1. Advancing South-East Europe into the eInfrastructure era The proven power of many Dr.-Ing., PMP, Jorge-A. Sanchez-P. GRNET sanchez@grnet.gr http://www.grnet.gr also on behalf of SEEREN, SEE-GRID, SEEFIRE, SEELight and 6DISS initiatives http://www.seeren.org http://www.see-grid.org http://www.seefire.org http://www.6diss.org

2. Agenda eInfrastructures & ERA Pan-European running efforts Actions for fast tracking Expansion of eInfrastructures & ERA in SEE

3. Information Age 17812000 Industrial Age The Information Age. What is next?

4. …The World Wide Grid Tier0/1 facility Tier2 facility 10 Gbps link 2.5 Gbps link 622 Mbps link Other link Tier3 facility Grid computing represents a fundamental shift in how we approach distributed computing, like the fundamental shift in information access introduced by the Web. The Grid is: –A collaboration & resource sharing infrastructure with origins in the sciences –A distributed service integration and management technology –a mechanism to coordinate resource sharing and problem solving –A disruptive technology that enables a virtualized, collaborative, distributed world –An open source technology & community –An analogy with the Power Grid –A marketing slogan But more significantly is that in the Grid –the sum can be greater than the parts –real opportunities and new capabilities can be constructed dynamically from distributed services

5. …eInfrastructures and the ERA The integrated networking & middleware environment is also called electronic infrastructure or eInfrastructure. The technologies of the Grid-enabled eInfrastructure, allow new methods of global collaborative research - often referred to as electronic science or eScience. The combination of high-speed core networks and broadband access, Grid-middleware technologies and advanced virtual collaborative environments, constitute the World Wide Grid WWG applications are one of the major global research and development topics of this century that in time will come to be seen as a commodity service. The creation of such an eInfrastructure, which will provide fully integrated communication and information processing services, is a key objective of the European Research Area. The reality is that today, the Grid is a "work in progress", with the underlying technology still in a prototype phase, and being developed by hundreds of researchers and software engineers around the world. Network – Connectivity Service Collaborations Grid infrastructure Computing/storage service

6. The context of eInfrastructures in Europe The vision is to build a European-wide Grid- based infrastructure on top of a broadband networking infrastructure –Transparent and reliable; –Open to wide user and provider communities; –Pervasive and ubiquitous; –Secure and provide trust across multiple administrative domains; –Provide better, cheaper service to its users –Integrates computing power, storage, sensors, instruments and databases. We are just in the beginning… Single service networks…to multiservice ones… Open Reliable Scalable Persistent Transparent Person-centric Pervasive Secure / trusted Standards-based User interface grid (mobility…) Economies business models Properties Facilities Models Virtual organisation systems Management co-ord. and orchestration Information representation Research Themes Next Generation Grid(s)

7. The context of eInfrastructures in Europe Strongly supported by the European Council, the European Parliament and Member States budgets (Lisbon Agenda, EC Policies) In the preparations for the 7th Framework Programme (at stake: Research Infrastructures (RI) is one of the proposed six FP7 axes, increase of FP-budget) Looking for the Return of Investment (RoI)…! Excellence through collaboration Basic research through competition Technology Patforms Human resources Research infrastructur es Coordination of national programmes 6 axes for FP7

8. 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 FP5 FP6 Complementary to National infrastructures TEN 155 network GÉANT network and International extensions Grid testbeds DataGrid, CrossGrid, GridLab, GRIP, GRIA (other) testbeds IPv6 testbeds 6NET, 6IX, etc GÉANT2 network and International extensions Grid-empowered Infrastructures EGEE, DEISA, SEE-GRID IPv6 actions Framework Programme 6 Grid-empowered infrastructures EGEE2, SEE-GRID2, etc Consolidating Initiatives Testbeds Testbeds: DILIGENT, MUPPET, LOBSTER, EUROLABS, GRIDCC FP7 Grid Research Projects: GRIDCOORD, NEXTGRID, COREGRID, AKOGRIMO, SIMDAT, etc

9. eInfrastructure running projects Network – Connectivity Service Collaborations Grid middleware Computing/storage service

10. Applications for the Researcher and Student Time Astronomy Earth Observation Chemistry Geophysics Nanotechnology Digital Libraries Climate modelling Biodiversity Industry eHealth Physics Bioinformatics Example EGEE project

11. Support by Strategy/Policy Groups The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and the eInfrastructure Reflection Group (eIRG) will play a major role in this context. ESFRI/eIRG will develop a roadmap for RI for the next 10-20 years A clear vision of the needs for research infrastructures in the medium–long term should be defined as well as a corresponding roadmap.

