CONTENT

2

Presentation of the RENATER 3

Editorial 4

National and international connectivity 5

The latest, constantly evolving infrastructure 7An extensive, efficient and optimized national network 7Sharing of infrastructure 7Connections to the global network 9

Increasingly efficient services 11IP Resources 11A multi-extension domain name offer 11eduroam, a simplified configuration 12Updating the Antispam platform 12Developments in video-conference services 12New sites using Universalistes 13An Updated and completed SourceSup project platform 13Grouping of identities and certificates 13IT Systems Security centre 14Service Consulting Group (SCG) 14

Network partner for major research projects 15French simulations for the fifth IPCC report 15The new LHCONE network for LHC experiments at CERN 16The DEUS project 17REFIMEVE+: The unique metrological network in Europe 18

Innovation in order to stay ahead 19RENAlab: 400 Gbit/s connection test 19The UnivCloud project 19Technical and strategic choices 20

Exchanges with Users 21RENATOUR 2012 21Exhibitions and conferences 21Training 21

A benchmark player 22RENATER, a major player in the deployment of IPv6 in France 22RENATER contributes to digital development in Ile-de-France 22RENATER, an expert in the field 22

Financial report 23

RENATER, the team 24

Glossary 25

PRESENTATION OF THE RENATER

3

The Public Interest RENATER Group was launched in February 1993 to bring together telecommunication infrastructures forTechnology, Education, and Research. As manager of the RENATER network, it aims to offer its members secure broadbandnetwork access and to provide high-performance collaborative services that are tailored to the needs of the community.

RENATER plays a major role in spreading education and research throughout Europe and the world. Providing the community with fixed and mobile high-speed broadband infrastructure capable of supporting exchanges in the best possibleconditions of speed, quality, security, and integrity, RENATER has become a key asset in supporting the community for Research Education in a strategic partnership approach.

Member organisations of RENATER are the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Education, the CNRS (the French National Centre for Scientific Research), CPU (Chair of the Association of theFrench universities),CEA (the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission), INRIA (the French National Institute for Research inComputer Science and Control), CNES (the French National Centre for Space Studies), INRA (the French National Institutefor Agricultural Research), Inserm (the National Institute of Health and Medical Research), Onera the French National Officefor Aerospace Studies and Research, CIRAD (International Centre of Agricultural Research for Development), IRSTEA (TheFrench National Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture), IRD (French Research Institute forDevelopment) and BRGM (Bureau of Geological and MiningResearch).The RENATER network today has a very large infrastructure that is dedicated to the research and education community.

Directors in May 2013

Presidentof the Board of Directors• Jean-Pierre FINANCE

Government Commissioner• Philippe PERREY

General Economic and FinancialController• Malika MOHA

MESR• Philippe LAVOCAT• Clara DANON

MEN• Jean CERVONI

CNRS• Jean-Marc VOLTINI

CPU• Yves LECOINTE

CEA• Louis ARRIVET

INRIA• Marie-Christine PLANCON

CNES• Marc BEGUE

INSERM• Laurent VIGNERON

ONERA• Pierre MALECKI

CIRAD• Joël SOR

IRSTEA• Françoise ROUDAUT

IRD• Gilles PONCET

INRA• Jean-Michel PEREZ CANO

BRGM• Jean-Marc TROUILLARD

Qualified individuals• Isabelle MOREL, IT Systems

Security Officer • Jean-Pierre VERJUS, Adviser to the INRIA President.

EDITORIAL

4

With a strengthened and restructured team, 2012 was a year of reflection thatallowed us to focus on the challenges and future of RENATER, through the development of the 2013-2016 strategic plan and to reflect on governance.

Major projects will be launched in 2013 to strengthen our large infrastructurerole, ensuring quality service and optimal security.

We will develop our capacity to innovate and expand our footprint internationallyto contribute to the growth of French education and research across Europe andaround the world.

Diversifying our range of services supports and enhances the relationship and collaboration between research organisations, universities in France and aroundthe world. Services related to mobility, authentication and video conferencingthus meet the needs of a nomadic and collaborative workforce in a reliable, secure and simple manner.

Patrick DONATH,Director

5

In 2012, the national telecommunications network for technology, education and research

(RENATER) deployed 12,000 km of optical fibre, 126 10 Gbps links. Thanks to the

pan-European GEANT network links and the generalist internet, RENATER, provides national

and international connectivity to more than 1,300 sites at 662 educational and research

institutions in France and in the French overseas territories, equating to 160,000 researchers

and 2.2 million students.

Traffic on the network

(input and output)

grew by 33% in 2012.

In six years traffic has multiplied 6.4 times

Optimal national and international connectivity

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

OPTIMAL NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY

6

7

In 2012, RENATER actively contributed to the establishment of the French part of the LHCONEnetwork (LHC Open Network Environment) toquickly transmit the huge amounts of data generated by experiments at CERN as part ofthe Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Produced in collaboration with the particle physics community (HEP/Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid), the LHCONE network can distribute data at a very high speed to the sites involved in the experiments, especially the computing centres Tier1 or IN2P3 in Villeurbanne, and Tier2 centres such as GRIF (Ile-de-France) or Subatech (Nantes).

