connect magazine issue 12

FASTERSCIENCE!EUROPE’SNEW TERABITNETWORK

RREEGGIIOONNAALL RREESSEEAARRCCHHNNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGGPAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

WORKING WITHMICROSOFTBOOSTING CLOUD ACCESSAT UK UNIVERSITIES

NNEEWW NNAATTIIOONNAALLRREESSEEAARRCCHH AANNDDEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN NNEETTWWOORRKKFFOORR AAFFGGHHAANNIISSTTAANN

CCOONNNNEECCTTTHE MAGAZINE FROM THE GÉANT COMMUNITY | ISSUE 12 JULY 2013

CONNECT is thequarterly magazinefrom the GÉANTcommunity;highlighting key areasof interest, updates onthe project and its vitalwork supportingEuropean researchand education. We give insights intothe users who dependon the network, andthe community that makes GÉANTwhat it is. We welcomefeedback [email protected]

Published by the GÉANT(GN3plus) project, under the NA2 Communications Activity Task 1 | Editors: PPaauull MMaauurriiccee((TTaasskk LLeeaaddeerr)) aanndd TTaammssiinn HHeennddeerrssoonn ((MMaarrkkeettiinngg OOfffificceerr))..

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

For digital or printed subscriptions email [email protected]

AAllll ootthheerr bbrraanndd nnaammeess,, pprroodduuccttnnaammeess oorr ttrraaddeemmaarrkkss bbeelloonngg ttootthheeiirr rreessppeeccttiivvee hhoollddeerrss..

CONNECT is published on recycled silk stock and is:

• 100% FSC recycled pulp• Saving of 25% of KG CO2

per tonne compared to virgin grades

• Process chlorine free, made without the use of chlorine chemistry

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The challenge for the next decadewill be to forge new relationships aswell as continuing to nurtureexisting partnerships. DANTE’scorporate strategy is “more for all”– exactly!

Immediately before writing this Iwas in Prague for a DANTEshareholders’ meeting, alongsidethe usual collection of meetings

that characterise the Europeancollaborative approach to all thatDANTE does. Our hosts, CESNET,provided us with the opportunitynot only to mark DANTE’s 20thbirthday (modestly of course, asbefits the times), but also to reflecton the history of international R&Enetworking. At TERENA’sNetworking Conference inMaastricht a few weeks earlier (andan opportunity to celebrate anotherbirthday – SURFnet’s 25th), globalcollaboration was also very muchfeatured – as you can read inCathrin Stöver’s article.

In those early days we verymuch “did it ourselves”. The waywas led by a small band of talentedand like-minded engineers and

managers (money was alsoneeded, even then). By doing sotogether they showed hownetworks could be built to be faster,more robust and more innovative.As true today as it was then.

Nowadays we can no longer doeverything ourselves. We need towork with like-minded organisationsto meet ever-increasing demandsfrom users. The article aboutJanet’s cloud services partnershipis an approach we’ll see usedmuch more. But it doesn’t endthere. It will be by NRENs andDANTE working closely with peerorganisations across the whole e-infrastructure space that we’llcontinue to innovate and providenew services across Europe andbeyond.

DANTE can justly be proud ofits pivotal role in “20 years ofnetworking excellence”.

WWoorrddssBob Day,Chairman,DANTE

It’s been well over a year sinceGÉANT began refreshing itsentire European infrastructure toa state-of-the-art terabit network,

and we are thrilled to announce itscompletion in this issue.

When the EuropeanCommission made its ownannouncement, Neelie Kroescommented, “The data side of theresearch equation is almost asimportant as the research itselftoday,” – highlighting just how vitalhigh-speed networks have becometo the advancement of modernscience. Never has ‘watch thisspace’ carried so muchsignificance, with faster scienceoffering awe-inspiring possibilitiesfor society and the planet as awhole.

Congratulations to everybodywho played a part in this majordevelopment for research andeducation. Read the news story on page 4.

'Regional research networking'takes an in-depth look at some of

the regional projects connected toGÉANT and the successes andchallenges they have seen over thepast decade. What will the futurebring for global networking? Findout our partners’ thoughts on page 8.

Turn to page 20 to learn aboutNEXPReS, a ground-breaking radioastronomy project which hasdramatically improved astronomicalresults, by successfully triallingnew advances in researchnetworking technology.

To give you the chance to meetsome of the many people whomake the network what it is, we'veintroduced a new regular section:CONNECT interview, a behind thescenes look at what people fromdifferent teams do on a day-to-daybasis. Fancy sharing your ownstory? Get in touch with us atccoonnnneecctt@@ggeeaanntt..nneett

Happy reading!

EEddiittoorrssPaul Maurice & TamsinHenderson

SSAAMMEE,, BBUUTT DDIIFFFFEERREENNTT!!

WELCOME

01

WWEELLCCOOMMEE TTOO FFAASSTTEERR SSCCIIEENNCCEE

IINN JJUULLYY,, DDAANNTTEE CCEELLEEBBRRAATTEEDDIITTSS 2200TTHH AANNNNIIVVEERRSSAARRYY

Founded in 1993 as a not-for-profit organisation toprovide a high-speed internet network for theEuropean research community, DANTE has sincecreated four consecutive generations of this network,

which we all know and love today as GÉANT!In 2000, the European Commission used GÉANT as an

exemplar for networking excellence and began fundingsimilar networks all over the world. Suddenly DANTEbecame not just a networking and service innovator, but the project manager and coordinator of these very large-scale projects, connecting different world regions toEurope via GÉANT.

Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the EuropeanCommission, said:

“I give my full congratulations to DANTE for 20 years ofnetworking excellence. DANTE's work is essential to theEuropean and global research community. World-classinternet networks, through GÉANT and the regionalnetworks it manages, are fundamental to realising the EU’s2020 vision for the European Research Area, and key tohelping us tackle societal challenges such as food andenergy security, health and ageing, and environmentalprotection. DANTE has my full support and well wishes tocontinue its innovative journey in support of research andeducation, across Europe and beyond.”

DANTE plans, builds and manages these projects onbehalf of the European Commission and Europe’s NationalResearch and Education Networks (NRENs), serving Europe(GÉANT), the Mediterranean (EUMEDCONNECT), Sub-Saharan Africa (AfricaConnect), Central Asia (CAREN) andEurope-China collaboration (ORIENTplus). DANTE alsosupports R&E networking organisations in Latin America(RedCLARA), Caribbean (CKLN) and Asia-Pacific (TEIN*CC).

TTWWOO DDEECCAADDEESS OOFFRREESSEEAARRCCHH AANNDDEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONNNNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG

Niels Hersoug and Matthew Scott,Joint DANTE General Managers, said:

“Twenty years ago we could neverhave dreamed that research andeducation networking would grow tothe extent it has today. By enablingpeople to work together, regardless oflocation, and to effortlessly exchangehuge volumes of data, DANTE’s workis advancing innovation, economicdevelopment and productivity in waysthat will benefit us all. Be it throughadvances in climate research, medicaldevelopments, food production orhigh-energy physics; they all rely on thehigh-speed networks of DANTE and its partners.”

CONNECT NEWS

02 CONNECT ISSUE 12 JULY 2013

DDAANNTTEE CCEELLEEBBRRAATTEESS

2200 YYEEAARRSSOOFF NNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG EEXXCCEELLLLEENNCCEE

WWHHYY WWAASS DDAANNTTEE CCRREEAATTEEDD??Although research networking in Europe first started inthe late 1970s, it was limited to the developments ofindividual countries and their National Research andEducation Networks (NRENs).

It soon became clear that a centralised approachwas required. The NRENs grouped together andcreated DANTE to manage pan-European researchnetworking on everybody’s behalf.

HHOOWW IISS DDAANNTTEEAACCCCEELLEERRAATTIINNGG RREESSEEAARRCCHHAANNDD EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN??Most research today is data driven and often acollaborative effort between people, institutions,countries and even disciplines.

The ability to transmit this data at high-speeds hasbenefits for tens of millions of people in schools,universities, research institutes and big science projectsalike. Many worldwide projects and partners rely onDANTE in order to serve these communities.

““WWee hhaavvee ccoommee aa lloonngg wwaayy iinn 2200yyeeaarrss.. IInn 11999933,, wwee wweerree bbuuiillddiinnggnneettwwoorrkkss wwiitthh 6644 KKbbppss ccoonnnneeccttiioonnss..TTooddaayy wwee uussee 110000GGbbppss aa ffaaccttoorr ooffoonnee aanndd aa hhaallff mmiilllliioonn iinnccrreeaassee.. BBuuttiitt iiss nnoott jjuusstt aabboouutt tteecchhnnoollooggyy,,sseerrvviicceess ppllaayy aann iinnccrreeaassiinngg rroolleeeennaabblliinngg aallll rreesseeaarrcchheerrss,, nnoott jjuusstt tthheetteecchhnniiccaallllyy lliitteerraattee,, ttoo bbeenneeffiitt ffrroommRR&&EE nneettwwoorrkkss.. IItt iiss ddiiffffiiccuulltt ttoobbeelliieevvee nnooww,, bbuutt iinn 11999933 ee--mmaaiill wwaassaa nneeww sseerrvviiccee.. TTooddaayy wwee ooffffeerr mmaannyymmoorree aaddvvaanncceedd sseerrvviicceess aalllloowwiinnggrreesseeaarrcchheerrss ttoo mmaannaaggee tthheeiirr oowwnnnneettwwoorrkk nneeeeddss..””

DDaaii DDaavviieess.. CCoo--ffoouunnddeerr,, DDAANNTTEE

CONNECT NEWS

03

CONNECT NEWS


FFAASSTTEERR SSCCIIEENNCCEE!!GGÉÉAANNTT’’SS NNEETTWWOORRKK UUPPGGRRAADDEE OOFFFFEERRSS EEUURROOPPEEAANN SSCCIIEENNCCEE TTHHEE NNEETTWWOORRKK OOFF TTHHEE FFUUTTUURREE..IItt’’ss bbeeeenn jjuusstt oovveerr aa yyeeaarr iinn pprroodduuccttiioonn,, bbuutt EEuurrooppee’’ss ccrriittiiccaall rreesseeaarrcchh aanndd eedduuccaattiioonn bbaacckkbboonnee iiss nnooww rreeaaddyy ffoorr tthhee tteerraabbiitt eerraa!!

Since then, as part of a carefullyphased migration designed tominimise service disruptions,DANTE has, on behalf of

Europe's National Research andEducation Networks (NRENs), deliveredcircuits across Europe that will allowindividual users to transfer data inmultiples of 100Gbps – helping to speedup the transport and subsequentanalysis of critical research data. After anextensive procurement process,Imtech/Juniper Networks and Infinerawere contracted to build this nextgeneration of the network. Junipersupplies the MX series Universal routerswith 100Gbps capability, underpinnedby Infinera’s latest DTN-X opticaltransmission platform, designed toprovide 500Gbps super-channelsacross long-haul distances.

The network has been designed tosupport up to 2Tbps capacity acrossthe core network, effectively future-proofing it until 2020 and providing over50 million users with superfast andhighly resilient terabit networking.

CONNECT NEWS

05

SSaaiidd NNeeeelliiee KKrrooeess,, VViiccee PPrreessiiddeennttooff tthhee EEuurrooppeeaann CCoommmmiissssiioonn::

““TTooddaayy ddaattaa ssppeeeeddss aannddpprroocceessssiinngg aarree aass ccrriittiiccaall aass tthheerreesseeaarrcchh iittsseellff,, aanndd aa ssuuppeerr--ffaassttnneettwwoorrkk mmeeaannss wwee aarree cclloosseerr ttooaacchhiieevviinngg aa EEuurrooppeeaann RReesseeaarrcchh AArreeaa,,aanndd ttoo ssuucccceessssffuullllyy ddeeaalliinngg wwiitthhcchhaalllleennggeess ssuucchh aass ffoooodd aanndd eenneerrggyysseeccuurriittyy,, hheeaalltthh aanndd aaggeeiinngg aannddeennvviirroonnmmeennttaall pprrootteeccttiioonn..””

Mark Johnston, DANTE’s ChiefNetwork Operations Officer, said:

“The project to upgrade the GÉANTnetwork involved renewing 50,000km ofbackbone infrastructure and thereplacement of legacy equipment withleading-edge transmission andswitching technologies, a significantundertaking and long term investment.The new network brings several keybenefits: greatly increased capacity,faster provision of service, and evenhigher levels of resilience.”