12. FP7… What is FP7? –The Framework Programme (FP) is the European Union's main instrument for funding research and development. –It has been proposed for FP7, however, to run for seven years. It will be fully operational as of 1 January 2007. –It is designed to build on the achievements of its predecessor towards the creation of the European Research Area, and carry it further towards the development of the knowledge economy and society in Europe. What will be the overall budget for FP7? –In the Commission's proposals for the seventh framework programme to the European Parliament and Council of 6 April 2005, the Commission proposed that the maximum overall amount for Community financial participation in the EC seventh framework programme should be EUR 72 726 million. For nuclear research and training activities carried out under the Euratom treaty EUR 3092 million are forseen for 2007- 2011.

13. How will FP7 be structured? The proposed Seventh Framework Programme will be organised in four programmes corresponding to four basic components of European research: –Cooperation: Support will be given to the whole range of research activities carried out in trans-national cooperation, from collaborative projects and networks to the coordination of national research programmes. International cooperation between the EU and third countries is an integral part of this action. –Ideas: This programme will enhance the dynamism, creativity and excellence of European research at the frontier of knowledge in all scientific and technological fields, including engineering, socio-economic sciences and the humanities. This action will be overseen by a European Research Council –People: Strengthening, quantitatively and qualitatively, the human potential in research and technology in Europe by putting into place a coherent set of Marie Curie actions. –Capacities: The objective of this action is to support research infrastructures, research for the benefit of SMEs and the research potential of European regions (Regions of Knowledge) as well as stimulate the realisation of the full research potential (Convergence Regions) of the enlarged Union and build an effective and democratic European Knowledge society. Ideas People (MC) Collaborative Research Projects Research Capacity Research infrastructure Support for SME Convergence Regions Science and Society

14. Agenda eInfrastructures & ERA Pan-European running efforts Actions for fast tracking Expansion of eInfrastructures & ERA in SEE

15. PanEuropean coverage (33 countries/NRENs) Access at 10 Gb/s 3900 Universities and Research Instittes 15 million users + eScience Projects (e.g. Grids) 3 Layer architecture: –The Pan-European Interconnection: TEN34  TEN155  GÉANT (GN1 in FP5)  GÉANT2 (GN2 in FP6) –The NREN (MAN/WAN) –The Campus Network (LAN/MAN) Emphasis on switched end-to-end provision of services across multiple interconnected networks Gaining improved understanding of user needs Migration from IP services to combination of routing and switching, network control, light paths

16. Evolution: From Geant to Geant2 GÉANT2, a new generation HYBRID Network backbone: IP(v6) + switched end-to-end provision across interconnected networks over DARK FIBER among 15 countries & growing –The Next Generation Hybrid Network will enable advanced collaborative platforms via hybrid IPv6 & Manageable Layer 1-2 (Ethernet & Light-path switching over Dark Fiber) Services –R&E HPCN and Grid requirements motivated the design and deployment of GÉANT2 as a hybrid, dark-fiber network

17. CEF Networks workshop 2005, 17 th May 2005, Prague – Otto Kreiter (otto.kreiter@dante.org.uk) GÉANT2 10G 2.5G NREN ANREN C primary backup primary backup DF DWDM OXC and/or L2 switch Nx10G NREN B NREN D LHC - CERN

18. GÉANT2 Global Connectivity

19. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE INFSO-RI-508833 EGEE EGEE is the largest Grid infrastructure project in the World ? : 70 leading institutions in 27 countries, federated in regional Grids Leveraging national and regional grid activities ~32 M Euros EU funding for initially 2 years starting 1st April 2004 EU review, February 2005 successful Preparing 2 nd phase of the project – proposal to 3 rd EU Grid call September 2005

20. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE INFSO-RI-508833 EGEE Activities 48 % service activities (Grid Operations, Support and Management, Network Resource Provision) 24 % middleware re-engineering (Quality Assurance, Security, Network Services Development) 28 % networking (Management, Dissemination and Outreach, User Training and Education, Application Identification and Support, Policy and International Cooperation) EGEE emphasis is on production grid operations and end-user support

21. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE INFSO-RI-508833 gLite First major release of gLite announced on April 5 –Focus on providing users early access to prototype –Reusing existing components –Addressing current shortcomings Interoperability & Co-existence with deployed infrastructure (Cautious) service oriented approach –Follow WSRF standardisation Site autonomy Globus 2 basedWeb services based gLite-2 LCG-2 gLite-1 LCG-1

22. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE INFSO-RI-508833 Deployment of applications PilotNew Pilot applications –High Energy Physics –Biomed applications Generic applications – Deployment under way –Computational Chemistry –Earth science research –EGEODE: first industrial application –Astrophysics With interest from –Hydrology –Seismology –Grid search engines –Stock market simulators –Digital video etc. –Industry (provider, user, supplier)

23. Enabling Grids for E-sciencE INFSO-RI-508833 Country providing resources Country anticipating joining EGEE/LCG In EGEE-0 (LCG-2):  >100 sites  >10,000 CPUs  >5 PB storage Computing Resources – Feb. 2005

24. More that 30 international partners - 2500 person months of work over 3 years - 33 MEuro total cost Wide-scale native IPv6 testbed. Connectivity speed 155 Mb/s (STM-1) GRNET actively participates in main activities: Network operation and services, e.g. IPv6 native network (NTUA, AUTH, CTI, FORTH), DNS, Multicast, IPv6 migration mechanisms, etc. Applications development and testing, Videoconference, DVTS, etc. Management, e.g. Weathermap, DDoS (Panoptis), GriD tools, etc. To North America To Japan To Korea To Brazil

25. Agenda eInfrastructures & ERA Pan-European running efforts Actions for fast tracking Expansion of eInfrastructures & ERA in SEE

26. GRNET – Network infrastructure 12-PoP high speed backbone network based on 2.5Gbps leased lambdas and Gigabit routers. Interconnects academic and research institutions (more than 80 today) at up to 1Gbps and primary and secondary schools (more than 10.000) at Mbps. A total of up to 1.500.000 potential end-users. International 2x2.5Gbps (to be upgraded to 2x10Gbps – 3Q05)

27. GRNET – Grid infrastructure 6 clusters/sites in deployment (770 CPUs, 34 TBs storage). Involves all major research and academic institutes working on Grids-eScience all over Greece. High Energy Physics, Bio-informatics, Meteorology, Astronomy, Computer scientists-Virtual Collaboration Environments Providing services to the Pan- European GRID community through the EGEE Project and the SEE community through the SEE-GRID Project.

28. Dark fibre plans (2005) Initiated the process of acquiring dark fibre spans in 4Q2004. Tenders for DF issued in 1Q2005 (first public ones released in Greece) aiming at three fibre lines: One terrestrial in northern Greece (Thessaloniki-Xanthi) Two submarine lines in the Aegean Sea (Syros-Samos islands and Athens-Crete) DF Tenders requirements: 15-year IRUs. Maintenance support at layer-1 (against fibre cuts and fibre performance degradation). Fibre pairs supporting 10Gbps transmission. Option of installing GRNET optical equipment (passive or active) in intermediate locations of the end-to-end fibre spans. Monitoring system for automatic detection of fibre cuts or performance degradation with indication of each Failure Report Time Availability of at least 99% Optional protection of fibre spans. Currently (July 2005) in contract preparation phase. RFP followed by an RFI for transmission equipment under preparation

29. Received offers 932 km of dark fibre

30. Dark fibre plans (2006+) The whole of the GRNET backbone is planned to be implemented using dark fibre pairs obtained via long-term IRUs. Within 2006, tenders will be released requesting for dark fibre between all of the existing GRNET PoPs currently operating with leased lambdas. Actions for obtaining dark fibre towards the northern part of Greece, in an attempt to establish cross border fibre links with neighbouring countries, are also planned. Tender for long haul, multiple wavelengths optical transmission & switching equipment also planned for 2006

31. Greek School Network The Greek School Network uses GRNET as backbone with 7 entry points. 8500 schools connected To give access to the young generation The Distribution network consists of 51 nodes (one in each prefecture): 9 main nodes,9 main nodes, 42 secondary nodes42 secondary nodes and are equipped with 60 routers, 41 servers, a large number of telecommunication circuits and the appropriate software

32. Greek Broadband Task Force Lack of fiber…task Force for the to influence the faster deployment/installation of fiber in the whole country Formed by the Secretariat of the Information Society - Ministry of Economy and Finance- to coordinate all actions in broadband Access as a path to Regional Development and Information Society Consists of representatives of all ministries, related general secretaries, information society, industry (SEPE) and GRNET GUNET. Three members (and the coordinator) of the scientific committee of BBTF are from GRNET staff and were instrumental in its initiatives. Promotes specific actions with targets (among others): interconnected broadband access regional networks wireless hotspot and satellite access for remote areas http://www.broad-band.gr

33. Agenda eInfrastructures & ERA Pan-European running efforts Actions for fast tracking Expansion of eInfrastructures & ERA in SEE

