffic is exchangedlocally. The contribution of everyoneinvolved in turning this vision in to areality is immeasurable, particularlywhen you consider the vastopportunities the network will create for research and education in Southern and Eastern Africa. Today,through the collaboration with GÉANT,the UbuntuNet network is boosting EU-African collaboration, bringingresearch and educational opportunities unprecedented in Africa. The implications for socio-economicdevelopment go far beyond anythingwe could ever have dreamed of before,putting African research on the mapand transforming the lives of millions. I am proud that GÉANT is the first R&Enetwork to connect to Africa!

In Europe, GÉANT has manyaccomplishments that have reached

fruition in the last few months. Not leastGÉANT’s continuous migration to thenext generation terabit backbone, which is now supporting CERN’s newdata centre in Hungary (see page 12).By the end of March 2013, there will be24,000km of actual fibre making up theGÉANT network - which equates to halfway round the world. Just think for amoment. This provides over 40 millionusers with superfast and highly resilientterabit networking, which is helping toreconfigure the way we see, understandand react with the world around us!

This is an exciting time to be part of theGÉANT project and I’m already lookingforward to the next iteration GN3plus,which will provide a new set ofchallenges for the network, particularlywithin the services area. (See our‘Services beyond Europe’ article onpage 6 to see how GÉANT services arebeing relied on beyond Europe.) Thesechallenges and the vision for GN3pluswill also be covered in the April issue ofCONNECT, so watch this space! In themeantime I hope you will enjoy readingCONNECT magazine as I have.

WELCOME

ʻMy daughter Graceʼ by Joe Kimaili, UbuntuNet

UbuntuNet – transforming research and education in Southern and Eastern Africa

NEW HIGH-SPEED INTERNET FOR AFRICAN RESEARCH SET TO TRANSFORM EU-AFRICANCOLLABORATIONNovember saw the highly anticipated launch of the regional component of thehigh-speed UbuntuNet network, the first of its kind in Africa, which will connectscientists and academics throughout Southern and Eastern Africa to eachother, and to peers in Europe.

The initiative is being financed as part of the AfricaConnect project, which is co-funded by the European Commission and beneficiary countries, and which has two phases: the planning and procurement of the network; and its subsequent operation.

Following the launches in Africa – at the UbuntuNet-Connect 2012 event in Dar-es-Salaam, and in Europe, as part of the 2012Africa-Europe Cooperation Forum on ICT in Lisbon, Portugal – it is clear the first of these phases is well underway!

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“This unique network willtransform our higher educationand research, with collaborationbeing at its core. Access to highereducation will be expanded.Participation in high levelscientific projects and teams willbe so much easier. Medicalresearch and healthcare deliverywill be enhanced.”The Honourable Eunice Kazembe,Malawiʼs Minister of Education,Science & Technology

“DANTE continues to developconnectivity in regions around theworld, and we have built on ourexperience to support researchand education networks astogether they transform theresearch environment in Africa.We are fortunate to be workingwith the UbuntuNet Alliance, theAfrican and European NRENs onthis important initiative.”Cathrin Stöver, DANTEʼs ChiefInternational Relations &Communication Officer

“Since the EC gave its officialapproval for this project in 2011,weʼve made great strides inprocuring the right network.Weneeded to ensure the networktopology provides cost benefits toparticipants and a highly resilient,secure network.” Daniel Lete, senior networkengineer at HEAnet – IrelandʼsNational Research and Education Network.HEAnet provides valuabletechnical support to theimplementation of UbuntuNet.

FEATURE: UBUNTUNET

FEATURE: THE NEW UBUNTUNETNETWORK

Dr. F F Tusubira and Cathrin Stöver at the Lisbon launch event

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WHAT WILL THE NEWNETWORK OFFER? The network will dramatically acceleratethe development of the InformationSociety in Africa, providing theadvanced data communicationsinfrastructure that African researchersand students need to collaborate moreeasily together. And thanks to high-speed links to GÉANT, users in Africacan collaborate with over 40 millionusers in Europe, and further benefit from GÉANT’s links beyond Europe.

Until now, network traffic exchangedbetween two UbuntuNet Alliancecountries had to travel via routers inLondon – and latterly Amsterdam –incurring delays and additional cost.With the launch of the regionalcomponent of UbuntuNet, Africanmember states are now connecteddirectly, able to share data quickly andsimply and bringing much-neededregional collaboration to what is a vastgeographical area.

Those involved see this as a greatbenefit not just to Africa, but to Europealso. As Dr. F F Tusubira, CEO of theUbuntuNet Alliance puts it, “Africa is arich resource of intellect that will betapped into by many Europeaninstitutions, both profit and non-profit, in advancing research in differentsectors.”

See overleaf for the full interview with Dr. F F Tusubira.

“The European Commission ispleased to contribute to thedevelopment of this importantregional higher education andresearch network. Africanresearchers now have anadditional instrument to improvecommunication among them andwith their colleagues in Europe.” Denis Salord, Head of Unit,Regional Programmes Sub-Saharan Africa & ACP wide(Directorate-General forDevelopment and Cooperation –EuropeAid) European Commission

“GARR has been workingtirelessly to involve AfricanCountries in the “NREN club”, so we're really happy to see thishappen. The launch of a unifiedAfrican backbone servingresearch and an educationinstitution is a big step forward,and will help African students,teachers and researchers inclosing the gap with mostadvanced economies.”Enzo Valente, Director GARR

FEATURE: UBUNTUNET

Source: Internet World Stats

“The AfricaConnect project is afundamental resource for thedevelopment of a new level ofrelations by the world-wideresearch community with thoseresearchers working in Africa.FCCN has a long history ofrelationship with African researchcommunities and looks forward tousing AfricaConnect services toimprove and develop further thoserelationships.” João Nuno Ferreira, TechnicalManager, FCCN

15.3% 15.3%

OF THE WORLD’SPOPULATION

7%

OF THE WORLD’SINTERNET USERS

OF THE WORLD’SPOPULATION

OF THE WORLD’SINTERNET USERS

7%

INTERNET USE

AFRICA has EU has

Participants at the launch in Lisbon

Q&AWITH DR. F F TUSUBIRA

DDRR.. FF FF TTUUSSUUBBIIRRAA UUBBUUNNTTUUNNEETT AALLLLIIAANNCCEE CCEEOO

THIS IS A MAJORMILESTONE FOR THEUBUNTUNET ALLIANCE.COULD YOU BRIEFLYDESCRIBE THE JOURNEYTO THIS POINT? The seeds of the Alliance were born outof the frustration of accessing onlineresources provided for Africanuniversities, organisations like INASPand the Carnegie Corporation of NewYork. The initial motivation was “morebandwidth at lower cost”. The focus forall of Eastern and most of SouthernAfrica at the time was on satellite,because there was not a single opticalfibre along the east coast. Oppressivepolicy and regulatory environmentsgave monopoly providers fullopportunity to milk the market withoutgrowth in infrastructure. The BandwidthTask Force (BAND-ITs) led theBandwidth Consortium to lower pricesfrom $7,000 per semi-duplex Mbps permonth to less than $3,000, as well ascreating the first human network of ITDirectors, supported by the Partnershipfor Higher Education in Africa and IDRCof Canada.

The mooting of EASSy, the first cableplanned to land along the eastern coastof Africa, and an IDRC supported fibrestudy that revealed the extent of unusedfibre within Africa were the maincatalysts for the Alliance: existing andbudding NRENs agreed to form andregister the Alliance so that, withdevelopment partner support, theycould buy into EASSy. This is was also

the time of first contact with the EUC forsupport – a contact that has culminatedin AfricaConnect. However, thedevelopment partners could onlysupport a legally constituted entity: TheAlliance was registered during August2006. In the event, the plans for the firstEASSy cable unravelled, but theAlliance was born.

A first step was CORENA –Consolidating Research and EducationNetworking in Africa - a study of theenvironment in which the Alliance wouldoperate in. This investigated the statusof NRENs; policy and regulatoryenvironments and how to foster a moreconducive environment for formationand growth of NRENs; identification ofstakeholders; human capacity andtraining needs; status of and prospectsfor connectivity, with focus on fibre.This brought the required actions of theAlliance in to sharp focus and led to theEU funded Feasibility Study (FEAST)which identified the region as ready tobenefit from EUC funding.

The huge size as well as the politicaland cultural diversity of Africa has beena challenge. It quickly became evidentthat the tensions that resulted from ourintent to make UbuntuNet pan-Africanwould stop any growth. So westrategically turned to supporting thegrowth of regional RENs.

Policy and regulation were also a majorchallenge that required engaging policymakers and regulators at all levelscountry by country. The Association ofAfrican Universities has been very

supportive in helping us createopportunities for the growth of human networks.

The fourth challenge, the dearth oftechnical human capacity, is beingaddressed through a well-structuredtraining programme founded oncollaboration with specialistorganisations like the Internet Society,the Network Start-up Resource Centerat the University of Oregon, the AfricaNetwork Operators Group, and twinningwith more advanced NRENs.

Finally, sustainability. A key element ofour Master Plan. Whatever we do mustbe based on assurance of sustainabilitywithin the short to medium term, along with ensuring that there are therequisite human skills to sustain andsupport operations.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THEMOST IMPORTANT BENEFITTHE NEW NETWORK WILL BRING? It has been a matter of embarrassmentfor us that our links to each other asAfrica NRENs have to date followed theold airline routes: Tanzania talks to itsneighbours with a long border, Kenya,via Europe as it is easier and cheaper to exchange traffic in Europe thanacross many of the African Nationalborders. AfricaConnect has brought on board larger players who can deliver integrated solutions andtherefore eliminate the cross-borderchallenge.

Dr F F Tusubira (Tusu), Chief Executive Officer of the UbuntuNet Alliance (UA) since 2007, has had the opportunity to witness its birth and growth. Passionate about self-led Africandevelopment as well as the exploitation of ICT as a tool for development, he has researchedand led on national and regional boards and initiatives to this end. Having served as atelecommunications regulator and trainer of policy makers and regulators for several years,Tusu has been well positioned to engage the same people in arguing the case for NRENs.

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FEATURE: UBUNTUNET

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DATA NETWORKSULTIMATELY ARE ABOUTPEOPLE, AND THE BENEFITSTHEY BRING TO SOCIETY.WHAT DO YOU SEE THENEW NETWORK BRINGINGTO AFRICAN CITIZENS? ICT is not about technology: it is aboutpeople. We must articulate therelationship say between advancednetworks and a six month old baby with a hole in the heart, who can receiveopen-heart surgery in Uganda, becausean expert surgeon in South Africa or Indiacan be virtually present. And advancedcollaborative research, that translatesplants occurring naturally in the Africantropical forests into medicines, that canaddress diseases such as malaria (whichcan take more lives than 9/11 withoutmention in the press). And what about theopportunity for African children growingup as natives of the knowledge economy,who with global access and interaction,can become the human resource for adeveloped Africa? Yes, UbuntuNet – withemphasis on Ubuntu – is about people,mutual support, and development.

HOW WILL IMPROVEDCONNECTIVITY TO EUROPEHELP THE DEVELOPMENTOF ICT IN AFRICA? Connectivity benefits both Africa andEurope. Africa is a rich resource ofintellect that will be tapped into by manyEuropean institutions, both profit andnon-profit. It is a rich source of geneticresources. It provides the large quietspaces for deep space research, i.e.the SKA. Africa has especiallydemonstrated the rich creativity whenthe barriers of legacy systems are non-existent: the many mobile applicationsdeveloped in Africa are a cleardemonstration of this.