Leading edge technology alsomeans new circuits can be ‘switched

on’ within the hour. In addition theinnovative option of ‘on-demand’services accommodating short-bursttransmission of large data can beoffered across the GÉANT backbone.

Finally, increased resilience and thenetwork’s ability to ‘self-heal’ guaranteescontinuous service even in the unlikelyevent of faults occurring on part of thenetwork – meaning the assured transferof time-sensitive critical data; furtherbuilding GÉANT’s reputation for speed,flexibility and resilience.

WWHHYY DDOOEESS EEUURROOPPEENNEEEEDD AA TTEERRAABBIITTNNEETTWWOORRKK??Already over 1,000 terabytes of datapasses through GÉANT's IP backboneeach day, much of it linked to some ofthe most advanced and far-reachingresearch being carried out anywhere inthe world. However, the creation andsharing of research data is increasingexponentially, impacting researchnetworks, high performance computingand grids – collectively known as e-infrastructures.

Many major projects involving globalpartners, such as CERN's Large Hadron

Collider (LHC), the forthcoming SquareKilometre Array (the world's largest radiotelescope), and many bioinformaticsprojects generate massive amounts ofdata that need to be distributed,analysed, stored and accessed. Thisneed for fast, stable transfer of datadepends heavily on the high speed anddedicated bandwidth offered byresearch networks such as GÉANT andthe need for a terabit network is growingevery day.

In a joint statement, Matthew Scottand Niels Hersoug, Joint GeneralManagers, DANTE, said: “This majorinvestment in global networkingtechnology is an essential step whichsupports the important work of theEuropean research community. Scientificdisciplines, from earth observation andweather forecasting to chemistry andneuroscience, will benefit from theGÉANT network and we are excited tosee how this next-generation terabitnetwork further develops theadvancement of science. ”

In the next issue of CONNECT wewill delve deeper in to the networkmigration, learn how this enormous taskwas delivered and cover some of themore surprising benefits we’re likely tosee as a result of the upgrade.

“That’s a whopping amount of capacity for thenetwork, which connects Europe’s nationalresearch and education networks (NRENs) withone another and also with overseas counterparts– in total, the network takes in 32,000 universities,schools, research institutes, hospitals and so on.And the result is just as impressive for individualresearchers, who will now get connection speedsof up to 100Gbps each – that’s 1,000 times morethan the pretty darned impressive cableconnection I’m using as I type.”

David Mayers, Senior Reporter, GigaOM (the leadingindependent voice on emerging technologies with anaudience of 5.5 million monthly unique readers).

CONNECT INTERVIEW


CCOONNNNEECCTT IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWWPPAAUULL RROOUUSSEE,, PPRROOCCUURREEMMEENNTT

Collaborativeinfrastructures offer collectiveprocurementopportunities, with

benefits including betterplanning, risk management andcost savings based oneconomies of scale. DANTE hasbeen providing a procurementservice since its inception 20years ago.

DANTE procurement nowprovides services to the GÉANTproject, necessitated by adramatic growth in demand inrecent years. Headed up byPaul Rouse, the GÉANTprocurement office is now a vitalcomponent of the project.CONNECT spoke to Paul abouthis role, his objectives for theservice and the growing scopeof work.

PPaauull RRoouussee,, PPrrooccuurreemmeenntt MMaannaaggeerr

PPhhiill MMaatttthheewwss,,PPrrooccuurreemmeenntt CCoonnssuullttaanntt

AAlleexx GGoossnneellll,,PPrrooccuurreemmeenntt AAssssiissttaanntt

WWHHYY IISS PPRROOCCUURREEMMEENNTT SSOOIIMMPPOORRTTAANNTT?? WWHHAATT VVAALLUUEEDDOOEESS IITT AADDDD TTOO AA PPRROOJJEECCTTSSUUCCHH AASS GGÉÉAANNTT?? Efficient, cost-effective procurement iscentral to the success of GÉANT andresearch networking in general.

With a significant proportion of theGÉANT budget going to 3rd partysuppliers – for example: in 2013, 79%of the €42 million budget controlled byDANTE for GÉANT is being spent ongoods and services to operate theGÉANT project/network – it’s easy tosee why the project needed adedicated procurement team.

Our mission is to always seek outthe best quality at the best value. Aswe are ultimately funded by the publicpurse, we work hard to comply withthe EU Public Contracts Directive – acondition of our funding - so gettingvalue for money is at the heart ofeverything we do.

WWHHAATT PPRROOCCUURREEMMEENNTTPPRROOJJEECCTTSS AARREE YYOOUUWWOORRKKIINNGG OONN AATT TTHHEEMMOOMMEENNTT,, AANNDD WWHHAATT IISSTTHHEEIIRR EEXXPPEECCTTEEDD IIMMPPAACCTT?? The past year has been really busy forDANTE Procurement. We havesecured supply of dark fibre for thenetwork until 2020 and reduced thecost of the capacity we buy in for ournetwork by over €3 million. We arenow starting to work on procurements

that can help the National Research &Education Networks (NRENs) throughaggregated procurements, such asProject PRISM.

We have grown the team with theaddition of Procurement Consultant,Phil Matthews, who has come onboard to help us on some new projectssuch as AfricaConnect – a project toestablish a regional research andeducation (R&E) network in Southernand Eastern Africa, working with theUbuntunet Alliance.

WWHHAATT DDOOEESS IITT OOFFFFEERRRREEGGIIOONNAALL NNEETTWWOORRKKSSBBEEYYOONNDD EEUURROOPPEE?? Project PRISM is an example of howDANTE can undertake procurementson behalf of other NRENs. Thisbenefits them by not having theoverhead of having to run lengthy andcomplex EU Procurement Proceduresvia the Official Journal of the EuropeanUnion (OJEU). The other benefit is thatit allows us as a community to securebetter prices by aggregating ourdemand to the market and for someNRENs giving them access to marketswhere their spend alone would notallow them to go previously.

The framework agreements foroptical transmission equipment fromProject PRISM will be available forNRENs to use from November 2013.We are also starting to work on othercollaborative arrangements in areassuch as cloud service.

HHOOWW DDOO YYOOUU SSEEEE TTHHEE NNEEEEDDFFOORR IINNCCRREEAASSEEDD GGLLOOBBAALLCCOOLLLLAABBOORRAATTIIOONN AAFFFFEECCTTIINNGGYYOOUURR RROOLLEE?? Because procurement laws andregulations are not harmonisedglobally, we must balance complyingwith local procurement regulations,with working with parties subject tocompletely different laws. We need towork to influence and develop supplymarkets on a global basis.

HHOOWW DDOOEESS PPRROOCCUURREEMMEENNTTIINN RREESSEEAARRCCHH NNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGGCCOOMMPPAARREE TTOO OOTTHHEERRIINNDDUUSSTTRRIIEESS??The common goals of procurementremain: value for money, security ofsupply, innovation and risk reduction,however being able to say you havepurchased the parts of the networkthat are used to transform lives ormake new discoveries is reallyrewarding.

WWHHAATT DDOO YYOOUU EENNJJOOYYMMOOSSTT AABBOOUUTT YYOOUURRWWOORRKK??The people, places andinteresting and challengingprojects

LLAASSTT MMOOVVIIEE YYOOUUWWAATTCCHHEEDD??With my sons to seeDespicable Me 2 – a greatfun movie with somesurprisingly good songs on the soundtrack.

WWHHAATT AARREE YYOOUURREEAADDIINNGG??I’ve just finished BradleyWiggins autobiography.

WWHHAATT’’SS OONN YYOOUURR IIPPOODD??I always like listening to Bob Marley when the suncomes out.

WWHHAATT DDOO YYOOUU DDOO FFOORRDDOOWWNNTTIIMMEE??Family, boats and roadcycling.

CONNECT INTERVIEW

07

OrganogramDANTE’sGÉANTprocurementteam

RREEGGIIOONNAALL RREESSEEAARRCCHH NNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG –– PPAASSTT,, PPRREESSEENNTT AANNDD FFUUTTUURREEIInn tthhee llaasstt 1100 yyeeaarrss,, tthhee gglloobbaallrreeaacchh ooff EEuurrooppeeaann rreesseeaarrcchh &&eedduuccaattiioonn ((RR&&EE)) nneettwwoorrkkiinngg hhaassiinnccrreeaasseedd ssiiggnniiffiiccaannttllyy,, wwiitthh tthheeffiirrsstt rreeggiioonnaall pprroojjeeccttss((EEUUMMEEDDCCOONNNNEECCTT aanndd AALLIICCEE))bbeeggiinnnniinngg iinn 22000022 aanndd 22000033rreessppeeccttiivveellyy.. TThhee ppaasstt ddeeccaaddeehhaass bbrroouugghhtt eennoorrmmoouuss pprrooggrreessssiinn tthhee ccrreeaattiioonn aanndd ddeevveellooppmmeennttooff nnaattiioonnaall aanndd rreeggiioonnaall RR&&EEnneettwwoorrkkss aarroouunndd tthhee wwoorrlldd.. HHeerree ssoommee kkeeyy ppllaayyeerrss ddeessccrriibbeetthheeiirr eexxppeerriieenncceess –– tthheeiirrcchhaalllleennggeess aanndd ssuucccceesssseess iinn tthhaatt ttiimmee,, aanndd ccoonnssiiddeerr wwhhaatt tthhee ffuuttuurree wwiillll bbrriinngg..

FEATURE


DDrr.. FFlloorreenncciioo II.. UUttrreerraass,,EExxeeccuuttiivvee DDiirreeccttoorr ooffCCLLAARRAA,, tthhee LLaattiinn AAmmeerriiccaannCCooooppeerraattiioonn ooff RReesseeaarrcchhNNeettwwoorrkkss..Florencio has been involved in researchnetworking since 1987. Before joiningCLARA, he was the Executive Directorof REUNA (the Chilean ResearchNetwork) since 1992 and previouslyhad been full professor of AppliedMathematics at the University of Chileand Visiting Professor at severaluniversities and research centres inEurope (France, Italy) and the US.

KKeenn SSyyllvveesstteerr,, CCEEOO ooff tthheeCCaarriibbbbeeaann KKnnoowwlleeddggee aannddLLeeaarrnniinngg NNeettwwoorrkk..Prior to CKLN, Ken enjoyed asubstantial career with Fujitsu includingseveral executive positions includingVice President of Fujitsu North Americaand President and CEO of FujitsuCaribbean. He has been specialadvisor to several Caribbeangovernments on ICT issues and haswritten several papers on the role ofICT in economic and socialdevelopment of small island states.

PPrrooffeessssoorr AAsskkaarr KKuuttaannoovv,,RReeggiioonnaall CCoooorrddiinnaattoorr ffoorr EECCCCeennttrraall AAssiiaann RReesseeaarrcchh aannddEEdduuccaattiioonn NNeettwwoorrkk((CCAARREENN)) PPrroojjeecctt..Askar actively promotes regional andinternational collaboration for CentralAsian NRENs. He has an extensivebackground in science including afellowship at Osaka University inJapan, and is an Academician of theKyrgyz National Academy of Sciences.Askar was awarded the Certificatefrom NATO Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Public Diplomacy inrecognition and appreciation for hisinvaluable contribution to the successof NATO Virtual Silk Highway Project(2001-2009) for Central Asia andCaucasus regions.

PPrrooffeessssoorr BBuu SSuunngg ((FFrraanncciissLLeeee)),, FFoouunnddiinngg aanndd ccuurrrreennttPPrreessiiddeenntt ooff SSiinnggaappoorreeAAddvvaanncceedd RReesseeaarrcchh aannddEEdduuccaattiioonn NNeettwwoorrkk((SSiinnggAARREENN));; CChhaaiirr ooff tthheeBBooaarrdd ooff GGoovveerrnnoorrss ooffTTEEIINN**CCCC..Francis Lee is a key figure on the R&Enetworking scene in Asia Pacific. Notonly has he been instrumental insetting up SingAREN, the NREN inSingapore, but he has also been apioneer for the TEIN network. Prof. Leeis the founding Chair of Governors ofTEIN*Co-operation Center (TEIN*CC),a non-profit-organisation in Korea thattook over TEIN network managementfrom DANTE in 2012.

