BERnet Genesis The University System of Maryland

SEGP Frustrations  Maryland has 3 major state-wide networks UMATS (1988) SAILOR (1992) networkMaryland 1998)  And one NGN Interface MAX GIGPOP 1999)

UMATS Customers  University System of Maryland (13 institutions and multiple regional satellite campuses and research facilities)  Smattering of Community Colleges (slowly justifying connection & cost)  Maryland State Department of Education  Internet 2 Sponsored Education Group Partnership (SEGP) Public Libraries K-12 Community Colleges Public and Private State Universities City of Baltimore Museums and Non Profits

networkMaryland Customers  State Agencies  Focus on Executive Branch  County Government  Local Government  County School Systems  Higher Education (transparent access only)

SAILOR Customers (ERATE 30%)  County Library Systems  County Government  K-12  Community Colleges  Municipal Government  State Government  Governmental - Non-Profit

Complexity of Protocols – Pride and Passion  UMATS 100% IP Based over Sonet, gigE, Clear Channel Carrier Services, NO ATM  SAILOR ATM, Low Speed Clear Channel  networkMaryland Sonet - DWDM Core Transport, FRASI Last Mile Frame/ATM Service

Solving the Problem  First, it’s okay to have several state networks, after all, isn’t this how the Internet started?  Here’s where the pride and passion come in, don’t they talk to one another? Don’t they want to talk to each other?  Solution? Baltimore Research & Education Network (BERnet)

Brief history of BERnet?  October 2002 Lambda proposal to the net.work.Maryland Engineering & Advisory Board  December 2002 Net.work.Maryland Advisory Board Approves Concept  April 2003 MOU signed by Chancellor and Secretary Governor BERnet Partners begin meeting to formalize process JHU - Sailor – UMATS (USM) - UMB - UMBC - City of Baltimore - Morgan –MAX

 May 2003 Founding members equally contribute capital dollars Barter arrangement with City of Baltimore for access and fiber  July 2003 City begins locating fiber within the city and between the BERNet POP and participating institutions  September 2003 Fiber testing begins

 October 2003 UMB, UMATS, City of Baltimore, and MAX online BERnet I2 and I1 passing traffic (120Mb/s average combined)  November 2003 Press Release announcing BERnet UMATS configures OC 3 x 2 (310Mb/s) as redundancy for BERnet  December 2003 – January 2004 Morgan, Sailor, JHU, and DBM  Add new partners, but there will be a modest fee for service

BERnet

Infrastructure – New Concepts  State’s Baltimore POP has become a Maryland peering point for all state-wide networks but transparent so that the networks can maintain their individualism  Those doing business with education in Maryland become part of a Maryland network grid community  Maryland has the potential to become one of the most connected states in the country, and Baltimore one of the best connected cities on the East coast  BERnet will help education and government produce a trained workforce

Conclusions  State partnering was key to BERnet’s success  All participants are equal and information flows efficiently and equally  Metropolitan educational and professional services can be extended to rural areas  Foundation is there to allow specialized networks to continue to build, while taking advantage of the peering arrangement in Baltimore  This partnership has saved the USM and the State a lot of money, and has created a resource to create a true education network that peers with the State

Questions?