34. SEEREN A roadmap for establishing National Grid Initiatives

35. Conceptualization: working on areas of common interest A couple of rakis in Ochrid… Followed by a memoranda of understanding INIMA (Albania) -2000 RoEduNet/RNC (Rumania) -2000 UNICOM-B (Bulgaria) -2000 MARNET (FYROM) -2000 GRNET (Greece) -2000 AMREJ (FRY) -2001 ULAKBIM (Turkey) -2001 …and first interconnections… Athens-Belgrade [2Mbps PCM] daily graph (5 Minute Average) Athens-Sofia [5.2Mbps ATM] daily graph (5 Minute Average)

36. Vision The vision… ‘ease the digital divide in SE Europe’. Help promote scientific and educational cooperation between EU MS and SEE Act as an enabler for dissemination and development of the next generation of Internet technologies in SEE states that are on course to joining the EU. Contribute to the reconstruction and stabilisation of the region.

37. SEEREN: A “small” step for the SEE NRENs, a big leap for the region… South-Eastern European Research and Education Network Interconnects the Research and Education Networks of AL, BA, BG, MK, CS, HU, RO and GR among them and to GEANT. Launched and entered its stable operation on Jan. 2004. in 2005 connectivity is co-funded by GEANT2. SEEREN2 to start at the end of 2006. Constitutes today the South Eastern European segment of the multi-gigabit pan-European Research and Education network GÉANT Distributes the Network Management & Operations to competent Academic Groups in the Region (the Virtual Network Operations Center – VNOC concept developed by GRNET). SEEREN capitalized on the growing aspiration of the SEE countries to integrate to the rest of Europe and eventually be equal peers with advanced European nations. Still a major driving force. SEEREN enacted a communication channel between the SEE scientific community. Refocused the R&E community in their common endeavors and wealthy cultural heritage that dates from several hundred years ago. more at www.seeren.orgwww.seeren.org

38. Help in establishing the NRENs EU-Balkan countries Action Plan in Science and Technology A Greek Presidency Initiative with Solid Roots Ministerial Conference (26-27/6/2003) adopted the documents (Shared vision, Action Plan) Shared Vision document, sets the Political context – Zagreb process and Thessaloniki Summit and defines four Main Goals: Improvement of Infrastructures, Improvement of Human Potential, Institution Building, Joint RTD activities. The Action Plan: Specifies the objectives and thematic priorities, proposes for the implementation: instruments ( Multilateral, Regional, Bilateral ), implementing modalities, (Workprogramme, ad-hoc group).

39. (Re)integrate the SEER&E community Turkey, Croatia, Albania, FYR of Macedonia already members Bulgaria and Serbia-Montenegro joined in October Bosnia-Herzegovina? Turkey, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia already members Serbia-Montenegro joined in October Bulgaria?, Bosnia-Herzegovina?, Albania?

40. Networking Infrastructure Grant (NIG) with Bulgaria finished (200k €) Networking Infrastructure Grant (NIG) with FYR of Macedonia (200κ €). Metropolitan Network in Skopje inaugurated in September 2004 Advanced Networking Workshop (ANW) “Policy Issues for NRENs in South East Europe” (25κ €) in Varna, Bulgaria http://www.terena.nl/conferences/nato- anw2003 Upgrade of infrastructure

41. Access to Advanced Services Deployment of IPv6 Formalize the continuation of the dissemination and promotion of the best practices from the 6NET project to the SEEREN network of countries and partners, that was started in March 2004, Help the main SEEREN beneficiary countries to study potential deployment scenarios/solutions over the SEEREN infrastructure, experiment and get familiar with IPv6, Support (technically) the continued connectivity of SEEREN countries via IPv6, that was started in March 2004, Support the transfer of 6NET’s IPv6 application demonstrations to SEEREN. Provide information about experiences of IPv6 deployment in less developed network user communities. Organise a joint technical workshop based on the 6NET Cookbooks and the programme of workshops in SE Europe, held within the scope of the SEEREN project. Produce joint reports on the results of the 6NET-SEEREN cooperation. Material preparation DisseminationLonger-term assistance Personal expertise & Cookbooks Expertise & material from 6NET, Euro6IX, GEANT, NRENs, … IPv6 modules tuned for each Workshop Workshop organisation & technical support Support for IPv6 deployment & future IST participation