DDrr.. FF FF TTuussuubbiirraa ((TTuussuu)),,MMeemmbbeerr ooff tthhee BBooaarrdd aannddCCEEOO ooff UUbbuunnttuuNNeett AAlllliiaanncceeffoorr RReesseeaarrcchh aanndd EEdduuccaattiioonnnneettwwoorrkkiinngg iinn AAffrriiccaa..Tusu is a thinker, advocate andconsultant in ICT for development atnational, regional and internationallevel. As well as his roles at UbuntuNetAlliance, he is also a member of theBoard of TENET (the R&E network ofSouth Africa); the Internet EducationalEqual Access Foundation; and theGlobal Development Learning Network;he is also a member of the AdvisoryPanel to the R&E Networking Unit ofthe Association of African Universities.

CCOONNTTRRIIBBUUTTOORRSS

FEATURE

09

FEATURE


DDrr.. FFlloorreenncciioo UUttrreerraass,,RReeddCCLLAARRAA ((LLaattiinn AAmmeerriiccaa))

The challenge of connecting countries in LatinAmerica to one another, and then connectingas a region to Europe began to be addressedover 10 years ago. At the time, there weresome cables coming into countries such asBrazil, but these were mainly for telephonyand the cost was simply uneconomic. Thecost of connecting to your neighbour wasmore expensive than each country connectingto the US, holding back the chance to build aninterconnected region.

We faced several challenges:

CCOOSSTT OOFF IINNFFRRAASSTTRRUUCCTTUURREEThe cost of connectivity at this stage wasprohibitive. In some regions the cost ofconnecting a country was 10 times what wasaffordable. Often the cost of bringingconnectivity to a country’s border/shore wasacceptable, but extending that into a countrywas far higher – by a factor of five in somecases. Our goal was to create a regionalnetwork, with connectivity between members,and then for that region to be connectedonwards to places like the US and Europe.

LLAACCKK OOFF GGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTTAALLSSUUPPPPOORRTTAt the time 5 NRENs were already workingtogether and had some connectivity to theUS, but all the other organisations which arenow NRENs were subsequently created aspart of the project. However not all NRENshave support from their government, and theyhave to sell their services to the universities.So that issue of helping to set up NRENS, andtrying to gain the support of regional andnational governments has been a realchallenge.

WWHHAATT WWEERREE TTHHEE CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEESS AANNDD HHUURRDDLLEESSFFAACCEEDD WWHHEENN SSEETTTTIINNGG UUPP TTHHEE NNEETTWWOORRKKSS,,AANNDD WWHHAATT HHAAVVEE BBEEEENN TTHHEE SSUUCCCCEESSSSEESS??

DDrr.. FFrraanncciiss LLeeee,, TTEEIINN ((AAssiiaa PPaacciiffiicc))

Looking back 10 years, at the time we had theAsia Pacific Advanced Network, so there wasalready a regional network. Countries like Japanand Korea would approach individual APANcountries and arrange bilateral connections. Thechallenges we faced were:

CCOOSSTTThe expense of international links was very high,and although individual NRENs approachedtelcos to try and reduce the costs, they wouldnot budge. But with the setup of TEIN, with itsbudget and combined purchasing power, atender was put out and the price really camedown. Now we have not only far moreconnectivity, but efficiency in engineering thenetwork, so countries have direct connectionsto each other rather than having to go via othercountries, such as Japan or USA, to connect.

““MMOORREE WWEELLLL CCOONNNNEECCTTEEDD,,AANNDD MMOORREE DDIIRREECCTTLLYYCCOONNNNEECCTTEEDD TTOO EEAACCHH OOTTHHEERR””

BBUUIILLDDIINNGG CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYYHowever, one of the challenges we faced in theearly days was changing the way things weredone: people were used to negotiatingindividually. So many discussions at this stagewere aimed at getting people to work togetherwith a common vision for the common good ofthe community. However we all recognised thatwe are a community of people and we belongto this community, and through that we agreedto work together. So TEIN has not only helpedto build local communities, but has helped usas a region to directly connect to other areas ofthe world such as Europe and the US.

OORRGGAANNIISSAATTIIOONNAALLMore recently, with the TEIN*CC project, TEINmembers have taken over the running of theTEIN project from DANTE. Although this resultsin greater organisational, administrative andbureaucratic work as we work directly with theEuropean Union, the community as a whole hassaid yes, we can deal with this together.

KKeenn SSyyllvveesstteerr,, CCKKLLNN((CCaarriibbbbeeaann))

The Caribbean is made up of around 15islands, with a combined population of around5m people. However with some states having apopulation of just 40,000 and most only around100,000, the characteristics of island statesmean that we face our own set of challenges.We just cannot be globally competitiveindividually, as we cannot achieve economies ofscales, whether it’s in areas of education,manufacturing or agriculture. Around 10 yearsago, we were struggling. The economy was amess, and over 75% of graduates weremigrating to Europe or the US.

Innovation was required to move beyondthis situation, and to achieve this, leaders had tocollaborate and work together, sharingresources, creating partnerships and buildingcentres of excellence. After hearing about thesuccesses in Latin America, leaders wereconvinced that the Caribbean had to be part of‘research and education networking’. In 2006,the European Commission offered €10m to theCaribbean, subject to a proposal that wasquickly put together (in just a week) with thehelp of the ALICE project. This was successfuland CaribNET was built, launching in February2013 and connecting all 15 states, as well asInternet2, RedCLARA and GÉANT. The clearsuccess factor was governmental support – itwas championed by the Caribbean minister forscience and technology to all the states in theregion.

SSOO WWHHAATT WWAASS TTHHEECCHHAALLLLEENNGGEE?? Playing catch up! Having built the network toconnect countries, the need for NRENs wasthen clearly realised, as part of the need toconnect schools, universities and otherorganisations within the individual states.Additionally, many campus networks had to bedeveloped. So the past two years have seensome rapid reverse engineering to fast track thedevelopment of NRENs, so that they and theorganisations can leverage the network fordevelopment and innovation.

HHOOWW HHAASS CCUULLTTUURREE IIMMPPAACCTTEEDD TTHHEE GGRROOWWTTHH OOFFRREEGGIIOONNAALL NNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG –– AANNDD WWHHAATT HHAASS BBEEEENN TTHHEEEEFFFFEECCTT OOFF NNEETTWWOORRKKSS OONNRREEGGIIOONNAALL CCUULLTTUURREESS?? HHuummaann nneettwwoorrkkiinngg iiss oofftteenn ccoonnssiiddeerreedd eevveerryy bbiitt aass iimmppoorrttaannttttoo ssuucccceessssffuull RR&&EE nneettwwoorrkkiinngg aass ccaabblleess iinn tthhee ggrroouunndd..TThheerreeffoorree bbuuiillddiinngg aanndd ddeevveellooppiinngg rreeggiioonnaall nneettwwoorrkkss aannddccoommmmuunniittiieess ccaann bbee hheeaavviillyy iimmppaacctteedd bbyy ccuullttuurree,, oorr mmoorreeaaccccuurraatteellyy ccuullttuurreess –– ffrroomm wwhhaatt aarree oofftteenn ggeeooggrraapphhiiccaallllyyeennoorrmmoouuss rreeggiioonnss..

TTHHEE CCAARRIIBBBBEEAANN:: MMOOVVIINNGG FFRROOMM ‘‘EEVVEERRYYTTHHIINNGG IISS OOKK’’ TTOO‘‘LLEEAADDIINNGG EEDDGGEE IICCTT’’KKSS:: The historical culture of the Caribbean, exemplified by the phrase “Jamaica no problem” isperhaps inconsistent with a world which is interconnected, globally competitive, a world whereinnovation requires investment, science and technology. The challenge is how to get people toembrace leading edge ICT to drive innovation and development. For instance, the call for R&Enetworking didn’t come from the universities as it has elsewhere, but rather from a governmentseeking economic growth and development.

WWEERREE TTHHEERREE SSIIMMIILLAARR EEXXPPEERRIIEENNCCEESS IINN LLAATTIINN AAMMEERRIICCAA?? FFUU:: The culture of innovation is interesting and something that governments are trying to foster.This involves being creative, being allowed to fail, and then pushing ahead with the next idea.However, failure is not an option in Latin American countries, and by seeking regular successyou become more risk-averse. As an NREN when you propose new things, it takes time forideas to be accepted. However, thanks to early successes in ALICE, and because many of theleaders of NRENs are recognised for being the ones who first talked about the internet, andsetting up ISPs, they have gained respect from telcos and from governments. However, whenyou propose something different to that in which you’ve previously succeeded, they don’tnecessarily believe you.

DDrr FF..FF.. TTuussuubbiirraa,,UUbbuunnttNNeett AAlllliiaannccee ((AAffrriiccaa))

The UbuntuNet Alliance started in 2007as a membership organisation – withoutany network. So the challenge at theoutset was very different. It was to build acommunity around a common need,before we built the infrastructure. Thatneed was sufficient access foruniversities.

It took around 2 years to establishfirst a committee of individuals and thencommunities, around a central ethos,

based on the Ubuntu philosophy:

““MMUUTTUUAALLRREESSPPOONNSSIIBBIILLIITTYY FFOORREEAACCHH OOTTHHEERR AANNDD TTOOEEAACCHH OOTTHHEERR””

Our first challenge was to build (human)capacity and develop interaction withgovernments and regulators which wouldlay the foundation for putting in place thenetworks.

What exists as UA today was builtfrom Africa to Europe, and the approachto the EU for support came around 2006.The investment has over time helped tobuild and then fill the gaps in networks,and this process has been built firmlyupon trust.

FEATURE

11

FEATURE


HHOOWW AARREE TTHHEENNEETTWWOORRKKSS BBEEIINNGG UUSSEEDD TTOODDAAYY?? AAKK:: CAREN is relatively young regional network compared to TEIN and ALICE.Ten years ago we began to establish our NRENs in Central Asian countriesunder the support of the NATO Science Programme and NATO Virtual SilkHighway project. There are three main areas where research networking ismaking a real difference:

TTWWOO WWAAYY CCOOLLLLAABBOORRAATTIIOONNIn Central Asia environmental projects are not only helping the local region butare providing valuable data in modelling programs which can help other areas ofthe world. For example, glacial monitoring has involved global collaboration withresearchers in Europe, meaning we can compare patterns of melting betweenglaciers in the Austrian Alps, Sweden and Kyrgyzstan.

EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaallCentral Asia is extremely mountainous and given our physical positionearthquakes are a constant threat to infrastructure, population and thereforedevelopment. By working together using CAREN the countries of Central Asiahave been able to build an earthquake model for the region, which helps providebetter understanding and early warning to mitigate the devastatingconsequences of earthquakes and other natural disasters.

ee--lleeaarrnniinngg aanndd tteelleemmeeddiicciinneeBeing located between Asia and Europe means CAREN naturally seeks tocollaborate with both of these regions. e-Learning enables us to achieve this,increasing the knowledge and skills we have in our countries and directly helpingus develop. For example, by working with colleagues in Europe, Turkmenistan’sGün Institute has developed into a centre of excellence in solar power, with over700 people trained remotely, creating the foundations of a vibrant local solarindustry. This year collaboration on telemedicine with medical doctors in Asiaunited to TEIN Medical working group has been started.

LLAATTIINN AAMMEERRIICCAA –– PPRROOVVIIDDIINNGG TTHHEE TTOOOOLLSS FFOORR AALLLLFFUU:: There are many enormous ‘big science’ projects in Latin America, such asthe astronomical telescopes in Chile and the Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory inArgentina. Research networks are obviously a vital part of sharing informationand driving collaboration for these projects. Connectivity is also at the heart ofimproving the lives of the people of Latin America – the Brazilian T@lemedtelemedicine project brings the skills and services of large hospitals to ruralcommunities.

But we see a real need to move beyond large scale projects to make itsimple for researchers in many areas, such as in biodiversity or seismic studiesto work together. To collaborate, these communities need tools, so we havecreated a portal that brings together, in one place, many of the software toolsthey need. So they can easily access and install video conferencing software forexample – in fact this is now being ‘exported’ back to Europe as it is being usedin collaborative projects between Latin American and European researchers.

IINN TTHHEEDDEEVVEELLOOPPIINNGGWWOORRLLDD,, IISSEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN TTHHEEMMOORREE IIMMPPOORRTTAANNTTPPAARRTT OOFF‘‘RREESSEEAARRCCHH AANNDDEEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN’’NNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG??DDOOEESS IINNNNOOVVAATTIIOONNTTAAKKEE AA BBAACCKKSSEEAATT?? AASSIIAA’’SS DDIIVVEERRSSIITTYY IISS EENNOORRMMOOUUSSFFLL:: The experience of TEIN is that because of the greatdiversity in the region, there is not a single answer: differentgroups are at different levels of progress, and have differentrequirements, so we are covering research, education anddevelopment. Some need assistance on thedevelopmental/educational side, whilst others are reallypushing the boundaries of the network and services. Thischallenge is partially answered by the community approachas more developed countries can assist others, and benefitfrom the cooperative approach in building the network andresources.