At the European level, RENATER, DFN and GARRhave been co-financing a 10 Gbps transatlanticlink between the pan-European GEANT networkin Geneva and Starlight in Chicago since September 2012. This dedicated connection canmeet the growth in trade between data centresin Europe and North America such as Fermilabin Chicago.

Reliability and fluidity of the network is a priority for RENATER. Renovation of facilities,

to increase network flow and to densify the mesh, is designed to meet the

ever-increasing data exchange volumes related to new uses.

Highlights of 2012: RENATER deployed the French part of the network dedicated to CERNexperiments.In the Paris area, work on the integration of the Parisian Academic Network (RAP) intothe RENATER network continued.Another noteworthy development was the direct connection of CEA Saclay and a newpoint of presence at Roscoff to supplement the regional infrastructure of the EuropeanUniversity of Brittany (UEB).

The latest infrastructureunder constant development

An extensive, efficient and optimised national network

THE LATEST, CONSTANTLY EVOLVING INFRASTRUCTURE

8

To ensure territorial continuity with the Overseas Departments and Communities (DROM-COM), RENATER have undertaken to renew links and increase their capacity.

RENATER puts its expertise at the service of the Inter-Ministerial Directorate of Informationand Communication Systems of the State.

Since December 2012, access from Guyana to the mainlandwent from 34 Mbps to 100 Mbps, Mayotte has increasedfrom 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps and French Polynesia from 128 kbps to 10 Mbps. Internet access has also evolved from50 Mbps to 100 Mbps in Guadeloupe and Martinique.Mayotte has a new internet access at 30Mbps.It is also worth noting that RENATER manages the IXP (Internet Exchange Point) overseas, these nodes for traffic

exchange were implemented in order to meet the needs ofall users and local actors.

In 2012, the opening of MAYOTIX, hosted by the Vice-President of Mayotte, complemented REUNIX hostedat the University of Reunion Island (Saint Denis).Discussions are underway to complete exchange points inMartinique (MARTINIX) and Guyana (GUYANIX).

In 2012, the Inter-Ministerial Directorate of Information andCommunication Systems of the State (DISIC) signed anagreement delegating to RENATER contractorship for theoptical transport layer of the Inter-Ministerial Network ofthe State (RIE). The project connected nodes from the RIEto the RENATER network and provides optical circuits for

the exclusive use necessary for its operation. The first deployment of optical fibres is expected in early 2013. RENATER will then ensure the operation, supervision andsecurity of the RIE optical infrastructure.

Sharing of infrastructure

Access Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Polynesia Mayotte Réunion New Caledonia

Capacity in DROM-COM in 2012

Mainland 100 Mbps 34 Mbps 34 Mbps 10 Mbps 20 Mbps 2x155 Mbps

Internet 100 Mbps 100 Mbps 100 Mbps 30 Mbps 30 + 4 Mbps

A new point of presence in Roscoff, a biological station,was connected to the RENATER network by two wavelengths at 10Gbps, one to Brest and the other to Lannion. This new node boosts the regional very high-speed infrastructure of the European University of Brittany (UEB) deployed between Rennes, St Brieuc, Lannion, Roscoff, Brest, Quimper, Lorient and Vannes, and whosemanagement was entrusted to RENATER in 2009.

The RAP (Parisian Academic Network) mainland networkconnects 5 points of presence linked to the RENATER national network (RAP = 155 sites belonging to 67 institutions, totalling more than 350,000 users - students,teachers and researchers).

In 2012, integration work continued to converge RAP andthe RENATER network in order to standardise the infrastructure,services, operations and maintenance. In this context, the contract for low-speed access (2 Mbps to 20 Mbps) for connected sites was renewed.

Point of presence in SaclayIn addition, to meet the growing needs of the CEA Saclayand in view of the future campus on the Saclay plateau, RENATER was brought in 2012 to double the capacity ofthe connection at the CEA site to the network, providing afibre optical transport at 20 Gbps.

Enhanced capacities in DROM-COM

THE LATEST, CONSTANTLY EVOLVING INFRASTRUCTURE

9

Connections to the global network

Every European country has a national network interconnecting all institutions for research and education. These networks, known as NREN (National Research andEducation Networks), have formed a consortium to enablethem to participate in the development of a pan-Europeannetwork called GÉANT (www.geant.net). This very high-speed network connects a community of 50 millionusers from more than 10,000 academic and research sitesin 41 countries. It also allows these users to access all other

actors in research and education around the world throughconnections that GEANT maintains with international networks.

RENATER holds a prominent place in this eco system bothin Europe and worldwide.Its expertise and methods of operation are an example for the new networks dedicatedto the research and education community that is being developed in the South (Africa and the Indian Ocean).