Advanced connectivity will provideimmediacy of access to ICT along withthe opportunities for exploiting orimproving these. Best practices will bemore easily accessed and utilised.Human networks around ICT willexpand into Africa and IT-enabledservices and industry will startdeveloping. As these develop, moretechnically competent human resourcewill be required to implement andservice the industry, creating a demandfor good telecommunications andcomputer science programmes in localinstitutions. A virtuous cycle will becreated, other conditions being equal.

OF COURSE, EUROPE WILLBENEFIT GREATLY FROMTHE MINDS OF THEAFRICAN RESEARCH ANDEDUCATION COMMUNITY.ARE THERE PARTICULARPROJECTS THAT UAPARTNERS ARE INVOLVEDIN WHICH WILL BENEFIT? Apart from AfricaConnect, the Allianceis active in EU FP7 projects. In recentyears, ERINA4Africa and CHAINprojects have been looking at projectswith amazing societal benefits andapplications in fields such asagriculture, climate change, e-learning,bioinformatics, natural resourcesmanagement, e-health and many others.There is an upcoming climate projectaround Lake Victoria and the on-goinggenomics work between the WellcomeTrust Sanger institute. With climatechange altering the geographic patternof disease incidence, collaborativeresearch in areas such as rainfall inrelation to malaria will have practicalbenefits in both Europe and Africa.

WHAT DEVELOPMENTS CANWE EXPECT TO SEE OVERTHE NEXT FEW YEARS? Ensuring that each country in ourmembership region has a strongoperational NREN, based in good

campus networks and the continuingengagement of content and applicationnetworks so that the data networks candeliver real value.

We see our content and applicationnetworks engaging around for example,analysis of LHC data and the plannedSKA; research around global warmingand the impact of African agriculturaloutput as well as research around theleading killer diseases.

We’re urging our NRENs to reach out to all sectors of education. Theoverwhelming majority of students donot have internet access: an untenablesituation for countries that want to develop.

We’re working with Regional RENs inAfrica – the West and Central AfricanResearch and Education Network(WACREN) and Arab States Researchand Education Network (ASREN) – toshare our assets, and interconnectAfrica. Also working with CLARA andC@ribNet towards a direct link acrossthe Atlantic to strengthen South-Southcollaboration.

We have already engaged with DANTE and the GÉANT Community about our member NRENs being part ofeduroam, which is already taking root in Kenya and South Africa, and later eduGAIN.

FEATURE: UBUNTUNET

FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

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FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

NSI

EUROPEAN INNOVATIONGOING GLOBALFACILITATING THE VIRTUAL GLOBAL RESEARCH VILLAGE

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FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

GLOBAL CHALLENGES,GLOBAL SOLUTIONSSuch collaboration on a worldwidescale is increasingly vital to addressingglobal crises and challenges. Theserange from climate change, and thesecurity of food and energy supply, toproviding medical care for an ever-growing aging population. Findingsolutions for these challenges makesglobal collaboration essential across awide range of disciplines.

Research is increasingly carried out at aglobal level, with participants in projectslocated worldwide – often in remote

locations. For example there arecurrently over 800 EC-funded projectsthat have partners in countries outsidethe GÉANT community. Theseorganisations are connected to theGÉANT network via its globalconnectivity and partners.

By working with international partnersacross areas such as Africa, SouthAmerica and the Far East, the GÉANTproject has been able to share its skills,experiences and now services, to helpthese regions collaborate effectively.This sharing around the worlddemonstrates the value of GÉANT as acentre of excellence in highperformance networking serving theR&E community.

MORE THAN JUST A NETWORKOf course, the GÉANT project hasdeveloped skills, services and expertisebeyond the network itself. Over the pastyears, and moving forward, more andmore emphasis has been, and will be,placed on delivering the tools andservices that users need to get the mostout of the network.

From Bandwidth on Demand, toperformance monitoring tools, and fromAAI applications to expert support

From its first inception 12 years ago, GÉANT and its NREN partners have been enabling world-class research by allowing universities to collaborate easily and efficiently across borders.

By investing at the forefront of networking technology, GÉANT has helped to removethe barriers of distance and location from Research and Education (R&E) networking.This has allowed European researchers to share knowledge and expertise helping Europe build and maintain its position as leader in a range of advanced research projects, from high energy physics to the environment to medical research.

“Enabling collaborationand facilitating the opensharing of information,research and knowledgeis a core goal of theGÉANT project.”

Niels Hersoug, Joint Project Manager of GÉANT (GN3)

teams, GÉANT is striving to ensure thatits NREN partners have a range ofservices and tools available to them fortheir campuses and other users. Theseenhanced tools and services not onlysupport European users but are alsoincreasingly being used globally. Thisglobal adoption enhances the level ofinteroperability, making it easier forEuropean NRENs and users tocollaborate with international partners.

The following pages highlight the waysin which many of the servicesdeveloped by the GÉANT project havehelped both the European and globalR&E communities by improvingcapacity, efficiency, performance, andaccess to the network and its resources.

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As networks and networkedapplications grow and develop, so dothe demands they make onperformance and reliability. Ultra-highspeed data applications, real-time cloudbased systems, high definition livevideo transmission and remotecomputing applications all increasedemands on the network and theexpectations of the users.

There is an increasing need for skilledsupport teams working in the R&Ecommunity to respond rapidly and helpsolve their users’ problems efficiently.Performance Enhancement andResponse Teams are therefore a crucialcommunity resource. eduPERT is part ofthe commitment of GÉANT and itsNREN partners to helping network usersget the best performance from theirconnections.

eduPERT has been assisting networkperformance enhancement for almost10 years, providing multidisciplinarysupport in solving issues like networkdegradation or inherent limitations suchas long distance or end systemcapabilities. With its newenhancements, eduPERT is in an evenstronger position to help support teamsacross Europe, and beyond.

WHO CAN JOINEDUPERT?eduPERT provides the independentPERTs (GÉANT, National, Local andProject PERTs) with a portfolio of centralservices and tools to aid them in theirnetwork investigations. Membership isnot limited to European NRENs andUniversities; other organisations andinternational projects are alsoencouraged to join by setting up “local”or "project" PERTs and becoming part ofthe eduPERT Knowledge Base. TheeduPERT community is also opened upto individuals interested in networkperformance as well as commercialoperators.

WHAT ARE THEBENEFITS?• Offer an improved level of service to users

• Collaborate with other eduPERT members on trouble-shooting

• Learn from the experiences of other PERTs through the sharing of investigations via the Knowledge Base and the Summer and Winter eduPERT Schools

EDUPERT – NETWORKPERFORMANCE EXPERTISE TO GETTHE BEST FROM THE NETWORKAlessandra Scicchitano, eduPERT Task Leader

ANNOUNCINGPERFORMANCE U!“Performance U!” stands for theeduPERT Performance University!This is an expert school that aimsto train performance experts,providing validated performanceresources and face to face training.Winter and summer schools will behosted where the community canlearn about performanceimplications of new tools and new technologies.

The eduPERT websitehttp://edupert.geant.net will behosting short video lessons ondifferent topics of interest forPERTs and for other engineersinterested in network performanceenhancement.

To mark the launch of the newPerformance U!, the eduPERTschool is open for registration athttps://www.terena.org/events/details.php?event_id=2472

The school will run from 6th to 8thMarch 2013 at SWITCH in Zurichand will cover vital areas such asTCP performance, MonitoringTools, Performance andVirtualisation together with a rangeof case studies and expert reports.

Anyone wishing to give apresentation or find out more aboutthe winter school should contactalessandra.scicchitano@switch.ch

HOW YOU CAN GETINVOLVEDVisit the new website athttp://edupert.geant.net or sign up to the mailing list athttp://mail.geant.net/mailman/listinfo/pert-discuss

FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

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EDUROAM® – SECUREWORLDWIDE ROAMING ACCESSIn May 2002, eduroam (then known as TF-Mobility) was a Wi-Fi roaming service developed to allow students and researchers to connect to the internet between sites, campuses and countries. From humble beginnings connectingjust five countries (Netherlands, Finland, Portugal, Croatia and the UK), eduroam has built momentum to becomeone of the largest Wi-Fi roaming services in the world. In 10 years it has expanded to 59 countries, serviced by well over 5000 locations with more being added continually. This offers huge benefits to European researchers who can now access the network from an ever increasing number of locations worldwide.

® eduroam is a registered trademark of TERENA, the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association.

A GROWING GLOBALEDUROAM COMMUNITYSweden is one of the latest to join thefederated community connecting600,000 students and researchers to asecure internet connection on and offcampus. Like all global eduroam users,students study either remotely or atmultiple locations, greatly increasingdemand for secure internet connectivitywherever they are.

A COLLABORATIVEEFFORTThe eduroam service is providedthrough a large-scale collaborationbetween hundreds of institutions, themajority of which own and operate theservice’s infrastructure. RoamingOperators (ROs), in many casesNational Research and EducationNetworks (NRENs) coordinate thisinfrastructure with campuses andhotspot operators to ensure a consistenteduroam experience no matter where auser roams.

SECURE ROAMINGACCESSWithout the need to register for guestaccounts or remember extrapasswords, users can simply open theirlaptops or activate their mobile devices,and eduroam automaticallyauthenticates them via the institutionthey are visiting. This benefitsresearchers, teachers and students andreduces the support burden forinstitutions themselves.

As the number of WiFi enabled devicesgrows, CAT (eduroam ConfigurationAssistant Tool) has been developed tosimplify the process of enablinglaptops, smartphones and tablets toconnect.

EDUROAM CAT MAKES EDUROAM EASIER THANEVER FOR BOTH USERS AND IT ADMINISTRATORS

Support for IT administrators Intended to further support eduroam Identity Provider administrators, the eduroam CATsuite of tools allows campus administrators to present customised helpdesk informationto users. This includes how to access CAT (either directly or as an integral part of theirown online information) making the eduroam service much easier to install and manage.

Enabling CAT usersOnce CAT is primed with information about a particular institution, so students,researchers and other staff can then install, configure and activate eduroam with just afew clicks on the CAT web pages.

How was CAT developed?CAT uses various open source products, including some developed by the R&Enetworking community. Its development was led by Stefan Winter (RESTENA) andTomasz Wolniewicz (PSNC, UMK), as part of the GÉANT projectʼs joint research activityon multi-domain user applications.

The different language versions, testing and feedback were contributed by members ofthe wider R&E networking community via the TERENA Task Force on Mobility andNetwork Middleware (TF-MNM).

How to access CATThe latest version of the eduroam CAT tool will be available in 11 languages. Materials on the benefits of the education roaming service are available to be adapted for national and local promotional campaigns.

If you are an IT administrator wishing to register to use CAT, please contact the national-level Roaming Operator in your country to receive an invitation token.

More information: www.eduroam.org

FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

Working Group recently carried out aPlugFest at the SC12 exhibition in SaltLake City to trial NSI v2.0 between thefollowing R&E network operators:

• NORDUnet (Denmark)• SURFnet (Netherlands)• GÉANT (Europe)• AIST (Japan)• KDDI Labs (Japan)• DynamicKL (Korea)• ESnet (USA)

NSI is a core component of Bandwidth onDemand services and this latestinteroperability test is an important step onthe path to global availability of theseservices.