AAFFRRIICCAA’’SS IINNNNOOVVAATTIIVVEE MMIINNDDSS WWAANNTTTTOO BBEE UUNNLLEEAASSHHEEDD TTuussuu:: The UbuntuNet Alliance considers innovation to be thevery essence of what we as NRENs are. Whilst thedevelopmental contribution of research and educationnetworking is well recognised, it is the unleashing of theinnovative minds of the Africans that is really exciting,something that will rapidly increase once equal access toresources is achieved.

It is not about the physical network. The UbuntuNetAlliance is seeking to stimulate this innovation through annualconferences which look at how e-infrastructures are beingexploited to support development, and research into areassuch as genetic research, environment and disease.

FEATURE

13

LLOOOOKKIINNGG FFOORRWWAARRDD,, WWHHAATT AARREE TTHHEEOOPPPPOORRTTUUNNIITTIIEESS AANNDD CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEESSOOFF TTHHEE NNEEXXTT TTEENN YYEEAARRSS??CCAARRIIBBBBEEAANNKKSS:: As many people have said, technology is levelling theplaying field across the globe. The world will be flat – withequal opportunities for all, rather than the current dividesbetween regions. Research and education networks are atool that can accelerate this process and help the Caribbeantackle our key challenges of research, education, health andclimate change. We want to engage with the world throughsharing best practices and pooling our knowledge. There areunparalleled opportunities – the whole ethos of the R&Ecommunity is ‘I can help’ and this makes collaboration mucheasier on both a physical and cultural level.

AAFFRRIICCAATTuussuu: The sparks of development can come from anywhere. We’re entering a world of global collaboration andbroadband for all means opportunities for all.

AASSIIAAFFLL:: The future is not about Europe and Asia workingtogether, but about true global collaboration. We need todevelop those countries that don’t currently have NRENsand give them the tools to join the community. NRENs needto ensure they are always relevant to their governments andusers to safeguard their existence.

LLAATTIINN AAMMEERRIICCAAFFUU:: To get the equal opportunities we’re talking about, moredoes need to be done on the infrastructure side. Ournetworks need to be equal to those in Europe and NorthAmerica – the speed of access to knowledge is still greaterin developed countries. The market alone will not solve this –so we as a community need to invest in new technologieswhich will benefit us all.

CCOONNCCLLUUSSIIOONNPPAASSTTRegional networks have helped bring down costs of connectivity and havehelped people to come together and work as communities.

PPRREESSEENNTTThe benefits of networks are incredibly diverse - in research collaboration,education and helping develop individual countries and regions. They arealso driving innovation, changing traditionally risk-averse cultures across theglobe to make them more open and ready to embrace new ideas.

FFUUTTUURREEThe world of the future is flat, with equal opportunities for all. Investment isneeded to both improve network capacity and speeds and to reduce coststhrough low maintenance networks that are controlled directly and areconsequently cheaper to run.

This article is based on the TNC 2013 panelsession, "A decade of collaborative R&Enetworking around the globe" - seehhttttppss::////ttnncc22001133..tteerreennaa..oorrgg//ccoorree//sseessssiioonn//2288

eedduuPPEERRTT llaauunncchheedd tthhee PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee UU!! sscchhooooll sseessssiioonnsswwiitthh aa vveerryy ssuucccceessssffuull eevveenntt iinn ZZuurriicchh tthhiiss SSpprriinngg..

The school is one of the eventswithin the eduPERTPerformance U! project andwas held this year in Zurich,

6 -8 March. The first part of the eventwas dedicated to topics like TCP andinvestigative tools with the second partexperimental, and dedicated to newtopics like performance invirtualisation, Infiniband and SDN.

Over 20 people attended theschool and the agenda had includedinvited speakers who all contributedgreatly to the success of the event.

Subjects covered included:

• TCP• Multipath TCP over SDN• OpenFlow and SDN• Infiniband• Virtualization• Assessing overseas

performance issues• Investigative tools• PerfSONAR MDM

The full programme of thePerformance U! School – includingvideos of all the presentations – can befound at hhttttpp::////eedduuppeerrtt..ggeeaanntt..nneett

EEDDUUPPEERRTTAs cross-domain and cross-functional working becomes the normrather than the exception, the abilityto monitor, manage and fault-findcomplex systems will becomeincreasingly valuable. With the ever-changing face of the technologiesinvolved, it is essential that teamshave access to the latest information,tools and experience from otherexperts.

Performance EnhancementResponse Teams (PERTs) provide aninvestigation and consulting serviceto academic and research users ontheir network performance issues. Ifthey have an issue (for example lowthroughput, slow response times, ordegradation), typically the user willcontact a PERT directly or throughstandard IT support channels. Todiagnose problems a PERT considersthe complete end-to-end path, so oneof the main functions of a PERT is toquestion end-users, systemadministrators, and networkoperators who have systems on that path.

The role of eduPERT is to helpthese individual PERTs come togetherto share knowledge, best practiceand experience and help spread thisinformation throughout the GÉANTcommunity.

eduPERT is part of GÉANT’scommitment to helping network usersget the best performance from theirconnections.

Details of the next PerformanceU! school will be announced shortly.For more details and information onhow to register, visit the edupertwebsite at hhttttpp::////eedduuppeerrtt..ggeeaanntt..nneett

SERVICES


PPEERRFFOORRMMAANNCCEE UU!!FIRST SCHOOL AGREAT SUCCESSAAlleessssaannddrraa SScciicccchhiittaannoo,, eedduuPPEERRTT TTaasskk LLeeaaddeerr

PPiiccttuurreeAAlleessssaannddrraa SScciicccchhiittaannoo,,eedduuPPEERRTT TTaasskkLLeeaaddeerr

SERVICES

15

EEDDUURROOAAMM®® SSUUSSTTAAIINNAABBLLEETTRRAAIINNIINNGG EEVVEENNTT FFOORR RREESSEEAARRCCHH AANNDD EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONNIINN SSUUBB--SSAAHHAARRAANN AAFFRRIICCAA

The UbuntuNet Alliance, incollaboration with GÉANT,recently hosted a one-dayeduroam® training event in

Kampala, Uganda, for associates ofthe AfricaConnect project andUbuntuNet, its high-capacity researchand education (R&E) network currentlybeing built in Sub-Saharan Africa.

17 engineers from UbuntuNetAlliance member NRENs (NationalResearch and Education Networks)attended so they could learn how todeploy eduroam. Two member NRENsof the UbuntuNet Alliance, KENET(Kenya) and TENET (South Africa) arealready in advanced stages ofplanning and extending eduroamservices to universities in theircountries. It is hoped that the trainingwill assist other NRENs to offer theservice to their user communities in thenear future so that researchers and

students can have secure, remoteaccess, irrespective of their location.

SSUUSSTTAAIINNAABBLLEETTRRAAIINNIINNGGThe engineers spent an intensive daylearning eduroam theory, conceptsand configuration, equipping themwith the skills and knowledge to beable to organise their own trainingworkshops. It is through initiativeslike this that the UbuntuNet Allianceaims to fulfil its vision forAfricaConnect.

Says Valter Nordh (SUNET),GÉANT Activity Co-Leader: “I ampleased that GÉANT is supportingthe UbuntuNet Alliance by creatingservices that will add value to thenetwork provided by theAfricaConnect project. Offeringwireless access (through eduroam) to

participants is a major milestone forAfrica’s NRENs. It is hoped thistraining will lead to further eduroamdeployments across Africa andincrease uptake in other serviceareas, further enhancing the wayusers benefit from the network.”

GGLLOOBBAALL AACCCCEESSSSFrom humble beginnings connectingjust five countries, eduroam has builtmomentum to become one of thelargest Wi-Fi roaming services in theworld, expanding in 10 years to over60 countries and serviced by wellover 5000 locations with more beingadded all the time in universities,schools and libraries across theglobe.

®eduroam is a registered trademark of TERENA

KKaarrll MMeeyyeerr,, PPrroodduucctt MMaarrkkeettiinngg aanndd CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnss OOffffiicceerr

SERVICES


DDAANNCCEERRTT-- SSEECCUURRIINNGG TTHHEE GGÉÉAANNTT NNEETTWWOORRKKGGÉÉAANNTT iiss aatt tthhee ffoorreeffrroonntt ooff gglloobbaall rreesseeaarrcchh,,pprroovviiddiinngg aa ppllaattffoorrmm ffoorr aaccaaddeemmiiccss aanndd iinnssttiittuuttiioonnssttoo eexxcchhaannggee ddaattaa iinn aa rreelliiaabbllee aanndd sseeccuurree mmaannnneerr..MMaannyy ooff tthhee uusseerrss ooff tthhiiss nneettwwoorrkk wwiillll bbee sseennddiinngg oorr rreecceeiivviinngg sseennssiittiivvee ddaattaa aanndd iittss sseeccuurriittyy aannddiinntteeggrriittyy iiss ooff tthhee uuppmmoosstt iimmppoorrttaannccee..

The responsibility of monitoringand ensuring the security of theGÉANT network falls toDANCERT, the Computer

Emergency Response Team (CERT) atDANTE. This team of specialists use alayered approach to ensuring securityis built into the network such as in thesuccessful NNSSHHaaRRPP process thatprovides real-time incident alerts forNREN networks.

NSHaRP provides a platform forsecurity information to be exchangedefficiently and quickly enabling a rapidresponse to network incidents.Reporting over 60 incidents a dayresults in a high state of awarenessabout threats to their networksamongst NSHaRP partners andensures that DANCERT is able to

assist NRENs in dealing with attacksinside the GÉANT network and alsothose beyond GÉANT’s borders.

DANCERT uses independenttechnologies to monitor, report andmitigate threats to the GÉANT networkand GÉANT NRENs providing ascalable solution to cater for emergingsecurity requirements. In this ever-changing environment, the securityteam performs an annual independentsecurity review to ensure tomorrow’sresearchers can collaborate using asecure and fast GÉANT network.

For more information on theNSHaRP process visithhttttpp::////wwwwww..ggeeaanntt..nneett//NNeettwwoorrkk//NNeettwwoorrkk--OOppeerraattiioonnss//PPaaggeess//NNSSHHaaRRPP..aassppxx

PPiiccttuurreeWayne Routly,DANTE SecurityManager

http://www.geant.net/Network/Network-Operations/Pages/NSHaRP.aspx



MMIICCRROOSSOOFFTT LLIINNKKSS TTOO JJAANNEETTTTOO BBOOOOSSTT CCLLOOUUDD AACCCCEESSSSAATT UUKK UUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTIIEESS

Cloud services and cloudcomputing offer theResearch & Education sectorhuge opportunities to

leverage best of breed facilities fromglobal providers, to bring additionalservices and support to their ownusers. By offering cloud servicesacross R&E networks, NRENs canleverage their investment intechnology and provide value addedservices without the need to develop,build and support separateinfrastructure.

Signaling the start of a newcollaboration between public andprivate sector organisations, Microsofthave signed an agreement with Janet,the UK’s research and educationnetwork, to deliver a speedier andmore secure connection to services forstudents and researchers.

The agreement will see theestablishment of a peeringarrangement between the networks ofthe two organisations. This means thattraffic to Microsoft services from

educational sites will not have totraverse the public internet, cuttinglatency and enabling a high bandwidthconnection for students andresearchers. The use of peeringarrangements also reduces the loadon the Internet gateways so improvingresponse times for all other uses.

Oxford University chief informationofficer, Professor Anne Trefethen, said:"The capability afforded by Janet'speering with Microsoft's Cloud withhigh-bandwidth secure connectionscreates new opportunities forresearchers and the Universitycommunity as a whole."

As part of the agreement, any UKeducation institution can gain accessto Microsoft's cloud-based Office 365suite under standard terms andconditions negotiated by Janet. Thiseliminates the need for each site tonegotiate individually with Microsoft –saving time and money.

Microsoft UK's director ofeducation Steve Beswick said: "We aredelighted to be working with Janet to

provide additional value-addedproducts and services to the researchand education community. We have along-standing relationship with thissector and are looking forward to morecollaborative working with Janet togrow our offering."