Deploying links with other National Research and Education Networks (NREN) is

essential to ensure the reliability and security of the connections required for research

projects and cross-border use. RENATER took an active part in the construction of

the European network for education and research, GÉANT, and regularly updates

interconnection capacities with that the network. The creation of a global network for

education and research, including the Southern countries, is now a strategic

development focus for RENATER.

Increase in the exchange capacity with GÉANT

To meet these growing needs, RENATER is increasing its IP capacity while simplifying the routingarchitecture.

A new 10 Gbps access port to GÉANT was put into service in Geneva in addition to the 20Gbpson GEANT IP, thus increasing access to the LHCONE network (Large Hadron Collider Open Network Environment) for French users. This new access will provide redundancy and load sharing with the port already deployed in Paris for LHCONE.

End of 2012,

LHCONE

represents

nearly 50%

of RENATER traffic

to GEANT.

GÉANT access, the Pan-European network for education and research

THE LATEST, CONSTANTLY EVOLVING INFRASTRUCTURE

10

Cross-border links

A cross-border link between Strasbourg and Kehl has been in place since 2007 for the LHC project. This 10 Gbps link hasallowed for the direct interconnection of the RENATER network with its counterpart in the German national network, X-WIN by DFN.

Between Nancy and Esch/Alzette (Luxembourg), a cross-border optical fibre was commissioned in 2010 for the infrastructureproject Iot@ (Optical Infrastructure for Crossborder Interconnection between Saarland (Germany), Wallonia (Belgium), theLorraine (France) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.Two 10Gbps optical circuits were activated on this optical fibre: one for the ALADDIN - Grid5000 project and another toallow IP traffic to RESTENA (NRENs of Luxembourg) and for the French border sites.

Cross-border links complete the offer of the European GEANT network for major research projects.

Access to the generalist internet

Internet links are of two types:

• access to the transit services of two separate providers: one at 40 Gbps in Paris, the other at 20 Gbps in Marseille;

• peering through the connection of the central RENATER network to the SFINX, an exchange point (IXP) operated by RENATER.SFINX is deployed over 2 POP (Points Of Presence) in Paris and suburbs, interconnected with two 10 Gbps links.

11

Increasingly efficient services

RENATER manages and develops network services as well as innovative application

services, including high-performance and secure collaborative services. The improvement

of services and user interfaces is an important part of the developments achieved

so far.

Program for transferring IP resources

With the approaching end of the allocation of IPv4 addresses, the RIRs (Regional Internet Registries) are questioning theownership of allocated addresses before they are operational. Discussions are underway for the RIPE Address policy. For itspart, RENATER launched in 2012 its first information campaign for technical correspondents in order to inform them ofthe situation and to update the RIPE database. The holders of 71/16 prefixes and 69 /24 prefixes have responded well tothis approach. A second campaign will take place in 2013.

A multi-extension domain name offer

In 2011, AFNIC accredited RENATER to manage applications for the registration or modification of “.fr” and “.re” domainnames for its users.

In 2012, following the request of its Service Consultation Group, RENATER opened a domain name service for other toplevel extensions (TLDs) - .org, .net, .eu, .aero .info in addition to .fr and .re.

This service will be available to RENATER users starting early 2013.

INCREASINGLY EFFICIENT SERVICES

12

eduroam, a simplified configuration

eduroam allows secure and authenticated Wi-Fi network access while travelling outsideone’s home institution.To simplify access to the eduroam service, RENATER, through its participation in theGN3 workgroup, will be able to offer a configuration tool (Configuration Assistant Tool,CAT) in the first half of 2013.

The Eduspot service completes the eduroam offer by allowing easier access to the wireless network for students in their school or during visits to other institutions of highereducation and research institutions.

Updating the Antispam platform

In 2012, access requests to antispam services offered by RENATER steadily increasedand the service is now available over IPv6.

Developments in video-conference services

2012 was a year full of new projects in thefield of video conferencing.RENATER took over operation of the RMS(Remote Meeting System) service createdby the IN2P3 computing centre (CNRS), in order to benefit from the experience ofthe education/research community, at no additional cost. The RMS service allows forthe reservation of resources and operationof video conferencing over an H323 bridge with a capacityof more than 300 ports.

In November 2012, RENATER also opened RENAvisio+, a highdefinition video conferencing service offering a reservation guaranteed and optiomal encryption, errabling secure meetings.

A federated portal was set up in October 2012 to allow accessto SeeVogh, a global workstation video conferencing tool - formerly known as EVO - SeeVogh is based on a network of 62 globally interconnected nodes making the real-time collaboration service efficient, robust and stable across the internet.

The portal at http://evo.renater.fr and the newSeeVogh interface, now more ergonomic and better adapted to community needs, offers a usereasy access to scheduled conferences in thecommunity, scheduling and to joining meetings.

RENATER will continue to offer complimentaryaccess to this international service to connectedinstitutions until after 1 January 2013, when

SeeVogh will evolve into a commercial service in the cloud.

In 2012, in France• 200 institutionsand 450 websites for highereducation research use thisservice, which is deployedin around 40 countries.

End of 2012• 40 to 60 million messagesprocessed per month via the Antispam platform.