This exciting development is helping toensure that GÉANT and its NREN partners are at the forefront of the latestnetworking technologies.

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NSI - SEAMLESS WORLDWIDEINTERCONNECTINGBy Guy Roberts, Senior Transport Network Analyst, DANTE

The immense power of R&E networksacross the world is down to their ability toconnect researchers in different countries,and to render distance and location nobarrier to research.

For many years the power of packet-based networking (almost invariablyIP-based) has delivered seamlessconnectivity and made the networkvirtually invisible.

As research demands have grown, thedata volumes and the needs for assuredbandwidth, minimal jitter and delay, havebecome ever greater and traditionalpacket switch networking may not alwaysmeet these needs. This has led to a re-emergence of switched virtual circuitservices and the development of a rangeof Bandwidth on Demand services.

The Open Grid Forum (OGF) has beendeveloping the Network Service Interface(NSI) protocol. In November the NSI

WHAT IS NSI?NSI defines a protocol for end-to-end circuit reservation andprovisioning along with theassociated service architecture. Newfeatures include:

• Modify Command – allowing reservations to be modified

• Topology Service – describing and exchanging network topology information

• Discovery Service – share information on the NSI series supported and versions

• Enhance Queries – supporting hierarchical queries

• Security Framework - to enhance inter-organisation security for configuration requests

to gain access to the resources that arelocated in other countries. This makescollaboration difficult and also adds toIT administration and costs.

SPREADING ITS WINGS GÉANT eduGAIN has been created tosolve this problem, and enables easieraccess to resources for users across theGEANT Service Area. It brings together

EDUGAIN - ENABLING EASIERACCESS TO RESOURCES

In an era of ever-increasingcollaboration, students and researchersneed access to R&E content hostedacross Europe and beyond. This mustbe easy, secure and seamless.

But as different NRENs use their ownAuthentication and AuthorisationInfrastructures (AAIs) to validate users,it has previously been difficult for users

the identity federations of the participatingNRENs, enabling users to workseamlessly wherever they happen to be.

From being a primarily European service,interconnecting European researchestablishments, eduGAIN has spread its influence across the world withCanadian and Brazilian membersjoining during 2012. Now students andresearchers from these areas canaccess information and resources fromwithin other member federations with farless effort and with improved security.

eduGAIN is anticipated to continue itsstrong growth during 2013 with manymore AAIs joining which will help researchand education develop worldwide.

JOINING EDUGAIN: To find out how your organisation orservice can benefit from eduGAIN, visit http://edugain.geant.net

FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

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PERFSONAR MDM –STANDARDISED NETWORKPERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTEXTENDING THEGLOBAL FOOTPRINTThe perfSONAR MDM (multi-domain-monitoring) service continues its globalroll out with further deployment over theORIENTplus link, via a measuring pointin Beijing and also across the TEINnetwork in Hong Kong and Singapore.Deployment of perfSONAR MDM inMumbai is also currently underway.These locations, together with 12countries in Europe, give perfSONARMDM unrivalled international coveragein the R&E community.

Adding to the large number of pointsalready installed across North Americanresearch networks, perfSONAR MDMnow has 22 monitoring points acrossmultiple domains around the worldmaking it simpler and quicker tomeasure network performance –wherever researchers are located.

As research projects have becomeincreasingly global it is vital thatengineers (whether in the NREN orcampus) have the ability to monitornetwork performance and pinpointpotential issues across multiplenetworks. The new extended footprint

FEATURE: SERVICES BEYOND EUROPE

of perfSONAR MDM across Asia-Pacificwill enable operations staff in NRENs to have access to standardisedperformance information across multiple domains around the worldfaster than ever.

HOW TO GETPERFSONAR FOR YOUR NETWORKFor more information and to find outhow to install perfSONAR on yournetwork visit:http://perfsonar.geant.net

energy physics one billion proton-protoncollisions must be investigated toidentify a single Higgs event. We canonly do this with the help of special datacentres having very high availability andreliability. The Wigner data centre willsatisfy this demand, but as a remote,hosted infrastructure, it could not beused by CERN without an excellentnetwork connection between the twoinstitutes. The newly established100Gbps line between CERN andWigner is the basis of our collaborationand a vital part of the whole project. The expertise of the GÉANT partnersincluding DANTE and the HungarianNREN, NIIF, guarantees theaccomplishment of the mission from the networking side."

The link provides connectivity betweenCERN and the Wigner Research Centrefor Physics, which will host CERN’s newremote data centre, processing andstoring data from the Large HadronCollider (LHC). The route is part of thenetwork-wide migration to terabitcapacity (web search ‘next gen GÉANTterabit network’ for more) utilisingindustry-leading equipment fromInfinera and Juniper Networks.

The advanced new facility will act as anextension to CERN’s existing “datacentre as well as providing businesscontinuity in case of any issues thatcould affect on-going service. With an ITarea of 1100m2 it will be one of the mostsophisticated technology infrastructures

in Europe. Rapid distribution of datafrom the LHC is vital to the success ofthe world’s largest scientific experiment.

GÉANT, together with its NationalResearch and Education Network(NREN) partners are essential to thisfast and secure data transmission,providing a pan-European managednetwork. Information will flow fromCERN across GÉANT to its Point ofPresence in Budapest. NIIF/Hungarnet,the Hungarian NREN, will then provideextreme high speed connectivity to theWigner Research Centre.

Peter Levai, Director General, MTAWigner Research Centre for Physics,Budapest, commented, “Now in high

CERN GETS FIRST GÉANT100GBPS LINK In December, the new 100Gbps link between Geneva and Budapest was formally handed over to CERN after a big push by GÉANT’s operations team to deliver the new links before other commercial providers.

Credit - CERN

12

DATA FOCUS

THE RISE OF THE RESEARCH DATA CENTRE Research is creating ever greater amounts of data, requiring increased processing power to analyse, share and store it effectively. Consequently research organisations are expanding their use of data centres to efficiently centralise information, such as databases and experimentalresults. High speed research networks provide the backbone for sharing this information nationally and internationally, linking data centres and users together to enable fast, seamless access to information wherever a researcher happens to be.

13

DATA FOCUS

industrial properties that have shut downin Finland. Old paper mills already have areliable power supply, sufficient for theneeds of data centres, and there is oftenan environmentally friendly source ofenergy production nearby, such as hydro-electric power or a biopower plant.

The carbon footprint of the operations ofDatacenter CSC Kajaani will be minimised.The supercomputers are to be cooled withthe help of outdoor air and primary powergenerated with certified hydropower. The data centre is aiming to achieveenergy efficiency equivalent to PUE(Power Usage Efficiency) value 1.15. This means up to 20 percent better energyefficiency when compared with CSC'scurrent data centres. The PUE valueexpresses the ratio of the data centre'stotal energy consumption to the energyconsumed by the servers. Some of theheat generated by the supercomputerswill be re-used for heating.

The grand opening of the data centre tookplace simultaneously in two locations: atCSC’s main premises in Espoo and theDatacenter CSC Kajaani itself, locatedalmost 600 kilometres north of Helsinki.The opening revealed Finland's newestsupercomputer, a Cray Cascade, withHewlett-Packard's supercluster completingit and of storage capacity. Its computingpower is triple that of CSC's current Louhisupercomputer, and in 2014 will reach thepetaflops class. CSC is among the first inthe world to receive the Cascade-typesupercomputer, which will be one ofEurope's fastest supercomputers.

The Funet Network (Finnish University andResearch Network) connects DatacenterCSC Kajaani to GÉANT thus ensuringexcellent networking capabilities for Finnishand international researchers. Eventuallythe new supercomputers will be part of thePRACE resources and Funet is prepared toupdate network connectivity to 100 Gigabitper second whenever required by users.

ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY COMPUTINGPOWERThe idea for an eco-efficient data centre ina disused paper warehouse, close to asource of energy production was firstthought of several years ago. Withchanges in the industrial structure, thereare now several paper mills and other

CSC CELEBRATES NEW GREEN DATA CENTREBy Ms Riina Salmivalli, Project Coordinator, LEAR, CSC - IT Center for Science Ltd.

CSC – IT Center for Science has formally launched its newdata centre in Kajaani, in the former premises of UPM's paperwarehouse. Modern data centre technology, the reuse of oldfactory premises and free cooling made possible by the chillyclimate as well as hydro-electric power have made it possibleto construct an environmentally friendly data centre with a reliable power supply.

14

TECHNOLOGY BRIEFING: INFINERA

GÉANT is close to the completion of its terabit network, working closely with leadingnetworking suppliers Infinera and Juniper Networks. Here Geoff Bennett of Infineragives his view of the challenges in producing a cutting-edge network.

SCALING THE GÉANT BACKBONE By Geoff Bennett, Director of Solutions & Technology, Infinera

There are few certainties in life but arguably one of them is that global demand for internetbandwidth will continue to grow, with industry surveys indicating a rate of about 40% peryear. Demand in Europe’s R&E community is also growing – examples include the need tosupport “Big Science” experiments at CERN, and to facilitate the transfer of astronomicaldata from the observatories on the summit of La Palma in the Canary Islands to the supercomputing centres of Spain and the rest of Europe.

of fibres, to carry 8Tbps (terabits persecond) over distances up to 3,000km.

But consider the challenge that this kindof capacity causes to the networkengineers who have to bring it intoservice. Each time an optical line cardis brought into service there is aprocess of wavelength planning,ordering the optical line cards, and avery careful process of bringing thoseline cards into service on an opticalfibre. The reason this process is sodelicate is that existing wavelengthsmay already be using that fibre, and it’sessential that the new waves do not“disturb” the old waves in any way. An error in this process will result inservice outages – something that isunacceptable on a vital network such as GÉANT.

The ideal situation in the face of rapidlygrowing demand is to bring as muchcapacity as possible into service in asingle operational cycle ready forservices to use it. Figure 2 shows howthis would work. On the left is the “oldway” – using multiple 100Gbps linecards that each have to be installedaccording to an exacting planningprocess. On the right is a super-channel line card that still requirescareful installation – but delivers fivetimes the capacity for the sameoperational effort.

The optical fibre that links together thevarious NREN locations around Europeis capable of carrying astonishingamounts of data – but what is the bestway to tap into this resource so thatNRENs get the most reliable, responsiveand cost-effective service possible?One key aspect is to ensure that allparts of the network are able to scale inconcert – without any single technologycreating bottlenecks that wouldincrease costs or cause delays indelivering services.

Figure 1 shows a typical transportnetwork divided into two majorfunctions:

• Transmission – sending optical signals over very long distances, maximizing the total capacity of the fibre while minimizing the cost of transmitting each bit

• Switching – managing that data to make it more useable and efficient for end user and network operator.

SCALINGTRANSMISSIONOver the fifteen years or so that DWDMhas been a commercial technology,transmission has gradually evolved sothat today it is possible, on a single pair

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Super-channels have become thefavoured technology for implementingDWDM capacity at 100Gbps andbeyond. However, by putting manywavelengths onto a single line card, thecost of the optical components involvedcould become prohibitive. This is why,in collaboration with GÉANT projectpartners, DANTE (the organisation thathas on behalf of Europe’s NRENs builtand operates the GÉANT network)made the decision to procure a super-channel technology that is based onlarge scale Photonic Integrated Circuits(PICs). A PIC is the optical equivalentof a multi-core Pentium CPU – andshares all of the same advantages ofelectronic integration; namely smallerfootprint, lower power use, higherreliability, and lower cost compared to aline card built from discrete opticalcomponents.

