African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Virtual Silk Highway project Creating NRENs in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus Region Robert Janz Computing Centre University of Groningen The Netherlands

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 The Silk project The Central Asian and Caucasus region The NATO Science programme IT in Central Asia and the Caucasus Bringing Internet to the region: Silk Current status Future plans

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 ICFA Standing Committee on Interregional Connectivity (SCIC) Harvey B. Newman California Institute of Technology ICFA Seminar, CERN October 9, 2002

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Central Asia and the Caucasus

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 The rôle of NATO in the region? Three dimensions of NATO  Political  Military  Science Science Committe Networking panel

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Computer Networking Panel IT related projects Shift of emphasises  Computers  Networks  Stand alone  Infrastructure  West  East  Science  Education  National  Regional  Network Infrastructure Grants NATO IT consultants

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 The academic community Russian system » Clear distinction between Science and Education » Government controlled After 1991 funding disappeared Tensions » Between Academy and Universities » Between Universities

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 The Silk project Prelude The project definition The project implementation The service

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Prelude to Silk Extreme high costs for little connectivity Increasing governmental control of Internet Poor cooperation » Within the countries » Between the countries The beginning of the Silk project in 1999

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Project definition Satellite technology Minimise costs in eastern countries Possibility of receive only dishes Connect to western academic networks Organise NREN in eastern countries Work towards sustainable situation

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Project realisation DVB technology Smaller eastern dishes Collaboration with Cisco DESY Hamburg as western hub Geant connection EU funding for management

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 EurasiaSat

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Silk local node 2.4/3.8 m dish Cisco 7204 router Cisco Catalyst 3524 switch Cisco Content Engine CE 560 UPS

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Silk requisites There must be an NREN The NREN has the necessary licences The NREN signs for operational management Sustainability National Internet Exchange

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Bandwidth forecast

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Silk bandwidth Q1 2003

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Bandwidth per 24 hrs (Uz,7-4-03)

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Silk budget

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Managing Silk

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 SPONGE project EU programme » IST Framework 5 Participants: » UCL, RUG, ARENA, GRENA Four work packages  Project management  Infrastructure services  Technical activities  Personal communication

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Where we stand Silk-1 period is coming to end NRENs need to become mature Extension of Silk outside of the capital into the regions Extend Silk support to applications and user group

African NREN workshop, September 25-27, 2005 Summary NRENs are absolutely necessary for national coordination Regional cooperation is necessity for: » Bargaining momentum » Exchange of expertise Sustainability remains an issue Not only connectivity, also applications and user group support