In 2012, • 1800 meetings were conducted with SeeVogh

• 23,000 conferences by RMS, a 50% usage increase in one year.

INCREASINGLY EFFICIENT SERVICES

13

New sites using Universalistes

Universalistes is a hosting service for mailing lists based on a collection of virtual hostsbased on the Sympa list engine, a mailing list software application used by the majorityof higher education and research establishments and developed by RENATER.In 2012, new list engines have been deployed, eg.: National Institute of Art History andthe Particle Physics Laboratory IN2P3.

This list service is accompanied by collaborative tools: Foodle (a federated web servicefor making appointments), Wiki (web pages associated with the lists) and Sondage (Limesurvey, an online survey tool).

The Identity Federation and Universal Network Accounts (CRU) services bring communities together in virtual spaces by providing secure access control to online digital resources for avery large community of authenticated users without requiring registration of the thousandsor even hundreds of thousands of potential users.

In 2012, Identity Federation was added to into the list of services already available on the RENATER services portals.The modernisation of the provider manager (identity and service providers) was launched in

order to improve usability and to provide a new service that is compatible with the eduGAIN inter-federation, as proposedin the framework of the European GEANT.

RENATER also made available to its community a certificate distribution service based on a contract signed between TERENA (Trans-European Researchand Education Networking Association) and the Certification provider Comodo,for the benefit of around thirty national higher education and research networksin Europe. These certificates (X.509) do not require any configuration on the clientworkstations and are recognised by default by most software (web browsers, IM clients, smartphones...).

An Updated and completed SourceSup project platform

In 2012, the latest version (5.1.1 Fusion-Forge) of SourceSup, a project managementweb platform for the education-researchcommunity, was launched. The various installed tools were updated and the platform was migrated to a virtual machineto increase availability. The addition of the

continuous integration completes this development platform by allowing users toautomate and analyse their projects. Now,hosted projects can have public or private access and involve both inter-institutionalprojects and internal projects.

In 2012,

• 744 hosted projects

• 2,767 users regitered

on the SourceSup

platform.

RENATER provides solutions to respond to security challenges and allow access that ensures confidentiality and integrity.

In 2012,

• 7,046 accounts were

opened, giving a total of

100,790 since the launch

of the service.

In 2012,

• 297 institutions used the server

certificates service

• 25 institutions use the personal

certificate service to sign emails

or prove their identity

upon authentication.

In 2012,

• 350,000 subscribers to Universalistes mailinglists service.

Grouping of identities and certificates

INCREASINGLY EFFICIENT SERVICES

14

Risk management at the heart of the IT Systems Security centre

RENATER continues and strengthens its work in the field ofthe security of information systems (SSI).

In 2012, the RENATER SSI centre leads the RSSI network for higher education, research and education, playing a supporting role to institutions in order to improve their security, and works closely with the Security of InformationSystems Officer of the Ministries of Education and HigherEducation and Research, who serves as a relay to the institutions, as well as to the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI).

The SSI centre also launched several major projects in 2012which should come to fruition in 2013, such as the progressive security harmonisation of RENATER connectionnodes, or the IDS project (Intrusion detection systems) which

will complement the range of tools available to the RENATER CERT for incident detection.

The RENATER CERT supports any information, detection andassistance work relating to security incidents detected.

All actions have improved the overall level of safety in theRENATER network.

In a context where attacks against Information Systems arevaried and complex, CERT increases its mission for vigilanceand community support.

As part of the Security of Information Systems, RENATERparticipates in workgroups at the national or internationallevel, as part of TERENA, GN3, OzSSI, OSSIR...

Faced with the development and increasing complexity of threats to networks and information systems, their ongoing security requires a plan of action.

RENATER expands its portfolio of services through its ServicesConsulting Group (GCS).

This consultation group consists of each member and executive of RENATER with the intent of maintaining thetechnical excellence of the service offering and better meeting the needs of users.

In 2012, based on the recommendations of the GCS, RENATER continued work on the Collaborative MessagingPlatform (PMC) project and opened a multi-extension offerfor domain names.

As part of its role of raising awareness in the RSSI community, RENATER organised RSSI Days on the 20thand 21st of November 2012 at the Pierre et Marie Curie University with support services from HFDS (seniordefence and security services) from the Ministries of Education and Higher Education and Research.

15

Network partnerfor major research projects

French simulations for the fifth IPCC report

"France has produced a major effort towards the calculation with the creation of Genci, and

the effort made on the network is at the same level" - Marie-Alice Foujols

What is the CMIP-5 project?

The CMIP-5 program, which is led by the International

Programme on Climate Research (WCRP), is an internatio-

nal intercomparison project for the results of climate

simulation models. In this area, indeed, we need to base

our analysis on the results of several models. It is about,

for the twenty groups involved in the exercise, translating

into equations the mechanisms acting on the climate and

solving these equations with computing power. The climate

models developed in this way are thus complex computer

programmes that are used to analyse the current climate, to

simulate past climates or to make projections for the future.

These projections can vary according to the economic

growth scenarios of our companies.