SCALING SWITCHINGThe raw optical transmission capacityfrom a super-channel is a little like thetorrent of water from a fire hydrant.Something has to manage that torrentso that it can be used in an effectiveway – and that is digital switching.Several key processes are involved,including multiplexing, grooming, faultmanagement and service protection.

Multiplexing DANTE knows from experience that thetypical services that will use thebackbone network will be sub-wavelength (or “sub-super-channel”) indata rate. In fact most services today(and for the foreseeable future) will beGigabit Ethernet or 10GbE, whereaslong haul wavelengths will operate at100Gbps and super-channels at500Gbps. A digital multiplexingfunction “gathers together” lower rateservice demands at the network accesspoints and aggregates them onto awavelength or super-channel so that it’s

filled efficiently. At Node A in Figure 3we see there are ten, 10GbE servicesthat will be multiplexed together toshare a single 100Gbps wavelength(shown in red).

Grooming Figure 3 shows that traffic may takedifferent directions once it’s on thebackbone. In this case, five of the10GbE service originating at Node Aare destined for Node D, while the otherfive are destined for Node H. Withoutdigital switching in the core of thenetwork it would be necessary to installtwo pairs of interfaces – one pair thattakes the Node A to Node D traffic, andthe other pair that takes the Node A toNode H traffic. Two separatewavelengths would carry theseservices, and each would be 50% full.But with switching only one line card isneeded in Node A, and traffic can sharethe same wavelength (or super-channel)until it absolutely has to take separatepaths (shown in green and pink), in thiscase at Node E. While this may seemsimplistic, modelling studies on largescale service deployments show thatintegrated switching can result in up to50% fewer wavelengths needed on thebackbone to carry the same amount ofuser traffic.

Fault management Sooner or later things go wrong with eventhe most reliable equipment. However,thanks to GÉANT services such asperfSONAR MDM (multi-domain networkmonitoring service) any faults can quicklybe tracked down by DANTE’s NetworkOperations Centre (NOC) or by networkengineers involved in the route, therebyisolating and addressing the issue. It is this capability that contributes toGÉANT’s 99.999% availability.

Service protection Even better is the fact that digitalswitching allows services to beprotected. For vital services, protectioncan be achieved in sub-50milliseconds, and most applicationswould not even notice that there’d beenan outage. But the GÉANT communitycan also take advantage of highlyeffective shared protection that willreroute services (assuming a backuppath is available) within a few seconds.

SCALINGTRANSMISSION ANDSWITCHING IN CONCERTTransmission and switching areobviously both important if the objectiveis to deliver a cost-effective, efficient,and responsive network backbone. But it’s essential that these functionsscale together to avoid “awkward”compromises in the network design oroperation. For this reason DANTE andthe European NRENs have chosen theInfinera DTN-X platform, which providesintegrated digital switching in everynode, along with PIC-based super-channel line cards. This platform beganshipping commercially in mid-2012, withthe GÉANT network as one of the firstapplications. In just three months ofcommercial shipments it has capturedthe Number One position in the“100Gbps and above” marketplace.

This state of the art platform offers theonly PIC-based super-channel solutionin the industry – and thus confirmsDANTE’s decision to adopt leadingedge technology for the next phase of GÉANT’s growth.

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Geoff Bennett is Director ofSolutions & Technology for Infinera.He has over 20 years of experiencein the data communicationsindustry, including IP routing, ATM,MPLS and optical transmission andswitching experience. Geoff is afrequent conference speaker, andis the author of “Designing TCP/IPInternetworks”, published by VNR.

16

Q&AWITH DORTE OLESEN

CONNECT Q&A

YOU WERE PART OF THEGÉANT EXPERT GROUP(GEG) THAT WASAPPOINTED BY THEEUROPEAN COMMISSIONTO ARTICULATE A 2020VISION FOR EUROPEANRESEARCH NETWORKING.WHAT WERE YOUR KEYCONCLUSIONS?The GEG report - Knowledge withoutBorders - encapsulated our vision forGÉANT in 2020, underpinning closeresearch collaboration across Europeand beyond. Essentially GÉANT shouldact as the European communicationscommons, where talent anywhere isable to collaborate with their peersaround the world through instantaneousand unlimited access to the rightresources.

THE GEG REPORTINCLUDED AN ACTIONPLAN TO REALISE ITSVISION OF KNOWLEDGEWITHOUT BORDERS. ISEUROPE ON TRACK TODELIVER ON THIS PLAN?In the report we set out four key goals tofulfil the vision and the good news isthat I can see progress towardsachieving all of them.

Supporting knowledgecommunities by providing worldclass connectivity and servicesWe are definitely on track to achievingthis – the rollout of GÉANT’s terabitnetwork and heavy investment byNRENs in their own capacity isdelivering world class connectivity to

users. We’ve seen a major expansion inthe deployment of services that arebased on user needs in areas such asroaming and authentication.

Supporting the growth ofcommunities within and outsideEuropeSteps are being taken to break downbarriers and drive a culture of opennessto increase collaboration and sharing,not just within Europe but further afield.New connections to other regions, suchas Africa and the Caribbean andinvestment to expand existing links tothe Americas and Asia show the desireto build a global research communitythat allows talent to flourish, irrespectiveof location.

Dorte Olesen from the Technical University of Denmark was recently announcedas the new Chair of the National Research and Education Network ConsortiumPolicy Committee (NREN PC). She is a highly experienced member of theresearch networking community, having held high profile roles such as presidentof TERENA (2003-9) and most recently in 2011 was part of the high levelindependent GÉANT Expert Group (GEG).

WHAT ARE YOUR KEY AIMSIN YOUR NEW ROLE ASCHAIR OF NREN PCI have three major aims. Firstly, to solvethe challenge of better understandinguser needs and ensure there is thestructure in place to meet therequirements of international projects.

Secondly, we need to benefit from thescale of bringing so many NRENstogether, using the aggregate buyingpower of the group to lower prices whendealing with suppliers.

Finally, as a community I’d like us tobecome even better at collaborating onleading edge innovation. Much isalready happening across GÉANT andbetween NRENs, but to ensureEuropean competitiveness we need tostrengthen relationships with the ICTindustry.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THENREN PC WITHIN THEGÉANT PROJECT?The NREN Policy Committee isessentially the governing body ofGÉANT and acts as the forum to makehigh level decisions. Through theExecutive Committee, which is a smallersubset of the PC, we are also involvedin the day to day decisions that requireNREN input.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THESTRENGTHS OF THECURRENT GÉANT PROJECT?WHAT HAS IT ACHIEVEDTHAT HAS IMPRESSED YOUPERSONALLY?Firstly, that it has brought together all ofEurope’s NRENs working towards acommon goal. The power of this shouldnever be underestimated. Speakingpersonally I’m impressed with thecurrent rate of introduction of newservices and the advantages theyprovide for users. People really benefitand appreciate services such aseduROAM as it allows them to work inany institution seamlessly, without theneed to re-register or fill in forms.

17

Push the state-of-the-art of thecommunications commons byconstant innovationIn many ways this is the mostchallenging goal as innovation neverceases, and in many casestechnological change is acceleratingrapidly. For European competitiveness itis vital that research networks don’tinnovate in isolation – we must workclosely with the ICT industry tosuccessfully transfer innovation to widermarkets, often by acting as testbeds forfuture developments.

Reorganise to cope with theconstantly changing environmentI’m pleased to see that very definitesteps have been taken by organisationssuch as DANTE, TERENA and theNREN Policy Committee to match theirstructures to changing needs. From theoutside the research networkinguniverse can appear confusing, so I’mvery positive about how much hashappened to make roles andresponsibilities clearer.

WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THEBIGGEST CHALLENGESFACING RESEARCHNETWORKS ACROSSEUROPE – BOTH FROM ATECHNICAL AND A USERPERSPECTIVE?The biggest challenge is not reallytechnical, but revolves around betterunderstanding user needs in order toprovide the services they require.Research is changing hugely – there isnow a growing number of large,international, collaborative projects thatdon’t fit the traditional point to pointmodel of research networking. Withprojects sharing data betweenhundreds of locations in multiplecountries across the world it is muchmore complicated to deliverconnectivity and services that crossboundaries. This means there is aconstant need for research networks tointeract with users at a national andinternational level to provide theservices they require.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THENEXT PHASE OF GÉANT(GN3PLUS) WHAT DO YOUSEE AS THE MAINOPPORTUNITIES ANDCHALLENGES? As I’ve said the main challenge is tosolve the problem of connecting biginternational research projects. We alsoneed to strengthen relationships withother research resources such as highperformance computing and Gridinitiatives so that end users receive aseamless service that combinesconnectivity and processing power.

The potential positive impact ofGN3plus is both enormous and farreaching. Education is the basicbuilding block of a successful economy.Successfully underpinning research andeducation will therefore drive innovationand provide the ability to give a lift tothe entire European Research Area andwider economy. GN3plus thereforemarks a big step towards achieving the2020 vision set out in the GEG report.

WHAT DO RESEARCHNETWORKS SUCH ASGÉANT NEED TO DO TOCONTINUE TO MEET USERNEEDS IN 2020?We have to understand what differentuser communities and projects areaiming to do so that we can work withthem to introduce the right services toenable them to work effectively. Usersaren’t necessarily technologists so don’tknow how new services will benefitthem – it is up to us to understand andcommunicate with them if we are todeliver a competitive Europeanresearch community in 2020.

CONNECT Q&A

18

CONNECT NEWS

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF NRENSBy Alberto Colmenero, Optical Network Architect, NORDUnet A/S

Over the years it has beenproven that humannetworking, collaboration andthe sharing of ideas improvesthe capabilities of NRENs todesign, plan and build betterdata network infrastructures,while raising awareness offuture requirements and thechallenges they face.

With this in mind, the Joint ResearchActivity within the GÉANT project (JRA1Future Network), in cooperation withTERENA (Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association)organized a workshop with the purposeof sharing ideas, views, concerns, andmore importantly different approachesto solutions for common issues and challenges.

The workshop was hosted byNORDUnet (the Nordic regionalnetworking organization) at theirpremises in Copenhagen back-to-backwith TERENA’s first Network ArchitectsWorkshop.

The Carrier Class Transport NetworkTechnologies research team (known inthe GÉANT project as JRA1 Task 1)presented their work on technologies

like Ethernet OAM, EoMPLS, MPLS-TP,PBB-TE, OTN, GMPLS, Open Flow andNext Generation Routed TransportNetworks. The Photonic Switching and Experimental Photonic Facilitiesresearch team (JRA1 Task 2) presentedtheir studies about Alien waves andPhotonic Services. Alcatel-Lucent,CIENA and Infinera presented theirviews on how networks will evolve in the years to come.

During the second day participantswere given user case studies to workwith in groups. The cases represented acommon challenge that most NRENscurrently face when designing their nextgeneration networks. The main purposeof this exercise was to inspire theparticipants into constructive discussionkeeping in mind backgroundinformation learned from thepresentations on day one. The providersrepresented by Alcatel-Lucent, CIENAand Infinera participated actively in thediscussion and gave relevant inputsand information.