The move will benefit students byproviding faster access to resources, itwill also benefit Microsoft by potentiallymaking their services more attractivefor infrastructure and websites, virtuallearning environments and researchprojects.

Janet connects the UK’s researchand education organisations to eachother, as well as to the rest of the worldthrough links to the global internet andGÉANT. It also offers a wide range ofservices including cloud services andpurchasing frameworks to enable itscustomers to meet their businessneeds.

To find out more about Janet cloudservices, please visit:hhttttppss::////wwwwww..jjaa..nneett//pprroodduuccttss--sseerrvviicceess//jjaanneett--cclloouudd--sseerrvviicceess

SERVICES

17

KKaarrll MMeeyyeerr,, PPrroodduucctt MMaarrkkeettiinngg aanndd CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonnss OOffffiicceerr

https://www.ja.net/products-services/janet-cloud-services

https://www.ja.net/products-services/janet-cloud-services

NEWS


110000GGBBPPSS DDEELLIIVVEERREEDDAACCRROOSSSS AATTLLAANNTTIICC

Following an earlierannouncement (see CONNECTIssue 11) on the intention tocollaborate, six of the world’s

leading research and education (R&E)networks (Internet2, NORDUnet,ESnet, SURFnet, CANARIE, andGÉANT) and two commercial partners(Ciena and Juniper) havedemonstrated for the first time aTransatlantic 100 gigabits-per-second(Gbps or one billion bits per second)transmission link for research andeducation between North America andEurope during the TERENANetworking Conference 2013(TNC2013), held in Maastricht, TheNetherlands.

These demonstrations showcasedemerging technologies and advancedapplications for science, research andeducation. The 100 Gbps link, called

the Advanced North Atlantic 100GPilot project (ANA-100G) will be usedfor engineering and testing the newtransmission link, applications,resources, monitoring techniques andadvanced technologies such assoftware-defined networking, for aperiod of 12 months after theconference.

These efforts will determine theoperational requirements needed toeffectively run 100 Gbps wavelengthsbetween North America and Europe tomeet the growing demand ofspecialised research organisations.

This first Transatlantic 100 Gbpslink for R&E will advance high-endprojects such as the experiments atthe Large Hadron Collider inSwitzerland, the ITER fusion reactor inFrance and similar internationalprograms.

The 100 Gbps Transatlanticconnection reflects two trends inscientific research: science isincreasingly data driven with datasetsfrom large-scale experiments at thetera-scale level, and theseexperiments are increasingly carriedout by international collaborations inwhich researchers around the globeexpect immediate access to thedatasets.

The operation of this ultra high-speed link across the Atlantic Oceanalso illustrates how the closecollaboration between research andeducation networks and thecommercial sector continues to evolve,with the on-going deployment ofcutting-edge networking technologiesthat underpin ground-breaking,globally collaborative science anddiscovery.

TThhee wwoorrlldd''ss ffiirrsstt iinntteerrccoonnttiinneennttaall 110000 GGbbppss lliinnkk ffoorr rreesseeaarrcchh aanndd eedduuccaattiioonn wwaass ssuucccceessssffuullllyy ddeemmoonnssttrraatteedd aatt TTNNCC22001133

COMMUNITY

19

The event is being hosted by IBERGRID, theorganisation that representsthe interests of the Spanishand Portuguese grid

initiatives within EGI. Over the courseof the week the participants will focuson EGI's strategic aims for 2020 whilereflecting on the current achievementsand the path for future developments.

One thing that sets this year’sTechnical Forum apart is the numberof co-located events. These include:

• IBERGRID 2013, the annual meeting of the people working in grid on the Iberian peninsula

• Cloud PlugFest #10, an event promoting interoperability efforts on cloud standards-based software, services, frameworks, products and projects

• OGF39, one of the Open Grid Forum’s regular meetings to meet and discuss standards in the grid arena

GlobusEUROPE2013, the EuropeanGlobus Community Forum’s annualmeeting to foster cooperation withinthe European community using Globus

These will bring a diverse range ofpeople under one roof that are allworking on the technical challengesfacing research communities withinEurope.

The meeting is not just about gridand there will be many sessionsdedicated to cloud solutions like EGI’sfederated cloud infrastructure, and thepossible use of commercial cloudproviders. The meeting is open toanyone interested in the future of e-Infrastructures in Europe and therewill be many discussions ontechnology, policy, operations, securityand much more.

You can find more information andregister for the event athttp://tf2013.egi.eu

If you can’t attend the event youcan follow the event and discussions onthe #EGITF13 hashtag on Twitter andFacebook.

This year the European GridInfrastructure is holding itsTechnical Forum in Madrid from the 16th to the 20th of September.

THE EUROPEAN GRID HEADS TO SPAIN

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/egitf13

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EGITF13&src=hash&mode=realtime

COMMUNITY


As the range andcapabilities of cloudservices increase and theybecome maturetechnologies many become

attractive to workers in the R&Ecommunity. Increasingly, students andresearchers are using commercial cloudofferings, but these are not primarilydesigned for the needs of sensitiveresearch data. Universities andresearch institutes seeking their ownon-campus storage infrastructuresoften find they cannot interface witheach other or with public services.

This need for multi-domain, secureand trusted cloud services offersNRENs an opportunity to deliver atailored high-performance data storageinfrastructure. In recognition of theseopportunities, GÉANT has created anew “Cloud Services” team toinvestigate and maximise the benefitsof cloud services.

TERENA has been at the forefrontof research in this field bydemonstrating how universities’ andNRENs’ personal cloud storagefacilities can become trusted servicesthat protect data privacy throughTERENA’s Trusted Cloud Drive (TCD)initiative.

The community Task Force onStorage (TF-Storage), which issupported by TERENA with fundingfrom GÉANT, provided a consultationforum for developing a TCD pilotservice. This launched in April 2012.During the pilot phase the softwareplatform was installed and tested at theTERENA Secretariat and researchnetworks in Belgium, Brazil, Croatia,Czech Republic, Greece, Poland,Portugal, and Spain.

It is intended that TCD will notfunction as a complete end-user data

storage facility but insteaddemonstrates a lightweight privacy-protecting middleware component thatcould be installed at the back-end ofpersonal data-storage applicationschosen by users. This separates contentfrom metadata before it is stored in thecloud. The metadata can be stored in atrusted place, while the content isencrypted and stored in the cloudsecurely and safely. In this way, theencrypted content cannot be accessedwithout the data owner being involved.This model addresses legal concernshighlighted by the US-EU Safe HarborFramework, the USA Patriot Act, andthe European Commission Directive on

fighting cyber-crime and protectingprivacy in the cloud.

TERENA will continue to maintainand develop the TCD platform withinthe TF-Storage consultation. Theresults of this pilot will help the CloudServices Team in planning live servicesacross GÉANT. The final TCD pilotproject report was published in May2013 and is available as a PDF atwww.terena.org/publications/. More information about the pilot can be found onhttp://www.terena.org/clouddrive.

USER PRIVACY NO LONGER ACLOUDY ISSUETERENA investigates how a Trusted CloudDrive could protect user privacy

Picture andwordsLaura Durnford,TERENA SeniorCommunicationsOfficer

http://www.terena.org/clouddrive

http://www.terena.org/clouddrive

www.terena.org/publications/

COMMUNITY

21

TERENA TASK FORCES – CAN YOUHELP SHAPE THE FUTURE?

GÉANT is well known as afirst-class network offeringthe European research andeducation networkingcommunity a unique range

of services. However, less well knownare the range of outreach and humannetworking activities that GÉANTsupports.

In particular, the TERENA (Trans-European Research and EducationNetworking Association) task forcessupport innovation, service incubationand community building across thecommunity. For many years,volunteers from national research andeducation networks (NRENs) andpartners across the wider communityhave been working together in theseopen task forces. Their contributionpays enormous dividends to theproject.

TERENA task forces provide aforum for exchanging ideas andexpertise, exploring new concepts,tools and services, and buildingcommunities of experts with commoninterests and goals. They act as a vitalconduit between the RTD (Researchand Technology Development) work ofGÉANT and experts from the wider

community in Europe and beyond.Relevant new ideas, methods orservices are fed into GÉANT and areoften developed further within theproject.

A prime example of successfulinteraction between task forces andGÉANT is eduroam®. Originally anidea from a community member, thisglobal service was developed in the taskforce TF-Mobility (now TF-MNM) andcame under GÉANT’s wing in April2009. This task force collaborated withGÉANT to standardise the TransportLayer Security (TLS) encryption for theRemote Authentication Dial-in-UserService (RADIUS) protocol, whichunderpins eduroam. This waspublished by the IETF as RFC6614,making RADIUS more secure andscalable.

There are currently eight taskforces supporting the work of TERENAand GÉANT;• TF-MNM – (Mobility and Network

Middleware)• TF-EMC2 (European Middleware

Coordination and Collaboration) – helping to coordinate developments in eduGAIN

• TF-CSIRT – (Computer Security Incident Response Teams)

• TF-NOC (Network Operation Centres)

• TF-Media - Task Force on Applied Media in Teaching and Learning

• TF-CPR (Communications and Public Relations)

• TF-MSP (Management of Service Portfolios) ensuring GÉANT participation in discussions about Community Relationship Management Systems

• TF-Storage has been active in TERENA’s Trusted Cloud Drive, which is now feeding into GÉANT’snew Cloud Activity.

GÉANT has been fundingsecretariat support and coordination ofthe technical task forces sinceSeptember 2004. Since April 2013,these relationships have strengthenedwith support extended to all taskforces, including the community’smarketing and communicationsactivities.

For more information about theactivities of the TERENA task forcesand how to join and contribute tothem, visithttp://www.terena.org/activitiesand click ‘Filter by Task Forces’.

WordsLaura Durnford,TERENA SeniorCommunicationsOfficer

PictureParticipants ofTF-Storage,meeting in Berlin in March 2013

http://www.terena.org/activities

AASSTTRROONNOOMMEERRSSBBEENNEEFFIITT FFRROOMM NNEEXXPPRREESS AANNDDGGÉÉAANNTTNNEEXXPPRReeSS pprroojjeecctt iimmpprroovveess rraaddiioo aassttrroonnoommyy tteecchhnniiqquueess wwiitthh GGÉÉAANNTT

FEATURE


WWoorrddssChris Measures,Science Writer

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After three years, theground-breakingNEXPReS projectfinished on 1 July 2013.NEXPReS (NovelEXplorations Pushing

Robust e-VLBI Services) hassuccessfully helped the radioastronomy community and been at theforefront of trialling new advances inresearch networking technology,particularly in areas such asBandwidth on Demand (BoD).

Begun in 2010, NEXPReS aimed toimprove astronomical techniques byeliminating the distinction betweentraditional disk-based Very LongBaseline Interferometry (VLBI) andreal-time electronic VLBI (e-VLBI)techniques.

Through new data caching,network storage, cloud correlation andbandwidth on demand techniques,NEXPReS’s goal was to bring togetherthe reliability and robustness of VLBIwith the speed and flexibility of e-VLBIfor every observation conducted bythe European VLBI Network (EVN).Funded by the European Union underthe Seventh Framework Programme(RI-261525), NEXPReS was made upof 15 partner institutes in elevencountries, coordinated by the JointInstitute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE).Networking partners in the projectincluded DANTE, NORDUnet, PSNCand SURFnet.

Research networks such asGÉANT and its NREN partners havebeen a key part of the project’ssuccess. e-VLBI simply cannot becarried out without the power ofresearch networks, as it relies on highspeed, reliable connections betweentelescopes around Europe (andbeyond) and JIVE in the Netherlands.As T. Charles Yun, NEXPReS projectmanager points out, long termcollaboration has been vital, “It isimportant that R&E networks havecooperated with radio astronomy overlong periods so that we can learn whattechnologies are coming and influencefuture work and participate in itsdevelopment.”

FFIIRRSSTT UUSSEE OOFF NNSSII PPRROOTTOOCCOOLLNEXPReS has been a pioneer inusing Bandwidth on Demand (BoD)and was the first project to use thenew Network Services Infrastructure(NSI) protocol. NSI provides astandardised interface, allowingusers to quickly and easily createinteroperable BoD services acrossmultiple research networks.

According to Paul Boven, theactivity leader for NEXPReS's BoDwork package, NSI is critical tosetting up e-VLBI observations, “Wehave already used the flexibility ofBoD to reroute connections overdifferent incoming fibres, allowing usto engineer the distribution ofincoming traffic over the variousnetworking links at JIVE. But NSI isgoing to become much more

important to us as e-VLBI goes tohigher bandwidths, such as 4Gbps,and larger numbers of telescopes inthe near future.”