What issues are raised by

data generated by the calculations?

We must first of all produce the data. And for comparisons

between models to have any meaning, the partners of the

CMIP-5 programme, which is in its fifth phase, have agreed

on protocols for experiments. In France, the calculation

methods that we have been allocated with the creation of the

Grand National Supercomputing Facilities (Genci) in 2007,

have helped us to carry out this work.

Then we have to distribute the data produced and pull in

that of other models for multi-model analysis that will allow

us to advance our understanding of the climate system.

The project partners have therefore also developed an

infrastructure to share the results of the various models.

The large amounts of data that it involves has been made

possible thanks to RENATER.

For the rest, the amount of data produced being related to

computing capacities, all signs suggest that it will continue

to grow in the years to come and that we will need to transfer

ever more data. We must not therefore slow in our efforts.

In preparation of the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), international projects such as CMIP-5, which is an intercomparison project of the results of climate simulations, produce large amounts of data to beexchanged.

Interview with Marie-Alice Foujols, technical manager of the Climate Modelling Centre

at the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL).

RENATER is the network partner of choice for major research projects because of itsability to meet the very high speed requirements by establishing end-to-end opticalpaths from. Some projects use the production network, others require the creation ofvirtual private networks, and others rely on technological innovations that RENATERhelped to develop: 25 links at 10 Gbps out of the 126 available are today dedicated toall of these projects.

In 2012, RENATER participated in several ambitious projects, uniting a community ofresearchers, government experts and entrepreneurs.

NETWORK PARTNER FOR MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS

16

The new LHCONE network for LIAC experiments at CERN

"If the network is not high-performance, nothing happens" - Fairouz Malek

The particle accelerator at CERN, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), is breaking records: 27 km of perimeter (of which 80%is in France), a few tens of millions of protons colliding per second, which is comparable to the number of stars in theMilky Way, several tens of petabytes of data produced every year...To analyse the results obtained, thousands of researchersaround the world rely on optimal network infrastructures.

How important

is the network infrastructure?If the network is not high-performance between CERN and

Tier1, nothing happens. It is essential to keep a copy of the

"raw" data at CERN and in each Tier1. We also need to trans-

fer, between CERN and Tier1s, and between Tier1 and Tier2,

the reconstructed data and simulations and store some of

these in Tier1, which acts as the “bank”. This requires a

high-performance networkI 2009, at Tier1 level, we had a

10 Gb/s connection and we thought that was enough.

Redundancy should also be considered, for example to cover

the case where an (optical) link might break when you

transfer data.When some areas are out of order, we had to

go "elsewhere" to store the data until it was working again.

Now we are moving to more than 10 Gbit/s on LHCOPN

and over time the computational models of experiments

have evolved and the Tier2 sites have acquired greater

importance in the handling of data.We immediately saw that

we needed connections of at least 1 Gbit/s to the reference

Tier1 and when there is need to transfer data between Tier2-

Tier2 or between Tier2 and Tier2 distant. The network has

evolved into a "multi-relational" structure called "LHCONE."

The pyramidal hierarchy of the early LHC has completely

disappeared. With LHCONE we have therefore moved,

for connections between Tier2 and Tier1 from 1Gbit/s to

10 Gbits/s, particularly in France.Each country has its ownNREN to manage all this, and France's NREN is RENATERand without RENATER, nothing gets done.

Do you have direct contact

with RENATER teams?We signal our requirements through a “telecom” team at the

computing centre IN2P3 (CCIN2P3, located on the La Doua

campus in Villeurbanne, the French Tier1), one that inter-

faces with technical problems. For other requests we discuss

with both the CCIN2P3 and RENATER directly. For example

our Tier2s in France now need to be connected to LHCONE,

there is a continuous exchange between these sites and

RENATER, and our requests are met today up to 90%.

We organize specific meetings for example the introduction

of IPv6, network monitoring software (perfSONAR), or to

undergo training. Maintaining these contacts, we are aware

of developments and RENATER continuously manages

our requirements. Our discussions are important because

developments in technology are constant.

Interview with Fairouz Malek, chief scientist of the LCG France project,

the French contribution to the international cooperation on the LIAC computing grid.

What is the nature of your research project?

The subject matter of the "Dark energy universe simulation"

project (Deus www.deus-consortium.org) is now a critical

issue in cosmology: the nature of dark energy and the

structure of the Universe. We already knew that our universe

is expanding, but it was recently discovered that the pace of

this expansion is accelerating. Several interpretations that

question the fundamental principles of cosmology and even

of physics itself have been put forward. To discriminate

between these various interpretations, the idea is to study the

structure of the Universe in order to determine the signature

of dark energy on it. This calls for simulations involving the

largest possible volumes of data and the Deus project has

carried out the first digital simulations of structure formations

within the entire volume of the observable universe for

different dark energy models. These digital simulations are

carried out on the Curie supercomputer, and we use the network

to transfer and distribute the results to our community.

How do you use the network infrastructureavailable?