The outcome of this workshop will bedescribed in a white paper to be issuedduring the first quarter of 2013.

The presentations from the workshopare available on TERENA’s homepage:http://www.terena.org/activities/netarch/ws1/agenda.html

WHAT DOES THEEDGE OF OURSOLAR SYSTEMSOUND LIKE? To illustrate the power of researchand education networks along withgrid computing, GÉANT used datafrom the 35 year old space probeʻVoyager 1ʼ transmitted 18 billionkilometres from Earth - to createmusic via data sonifi cation. Thedemonstration was conducted liveto audiences at the NASA stand atSuperComputing 2012, at whichGÉANT was also exhibiting. Herea sonification algorithm converteddata sent live across the Atlantic toEGI.eu, the biggest grid computingfacility in Europe, and back again,before arranging it in to a concert piece. Listen to the melody:http://soundcloud.com/musicfromthespace/voyager-1-magnetic-field-1

SUPERCOMPUTING2012In November, GÉANT exhibited atSuperComputing 2012 (SC12), theinternational conference for highperformance computing (HPC).Here GÉANT demonstratedBandwidth on Demand, NSI v2.0,GEMbus and using a sonificationtool, showed the power of high-speed international networking.The collaboration with AmericaConnects to Europe (ACE) wasalso featured to highlight thepartners involved in delivering theTransatlantic infrastructure.

GÉANT JOINS ‘HELIXNEBULA - THE SCIENCE CLOUD’PARTNERSHIP

Helix Nebula, the bigscience cloud-computingproject has welcomedGÉANT (represented by DANTE - projectcoordinator and operatorof GÉANT), into itspartnership, joining someof Europe’s biggestresearch powerhousesand IT companies tosupport the massive IT requirements ofEuropean scientists.

Officially known as "Helix Nebula — theScience Cloud," the new tool will allowEuropean research organisations toaccess additional cloud-computingpower to analyse huge sets of data andcarry out large complicated calculationsto probe some of the biggest mysteriesof the universe.

New service paradigms like cloudtechnologies are gaining momentum inthe rapidly evolving research andeducation environment and the deliveryof world-leading broadband services toacross Europe is unanimouslyacknowledged as an outstandingsuccess story of the last two decades,enabling unsurpassed levels ofinnovation and collaboration.

In a joint statement, Matthew Scott andNiels Hersoug, Joint General Managersof DANTE said;

“We are delighted that GÉANT hasjoined the Helix Nebula partnership, inorder to take an active role in thedevelopment of what we consider thenatural solution for cloud computing inEurope. We see GÉANT as a keyelement of this solution, and HelixNebula as a way to continue ourleadership in enabling researchersworldwide to collaborate.”

Participation in Helix Nebula providesan important strategic step in enablingfurther innovation, particularly as thenext generation of the GÉANT networkapproaches in April 2013.

Further information: http://helix-nebula.eu/

CONNECT NEWS

The European SpaceAgency (ESA), along withthe CERN physics lab(home of the world'slargest particleaccelerator, the LargeHadron Collider, or LHC)and the EuropeanMolecular BiologyLaboratory (EMBL), hopeto use the Science Cloudto carry out some of theworld’s biggest scienceexperiments.

BOOST FORRESEARCHNETWORKING INEASTERN EUROPEDecember saw the signing of aJoint Declaration aimed atboosting research networking inEastern Europe, at a workshop one-infrastructures in EasternPartnership countries, in Moldova.Signed by members of nationalgovernments and practitioners ofresearch and education ICTInfrastructures from the EasternPartnership countries and keystakeholders, the aim is to improveawareness of the importance ofcomputer networks and theirimpact on a countryʼsdevelopment; possible greaterintegration of Eastern partnershipcountries with the pan-EuropeanGÉANT network; and asustainable future for research and education networks.

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NETWORKPERFORMING ARTSPRODUCTIONWORKSHOP The fourth European NetworkPerforming Arts Productionworkshop, hosted by the Universityof Music and Performing ArtsVienna (mdw) on 12 – 14 March2013, is aimed at people producingperforming arts events (musicschools, dance, arts and musicacademies, etc) who want to explorethe possibilities and challenges thatadvanced education and researchnetworks can offer.

More information:http://www.terena.org/activities/network-arts/vienna/

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MOONSHOT - PREPARING FOR LAUNCHBy Josh Howlett, Head, International Collaboration, Janet

GÉANT provides its users withworld-leading single sign-onto wireless networks and webservices across Europe andother world regions, thanks to the authentication andauthorisation capabilities of its eduroam® and eduGAINservices.

Moonshot is a next-generation identitymanagement technology that builds onthis existing infrastructure. Originallycreated by Janet, the UK’s Researchand Education network, and developedfurther in collaboration with CESNET,NORDUnet, REDIRIS and RESTENA(through GÉANT), Internet2 andindustrial partners, Moonshot delivers:

• Single sign-on for a wider set of services and infrastructures, such as desktop sign-in for visitors, or secure shell access for remote collaborators.

• More control in defining the organisations and individuals authorised to access these systems, such as a research group distributed across multiple campuses and countries.

• Consistent and manageable authentication and authorisation policies across an entire infrastructure, as demand grows for users to deploy these systems anywhere – locally, distributed, or pushed into the Cloud

• Standardisation of the Moonshot technology is fast approaching completion within the Internet Engineering Task Force’s Abfab working group, which is co-chaired by Leif Johansson (NORDUnet) and Klaas Wierenga (Cisco, formerly SURFnet).

HOW CAN MOONSHOTHELP? Janet has successfully trialledMoonshot within a UK-basedtechnology pilot involving a broad rangeof organisations, including the DiamondLight Source, the UK’s nationalsynchrotron science facility with over3000 users and part of the EU PANDATAproject.

“Moonshot has thought beyondwebsites”, says Bill Pulford, Head of

DASC at Diamond Light Source, “andlooked at all requirements inauthentication – right down to the point when you open your laptop tobegin work.”

In GN3plus, Moonshot will take a majorstep forwards with the start of a Pan-European Moonshot service pilot. Thegoal is to validate the suitability of theMoonshot technology across a widerange of research and education usecases across Europe. If you areinterested in participating, pleasecontact John Chapman(John.Chapman@ja.net).

To keep up to date with the UK’s servicepilot, and find out more, please joinJanet’s Moonshot community group at:https://community.ja.net/groups/moonshot

GÉANT is a vital part of the European research e-infrastructure, which includes high performance networking, distributed computing infrastructures,supercomputing and data storage. Here we welcome our many partners to shed light on their activities.

COMMUNITY NEWS

21

COMMUNITY NEWS

CLOUD COMPUTING AND SCIENTIFICSOFTWARE DOCUMENTS FROM E-IRGBy Ari Turunen, Communications Manager, Cloud Software Program

OVERVIEW ON CLOUDCOMPUTING FORRESEARCH WITH POLICYRECOMMENDATIONSThere exist many cloud computingprojects and cloud computing services.Consequently, several business modelsrapidly evolved to harness this technologyby providing software applications,programming platforms, data-storage,computing infrastructure and otherhardware as services. While all the abovecomponents refer to the core of cloudcomputing services, their interrelationshave been ambiguous and the feasibilityof enabling their interoperability has beendebatable. Main questions still ariseconcerning data handling, security andmulti-tenancy.

Cloud Computing for research andscience: a holistic overview, policy, andrecommendations published by e-IRGaims to present cloud computing in aholistic way, elaborate its applicability forresearch and science, investigate relatedpolicy aspects and provide policyrecommendations to the researchcommunity. The document takes intoaccount the particularities of the European activities in these fields.

NATIONAL LEVELRECOMMENDATIONS • Support integration of cloud technologies in existing e-infrastructures• Adapt national e-infrastructures and ensure the participation in the European e-infrastructures in order to be able to exploit upcoming European cloud resources

• Promote and financially support the innovation and evolution of national public e-infrastructure providers

• Stimulate integration of several e-Infrastructure components at national level, so as to facilitate a single point of access for European researchers

• Establish necessary policies, rules and legal framework allowing the funding and use of public cloud resources for research activities and work on the control procedures of such resource usage

• Promote establishment of repositories of standards and applications running in the cloud to support the reproducibility of the research experiments and allow the take-up by the commercial sector

• Support provision of training activities for new technologies such as virtualization and cloud technologies in cooperation with related European activities and industrial entities.

EC LEVELRECOMMENDATIONS• Evaluate use of commercial cloud resources as part of a hybrid community cloud environment during Horizon 2020 and support the development of related business models for the procurement of such commercial resources

• Evaluate integration of several e-Infrastructure components at European level, so as to facilitate a single point of access for European researchers

• Stimulate all member states to participate in the European e-infrastructures including cloud initiatives to develop innovative and interoperable services

• Establish a directive for all e-Infrastructure providers that receive European funding to ensure publicationand open access to data about governance, policy and funding of their e-Infrastructures

• Promote establishment of the necessary policies, rules and legal framework for the use of cloud resources for European research activities and work on the control procedures of such resource usage

• Invest in research, methodology and development that ensure the elimination of the vendor-lock-in problem and promote interoperability among commercial and research-owned clouds and grids

• Invest in research about management, provenance and privacy of the data in cloud environments

• Support provision of training activities for new technologies such as virtualization and cloud technologies in cooperation with national and regional activities, also involving industrial entities

The report Cloud Computing for researchand science: a holistic overview, policy,and recommendations can bedownloaded at:http://www.e-irg.eu/images/stories/dissemination/e-irg_cloud_computing_paper_v.final.pdf

E-IRG POLICY PAPER ONSCIENTIFIC SOFTWAREWith the successful establishment of aEuropean e-Infrastructure ecosystem, how to maintain and improve the scientificsoftware base has become an urgentissue. Many applications depend onlegacy software that is difficult to maintainand run efficiently on current and future e-Infrastructures. There is a clear need fora coherent process and major effortstargeted towards enhancing the Europeansoftware base for efficient use of Europeane-Infrastructures to increase the scientificoutput while ensuring the best value for money.

In view of the Horizon2020 program thereis a clear need to develop a consistentframework and related policies forestablishing a European Software Strategytaking a holistic view of the national,European, and international ecosystem.

The paper aims to lay the ground for aEuropean software strategy. The focus ison "scientific software", i.e. that is primarilyused in research and development, both within academic and industrialenvironments.

The report proposes that the EC and themember states should provide supportand funding for the establishment ofCentres of Excellence for ScientificSoftware (CESS), focusing on scientificsoftware on the application layer using aholistic approach and building up andretaining the necessary competence offuture European software developers.The policy paper can be downloaded at: http://www.e-irg.eu/images/stories/publ/task_force_reports/e-irg_tfss_final.pdf

22

On 17 November 1992, the first CroatianInternet connection to the world wasestablished by the Croatian Academicand Research Network – CARNetproject, thus inaugurating the age of theInternet in the Republic of Croatia.

At the end of 1991, activities beganorganising a network that would enablethe communication of every researcheror student with all other researchers in theRepublic of Croatia and the entire world.As early as in September of 1992, thefirst FTP and IRC servers were set up, andon 17 November 1992 the first Internetconnection between Croatia and the restof the world was set up. Croatia was thenconnected via Austria, at the speed of 64kbps, and the country's institutions wereconnected at a speed of 19-200 kbps.

