South African National Research Network (SANReN) Imraan Saloojee DST, South Africa International workshop on African Research and Education Networking September 2005, CERN, GENEVA

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Presentation Outline  The Square Kilometer Array RadioTelescope (SKA)  The need for a high speed research network  Current situation  Envisaged future  Challenges

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN  Largest and most sensitive radio telescope ever built  Global initiative from the start  Estimated budget $1.5bn  Based on new technology to reduce cost and increase sensitivity, field of view, multi-beaming, frequency range and flexibility  1 million square metres of effective collecting area.  100 times more sensitive than today’s best instruments.  A distributed array of antennas.  A software telescope  Economic opportunities The SKA

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Possible SKA structure in Southern Africa

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN  Future of Radio Astronomy and success of SKA bid depends on availability of low cost bandwidth for optical fibre for data transmission  Huge infrastructure in region  Bandwidth makes it possible to locate large scale science infrastructure in developing world Cost of Bandwidth

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN The need for Research Networks in S.A.  Enabler for international collaboration Science no longer succeeds in silos  Sources of research input globally distributed + HUGE  Able to tackle more challenging problems  Research facilities expensive, avoids duplication  Allows researchers to spend more time researching

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN GEOSS

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN  HartRAO only Radio Astronomy observatory in Africa  Key role in international VBLI Radio Astronomy in South Africa Shared sky coverage with major observatories at all wavelengths

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Current Research Network in South African  TENET is the “bandwidth consortium” that arranges general Internet access for some of these (via TELKOM)  The TENET family GEN2 agreement with Telkom (approximately half of commercial rates) All` universities and Universities of Technology Plus U of Lesotho and U of Swaziland HMO, HSRC, MRC, iThemba labs, NLCSA, NRF, HartRAO CHE, SAASTA,, More than users  CSIR, ARC and some other government research labs not part of TENET family.  Small connection to GEANT through TENET  Bandwidth Limited and even at half commercial rates expensive

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN

The Géant Connection (1) Established in Oct 2004 GRE tunnel through TELKOM SA’s IP network between… Géant’s London PoP; and TENET’s International Gateway in Cape Town “Provisional” in that… it shares long-haul bandwidth with general Internet traffic; It will ultimately be superseded by dedicated link Traffic flow is small, but growing fast… Great “feel good” impact on research community

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Future Research network in SA SANReN: The SA Government is creating an NREN Department of Science and Technology (DST) Driven by needs of “big e-science” projects  SALT, VLBI, SKA, HESS, ALICE Project, NBN, GBIF, GEOSS, SAEON,HPCC, NLCSA Strengthen links to Géant; Will not provide general Internet access All TENET institutions will connect, either directly or via a SANReN/TENET gateway First phase in place by early 2006 Dedicated connection to Géant (1 Gb/s going to 10Gb/s) TENET is project Manager for DST

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Benefits of SANReN for South Africa (1)  Leverages global resources and programmes for SA Scientists High speed connectivity to over 3000 research institutions worldwide Enables access to huge amounts of information from primary research facilities around the world e.g High Energy Physics, e-VLBI, Human Genome, EO data  Continued Participation of SA researchers in cutting edge science and innovation

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN  Makes the establishment of large scale science infrastructure like the SKA in South Africa more attractive  Enables better and wider use of expensive infrastructure  Provides a platform for innovation  Enhances SA reputation as a science destination Benefits of SANReN for South Africa (2)

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Probable SANReN design SANReN PoPs Johannesburg Durban Port Elizabeth Bloemfontein Cape Town Limpopo Province Architecture 10 Gb/s backbone Up to 10 Gb/s connections to sites International Connection through SAT3 or EASSy Support IPv4 and 6

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN  Sites 10 sites including TENET gateway will connect in phase 1 Further 10 in phase 2 Additional sites thereafter  Deployment model will depend on final outcome of negotiations Leasing, IRU, ownership

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Challenges  Challenge 1: Long-haul connectivity  Challenge 2: Terrestrial infrastructure  Challenge 3: Market structure in SA Establishment of differential regime for research and academic networks to be provided for Licensing of private research and academic networks Pricing for bandwidth which is available for research and academic purposes on existing networks Interconnection

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN The University of Witwatersrand 11.3 Mb/s Internet access Cost breakdown Appox. unit cost ($ per kb/s per month) $4.00 Carrier transit cost in UK7 % Long haul to UK (via SAT-3 cable) cost63 % Transport and peering within South Africa 30 %

African Research and Networking Workshop, CERN Summary  ESTABLISHES LONG TERM CAPABILITY TO TRANSACT AT THE HIGHER END OF GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION FLOWS  Strong Government support and drive for R&D  SANREN will establish 10Gb network with connecting all research institutions into GEANT  Will carry research traffic  Negotiations at advanced stage  Government commitment to use legislative and regulatory options to reduce cost of research bandwidth