Unfortunately, the networks are not yet up to the level

to transfer huge amounts of data. A first large series of

30 universe simulations performed via IDRIS, generated

more than 500 terabytes of data. 200 terabytes of data

are regularly analysed and used by many colleagues.

These were transferred to the major centres over our local

resources and are accessible through a database that

we have developed. The completion of digital simulations

involves a phase of preparation, development and

optimisation of applications, followed by computing, diagnostics

and analysis. To complete these final phases, the data must

typically be stored locally. It therefore has to be transferred

from the large centres. However, due to the volume of data,

it takes an enormous amount of time to do! In the end,

our simulations of the entire universe generated some

1.5 petabytes of data, and it is not possible to conceive of

transferring this in its entirety. This represents a restriction

on the research concerned, and is another issue posed by

the management of “big data” In concrete terms, what

changes would you like to see?

Specifically, what are the possible alternatives?

Our entire research process is open, which means making

results available to the community. We have developed a

database that allows users to select universe volumes,

objects, etc. derived from our digital simulation results but in

order for users to gain access to these and process them

freely, the data must have been transferred (the database is

now located at local level and access to it should be as open

as possible) . Today, it is not possible to imagine operating in

this way for the simulation of the entire universe, so from time

to time we may adopt somewhat basic methods by physically

transporting the stored data. This is true for the storage aspects,

but also for transfer and distribution to the community. In,

general terms, computing power and storage capacity have

developed much faster than network capacity.

NETWORK PARTNER FOR MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS

17

The DEUS project

"The problem of Big Data in the management of hyper-massive amounts of data needs

to be addressed" - Jean-Michel Alimi

The progress of research in the world involves the production of data by ever more massive supercomputers like Curie, capable of carrying up to 2 million billion operations per second... These performances bring unprecedented precision tomodelling and simulations. But transferring, only when absolutely necessary, the data obtained for analysis and especiallyfor sharing, represents a real challenge for the networks, according to astrophysicist Jean-Michel Alimi, CNRS research director at the Paris-Meudon Observatory.

Interview with Jean-Michel Alimi,

CNRS research director at the Paris-Meudon observatory

NETWORK PARTNER FOR MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS

18

REFIMEVE+The unique metrological network in Europe

The REFIMEVE+ project (European metrological fibre network) aims to transfer ultra-stable signals from the clockat the Observatoire de Paris to the whole of France withoutany degradation whatsoever, and with a performance thatis more than 100,000 times better than GPS. This project is building on the results achieved in 2010 and 2011, during testing of simultaneous transfers of ultra-stable clocksignals and digital data streams, carried on the RENATERproduction network by the LNE-SYRTE (Space-Time Reference

System) laboratories and the Laser Physics laboratory. The giant experimentation loop created on the RENATERnetwork for the REFIMEVE+project may serve as a model for fundamental physics and geodesy. NEAT FT is the European extension of this project under the EMRP (European Metrology Research Programme), which will interconnect several countries (Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, etc.).

19

RENAlab: a 400 Gbps connection test

In the context of the RENAlab experimental innovations laboratory, RENATER is the first network to test new experimentation, under real conditions, of an optical link at 400Gbps operated by France Telecom-Orange and Alcatel-Lucent between Paris and Lyon.This optical link developed by Alcatel-Lucent offers a wide bandwidth and an excellent level of performance for

multimedia content on demand, social networking andcloud computing.The link must be tested in real-life situations on a connection carrying a significant share of national scientifictraffic data over RENATER. This will allow the new switchingequipment to be tested at these flow rates.

A university platform project for the Cloud

The UnivCloud project aims to pool IT resources of memberof the University Paris Ile-de-France, equal to about half amillion potential users, to make an academic platform forcloud computing.

RENATER is involved in the technical group that is definingthe platform architecture and is tasked with providing thenetwork connectivity required for the demonstrators to beinstalled on the sites of Paris-Descartes and Evry-Val d'EssonneUniversities. Deployment is scheduled for early 2013.

Innovating in orderto stay ahead

The improvements in infrastructure must meet the growing needs of data volumes in the community.Major international projects such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, the future SKA telescope in South Africa and Australia, fieldsof biology, such as genomics, for example, social sciences and education with the development distance learning and remoteworking for students and teachers, are the areas of innovation to which RENATER should contribute.

Experiments will be taking place within the framework of the programme entitled RENAlab.

Major changes are thus required, to update equipment and remain at the forefront in technology. In this context, thinkinghas been undertaken with regard to the major changes that the RENATER network and services will have to undergo in thecoming months.

Each year, the community formed around RENATER expresses its requirements every

year, each time gaining in intensity and complexity, whether for transport, storage

or processing data. To remain innovative in these areas RENATER participates in

research projects around the latest technology. Strengthening ties with the international

community allow us to fully participate in the choice of technical standards designed

to develop and streamline networks worldwide.