The success of BoD will have alasting impact says T. Charles Yun.“BoD allows us to reserve a scarceresource, use it, and then return it tothe community. This usage fits invery well with the way VLBIobservations are scheduled.”

PPAATTHHFFIINNDDEERR FFOORRTTHHEE SSQQUUAARREEKKIILLOOMMEETTRREE AARRRRAAYYLooking further ahead, the lessonslearned from NEXPReS will inform theplanned Square Kilometre Array(SKA), the world’s largest and mostsensitive radio telescope. Made up ofthousands of linked radio wavereceptors located in Australia and inSouthern Africa, the SKA will create atelescope with a collecting areaequivalent to about one squarekilometre and will generate enormousamounts of data to be analysed andshared amongst the globalastronomy community. The work ofNEXPReS will act as a pathfinderproject for many areas of SKA,including distributed storage andbandwidth on demand.

Through close collaboration withresearch networks and astronomersNEXPReS has succeeded inproviding the best of both worlds –the immediacy of e-VLBI and thestability of recorded VLBI, improvingour ability to study the universearound us.

FEATURE

23

OOUUTTSSTTAANNDDIINNGG RREESSPPOONNSSEE TTOOGGÉÉAANNTT OOPPEENN CCAALLLL

In April, GÉANT announced its firstOpen Call for Multi-Domain NetworkResearch and Developmentactivities. The objective was to

source new and innovative users andprojects to work with GÉANT,developing future innovations to helppromote the unimpeded movement ofscientific knowledge across high-speed networks. The Open Callattracted 70 proposals from acrossEurope and beyond and the EuropeanCommission budget of €3.3m wasoversubscribed by a factor of three.Michael Enrico, DANTE CTO andGÉANT Technical Coordinator, GÉANT,tells us more:

“We are delighted with theresponse to the Open Call. With sucha high over-subscription rate, it hasbeen a huge undertaking to evaluatethe proposals, and ensure we

HHIIGGHH QQUUAALLIITTYY PPRROOPPOOSSAALLSS RREECCEEIIVVEEDDFFRROOMM TTOOPP NNEETTWWOORRKK RREESSEEAARRCCHHEERRSS

maximise the available fundingstructure. The quality of applicationshas been very high; as you canimagine this has made the selectionprocess incredibly tough.”

“The spread of topics received hasbeen excellent and we are particularlypleased with the interest in the SDN(Software Defined Networking)OpenFlow topic, as GÉANT hasrecently launched an OpenFlow testnetwork facility; developed to supportthe increasing requirements fromindustry and academia for anexperimental test-bed environment.”

“We’d like to extend our thanks toour National Research and EducationNetwork partners for assisting us in thepromotion of the Open Call, which hasproved a tremendous opportunity toattract new users.”

The competitive evaluationprocess began in June withindependent experts rigorouslyassessing the proposals. GÉANT willnow enter into negotiations with anumber of projects with a view tofunding more than 20 projects.

The selected projects will beformally announced in October, atGÉANT’s annual symposium held inVienna. Enrico added:

“The symposium will be a greatopportunity for our new colleagues toget to know the people and processesbehind the GÉANT network. We verymuch look forward working with theOpen Call projects throughout theremainder of the GN3plus project.”

Open Call projects will runbetween October 2013 and March 2015.

CONNECT NEWS


PARTNER PROFILE

25

GGÉÉAANNTT PPAARRTTNNEERR PPRROOFFIILLEE::

SSWWIITTCCHHAAss aa ppaarrttnneerr ooff tthhee SSwwiissss uunniivveerrssiittiieess,, SSWWIITTCCHH bbrroouugghhtt tthhee IInntteerrnneett ttoo SSwwiittzzeerrllaanndd mmoorree tthhaann 2255 yyeeaarrss aaggoo.. TTooddaayy,, tthhee nnoonn--pprrooffiitt oorrggaanniissaattiioonn wwiitthh aarroouunndd 111100 eemmppllooyyeeeess aatt iittsshheeaaddqquuaarrtteerrss iinn ZZuurriicchh ddeevveellooppss IInntteerrnneett sseerrvviicceess ffoorr lleeccttuurreerrss,,rreesseeaarrcchheerrss aanndd ssttuuddeennttss.. SSeerrvviicceess SSWWIITTCCHH hhaass ssuucccceessssffuullllyyddeevveellooppeedd ffoorr tthhee aaccaaddeemmiicc ccoommmmuunniittyy aarree aallssoo ooffffeerreedd ttooccoommmmeerrcciiaall ccuussttoommeerrss.. IInn aaddddiittiioonn,, SSWWIITTCCHH iiss ccoommmmiitttteedd ttoo eennssuurriinngg tthhee sseeccuurriittyy aanndd ssttaabbiilliittyy ooff tthhee IInntteerrnneett iinn SSwwiittzzeerrllaanndd..

BBAACCKKBBOONNEEThe SWITCH foundation operates its own secure, high-speed fibre-optic data network. Measuring some 2,500 kmin length, the network connects over 275,000 universitymembers at 65 research and teaching institutions with eachother and with GÉANT. Over the next few years, SWITCH willupgrade the academic network to 100Gbps – a milestone inthe evolution of Switzerland’s university infrastructure.

CCUUSSTTOOMMEERR PPRREEFFEERREENNCCEESSAANNDD SSYYNNEERRGGIIEESS TTAAKKEEPPRRIIOORRIITTYY SWITCH previously endeavoured to develop IT services forthe Swiss universities that could not be found anywhere elsein the marketplace. Strategy 2020 changed this at the end of2011. The focus is now on acting as a professional solutionprovider and thus also standing out and making an impactin areas where there is competition from commercialproviders.

Customers from the academic community can use theInnovation Engine to help them work out for themselveswhich services are needed. SWITCH looks at theirproposals, analyses alternatives and synergies for the wholeof the Swiss university system and puts them into practice

where appropriate – even if they concern standard serviceslike spam filtering and IT procurement. Wherever shared ITservices for all Swiss universities make sense, SWITCH’sextensive network know-how and existing infrastructuremake it the logical and most cost-efficient partner both nowand for the future.

2255 YYEEAARRSS OOFF SSWWIITTCCHH –– WWHHAATT CCOOMMEESS NNEEXXTT?? At the end of the 1980s, SWITCH brought the Internet toSwitzerland and became the country’s very first Internetservice provider. The demands of SWITCH’s partners in theacademic community have changed dramatically sincethen. These days, information supply issues are paramount.SWITCH is setting precedents with strategic discussionsand pilot projects in the areas of data lifecycle management,cloud computing, e-identity, e-learning and collaborationtools that will gain worldwide importance for research andteaching in the coming years. Universities face particularlyhuge challenges in terms of storing, accessing, managing,archiving and disposing of the massive quantities of datagenerated and used in research and teaching work.SWITCH helps them to create the knowledge space they need.

PictureAndreas Dudler,ManagingDirector ofSWITCH, and the sculpture“Bookstorm”,University ofZurich, Irchelcampus.

COMMUNITY NEWS


BBEELLNNEETT,, TTHHEE BBEELLGGIIAANN NNAATTIIOONNAALLRREESSEEAARRCCHH NNEETTWWOORRKK PPRROOVVIIDDIINNGG HHIIGGHH--SSPPEEEEDD IINNTTEERRNNEETT CCOONNNNEECCTTIIOONNSS TTOO UUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTIIEESS,, CCOOLLLLEEGGEESS OOFF HHIIGGHHEERR EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN,, RREESSEEAARRCCHH CCEENNTTRREESS AANNDD PPUUBBLLIICC SSEERRVVIICCEESS,, IISS TTHHIISS YYEEAARR CCEELLEEBBRRAATTIINNGG IITTSS 2200TTHH AANNNNIIVVEERRSSAARRYY..

HAS A LOT CHANGED OVER THESE 20 YEARS? Absolutely. In 1993 the internet was reserved for asmall number of people and today it has become acommodity. In 20 years, the connectivity offered byBelnet has increased from 64Kbps to 10Gbps. We nowserve 200 institutions with a total of 750,000 users.

This change, just as the need for more availabilityand high capacities of the internet connections, hasled to much greater professionalisation. We have hadto take on more staff who are more diversified andBelnet now employs over 60 people.

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE THIS ANNIVERSARY?To mark our anniversary, we wish to place theinstitutions that are connected to our network at thecentre of the event. We work for and with them andwe will meet them throughout the year to prepare thefuture together!

All the activities carried out with our customerswill culminate in the organisation of a special 20-yearanniversary annual conference scheduled forDecember.

WHAT HAVE BEEN THESIGNIFICANT MILESTONES?In these 20 years, we have continually improved ournetwork which, with each new generation, hasbecome increasingly powerful. The next generation ofour network, scheduled for 2014, will reach a capacityof 100Gbps.

For the past ten years, we have offeredtechnologies compatible with the IPv6 protocol. Ournetwork is now fully 'IPv6 enabled' and all theinstitutions connected to our network have receivedtheir own range. We share this acknowledgedexpertise of IPv6 by organising workshops for all ourpartners who wish to receive training and prepare forthe changeover to IPv6. Regularly organisingpractical or information workshops also forms part ofour main projects.

Since last year, we have also organised the BelgianInternet Security Conference, which addresses issuesof strategy with respect to cyber security. We believethat it is also our role, as a public service, to invite notonly the academic world but also finance, businessesand administrations to discuss strategies relating tosecurity and threats on the internet.

WordsLaetitia Lagneau,Head ofMarketing andCommunicationat Belnet.

COMMUNITY NEWS

27

THE SCHOOLS 2.0PROJECT AWARDED THE"EUROPEAN PRIZE FOR INNOVATION IN PUBLICADMINISTRATION"

The Schools 2.0 Project of theCroatian Academic andResearch Network - CARNetwas chosen as one of the three

most innovative initiatives in thecategory of Initiative for theEducation and Research of theEuropean Prize for Innovation inPublic Administration. The aim of thisproject is to enable high-quality andcomprehensive distance learning ande-learning for an increasing numberof users – both teachers and students.

The award ceremony was held onThursday, 6th June 2013, during theWeek of Innovative Regions ofEurope Conference in Cork, Irelandand the project was awarded with€100,000, to be invested in its furtherdevelopment.

This valuable prize was awardedby the Research, Innovation andScience Commissioner MáireGeoghegan-Quinn, who said:"Innovations are not reserved only forbusiness. The public administrationgenerates half of the gross domesticproduct of the EU and it should alsobe open to changes. Today, ourwinners have shown that we canimprove our lives and contribute tothe modernisation of our economiesby connecting new ideas withtechnology. We need more initiativesof this kind."

The contest was launched by theEuropean Commission, and the prizeswere awarded to those whoseinnovations improve the work ofpublic administration and whoencourage others to adopt a moremodern and innovative approach towork. The European Prize forInnovation in the PublicAdministration was awarded to ninemost innovative initiatives of theEuropean public authorities, three ineach category, on the basis of fourcriteria: originality of initiative andthe possibility of a widespread use of

the same model; economic impact ofthe initiative on society; relevance ofinitiative with respect to problemswith which the society is currentlyconfronted and the use of allocatedfunds according to plan. Moreinformation about the contest and thewinners is available athttps://goo.gl/a8N5W.

According to the rules of thecontest, the prize should ensure thefurther development of the Schools2.0 project. This means that theprofessional training of teachersinvolved in the project will becontinued for the purpose ofimproving digital competence andthat there will be further investmentsin the development of digital maturityof the schools involved in the project,as well as further work on the project-related interconnection of schools at

WordsGoran Skvarc,Information andPR Coordinator,CARNet

PictureLeft to right:Ms. AndrijanaPrskalo Macek,Vice CEO, CARNetMs. AleksandraMudrinic, Skole2.0 Projectmanager, CARNetMs. MáireGeoghegan-Quinn,Research,Innovation andScienceCommissioner, EU Commission

the national and international level.As part of the project, 26 school

locations will be connected to high-speed Internet via an optical network(7 main schools with correspondingbranch schools). Wireless networks(including eduroam) will be set up inthese schools to enable students andteachers to access online learningmaterials and digital textbooks via thetablet, and use them forvideoconferences and distancelearning. All of these schools will alsobe a part of the e-Class Registerproject.

