National LambdaRail, Higher Education and the Future of Regional Optical Networks Dr. Robert Zimmerman, Director Computing Services University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR

The evolution of research and education networks in Arkansas. ARKnet Internet2 AREON (Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network)

National LambdaRail “Putting the Promise of Experimental Network Infrastructure into the Hands of Our Nation's Scientists and Researchers”

What is National LambdaRail? A major initiative of U.S. research universities and private sector technology companies to provide a national scale infrastructure for research and experimentation in networking technologies and applications. National LambdaRail represents the common interests of the nation’s higher education academic and research communities in achieving high capacity, experimental communication services. Organization of National LambdaRail The defining characteristic of the NLR infrastructure is its ability to support many distinct networks for the U.S. research community using the same core infrastructure. National LambdaRail’s ownership of the underlying optical infrastructure ensures the research community : unprecedented control flexibility in meeting the requirements of the most advance network applications the resources demanded by cutting-edge network research Source:

Goals of National LambdaRail Support experimental and production networks Foster networking research Promote next-generation applications Facilitate interconnectivity among high-performance research and education networks Source:

WHY Create Regional Optical Networks? The limitation of all purchased services is the lack of control Underlying assumption that big science needs big performance Ever-increasing importance of collaboration, particularly international Scaling (Source: MCNC Grid Computing & Networking Services)

Examples of Regional Optical Networks

Abilene MAN LAN Buffalo Rochester Albany 32 AofA CA*net Syracuse OC-12 GigE legend NYSERNet PoP 10 GigE R&E Network DWDM NLR

Virginia Tech University of Virginia George Mason University Virginia Commonwealth University College of William and Mary Old Dominion University NWV gigaPOP Internet2 Mid Atlantic Crossroads National LambdaRail Virginia Optical Research Technology EXchange VORTEX

AREON conceptual map

LOTA Ring and National LambdaRail

Memphis Jonesboro Fayetteville

Activities in Arkansas to Promote NLR Services Memberships and active participation including: Internet2 Great Plains Network, Inc. MIDnet, Inc. (RFP for fiber on the street) Southeastern Universities Research Association Interacted with numerous states relative to Regional Optical Networks (RONs) - to include Quilt, Southern LambdaRail, Southern Regional Optical Network, Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure and OneNet (Oklahoma Research Network Corridor) Assisted Governor Mike Huckabee with a proposal to the 2005 legislature: Authored AREON White Paper Met with legislators Met with representative of State of Arkansas, DIS, ECIO, and ASTA Discussion among representatives from ASU, UALR, UAMS, and UAF

Creating Regional Optical Networks Creating a RON is a challenging project, which requires: 1.Creating an organization to support the promotion and funding of a RON 2.Planning and designing a network infrastructure that is compatible with National LambdaRail 3.Securing fiber services as dark fiber or IRU leases (RFP, contracts, etc.) 4.Acquiring electronic equipment, management systems, maintenance services, etc. 5.Implementing network services 6.Supporting and maintaining hardware, software, and personnel to meet SLA for clients 7.Maintaining funding sources 8.Developing client applications of the RON

The Future of Internet2 Internet2 is a consortium being led by 207 universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies. The primary goals of Internet2 are to: Create a leading-edge network capability for the national research community Enable revolutionary Internet applications Ensure the rapid transfer of new network services and applications to the broader Internet community.

INTERNET2 AND THE NATIONAL LAMBDARAIL ARE PLANNING TO MERGE. This will enable the huge amount of work accomplished by Internet2 during the past seven years to combine that body of work and a production network with the NLR fiber optic network resources.

Internet2 Partnerships Partnerships World-wide international partnerships for network and application development Partnerships with domestic corporations and organizations Partnerships with university organizations and researchers Federal Government partnerships The Federal Government initiated the Next Generation Internet Project (NGI) a week after Internet2 was formed NSF has made over 70 High Performance Connections (HPC) awards to Internet2 universities NGI funded wide-ranging applications that require HPC. Many NGI applications were funded by DoD, DoE, NASA, NIH, NIST, DARPA, etc.

Sponsored Education Group Participants, as of August 2005

Internet2 Initiatives Middleware Initiative Middleware, or “glue,” is a layer of software between the network and the applications End-to-End Performance Initiative (E2Epi) To create a predictable, and well-supported environment in which Internet2 campus network users have routinely successful connections K20 Initiative The Internet2 K20 Initiative brings together Internet2 member institutions, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, libraries and museums Arts & Humanities Initiative The Arts and Humanities Initiative assists Internet2 members in enabling and advancing collaborations between high performance networking technologies and applications in the arts and humanities Digital Video Initiative (DVI) Digital Video is a distributed organization which seeks to build upon the efforts of other digital video groups and individuals Distributed Storage Initiative (DSI) The Internet2 Distributed Storage Initiative project is a replicated hosting platform for Internet content and services FiberCo (National Research and Education Fiber Company) Internet2 has established the National Research and Education Fiber Company (FiberCo) to support regional fiber optical networking initiatives dedicated to research and higher education Health Sciences Initiative The Internet2 Health Sciences Initiative increases awareness of, and engagement in, the uses of high-performance networking throughout the medical research community