INNOVATING IN ORDER TO STAY AHEAD

RENATER defines technical and strategic choices

Within the European and international bodies active in thefield of national research and education networks (NREN),RENATER figures prominently as a shareholder of DANTE(Delivery of advanced network technology to Europe) thatprovides project management of the Pan European GEANTnetwork and participates in working groups and governingbodies. RENATER also participates of structures such as RIPE, the registry that assigns IP resources in Europe, or theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF), on internet standardsin order to anticipate new information to mention in servicetenders.

As part of the GN3 European activity programme, fundedby the European Commission through the 7th FrameworkProgramme (FP7), 32 European national networks, includingRENATER, 4 other associated NRENs, TERENA (Trans-EuropeanResearch and Education Networking Association) andDANTE coordinate the project. The GN3 project has two components: infrastructure and services.

The first focuses is on the performance and improvementof the network, who provide interconnection of EuropeanNRENs and to other global research networks. The othercomponent is devoted to the development and creation ofnew services at European level, dedicated to a communityof more than 40 million users.

RENATER joined the Campus Best Practice initiative ofGÉANT in 2012, in collaboration with the UNINETT (Norway), CSC Funet (Finland), CESNET (Czech Republic)and AMRES (Serbia) networks.

The challenge is to define and compile the rules of “bestpractice” at national level in the areas of infrastructure, networking, mobility, security, metrology and real-time communications.

Since September 2012, RENATER has led a "Campus Best Practice" workgroup in France, devoted to networkproblems encountered on French campuses. The recommendations that emerge from these workshops arewritten in French and made available to the community onthe RENATER and GÉANT websites.

RENATER is also associated with the initiative launched by13 NRENs aiming to create a G20 for NRENs worldwide.

By 2016, RENATER will be implementing the strategic andtechnical guidelines approved by these bodies and adoptedby the NRENs:- Building a global network architecture - Managing identity federations at global level for the education and research community

- Facilitating the use of services focused on videoconferencing

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Exchanges with Users

Meetings with users

Exhibitions and conferences

The RENATOUR meetings, which began in 2011, allow us to meet users, exchange ideas with them and present networkand application services, as well as recent developments they have undergone, and procedures for connection to the RENATER network.Seven regional were held in 2012:

12 January in Lyon, in the presence of users of the LYRES collection network - 9 March in Cergy Pontoise, at the PACRRET

collection network - 20 March in Rouen, at the SYRHANO collection network - 13 April in Bordeaux, at the REAUMUR

collection network - 27 April in Grenoble, RESINFO community - 30 May in Châlons-en-Champagne, at the TELEMUS

collection network - 20 September in Sophia Antipolis, RESINFO community

In 2012, RENATER attended a number of national and European events to meet, represent and support the education/research community.

The 5th edition of Rencontres Universites Entreprises [‘Industry meets Academia’] was held at the Palais desCongrès in Paris on 15 and 16 March 2012.

The Paris Descartes – Journées Numériques [‘Digital Days’] on 28/29 March 2012 were devoted to the theme of “Uni in my pocket" and reviewed the current status of mobile-learning at University.

CIUEN 2012, 16 to 18 April 2012 in LyonThe Fourth International Symposium of Universities in the Digital Era, organised by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research was organised in partnership with the www2012 conference.

TNC 2012, May 21 to 24, Reykjavik, IcelandThe TERENA Networking Conference (TNC) is a conference bringing together the major players in education and researchnetworks, their users and the European digital technology industry.

IPv6 Launch Day - 6 June 2012RENATER, a pioneer in the promotion of IPv6 since 1996, participated in the day dedicated to uses of IPv6.

Training

CiRen training courses are aimed at users of the RENATER network and are organised in partnership with CINES in Montpellier.

CiRen 52a - Technologies SeeVogh (formerly EVO) Montpellier - 5 and 6 June 2012.

Ciren 53 a and b - EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FEDERATION - Implementation of the identity and service providerShibboleth - Montpellier, 19 to 22 June 2012.

RENATER’s core missions include ensuring the effectiveness of the services offeredand contributing to the adoption of new technologies among its member institutions.Training course tailored to changing technologies and presentations of network andapplication services organised in the regions allow us to stay in close touch with users’needs and demands.

In February 2012, RENATER signed a cooperation agreement with the Cameroon University Interconnection Network(RIC). At the end of one mission, the Cameroon partners were provided with a roadmap for the RIC.

This agreement forms part of the collaboration between RENATER, CIRAD and the IRD one the one hand, and WACREN(West and Central African Research and Education Network) on the other, which started in 2011. It aims to establish anexchange of expertise between Cameroon and France in the fields of technology, engineering, management and poolingof resources. The objective is to enable the Cameroon University Interconnection Network to benefit from lessons learnedfor the implementation and operation of a national network for education and research.

In September 2012, RENATER contributed its expertise to the iRENALAnetwork (Madagascar).

RENATER’s mission involved offering its expertise to assist with the start-up of the Madagascar research and education network known asiRENALA. This network was created in June 2012, and connects 21 siteswith a 155 Mbit/s spine.

The French delegation presented a roadmap to iRENALA, and with thesupport of RENATER, iRENALA took its first steps alongside the Europeanand African NRENs during the EuroAfrica-ICT forum, held on 28 and 29November 2012 in Lisbon.

