The Internet2 Commons By Larry Amiot (Internet2/Northwestern University) Internet2 Members Meeting March 2001

The Internet2 Commons A large-scale, Distributed Collaborative Environment for the Research and Education Community A vision: for enabling one-to-one, one-to-group, and group-to-group collaboration in support of personal communications, meetings, conferences, and teaching and learning for Internet2 members (primary and sponsored) and their international counterparts

The Internet2 Commons An Internet2 Project, much like Abilene Initially, a H.323 service built on ViDeNet architecture Research & development efforts (such as gateway development) to support other videoconferencing and collaborative technologies Provision of MCUs by OSU, OARnet, and CIC- OARnet second level NOC service VRVS gateway services

The Internet2 Commons Draft Implementation Plan recommends two phases: Phase I –A “best effort” service –To last no longer than a year –Site coordinator point-of-contact –Extensive use of LISTSERVs for help desk and problem resolution –Distributed pool(s) of equipment (e.g. MCUs) –Training, workshops, tutorials, and documentation Phase II –Operational production services –A financially sustainable service –Sponsored research and development –Bulk coercive purchasing

The Internet2 Commons The Internet2 Project will consist of: A Management Team proposed to consist of: –Project Director –Director of Operations –Research and Development Director –Education and Training Coordinator –Public Communications Coordinator A Technical Advisory Committee –Members that make significant contributions to project –Provide advice, counsel, & feedback to managers on matters relating to design, planning, implementation, and operation of videoconferencing activities

The Internet2 Commons Solicitation A call for participation will be issued to provide some Phase I capabilities and production level service components for Phase II Issued to Internet2 members (university, vendor, government, & non-profit) To provide advanced functionality in areas such as: –Operations (e.g., MCU & gatekeeper provision & management) –Outreach & communications (training, documentation, & help desk support) –Research & development Identification of Internet2 members who would like to join the Internet2 Commons (as opposed to providing services) to be done through Web-based forms, not the solicitation

The Internet2 Commons Levels of Participation Non-Internet2 Organizations Internet2 Member Organizations Internet2 Member Sponsored Organizations Requirements for Participation Member organization to fill out Web-based form If organization has gatekeeper, fill out ViDeNet form Follow relevant standards Provide any performance-critical network upgrades Designate a site coordinator

The Internet2 Commons Site Coordinator Duties Be the point of contact to work with campus users Provide training to local users using Internet2 Commons provided materials Participate in Coordinators LISTSERV to provide mutual assistance and problem solving with other member coordinators Provide local directory of users Arrange for local users to use shared resources Certify local users as to equipment acceptability for use of shared resources

The Internet2 Commons Potential Areas for Research and Development Networking –QoS for videoconferencing applications –Network analysis and simulation tools –High-reliability architectures –Multicast address space management Video Teleconferencing –Gateway development –SIP –Integration of alternative media streams (e.g. MPEG4 & HDTV) into call signaling architecture –Data collaboration tools –Automated scheduling

The Internet2 Commons Potential Areas for Research and Development (continued) Directory Services –Globally-scaleable dial plan evolution –Inter-gatekeeper communication –Security and authentication –Creation of video teleconferencing schema extensions to Eduperson