The first institutions to be included in theNational Research and Education Networkand to use the international Internetconnection were the College of Economicsand Business in Osijek, the College ofElectrical Engineering in Zagreb, theCollege of Electrical Engineering,Mechanical Engineering and Shipbuildingin Split, the Ruđer Bošković Institute, theMinistry of Science and Technology, theCollege of Natural Sciences andMathematics in Zagreb and the College ofEngineering in Rijeka.

Via a public computer, Internet accesswas enabled to all citizens of Croatia,making CARNet the only ISP in theRepublic of Croatia for several years. Witha lot of resourcefulness, combining the

existing infrastructure and newequipment, the core of the CARNetnetwork was built, which today hasexpanded to 239 member institutionsfrom the academic communityconnected at 450 locations (34 of which are institutions from thehealth care system), and 1,388 memberinstitutions from the school systemconnected at 2,041 locations, withconnection speed levels from 2 Mbps to10 Gbps. CARNet is also very activewithin the GÉANT and other EU fundedprojects, as well as in the cooperationwith international organizations likeTERENA and RIPE.

CARNet still manages the national top-level .hr domain.

COMMUNITY NEWS

CARNET (CROATIAN ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH NETWORK)By Goran Skvarc, CARNet

THE FIRST PRESENTATIONOF THE 3D 4KTECHNOLOGY IN CROATIACroatian Academic and Research Network– CARNet (http://www.carnet.hr/en) incooperation with Poznan Supercomputingand Networking Center (PSNC) prepareda demonstration presenting advancedstreaming and 3D 4K technologiesrequired for transmission of ultra high-resolution multimedia streams. CroatianPresident H.E. Professor Ivo Josipovićattended this event hosted by the CARNet CEO Mr. Zvonimir Stanić.

The event was organized as a part ofINFO fair held in Zagreb, Croatia onNovember 15-17th. The presentation wasdedicated to the development and use of3D 4K technology in various fields ofscience, medicine, arts, entertainment andindustry. The main aim was to present theexisting as well as future possibilities ofstreaming the 3D 4K technology, and itsapplication in medicine and medicalappliances in Croatia.

The 3D 4K equipment required to conductthe demonstration was provided andtransported by PSNC in scope of the

VISIONAIR project (http://www.infra-visionair.eu/), the goal of which is toprovide access to unique facilities offeredby the project partners for the Europeanscientific community. The entire streamwas conducted via the GÉANT network.

During the three days of presentations,CARNet in cooperation with PoliklinikaSvjetlost also demonstrated theapplication of 3D technology in the field ofeye and jaw-surgery.

CARNet, as a pioneer in usage ofmultimedia and streaming technologies inCroatia, once again positioned itself as atechnology leader in the advanced usageof ICT in Croatia.

20 YEARS OF INTERNET IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

ITALY’S NEXT GEN NETWORK IS HERE

GARR-X, the first NextGeneration Network in Italy wasofficially launched in Novemberat an event with Minister ofEducation, University andResearch, Francesco Profumo.Over 8500 km of optical fibresbetween the backbone andaccess infrastructure are nowavailable to 2.5 million research& education users.

The integrated e-infrastructure, whichprovides very-high bandwidth, is capableof supporting worldwide collaboration

thanks to international Gigabit links, andan enabling platform for transparentaccess to computing, storage, data andcloud resources. E-Infrastructures arethus a key element in the Italian strategy toenhance cohesion in participation inHorizon 2020.

Said Profumo “GARR-X will be animportant ally for introducing ‘moreEurope’ into the Italian Research andInnovation system – i.e. for aligning ourpolicies and our tools with Europeanones.”

“In order to improve our position inEurope, it is very important to fostercohesion in the community, not just in BigScience, but across all who adopt newtechnologies, for example schools.GARR-X has already enabled very-highbandwidth capacities up to 1Gbps in 100schools, and another 100 to follow soon,with the objective to reach most institutes.This will sharply accelerate digitalisationwithin the education system.”

With its vast user base and an impressivevolume of data traffic of over 85 Petabytesin only ten months, between January andOctober 2012, GARR-X is the largest andmost significant community network inItaly. Tailored to its users’ needs, theinfrastructure can be modelled inresponse to real-world requirements. And,thanks to direct control across lower levelsof the infrastructure, and to synergies withpublic MANs and RANs, GARR-X is ableadapt to new developments both in termsof bandwidth needs and evolution oftechnologies, and to connect new sitesquickly and without major investment.

“In Italy there has been a lot of talk aboutNGNs, but not much in terms ofimplementations, so far” comments MarcoPacetti, GARR President “thus today ourCountry is far from having true,widespread broadband. With GARR-X weintended to bridge this gap for theresearch and education community, wehope this is can be an example for othersto follow.”

COMMUNITY NEWS

PRACE PROJECT ‘UPSCALE’ CONNECTS WITHGÉANT TO HELP UNDERSTAND THE BIGGEST CLIMATE ISSUES OF OUR TIMEBy Marjolein Ooorsprong, Communications Officer, PRACE

The Partnership for Advanced Computingin Europe (PRACE) supports ‘UPSCALE’,the research project set up to investigateclimate related extreme events, awardingthe project 145 million hours of computingtime on the Hermit Supercomputer(provided to PRACE by the Gauss Centrefor Supercomputing (GCS)) at the HighPerformance Computing Centre Stuttgart(HLRS) in Stuttgart, Germany. Thanks tothe high-end computing resourcesawarded by PRACE and the high-speednetwork connections of GÉANT, the vastamounts of data created from this massiveexperiment can be studied by a team ofresearchers led by NCAS-BADC to gain adeeper understanding of natural climatevariability and the character of extremeweather events.

QUANTUM-LEAP FORCLIMATE SCIENCEIn a world where tropical storms, typhoonsand other extreme weather wreaks havocon the lives of thousands every year, the

experiments are expected to provide aquantum-leap for climate research and avaluable resource for the study of currentand future climate.

The collaboration between the NationalCentre for Atmospheric Science: BritishAtmospheric Data Centre (NCAS-BADC,UK) and the High Performance ComputingCentre Stuttgart (HLRS) required datatransfer speeds in excess of 5 Terabytesper day, or 60 Megabytes per second.Transferring 300 Terabytes of data couldtake up to two years via a standard 5Megabytes per second connection. Withincreasing complexity and detail in climatesimulations, and improvements in satelliteinstruments, Petabyte (one Petabyte isabout a thousand Terabytes) data sets are already being planned.

PRACE and GÉANT are proud to havebeen able to support the UPSCALEproject requirements and are lookingforward to the results and furtherinterpretations and calculations once the data has been fully transferred.

LINKSPRACE: http://www.prace-ri.euHLRS: http://www.hlrs.de/UPSCALE:http://climate.ncas.ac.uk/HRCM/Gauss Centre for Supercomputing:http://www.gauss-centre.eu/CEDA: http://www.ceda.ac.uk/JASMIN: http://www.jasmin.ac.ukGridFTP:http://www.globus.org/toolkit/docs/latest-stable/gridftp/

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PARTNER PROFILE:ARNESACADEMIC AND RESEARCH NETWORK OF SLOVENIA

By: Domen Božeglav, Senior Consultant, ARNES

ABOUT ARNESARNES connects more than 1,000 research and educationalorganisations, with around200,000 users. Its opticalbackbone is connected to theGÉANT network, and links majorSlovenian cities. It offers usershigh-end network services.ARNES also operates SIX, theSlovenian Internet eXchange, andis the registry for the .si top-leveldomain name. Dedication toknowledge dissemination andinternational collaboration helpsSlovenian organizations remain a leader in the global researchand education arena.

BACKBONEARNES provides powerful resilientbackbone network infrastructure, with 46Points-of-Presence (PoPs) in 35 majorSlovenian towns. Connections betweenARNES network PoPs are based on leasedoptical fibres. Fibres follow a variety ofroutes to ensure a high degree of reliability.All connections are based on DWDM orCWDM technology, with IPv4 and IPv6support provided on the network layer.

SERVICESIn addition to IP connectivity via opticalfibres, ADSL, xDSL and othertechnologies, ARNES also offers qualityassurance, bandwidth on demand, anddiagnostic testing of connections. Multi-gigabit dedicated point-to-pointconnections are offered for demandingprojects. Eduroam services with AAIinfrastructure are offered to mostmembers. A wide range of hostingpackages based on cloud computing areavailable, along with domain nameregistration, DNS hosting and otherservices. Members can choose betweenhigh-quality videoconferences and webbased conferences, with the option ofstoring the recordings online in both cases.Individual users are eligible for electronicmail, web hosting and other services.

CONNECTINGKNOWLEDGEAs well as providing high-end infrastructureand services, ARNES focuses onknowledge transfer. This is achievedthrough various initiatives, projects,conferences and workshops organised byARNES and its partners, publications, anduser support. Events include ARNES’Annual Users’ Conference, Campus BestPractice workshops and IPv6 Summits, to

name just a few. Partnership in such projectsas the Slovenian national AwarenessCentre, and collaborating with users on theLOw LAtency audiovisual streaming systemextend this role even further.

CELEBRATING 20THANNIVERSARYOn 29 November 2012, ARNES celebratedits 20th anniversary, inviting users to atechnical conference and ceremony, withthe keynote address given by Dorte Olesen,Chair of the NREN Consortium PolicyCommittee. Over the last 20 years, ARNEShas made a significant ICT contribution tothe Slovenian research and educationcommunity, a fact acknowledged by thePresident of the Republic of Slovenia, theMinister of Education, Science, Culture andSport, and representatives of users from theresearch, education and culture sectors.

Contact info:ARNESPO Box 7, 1001 Ljubljana, SloveniaTel: +386 1 479 88 77Fax: +386 1 479 88 78Web: www.arnes.siE-mail: arnes@arnes.siFB: ArnesTw: @ArnesInfo

The GÉANT project is a collaboration between 34 project partners: 32 European NRENs, DANTEand TERENA; and four Associate NRENs. Through the NREN partners, GÉANT delivers a rangeof services across the network for institutions, projects and researchers. In this regular section wetake a closer look at some of those NRENs. All information is provided by the NREN partners.

PARTNER PROFILES

Marko Bonač, ARNES director (left) and Dr. Tomaž Kalin.

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PARTNER PROFILE: FCCNBy: Daniel Gomes, Project manager Portuguese Web Archive, FCCN

WEB EPHEMERALITYInvented to exchange databetween scientists, the web isnow used to share publicationsand knowledge, with studentsfrom all educationalbackgrounds using it as theirprimary source of information.But how much of this will stillbe available in years to come?

It is estimated that 80% ofweb pages will be updated ordisappear within 1 year. Evenprinted scientific publicationssuffer the effects of webephemerality citing on-lineresources that becomeunavailable. ProfessorDiomidis Spinellis observedthat half the URLs cited inarticles from the ACM andIEEE digital librariespublished 4 years beforewere already inaccessible.

Many scientific ideas take years to beapplied. Leonardo Da Vinci designedsketches that inspired inventions fivecenturies later. Nowadays, researcherscommunicate through the web. Theyshare their work through blogs, interestgroups or institutional sites. However,this knowledge may not be around toinfluence scientists in the future.