For the project, CARNet receivedjust under 12 million Kuna through apublic tender conducted by theCroatian Post and ElectronicCommunications Agency - HAKOM,which will be used not only to financethe mentioned network and

https://goo.gl/a8N5W

GÉANT AT TNC2013

COMMUNITY NEWS


June saw 600 members of theresearch and educationnetworking community attendthe annual TERENA

Networking Conference in Maastricht,the largest and most prestigiousEuropean research networking event.

Bringing together decisionmakers, networking specialists andmanagers from all major Europeannetworking and researchorganisations. The event offers thechance for attendees to learn aboutthe latest technical, application andmanagement developments inresearch networking.

GÉANT regularly plays an activerole in TNC with an exhibition booth,and this year included three well-attended panel discussions, sevenGÉANT Associated Speakers and alively group workshop on globalcollaboration.

The booth includedcomprehensive information onGÉANT to showcase the latesttechnology and service developments,and a video produced with Infinera,

“2 Terabits in 12 minutes,” tohighlight this exciting step for therecently upgraded network.

All visitors to the booth weregiven a copy of CONNECT magazine,

six new Technology Briefings, and literature from several of ourpartners including RedCLARA,ELCIRA, ACE, FIRE and theUbuntuNet Alliance.

videoconferencing infrastructures andconnections, but also for the purchaseof tablets for teachers and students, aswell as any necessary teachereducation aimed at improving theirdigital competence, specializededucation for the use of technologyand the planning and implementationof project-related cooperation amongschools.

Schools will also be equipped withscientific learning technologies(sensors) for natural sciences -biology, chemistry, physics andecology. The use of these sensors willencourage a collaborative and project-oriented approach to learning,considering that it is envisaged thatall schools participating in the projectwill cooperate through variouseducational activities which includethe use of technology in teaching. Theuse of sensors will incite a differentand more immediate understandingof natural science subjects and naturein general and will also contribute tothe digital literacy of all users.

PictureEuropean Awardfor Innovation in PublicAdministrationLaureates

PRACE SHOWCASES EUROPEANCOMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE EXCELLENCE

Now in its third year ofexistence, the 2013 PRACEScientific Conference(colloquially known as

“PRACE Day”), featuredpresentations by top Europeancomputational scientists who utilisehigh performance computing toperform world-leading computersimulations in their respective fields.

The conference, chaired byProfessor Kenneth Ruud, president ofthe Norwegian Chemical Society andChairman of the Scientific SteeringCommittee of PRACE, showcasednine high-achieving projects,including the UPSCALE project thatreceived a record-breaking allocationof 144 million core hours on theHermit supercomputer. The sciencetalks were preceded by presentationsby Konstantinos Glinos, head of theEuropean Commission e-Infrastructure unit, who outlined theEC HPC Strategy to find solutions tosocietal challenges and to boostindustrial competitiveness; and by Dr.Sergi Girona, Chair of the PRACEBoard of Directors, who summarised

the PRACE 2.0 Strategy for asustainable and persistentinfrastructure 2015-2020.

Mr Glinos said: “Europe has thetechnological know-how and marketsize to play a leading role in all areas:HPC technologies and systems,services and applications,” asentiment echoed by Dr. Girona, whounderlined that: “one of the mainelements of the PRACE 2.0 Strategy isoffering access-service and support tousers,” besides organising the PRACEAdvanced Training Centres,facilitating access for industry andpromoting new methods of access andservices for SMEs.

The PRACE Scientific Conferenceand its accompanying PRACE ISCAward – which was this year awardedto the project “Multi trillion particlessimulation on SuperMUC” byWolfgang Eckhardt of TU München(Germany) – are just two of the manyinitiatives that PRACE and thePRACE IP Projects undertake tosupport and promote excellence inEuropean science and research.Another example is the PRACE

PRACE is proud of the recognition ithas received from the Competitive-ness Council for the hard work of the PRACE Association and the PRACE Implementation Phase (IP) Projects, and fully intends to go above and beyond what has been achieved until now.

Catherine Rivière, Chair of the PRACE Council.

“

”

WordsMarjoleinOorsprong, PRACECommunicationsOfficer

Industrial Seminar – the fifth in theseries was held in April 2013. SHAPE- SMEs HPC Adoption Programme inEurope - is PRACE’s latest offering tofacilitate the uptake of HPC resourcesby industry. The Call for Proposals toSHAPE opened on 17 June 2013.

PRACE’s achievements wererecently acknowledged with afavourable mention in theConclusions of the 3242nd EuropeanCompetitiveness Council meeting,published on 30 May 2013.

COMMUNITY NEWS

29

COMMUNITY NEWS


E-IRG’S WHITE PAPER2013 PUBLISHED: EUROPE NEEDS AN E-INFRASTRUCTURECOMMONSA 2012 e-IRG Roadmap

outlined a vision for thefuture of e-Infrastructuresin Europe. Now, the e-IRG

has published its 2013 White Paper,which takes the discussion one-stepfurther and proposes specific nextsteps.

To meet the challenges ofimplementing the 2020 Strategy,Europe needs an “eInfrastructureCommons” for knowledge, scienceand innovation. It should be open andaccessible, and continuously adaptingto the changing requirements ofresearch and to new technologicalopportunities.

Available e-Infrastructureresources as well as the conditions foraccess vary strongly betweencountries. This limits the ability ofuniversities and research institutes tocollaborate with each other and withcommercial researchers. Therefore,there is an urgent need for aEuropean “e-InfrastructureCommons”: a flexible and dynamicecosystem, providing integratedservices through interoperableinfrastructures.

A centrally managed e-Infrastructure is not a solution.Instead, there is a need for a joint

strategic effort involving users,providers, and funding agencies,leading to a high degree ofcoordination without stiflinginnovation. The e-IRG White Paper2013 outlines a number of stepstowards this objective. These stepsfocus mainly on changes inorganisation, governance andfunding; an important element is theempowerment of end-users throughchanges in funding mechanisms.

The White Paper 2013 was basedon contributions by various e-IRGchampions, all experts in differentareas. In order to keep the WhitePaper sufficiently concise, the originalcontributions where stronglycondensed. However, a much longerversion of the White Paper willremain available from the e-IRGwebsite, including all of thesecontributions. The comments from aconsultation on an earlier draft arealso available on the website, in orderto facilitate an open and transparentdiscussion.

The e-IRG White Paper 2013, thelong version of the White Paper, andthe comments can all be found here:http://www.e-irg.eu/publications/white-papers.html

WordsAri Turunen,CommunicationsManager, Cloud SoftwareProgram

http://www.e-irg.eu/publications/white-papers.html

http://www.e-irg.eu/publications/white-papers.html

GLOBAL NEWS

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AAFFRRIICCAACCOONNNNEECCTTAAWWAARRDDSS CCOONNNNEECCTTIIVVIITTYY CCOONNTTRRAACCTT

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

GGLLOOBBAALL NNEEWWSS

DANTE has awarded a 15-year contract to award-winning carrier WIOCC forconnectivity services in

Southern and Eastern Africa. Theaward was made at the end of a two-year planning and procurementphase for the AfricaConnect project.In 2015, the contract will novate fromDANTE to the UbuntuNet Alliance.

The connectivity procured underthe AfricaConnect projectcomplements the UbuntuNet network,a high-capacity network for researchand education in Sub-Saharan Africawhich creates a regional gateway forglobal research collaboration. Whilstthe long-awaited internet backbone

will improve the lives of millions ofAfricans through acceleratedresearch and education, theconnectivity will equally benefitcollaborative scientific research theworld over, in areas such as climatechange, malaria, biodiversity andmedicine.

Africa is a rich resource ofintellect and genetic resources, aswell as having the sort of large quietspaces ideal for deep spaceresearch, and its increasedinvolvement in global science ishighly anticipated.

A comprehensive procurementprocess began in October 2011. Tenorganisations from Africa and Europe

submitted tenders, and after acompetitive negotiation process, thefinal shortlist comprised five potentialsuppliers.

WIOCC will provide high-speeddata transmission capacity betweena set of Sub-Saharan Africa locationsand Europe, along with housingspace for UbuntuNet routing,switching and monitoring equipment.The new links are expected to beoperational in the second half of 2013.

For more information onAfricaConnect, visit:hhttttpp::////wwwwww..aaffrriiccaaccoonnnneecctt..eeuu//PPaaggeess//hhoommee..aassppxx

http://www.africaconnect.eu/Pages/home.aspx

http://www.africaconnect.eu/Pages/home.aspx

GLOBAL NEWS


EELLCCIIRRAA CCOOMMPPLLEETTEESS BBUUSSYY FFIIRRSSTT YYEEAARR

At the end of May 2013, theELCIRA (Europe LatinAmerica Collaborative e-Infrastructure for Research

Activities) Project reached the end ofthe first year of its 24-month duration.Led by the Latin American R&Enetworking organisation, RedCLARA,and partnered by the NRENs of Brazil(RNP) and Colombia (RENATA) inLatin America, and DANTE, TERENA,GARR and RedIRIS in Europe,ELCIRA aims to enhancecollaboration between Europe andLatin America. This work is beingcarried out by a number of WorkPackages which focus on the areassuch as extending IdentifyFederations in Latin America;videoconferencing directories anddialling systems; promoting thedeployment of eduroam® in LatinAmerica; providing collaborationtools to enable research projectparticipants to work together moreeffectively; and foster collaborationbetween European and LatinAmerican researchers.

The successes of ELCIRAparticipants since the beginning ofJune 2013 include the following:

• In addition to the Brazilian IdentityFederation, CAFe, which wasestablished before the start ofELCIRA, and is already a member ofeduGAIN, the Chilean FederationCOFRe is already in the process ofjoining eduGAIN. In Peru a pilot

federation now exists and federationsare also emerging in Argentina,Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.• Agreements have been made bythe GÉANT eduCONF team and theRedCLARA SIVIC team to bring thetwo services closer together, byhaving a common videoconferencefacility certification process, anintegrated directory of VC facilitiesand an integrated dialling system.Another area that is being explored isthe possibility of a federated supportsystem.• The first meeting of the ELCIRAteam held in Lima, Peru, in July 2009,was a catalyst for the establishmentof eduroam by the Peruvian NREN,RAAP. To date, eduroam is alsoavailable in Brazil and Chile, and inMexico, eduroam is in thedeployment phase. Three othercountries (Argentina, Colombia andCosta Rica) have eduroam Candidatestatus.• ELCIRA has agreed on a suite oftools to be made available toresearch groups to make theircollaboration more effective. Thetools consist of web-conferencing(using MCONF developed by RNP), awiki tool, a collaboration platform anda large file transfer tool. A tools portalhas been developed and is currentlyin a pilot stage which allows NRENsin Latin America and Europe to makethe tools available to usercommunities in their respectivecountries.

• By creating a database of FP7-funded projects involving participantsfrom Latin America, together with atool to visualise this information,ELCIRA has developed a method ofeasily identifying Europe-LatinAmerica research projects whichcould benefit from other servicesoffered through ELCIRA. Work hasalso focused on providing InfoDayswhich provide information tointerested groups on EuropeanCommission funding opportunities.The InfoDays have been madepossible through a blueprint alsodeveloped by ELCIRA to implementlarge-scale intercontinentalvideoconferences. Finally, a videotutorial has been created to showusers how to use the servicesdeveloped by ELCIRA.

The ELCIRA successes on eduGAINand videoconferencing have reliedon close collaboration between theELCIRA project and the GÉANTeduGAIN and eduCONF services. Acommitment to continue thiscollaboration was formalised at theMaastricht TERENA NetworkingConference in June 2013 whereMemorandums of Understandingbetween ELCIRA and eduGAIN onthe one hand, and eduCONF on theother, were signed.

For more information on ELCIRA,visit: http://www.elcira.eu/.

GLOBAL NEWS

33

DDAANNTTEE AANNDD NNSSRRCC TTEEAAMM UUPPTTOO NNAARRRROOWWTTHHEE GGLLOOBBAALL DDIIGGIITTAALL DDIIVVIIDDEE

“We are very excited to workwith NSRC, as it is a trulyglobal facilitator for R&Enetworking in emergingregions. Both DANTE andNSRC are driven by the samephilosophy: our activities arenot just about computers androuters, but also about peopleand human networks thatdevelop and use theconnectivity. I have seenSteve and his team in actionin Africa and Latin America. I now look forward to thisinspiring team work in otherparts of the world in supportof research and education atthe margins.”

