Kansas Research and Education Network KANREN Doug Heacock, Executive Director Gathering of State Networks, April 2000

Overview Quick KANREN history The organization The network Current projects Challenges

KANREN history Kansas colleges and universities form the KANREN consortium to seek NSF funding for a statewide education network First NSF award: $680K to build backbone and connect "charter" member sites

KANREN history nd NSF award, $110K to enhance backbone and connect six additional sites

KANREN history KANREN backbone network, circa 1994: KSU KU KUMC WSU MIDnet 56k T1

KANREN history KANREN becomes self- supported –Member sites pay membership and connection fees Most member sites are connected at 56K

KANREN history KANREN backbone network, circa 1996: KSU KU KUMC WSU Global Internet T1

KANREN history 1996: First K-12 district connections –Other non-profit organizations are also connected Several sites upgrade to fractional T1 KU, KSU upgrade to dual T1

KANREN history KANREN backbone, circa 1997: KSU KU KUMC WSU T1 Verio

KANREN history Bandwidth upgrades continue Consortium growth continues KU, KSU join Internet 2; KANREN affiliates with Great Plains Network for access to Abilene and I2

KANREN history April member sites: –Six Board of Regents universities, plus KU Medical Center in Kansas City –12 community colleges –12 private colleges and universities –17 public school districts –16 public libraries –5 other non-profit organizations

KANREN history Internet 1 KSUKU KUMC Verio WSU Internet 2Internet 1 KANREN ATM GPN T1 DS3 OC-3 KANREN backbone, April 2000

KANREN organization A "service unit" of the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (CRINC) Independent, non-profit membership consortium No official state affiliation –Frame relay circuits are provisioned through the state information systems division

KANREN organization Not incorporated –We operate under CRINC's non-profit status Governed by 11-member executive committee –Elected by the membership Membership votes on rates, budget, policy matters at annual meeting

KANREN staff Executive Director (full-time) Director of Network Services (half-time) System Administrator (full-time) Student Networking Internet (half-time)

KANREN organization Funding is solely through membership and connection fees paid by member institutions –No state appropriations –No grant funding FY 2000 budget: $860K

Four major backbone network nodes: The KANREN network KUMC, Kansas City

Four major backbone network nodes: The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KUMC, Kansas City

Four major backbone network nodes: The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan KUMC, Kansas City

Four major backbone network nodes: The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan WSU, Wichita KUMC, Kansas City

Backbone connections The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan WSU, Wichita KUMC, Kansas City T1

Backbone connections The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan WSU, Wichita KUMC, Kansas City T1 ATM DS-3

Verio I1 External connections: The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan WSU, Wichita KUMC, Kansas City T1 ATM DS-3

GPN I1,I2 Verio I1 External connections: The KANREN network KU, Lawrence KSU, Manhattan WSU, Wichita KUMC, Kansas City T1 ATM DS-3 OC-3

KANREN services Internet connectivity, 64K to multiple T1 Internet 2 access for qualifying members Training and consulting Annual representatives' conference DNS, Usenet News, Web caching servers, virtual Web hosting, etc. Network monitoring services Online network stats graphs

Current projects May-June 2000: upgrade Internet connectivity at WSU POP –Replace discrete T1s with fractional DS-3 service The Kan-Ed project –Legislation to connect all K-12 districts and public libraries –Joint effort of KANREN, DISC, Dept. of Ed., and State Library

Kan-Ed Currently under consideration in the legislature Requests $4.5M startup, $13M annual recurring KANREN's roles: –Network design –KANREN/KanWIN backbone interconnection –Training, staff development, consulting

Challenges Funding –Competitive pressure from local ISPs –Staffing Increasing bandwidth demands Kan-Ed uncertainties

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