Besides losing important scientific andhistorical information, web ephemeralitymay also affect our personal memories,as people tend toward publishing themdigitally and exclusively on the web.Broken links degrade the performanceof popular web applications such asshared bookmarks, search engines andsocial networks.

The web needs preservationmechanisms to fight web ephemerality.Its information must prevail across timeto transmit knowledge for futuregenerations. Web archiving is theprocess of acquiring, storing,preserving and providing access toinformation published on the web. The Portuguese Web Archive projectbegan in 2007. It is undertaken by thePortuguese NREN - Foundation forNational Scientific Computing (FCCN)and aims to preserve web information ofmajor interest to the Portuguesespeaking communities.

Today the Portuguese Web Archivepreserves 1 590 million files, archivedfrom the web since 1996 (45 TB) whichcan accessed through freely availablefull-text search service - www.archive.pt.Most information is in Portuguese, butusers can also search the interface inEnglish via translation tools such asGoogle Translate.

PARTNER PROFILES

ADDITIONALINFORMATIONOVERVIEW:The Portuguese Web Archivepreserves and provides access toinformation published on the web ofmain interest to the Portuguesecommunity. It provides a free andpublicly available full-text searchservice over 1 billion web archivedsince 1996.

ABOUT THE NETWORK: FCCN is the Portuguese NationalResearch and Education Network,NREN. It is a private non-profitorganisation that providesinfrastructures and services toeducation, science, technology and culture institutions.

SERVICES: The FCCN core activities are:• Manage and operate high-

performance Internet network for science, technology and social community organizations, the PIX, the main Portuguese Internet Exchange, the registry for the .PT top level domain

• Creating services to promote internet security, support the generation and dissemination of e-learning contents and enable advanced videoconference communications, to spread activity to areas relevant to stakeholders

• Leading national initiative to promote open access to scientific publications, providing an online service to host open access repositories and journals (RCAAP)

• Manage the national digital library that enables continuous access to subscribed scientific publications (b-on), and develop and manage a repository for educational, scientific and cultural videos (Zappiens.pt).

Find more at: www.fccn.pt

Contact info:daniel.gomes@fccn.ptFCCN - Foundation for NationalScientific ComputingAv. do Brasil, 1011700-066 Lisboa Portugal

Web: www.archive.pt

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Thanks to this communicationsinfrastructure, the Spanish researchcommunity, including the astronomicalobservatories in the Canary Islands, willhave access to multiple circuits of up to100 gigabytes per second.

This network puts optimal national andinternational connectivity at the disposalof researcher collaborating with othernational or international centres.

In order to provide its users with thebest possible connectivity and to keepabreast of new electronic services,RedIRIS cooperates with other researchand education networks on both aregional and international scale.Examples of the latter include the Pan-European GÉANT research network, inwhose management RedIRISparticipates. Through GÉANT, RedIRISconnects with other European NationalResearch and Education Networks, aswell as with other research networks,such as RedCLARA (Latin America),EUMEDCONNECT3 (southernMediterranean), Internet2 (USA) orTEIN3 (Asia-Pacific).

RedIRIS also provides severalapplications and middleware to itsaffiliated institutions (digital identity andmobility systems, mailing lists, securityservices, support services for Gridcomputing, multimedia, etc.), and it also engages in outreach activities(publications, organising technicalseminars and courses, etc.).

REDIRIS: 25 YEARS CONNECTING RESEARCHERSTWO MILLION POTENTIAL USERS FOR SPANISH NREN

PARTNER PROFILE:REDIRISBy: Cristina Lorenzo, PR of RedIRIS

RedIRIS is the Spanish NationalResearch and Education Network(NREN) that has been providingadvanced communicationsservices to the Spanish scientificcommunity and universities since1988. It has over 450 connectedinstitutions, mostly universitiesand public research centres,representing more than 150,000researchers and about 2 millionpotential users.

From an organisational perspective,RedIRIS is a cooperation projectbetween the Ministry of the Economyand Competitiveness (MINECO), whichestablishes the network's strategicguidelines and funds its activity, andRed.es, the agency of the Ministry ofIndustry, Energy and Tourism in chargeof promoting the Information Society in

Spain, which is, inter alia, in charge ofthe technical and operationalmanagement of RedIRIS.

RedIRIS started operating in 1988, andhas pioneered the introduction ofinternet and various electronic servicesin Spain. Over the years it has becomea key element for supporting thedevelopment of collaborative projects,in particular in the field of e-science.The network's pivotal role wasacknowledged when it was included in the Map of Singular Scientific andTechnological Infrastructures of theMINECO, a list of Spain's mostimportant scientific infrastructures and facilities.

RedIRIS has recently deployed its newbackbone, RedIRIS-NOVA, a dark fibrenetwork equipped with opticaltransmission equipment which will be inoperation over the coming decades.

PARTNER PROFILES

For more information, visit:www.rediris.es

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May 2012

GÉANT and sister networks enabling user collaboration across the globe

At the Heart of Global Research Networking

GÉANT is co-funded by the European Commission within its 7th R&D Framework Programme.This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of DANTE

and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

GÉANT CoverageALICE2-RedCLARA NetworkEUMEDCONNECT3 NetworkTEIN3 NetworkHP-SEE ProjectAfricaConnect - UbuntuNet AllianceCAREN NetworkSILK-AfghanistanSARInet Network

Dark Shading: Connected to regional networkLight Shading: Eligible to connect

CANARIECanada’s advancedresearch andinnovation network www.canarie.ca

ESnetThe Energy Sciences Network www.es.net

ORIENT plusLinking European andChinese Infrastructuresand Communities http://www.orientplus.eu

CARENCentral Asian Researchand Education Networkwww.caren.dante.net

HP-SEEHigh-PerformanceComputing Infrastructurefor South East Europe’sResearch Communitieswww.hp-see.eu

EUMEDCONNECT3Southern and EasternMediterranean researchnetworking www.eumedconnect3.net

Internet2®RReesseeaarrcchh aannddeedduuccaattiioonnccoonnnneeccttiivviittyy ffoorr UUSSuunniivveerrssiittiieesswww.internet2.edu

RedCLARA TThhee LLaattiinn AAmmeerriiccaannRReesseeaarrcchh aannddEEdduuccaattiioonn NNeettwwoorrkkwww.redclara.net

C@ribNETTThhee CCaarriibbbbeeaannRReesseeaarrcchh aannddEEdduuccaattiioonn NNeettwwoorrkkwww.ckln.org

WACRENWest and CentralAfrican Research andEducation Networkwww.wacren.net

UbuntuNet AllianceRegional Researchand EducationNetwork for Easternand Southern Africawww.ubuntunet.net

TEIN3The Trans-EurasiaInformation Network www.tein3.net

GLOBAL REACH

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Demand-driven circuitupgrade to provide reliableinternet support to growingacademic and research user base

Algeria has recently upgraded theinternational connectivity available forits scientists and academics to 622Mbps through its participation inEUMEDCONNECT3, the regional high-capacity Internet network serving theresearch and education (R&E)

communities across Northern Africa andthe Middle East. ARN, the AlgerianNREN, currently interconnects over600,000 users at 120 research andacademic institutions across thecountry, increases of 20% and 40%respectively since the start of theprevious phase of EUMEDCONNECT in2008. The upgrade marks a vote ofconfidence in EUMEDCONNECT by oneof our longest serving partnercountries. It shows the benefits of theprogramme for providing high-capacity,high-quality connectivity for 21stcentury scientific research in the region.

ALGERIA SPURS ICT UPTAKE WITH LARGEST-YETEUMEDCONNECT3 CONNECTION

For more information please visit:http://www.eumedconnect3.net/server/show/ConWebDoc.3441

GLOBAL NEWSBy Tom Fryer, International Relations Officer, DANTE, and Helga Spitaler, Senior Communications Officer, DANTE

GLOBAL NEWS

At the second e-AGE conference,12-13 December 2012 in Dubai, theArab States Research andEducation Network (ASREN) hasunveiled plans to start to develop itsregional Arab network. The eventwas attended by 150 high-profileparticipants from 36 countries underthe Patronage of His Excellency(HE) Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan , UAE's Minister of HigherEducation and Scientific Research.In a new report on Arab e-Infrastructures, ASREN sets out theimportance of research networks forthe region while contrasting thecontinuing digital divide faced byresearch and education in the Arabworld compared to more developed regions.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman ofASREN, announced that ASREN is toinvest in its first cable connectionbetween ASREN and Europe with theplan of establishing an ASREN hub inLondon which will be connected toGÉANT. The plans build on the existingclose partnership between ASREN andEUMEDCONNECT, the EC-fundedMediterranean research and educationnetwork project, in which ASREN is amajor partner. So far Jordan, Morocco,Somalia and Sudan’s NRENs areASREN shareholders and other ArabNRENs are preparing to join.

ASREN sets out to extend thegeographical footprint ofEUMEDCONNECT towards creating atruly pan-Arab R&E network potentiallyserving a population of 250 millionpeople.

ASREN ANNOUNCES NETWORK PLANS AT E-AGE 2012

Dr Abu-Ghazaleh’s announcementmarked the first concrete step ofimplementing this strategy and securinglong-term sustainability of e-Infrastructures in the Mediterranean andthe neighbouring Gulf region.

During e-AGE 2012, national andregional research and educationnetworks in other parts of the worldwere studied, along with specificapplications and lessons for longer term sustainability. The full set ofpresentations from e-AGE 2012 isavailable at:http://eage2012.asrenorg.net/en/program.html

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Leaders at the 9th Asia-Europe Summit(ASEM), held on 5 – 6 November 2012 in Vientiane, Lao PDR recognised thesuccess of the TEIN initiative andwelcomed the launch of the new phase,TEIN4 under the theme ‘Friends for Peace,Partners for Prosperity’. Here theyrecognised its important role in enhancingcollaboration among the research andeducation community in Asia and alsoexchanges between Asia and Europe.

For more information please visithttp://www.teincc.org/teincc/b/recent_news/152

HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT ENDORSE TEIN AT THE ASEM 9 SUMMIT

In 2003, the start of the EC-funded ALICE(Latin America Interconnected withEurope) Project enabled the creation ofthe Latin American Research andEducation Network, RedCLARA. Today,

with the end of the successor project,ALICE2, in sight, the RedCLARA networkhas grown to connect a total of 13 LatinAmerican NRENs and provides backbonecapacities in the region of up to 2.5 Gbps

FUTURE OF DIRECT REDCLARA-GÉANT LINK SECUREDRedCLARA and GÉANT Agree to Cost Share on Transatlantic Link

and even 10 Gbps. In addition, a majorsuccess of the ALICE2 project has been toincrease the capacity of the transatlanticlink interconnecting RedCLARA andGÉANT from 622 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps.

In January 2013, the ALICE2 project willcome to an end and with it, EuropeanCommission funding towards the cost ofthe transatlantic link between the tworegions. In recognition of this, the NRENPC approved at its meeting on 26thNovember 2012 a proposal that the costsof the link be shared equally between theLatin American and European Researchand Education Communities. Theagreement, will ensure that the needs ofthe many inter-regional R&Ecollaborations, including Europeanfacilities in Latin America such as the ESOobservatories (Astronomy) in Chile and theAuger Observatory (Cosmic Rays) inArgentina, are met through the provision of a direct link between the two regions.