Cathrin Stöver, ChiefInternational Relations andCommunications Officer at DANTE

WordsSteven Huter,Director of theNSRC

Read the fullstory here:www.geant.net/DANTE_and_NSRC_team_up

Networking organisationDANTE and the NetworkStartup Resource Centre(NSRC) - two of the world’s

leading agencies responsible fordeveloping and connecting nationalresearch and education networks(NRENs) around the world - havesigned a partnership agreement toformalise and further develop theircollaboration across the globe. Thisnew step in their longstandingworking relationship has beenwelcomed with great enthusiasm byboth parties and is expected to leadto an expansion of their joint activitiesto give a helping hand to the manyNRENs being set up in emerging

regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa,South East Asia and Central Asia.

This is an opportune time toleverage the numerous investmentshappening in the global R&E networkfabric. We are delighted to work moreclosely with DANTE and numerousregional partners around the world toenhance the substantial contributionsby the European Commission toimprove network connectivity andinfrastructure. In working togethermore closely, I believe we can moreeffectively support our internationalcolleagues with their activities tobuild affordable, sustainableuniversity networks and RENs.

To find out more about DANTE visitwwwwww..ddaannttee..nneett and click hheerree to getan overview of the DANTE’s globalconnectivity involvement.

To find out more about NSRC visit wwwwww..nnssrrcc..oorrgg

You can follow Steve and NSRC’s activities around the world athhttttpp::////wwwwww..nnssrrcc..oorrgg//wwhheerree//

MMooUU ssiiggnneedd ttoo ffoorrmmaalliissee ccooooppeerraattiioonn iinn ssuuppppoorrtt ooff ccoonnnneeccttiinngg tthhee lleeaasstt ccoonnnneecctteedd

http://www.geant.net/Network/Global-Connectivity/Pages/default.aspx

www.geant.net/DANTE_and_NSRC_team_up



GLOBAL NEWS


AAFFGGHHAANNIISSTTAANN’’SSUUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTIIEESS AACCCCEELLEERRAATTEE OONN TTHHEE VVIIRRTTUUAALLSSIILLKK RROOAADD

Despite the media spotlight onthe progress and challengesof the peace process andreconstruction in Afghanistan,

a series of Internet network initiativesare quietly underway that aretransforming education and researchwithin the country.

Jointly funded by NATO’s Sciencefor Peace and Security Programmeand the U.S. Department of State,currently 18 universities are connectedthrough the SILK-Afghanistan projectand will benefit further from a nationalfibre optic network programmecurrently under construction. A neworganisation, AfgREN, is being set upto manage a dedicated NREN for thecountry, a model successfully provenaround the world.

Further initiatives have recentlybeen announced which will increaseAfghanistan’s links with the global

research and education community.Connection capacity to GÉANT is tobe increased from 75 Mbps to 155Mbps, with Internet traffic betweenKabul and the Vienna hub runningsolely on terrestrial fibre opticnetworks, connecting an estimated70,000 Afghan students, teachers andresearchers with GÉANT’s 50 millionusers at 10,000 institutions acrossEurope. Looking to the future,Afghanistan has also joined the pan-Asian TEIN research and educationnetworking project, and a new high-speed network connection to the TEINnetwork backbone is planned for 2015.

The new initiatives mean thatAfghan scholars will be able to gainqualifications through multimedia-based distance learning whileresearchers can work on internationalprojects, all without needing to leavetheir home country to pursue their

work. Collaborative global projects inareas such as crop research anddisaster relief can improve livingstandards by bringing togetherexpertise from around the world withlocal specialists on the ground. As wellas these vital programmes foreconomic and societal development,Afghanistan’s unique cultural heritagewill be also safeguarded throughinternational collaborations, includingmusical concerts and danceperformances shared around theworld through real-time video andaudio links.

Minimising the brain drain ofqualified citizens will be central toefforts to rebuild the country, and R&Enetworking can play a vital role in that.

To find out more about the SILK-Afghanistan project, visithhttttpp::////wwwwww..nnaattoo..iinntt//ccppss//eenn//nnaattoolliivvee//ttooppiiccss__5533335599..hhttmm

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_53359.htm

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_53359.htm

GLOBAL NEWS

35

LLOOOOKKIINNGG BBAACCKK OOVVEERR TTHHEELLAASSTT 1100 YYEEAARRSS,, WWHHAATTWWEERREE TTHHEE GGRREEAATTEESSTTCCHHAALLLLEENNGGEESS YYOOUU AASS AALLEEAADDEERR OOFF AA NNAATTIIOONNAALLAANNDD RREEGGIIOONNAALL RR&&EENNEETTWWOORRKK HHAADD TTOO FFAACCEE??In the case of SingAREN, it was thebuilding of a sustainable businessmodel to move the project from beingfunded directly by the government to anot for profit society. We were luckythat members were willing to stepforward and materialise the formationof the society and accepted thebusiness model.

At the regional level, the diversityof culture and needs of the differentNRENs is the biggest challenge. EachNREN has their own needs, andbringing them together to share acommon vision and working togetherfor the community takes a lot of effortand trust. In the case of TEIN, it hasnow gone one step further to take overthe ownership of running the TEIN4project.

WWHHAATT DDOOEESS TTHHEE UUSSEERRCCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYY IINNSSIINNGGAAPPOORREE AASSSSOOCCIIAATTEEWWIITTHH SSIINNGGAARREENN??SingAREN is a high-speed andefficient global network for the

research and education community.However, there are still a lot of endusers who do not realise that they areusing our network. This means that weare doing a good job. However, we aredoing promotion activities, e.g. casestudies to highlight how users arebeing well served and to encourageothers to also use the network moreeffectively for their research.

HHOOWW HHAASS TTEEIINNBBEENNEEFFIITTTTEEDD TTHHEE AASSIIAAPPAACCIIFFIICC RREEGGIIOONN?? Prior to the TEIN project we had anumber of links in the regions,however it was mainly based onbilateral agreements.

With the TEIN project the networkis a community network. We allshare/own the network. It complimentsexisting links and thus form a muchmore pervasive and resilient network inthe region and between region. Interms of economic benefit, I saw amajor drop in the international link costdue to the aggregated link tender. Interms of network engineering moreoptimised path between NRENs. Ontop of this it has also enabled greatercollaboration within the region and withresearchers across the globe.

NNOOWW TTHHAATT MMAANNAAGGEEMMEENNTTFFOORR TTHHEE TTEEIINN NNEETTWWOORRKKHHAASS BBEEEENN TTRRAANNSSFFEERRRREEDDTTOO TTEEIINN**CCCC,, WWHHAATT AARREETTHHEE MMAAJJOORR CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEESSAANNDD OOPPPPOORRTTUUNNIITTIIEESSAAHHEEAADD??I have to thank David West (DANTE)for the professionalism and hisunderstanding of the culturaldifference in managing the TEINproject. Now TEIN*CC has beenformed and the TEIN network andproject has been transferred to them,again I have to thank the Koreangovernment for coming forward to hostthe society.

I think the biggest challenge is todo as good a job as David has done inhis efficiency and professionalism. Thechallenge would be to make ourcommunity take a bigger role in therunning of the TEIN project.

LLOOOOKKIINNGG AAHHEEAADD,, HHOOWW DDOOYYOOUU SSEEEE TTHHEE GGLLOOBBAALL RR&&EENNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYYDDEEVVEELLOOPPIINNGG,, WWHHAATTWWOOUULLDD BBEE YYOOUURR IIDDEEAALLSSCCEENNAARRIIOO?? With globalisation, there is an evergreater need for NRENs around theglobe to work more closely with eachother. End users are now globalresearchers; we have to enableresearchers to carry out their researchon a global scale. Federated servicesare certainly needed and this wouldneed the NRENs to work togethermore closely.

However, we must not forgetNRENs which are only at the earlystage of development and understandtheir needs.

The ideal scenario would be onewhere there is a pervasive network:with efficient connectivity, federatedservices where data are collected inone country - transferred to anothercountry for computation - andvisualised in another country where itis needed seamlessly.

WWHHAATT WWAASS YYOOUURR FFIIRRSSTT((CCAARREEEERR)) JJOOBB?? I have been an academic at NanyangTechnological University, Singaporesince I graduated from LoughboroughUniversity. July 2010 till 2012, I held ajoint appointment as founding Directorof Service Platform Lab., HP LabsSingapore.

WWHHAATT LLEEDD YYOOUU TTOO RR&&EENNEETTWWOORRKKIINNGG?? My own personal research is in thearea of computer network protocols.Thus, when a friend asked me to joinSingAREN at the very early stage Isaid yes. I've never looked back sincethen. It is the community and thesense of making things happen thatreally excite me.

PPrrooffeessssoorr BBuu SSuunngg ((FFrraanncciiss LLeeee)) iiss aa kkeeyyffiigguurree oonn tthhee RR&&EE nneettwwoorrkkiinngg sscceennee iinn AAssiiaaPPaacciiffiicc.. NNoott oonnllyy hhaass hhee bbeeeenn iinnssttrruummeennttaall iinn sseettttiinngg uupp SSiinnggAARREENN,, tthhee NNRREENN iinnSSiinnggaappoorree,, bbuutt hhee hhaass aallssoo bbeeeenn aa ppiioonneeeerrffoorr tthhee TTEEIINN nneettwwoorrkk ((wwwwww..tteeiinn..nneett)).. PPrrooff.. LLeeee iiss tthhee ffoouunnddiinngg CChhaaiirr ooff GGoovveerrnnoorrssooff TTEEIINN**CCoo--ooppeerraattiioonn CCeenntteerr ((TTEEIINN**CCCC)),, aa nnoonn--pprrooffiitt--oorrggaanniissaattiioonn iinn KKoorreeaa tthhaatt ttooookk oovveerr TTEEIINN nneettwwoorrkk mmaannaaggeemmeenntt ffrroommDDAANNTTEE iinn 22001122..

PictureFrancis Lee,SingAREN and TEIN*CC

IINNTTEERRVVIIEEWW:: FFRRAANNCCIISS LLEEEE,, SSIINNGGAARREENN AANNDDTTEEIINN**CCCC

GLOBAL REACH


CANARIECanada’s advancedresearch andinnovation network www.canarie.ca

ESnetThe Energy Sciences Network www.es.net

ORIENTplusLinking European andChinese Infrastructuresand Communities 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

TEINThe Trans-EurasiaInformation Network www.tein.asia

http://caren.dante.net/Pages/home.aspx

You can view or download previous copies of CONNECT at www.geant.net/connect-archive

Do you have an idea for an article in CONNECT? We welcome contributionsfrom our community. Drop us an email at [email protected] with yourthoughts. We look forward to hearing from you!

www.geant.net

www.twitter.com/GEANTnews

www.facebook.com/GEANTnetwork

www.youtube.com/GEANTtv

ACOnetwww.aco.netBelnetwww.belnet.beBRENwww.bren.bgCARNetwww.carnet.hrCyNETwww.cynet.ac.cyCESNETwww.ces.netEENetwww.eenet.eeRENATERwww.renater.frDFNwww.dfn.deGRNETwww.grnet.grNIIFwww.niif.huHEAnetwww.heanet.ieIUCCwww.iucc.ac.ilGARRwww.garr.it

GÉANT is the pan-European research andeducation network that interconnects Europe’sNational Research and Education Networks(NRENs). Together we connect over 50 millionusers at 10,000 institutions across Europe,supporting research in areas such as energy, the environment, space and medicine.

GGÉÉAANNTT PPaarrttnneerrssSigmaNetwww.sigmanet.lvLITNETwww.litnet.ltRESTENAwww.restena.luMARNetwww.marnet.mkUniversity of Maltawww.um.edu.mtMRENwww.mren.ac.meSURFnetwww.surfnet.nlNORDUnetwww.nordu.netPSNCwww.man.poznan.plFCCNwww.fccn.ptRoEduNetwww.nren.ro eARENAwww.e-arena.ruAMRESwww.amres.ac.rsSANETwww.sanet.sk

ARNESwww.arnes.siRedIRISwww.rediris.esSWITCHwww.switch.chULAKBIMwww.ulakbim.gov.trJANETwww.ja.netDANTEwww.dante.netTERENAwww.terena.orgBASNET www.bas-net.byRENAMwww.renam.mdURANwww.uran.net.uaASNET-AMwww.asnet.amAzRENAwww.azrena.orgGRENAwww.grena.ge

ABOUT GÉANT

37

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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/0713

connect magazine issue 12

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