42. SEEREN SEEGRID: the “eInfrastructure inclusion” into SEE South-Eastern European Grid-enabled eInftastructure Established at least one fully operational and certified grid site in all participating SEE countries each contractor setup at least one site third parties setup additional sites 5-50 nodes targeted in each site EGEE SEE ROC caters for the operations HEP and Biomed applications, developed by EGEE, deployed in the regional infrastructure. Two additional Grid applications developed by SEE-GRID partners deployed in the regional infrastructure: Volumetric Image Visualization Environment (VIVE) for medical images and other static or time-dependent scalar and vector 3D fields Search Engine for South-East Europe (SE4SEE) for Grid- aided web-crawling & data indexing To achieve sustainability of the grid infrastructure assists in establishing a National Grid Initiative in each SEE country more at www.see-grid.orgwww.see-grid.org

43. SEE-GRID infrastructure

44. National Certification Authorities Need of trust and security -> National Certification Authority At European Level need to cooperate -> EUGridPMA The SEE-GRID project will be a relying party in the EUGridPMA (along with EGEE, DEISA, and other major grid projects) GRNET will establish a regional SEE-GRID “Catch-all” CA for the partners who do not yet have a PMA-accredited Grid CA Project partners are assisted to develop their own Grid CA and apply for membership in PMA

45. SEEFIRE: looking for a sustainable eInfrastructure South-Eastern European Fibre Infrastructure Studies is producing studies on the options available for acquiring an optical fibre network infrastructure and strategies for the development of R&E networking in SEE. is raising awareness among stakeholders of NRENs, governments, users and telecommunication operators, about providing interconnection facilities in SEE to reduce the digital divide. Will provide: a benchmark of existing and potentially available optical fibre for NRENs in the region; an analysis of the technical options available for the deployment of dark fibre and the management of optical transmission by NRENs in the region; reports on economic aspects and regulations; dissemination of information and increased awareness about dark-fibre deployment both at technical and policy- making levels more at www.seefire.orgwww.seefire.org

46. Submarine Fibre Cable/Systems Worlwide

47. Submarine Fibre Cable/Systems Europe

48. Submarine Fibre Cable/Systems Mediterranean

49. Submarine Fibre Cable/Systems Black Sea

50. SEA-ME-WE3 (South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe) smw3cbp.francetelecom.com Landed and connected countries : Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, France, U.K. Belgium, Germany 2700 Km at 2 x 10 Gbit/s Principal parties to the construction and maintenance agreement : KDD, DBP TELEKOM, SINGAPORE TELECOM, Telekom Malaysia, VSNL (India), France Telecom, Marconi (Portugal), BT (U.K.), MPT (Myanmar) etc. [Total of 88 telecommunications carriers from 64 countries]

51. Eastern Mediterranean Optical System-1 (EMOS-1) In Service: 1990 2880 Km at 1X 280 Mbit/s Landing countries: Palermo, Italy – Lechaina, Greeece – Marmaris, Turkey – Tel Aviv, Israel Purchasers: Telecom Italia, OTE, Turk Telekom, Bezeq

52. SEELight: the lambda facility for SEE R&E South-East European Lambda Network Facility for R&E Proposal for the deployment of an advanced regional network infrastructure (lambda network facility) for R&E, under the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HiPERB). SEELight is the response to the need of SEE for high-quality research and education. The project will help create a viable economy-of-scale model for the region to reduce networking costs per country, support the evolving needs of SEE R&E communities in the fields of domestic and international data communications, provide the foundation for network-based information exchange and co-operation towards a SEE Regional Information Society serve as a testbed for development of new services, and allow the SEE R&E community to participate in international networking activities assist the SEE countries to achieve their development goals, support the growth of their National Research & Education Networks (NRENs), accelerate research, fuel national and regional economic growth, and aid their integration with the rest of Europe.

53. SEELight: answers to a RFI

54. Strategic priority SEE eInfrastucture initiatives are pieces of the larger puzzle of RTD efforts that address the future of the SEE region Increasing the retention of talented scientists in the SEE Pursuing joint R&D efforts among SEE countries Making available the benefits of the Information Society for all SEEtizens Easing the digital divide between the region and the rest of the continent Improvement of regional competitiveness in all market sectors Regional political stability and cohesiveness Pave the way for future enlargement steps of the European Union …

55. Conclusion eInfrastructure one of the key objectives of ERA Immense momentum currently in Europe and the World Inclusion in the European trends very important Get involved in fora setting the strategy at European level; i.e., eIRG Get involved in the formulation of FP7, the EU-Western Balkan Action Plan in science and technology, in shapping the structural fund of the EU to include eInfrastructures Contribute into the development of the region Acquire dark fibre for the NREN and for the international connectivity Homogenize your network (end-to-end) Build robust 24x7 clusters with user support Build applications on top of your eInfrastructure Connect the youngsters that will bring the change Assist the government to develop competition in the market

56. Thank you