On learning the NREN PC’s decision,Florencio Utreras, Executive Director ofCLARA said, “I would like to thank theNREN PC for a decision which will furtherenhance long-term collaboration betweenour two continents, and strengthen theclose relationship between our respectivecommunities which has been built up overthe past eight years under the ALICE and ALICE2 projects”.

GLOBAL NEWS

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GLOBAL NEWS

Through EC-funding provided through the World Bank, C@ribNET is able to connect the largest institutions in the connected countriessuch as the University of the WestIndies. However, in order to extend the reach and benefits provided by R&E connectivity to more institutions, including universities,colleges, healthcare facilities, libraries and schools, the creation of NRENs is considered essential by CKLN.

Efforts underway to establishNRENs in numerousCaribbean countries

In May this year CONNECT reported onthe establishment of C@ribNET, theCaribbean Research and EducationNetwork, which currently connects atotal of 13 Caribbean countries to eachother and to the European, LatinAmerican and North American R&Ecommunities.

For this reason, CKLN is working with thelocal authorities, institutions and otherbodies around the region to drive themomentum towards the establishment ofNRENs, by sharing the benefits of NRENs,governance structures and sustainabilitymodels. Successes to date includeBarbados, Jamaica and Trinidad &Tobago and the Dominican Republicwhere NRENs have been established.CKLN continues to work with the otheremerging NRENs in the Bahamas, Haiti,Belize, the Eastern Caribbean States and Suriname.

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The event, which will showcaseapplications running on the network, will bring together representatives ofregional governments, academics,researchers and telecoms, as well asrepresentatives from other internationalnetworks. According to the CEO ofCKLN, Mr. Ken Sylvester, "By the timewe officially launch, C@ribNET will have

2nd C@ribNET Meeting: a Showcase

Following the establishment of theCaribbean Research and EducationNetwork in 2012, CKLN will launch theC@ribNET network at its secondC@ribNET Meeting which will be heldin February 2013 in the twin-island

THE LAUNCH OF C@RIBNETbeen delivering connectivity servicesto several Caribbean NRENs, includingthe Dominican Republic, Jamaica,Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize andthe Eastern Caribbean States”.

For more information on CKLN and C@ribNET, visit:http://www.ckln.org/home/content/cribnet

C@RIBNET INSPIRES EFFORTS TO CREATE CARIBBEAN NRENS

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In July 2012 Lake Tez-Tor inKyrgyzstan, swollen with water frommelting glaciers, burst and floodedthe inhabited Ala Archa Valley. Thiswas not an isolated incident -climate change is having a majorimpact on Central Asia, withretreating glaciers leading to largescale flooding, avalanches andmudslides, with often disastrousresults.

Understanding how the environment isaltering through ongoing monitoring iskey to coping with the effects of climatechange. Only then is it possible todevise mitigation and adaptationstrategies and create early warningsystems to protect lives and livelihoods.Various initiatives have begun, involvingglaciologists and geohazard experts

across Central Asia and Europe. Thisinternational collaborative researchgenerates large amounts of data whichneeds to be shared, often in shorttimescales from remote locations.Consequently, the fight to mitigateclimate change relies on high-speedresearch networks, such as GÉANT (inEurope) and CAREN (in Central Asia) tounderpin these vital activities.

The Kyrgyz academic network(KRENA), GÉANT, CAREN and nationalEuropean networks combine to sharethe data and scientific results amongstgeographically dispersed researchersand allow international access to theCentral Asian Institute of AppliedGeoscience’s (CAIAG) growing GeoDatabase of Central Asia (GDB).Working with European partners, CAIAGis now able to monitor melting glaciers

and mitigate the risks to the localpopulation

“Research networks are central to all ofour work at CAIAG. Thanks to GÉANTand CAREN we can quickly shareinformation with our European partners,speeding up the processing ofmonitoring data and enabling us to worktogether to predict the impact of climatechange and protect our localenvironment.”

Dr Bolot Moldobekov, Co-Director ofCentral Asian Institute of AppliedGeosciences (CAIAG).

Read the full case study: GÉANT and CAREN trackingKyrgyzstanʼs melting glaciers

TRACKING KYRGYZSTAN’SMELTING GLACIERSEU-Central Asian collaboration relies on high-speed networks to monitor climate change and provide early flood warning

USER FOCUS

The Merzbacher monitoring station: a watchful eye on the Tien Shan glaciers

VICKY FORD MEP VISITS DANTE TO LEARN ABOUT SUPERFAST NETWORKS

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CONNECT Q&A

WHAT DOES YOUR ROLE AS AN MEP ENTAIL? I usually spend three days a week inBrussels/Strasbourg attendingcommittee meetings. I also meet withother MEPs to negotiate theParliament's position on legislation,table amendments to draft legislativeproposals, and meet with a wide rangeof stakeholders to discuss my legislativework. I spend the rest of the weektravelling across the East of Englandvisiting local organisations anduniversities to see first-hand what theydo and take their views back toBrussels.

HOW INVOLVED ARE YOU INHORIZON 2020 [THE EU’SFRAMEWORK PROGRAMME FORR&I FUNDING], AND WHAT ARETHE MAIN BENEFITS OF THISPROGRAMME? I’m one of seven MEPs leading onHorizon 2020 in the EuropeanParliament so am very involved inshaping the draft legislation. I havebeen meeting with the other MEPs fromthe different political groups on aregular basis, to try to come up withcompromises that all of the politicalgroups can agree upon.

The benefits of the programme areenormously far-reaching, from boostingeconomic growth and jobs through kick-starting innovation, to developingtreatments for diseases, plant sciencesolutions to feed our growing globalpopulation and cutting-edge technologyto combat climate change.

WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST INRESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES? E-Infrastructure can support ourscientists. Sharing information quicklyand effectively is hugely important toallow researchers to work together fromall over the globe. I am interested insupporting the best science, the bestresearch and the best innovation. Toachieve this, we need to have the beste-Infrastructure.

GÉANT UNDERPINS RESEARCHAND INNOVATION IN EUROPE - HOW IMPORTANT IS R&I TO A REGION’S ECONOMY? R&I is key to creating new jobs as wedevelop new products, services andbusinesses which keep us globallycompetitive. Creating hubs or clustersdraws people to an area so they canwork amongst those who are pioneeringthe next ground-breaking discoveries.But in my opinion you can't create acluster without first having a seed

HOW WILL HORIZON 2020 DIFFERFROM FP7, AND WHAT DO YOUFEEL THIS WILL MEAN FOR GÉANT?The new structure of Horizon 2020 aimsto be much simpler than FP7. There willbe a single set of rules for all projects soparticipants should know what to expectfrom engaging in a European R&Iproject and in applying for EU money,opening it up to a more diverse range ofprojects. There is a greater focus oninnovation which will sit alongside thefundamental research programmestypical of FP7 such as Marie Curie.

There is also a specific sectiondedicated to research infrastructures,

where GÉANT is held up as an exampleof a world-class facility. In theParliament we are fighting for asignificant proportion of the budget forresearch infrastructures to go towardsinnovation, to ensure that important e-Infrastructures like GÉANT can besupported.

HISTORICALLY, GÉANT HAS BEENFUNDED EQUALLY BY THE ECAND EUROPE’S NRENS [WHOPROVIDE RESEARCH NETWORKSAT THE NATIONAL LEVEL]. INLIGHT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISISHOW CAN THE CONTINUEDDEVELOPMENT OF E-INFRASTRUCTURES BE FUNDED? It is incredibly important that we protectthe European and national budgets forR&I. UK Conservative MEPs have beenfighting for an increase in the researchbudget in the context of an overallreduced EU budget, arguing that weneed to re-allocate funds from areaswhich have much less EU added-value.

HOW DO YOU SEE GÉANT AND E-INFRASTRUCTURE OVERALLSUPPORTING EUROPE’S ‘GRANDCHALLENGES’? World-class research must besupported by world-class e-Infrastructure. To solve our greatestglobal challenges we will need our bestresearchers on the task. Access to e-Infrastructures, like GÉANT to facilitatehigh speed communication betweenresearchers across the world, ensuresthat the research carried out by theseamazing people can be maximised toits full potential.

Vicky Ford was elected a Member of the European Parliament in 2009. She is the UK ConservativeSpokesman for Industry and Research on the Parliament's ITRE committee, which also includeswork on energy. She is a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and was theConservative Spokesman for this committee from 2009-2011. Ms Ford visited DANTE to learn how superfast networks are delivering research and innovation (R&I)

Left to right: Niels Hersoug (Joint General Manager of DANTE), Dale Robertson (Head of EC Liaison, DANTE), Vicky Ford MEP, Matthew Scott (Joint General Manager of DANTE)

UPCOMING EVENTSEGI Community Forum 2013DDaattee:: 88 AApprriill 22001133 ttoo 1122 AApprriill 22001133LLooccaattiioonn:: MMaanncchheesstteerr,, UUKK

More information: http://cf2013.egi.eu/

Network Performing Arts Production WorkshopDDaattee:: 12 March to 14 March 2013 LLooccaattiioonn:: Location, Vienna, Austria

More information: http://www.terena.org/activities/network-arts/vienna/

LATEST MATERIALS & CASE STUDIES

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www.twitter.com/GEANTnews

www.facebook.com/GEANTnetwork

www.youtube.com/GEANTtv

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ACOnetwww.aco.net

Belnetwww.belnet.be

BRENwww.bren.bg

CARNetwww.carnet.hr

CyNETwww.cynet.ac.cy

CESNETwww.ces.net

EENetwww.eenet.ee

RENATERwww.renater.fr

DFNwww.dfn.de

GRNETwww.grnet.gr

NIIFwww.niif.hu

HEAnetwww.heanet.ie

GÉANT is the pan-European research and educationnetwork that interconnects Europe’s National Researchand Education Networks (NRENs). Together weconnect over 40 million researchers and studentsacross Europe, facilitating collaborative research in adiverse range of disciplines, including high-energyphysics, radio astronomy, bio-medicine, climatechange, earth observation and arts & culture.

GÉANT PartnersIUCCwww.iucc.ac.il

GARRwww.garr.net

SigmaNetwww.sigmanet.lv

LITNETwww.litnet.lt

RESTENAwww.restena.lu

MARNetdns.marnet.net.mk

University of Maltawww.um.edu.mt

MRENwww.mren.ac.me

SURFnetwww.surfnet.nl

NORDUnetwww.nordu.net

PSNCwww.man.poznan.pl

FCCNwww.fccn.pt

AARNIEC/RoEduNetwww.nren.ro

AMRESwww.amres.ac.rs

SANETwww.sanet.sk

ARNESwww.arnes.si

RedIRISwww.rediris.es

SWITCHwww.switch.ch

ULAKBIMwww.ulakbim.gov.tr

JANETwww.ja.net

DANTEwww.dante.net

TERENAwww.terena.org

BASNET www.bas-net.by

JSCCwww.jscc.ru

Associate NRENsRENAMwww.renam.md

URANwww.uran.net.ua

ABOUT GÉANT

GÉANT andCAREN trackingKyrgyzstanʼsmelting glaciers

GÉANT and CAREN:delivering a brighterfuture forTurkmenistan

GÉANT andORIENTplus –understandingcosmic showers

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This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of DANTE and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. CONNECT/0113