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RENATER, a major player in the deployment of IPv6 in France

RENATER, contributing to digital development in the Ile-de-France

RENATER, an expert in its field

In 2012, to meet the needs of the Association of IT Networks Users in the Ile-de-France (AURIF), RENATER launched a studyof multi-site regional networks (MANS) interconnections in Ile-de-France, as part of its digital regional development remitto assist the education and research community.

A benchmark player

RENATER participated in two audits in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, as a “network expert” operating under theauspices of the IRD, on the GEOFORAFRI (GEOlocation applied to FORests in AFRIca) project.This scientific project aims to improve access to satellite data, and is funded by the French Fund for the Global Environment(FFEM).

As the party responsible for “lab managers coordination”, within the 6Deploy2 European project, RENATER, in partnershipwith Cisco, has developed test platforms for training and promoting the deployment of IPv6 in the various regions of theworld.

By the end of 2012, around twenty test platforms and course modules had been deployed.

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Financial report

Income

In 2012, 61% of the financing of the RENATER Public Interest Group came from contributions paid by signatory members of the agreement setting up the Group. The other establishments connected to the network and/or benefitingfrom access network services contributed 28%.Operating subsidies represented 7% of income. They were mainly derived from RENATER’s involvement in the GÉANTproject and in various European projects.

For the financial year 2012, income was €21.3 million.

0%

Contributions from members

68%

61%

2011

2012

25%

28%

5%

7%

0%

2%

1%

2%

Non-Member funding

Operating grants

Miscellaneous income

Investment grants deferral

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Expenditure

Direct costs related to network operation represented 62% of costs,staff costs and overheads 23% and depreciation 15%.

For the financial year 2012, costs were €22.5 million.

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RENATER TEAM

ABROUK Abou-Simbel - ALJOGAMI Mirvat - ANDREUFrançois-Xavier - AUBLET-CUVELIER Laurent - BECKERYann - BENZA Didier - BLANQUART Virginie - BONNETChristophe - BONO Thierry - BOUDJEMAA Karim - CABARET Sandra - CAMISARD Emilie - CHALLE CécileCHEUTIN Liliane - CLAVELEIRA Christian - DANHO Michelle - DAVID Lionel - DIAZ MAURIN Rafael - DONATH Patrick - DUCROT François - FERRET Robert -FISSON Anthony - GARNIER Nicolas - GELLY Michel -GOMES Elisabeth - GROSS Claude - GUEZOU Jean-François - GYDÉ Laurent - HACHED Mehdi -HAMMOUCHE Hanane - HOINVILLE Stéphanie - HONEIN Sami - ISHIOMIN Ludovic - JAUME-RAJAONIA Sabine - JEANNIN Xavier - LAUNAY Dominique - LOUI Frédéric - LUMINEAU Olivier - MAINGAULT ClaireMARLET-VUCICEVIC Cécile - MARQUES Hugo - MARRONNIER Xavier - MEDARD Sébastien - MELEARDEtienne - MENSAH Rita - MIHAILESCU Vittorio - MOAL Pol - MUYAL Simon - PERREAULT Simon -PIERNÉ Vanessa - RABEFIRENENA Haja - RENAIAzouaou - SALAÜN Olivier - TRINH Christian - TUY Bernard - TURPIN Anne-Hélène - VERDIN David.

GLOSSARY

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AFNIC Association by law 1901, AFNIC is responsible for the management of extensions (or "Top Level Domains") that are French on the internet .FR, .RE, .YT, .WF, .TF, .PM

ANSSI The French Network and Information Security Agency

AURIF Assoc. of IT Network Users in the Paris area

CERT Computer Emergency Response Team

CRU Comptes Réseaux Universels

DANTE Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe

DEUS Dark Energy Universe Simulation

DFN Deutsches Forschungsnetz, the German national education and research network

DISIC Interdepartmental Communication and IT System Directorate

DWDM Dense wavelength division multiplexing

FON Fiber Optic Network

GARR Italian Research & Education Network

Gbps Gigabits per second

GCS Service Consulting Group

GENCI Grand equipement national de calcul intensif

GN3 European Commission programme (FP7/ICT).It includes service activities (SA) and research activities (JRA)

HFDS Senior Defense and Security Official

IN2P3 National institute of nuclear and particle physics of the CNRS

IPSL Pierre Simon Laplace Institute

LHC Large Hadron Collider

LHCONE LHC Open Network Environment

LHCOPN LHC Optical Private Network

MPLS-TE Multiprotocol Label Switching Traffic Engineering

NREN National Research and Education Network

PSSI IT systems security policy

RAP Parisian Academic Network

REFIMEVE+ European meterological fibre network

RENATER National Telecommunications Network for Technology, Education and Research

RIE Inter-ministerial State Network

RIPE European IP Networks

RIR Regional Internet Registry

RMS RENATER Meeting Service

SeeVogh video collaboration service

SFINX RENATER’S IXP

TERENA Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association

UEB Bretagne Eurpean University