JUCC & HARNET July 2004 Cairns, Australia

JUCC Offsite Workshop at Tsinghua University – Nov 2003

The Value of JUCC Joint Universities Computer Centre (JUCC) Founded in 1970 Consortium of all University IT/Computer Centres in Hong Kong JUCC leads in IT excellence for the universities Good cooperation among IT/Computer Centre colleagues Strong computer and network expertise

HARNET Hong Kong Academic and Research NETwork (HARNET) Managed by the Joint Universities Computer Centre (JUCC) Supports the eight Universities funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) Also supports some non-profit organizations in Hong Kong

JUCC members The University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Polytechnic University City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Baptist University The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Lingnan University The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Other JUCC members Affiliate Members Open University of Hong Kong Vocational Training Council (Institute of Vocational Education) Network Members Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks

History of HARNET Set up with UUCP connections Connected to BITNET with dedicated link Connected to Internet at 64 Kbps to USA JUCC takes over management of HARNET funded by University Grants Committee Kbps Internet link (T1) Mbps Internet link with local T1 star network Kbps connection to CERNET (via CityU of HK to Tsinghua University)

. T1 (will be E1 to Exodus) 64K 512K NAS Ame s (Internet) HKUCUHK LNC PolyU CityU HKUST HKIEd HKBU ISP HKIX VTC TCs OLI U of Macau UNU U.C. Lib. T1 = Mbps E1 = Mbps Cisco 4500 Ethernet =>256K =>128K HARNET Connectivity (1996) HK.. CERNET Tsinghua U. 64K

History (contd) (E1) Mbps IPLC link Mbps IPLC link, plus 4 Mbps ISP Mbps IPLC link plus 12 Mbps ISP 512 Kbps link to TANET (via HKU to Academic Sinica of Taiwan) Mbps for ISP Internet Mbps - 2 Mbps to CERNET (via HARNET hub to Tsinghua University)

History (contd) Mbps - 10 Mbps to TANET (via HARNET hub to Academia Sinicas co-location site in HK) - 45 Mbps IPLC to Internet2 at Chicago STARTAP Mbps ISP Internet Mbps HKIX Mbps to CERNET (via HARNET hub to CERNET co-location site in HK, Feb 2004) - 45 Mbps to TANET (via HARNET hub to Academia Sinicas co-location site in HK)

Upgrade Plan for 3 rd Quarter 2004 Dual ISP links Mbps plus 155 Mbps 400 Mbps HKIX scalable to 1 Gbps 90 Mbps IPLC to Internet2

HARNET Usage Commodity Internet traffic, electronic mail, file transfer, library catalogues, supercomputers, bulletin board services, video-conferencing, etc TCP/IP network Very Congested (>90% for 20 hours per week) Over 10,000 staff and 50,000 students

Management of HARNET Managed by JUCC Financial approval by JUCC Board of Management Network Task Force for operational and technical issues Video Task Force for video applications Security Working Group

Funding Management Substantial investment in Internet links Mainly supported by special UGC funding and donations Request for funding reviewed each year Use of HARNET is free (up till now) Charging model established since July 1996 Only usage exceeding allocation is charged

Network Management Never saturating demand for bandwidth QoS program to regulate usage according to member institutions bandwidth allocation Charging is imposed on bandwidth usage above the allocation Charge only imposed if usage is over 95% Not possible to allocate bandwidth for urgent needs Priority setting by individual institutions

Development Plan Upgrade Connection to Internet2 Promote application of Next Generation Internet (NGI) technologies Video Conferencing in all institutions IPv6 and Multicast Support Electronic Service Delivery Certificate Authentication

Future Information Network Greater use of e-Cert and digital signatures Video conferencing and video-on-demand Integrating data, voice, video and web Optical wavelength networks Electronic signatures and forms with workflow High performance computers Grid Computing Wireless LANs & wireless access to the Internet

The Value of JUCC Joint tendering exercises have yielded many benefits to member institutions and vendors Premier in Internet development and the administration of the.hk domain name registration… Transferred and re-delegated to a new membership-based Corporation set up by the Hong Kong SAR Government in March 2002 Contribution recognised by the Hong Kong SAR Government

The Value of JUCC (contd) Cooperative model well recognized by UGC, with success attracting funding for HARNET upgrades Attract donations from industry for pilot projects Gathering momentum for more participation from other organizations JUCC member is Director of Board of Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation HKCERT Steering Committee

JUCC Organization Lean Organization - Director (free service) - Office (supported by HKU) - Staffing (2.5 admin staff & 1 tech staff equiv.) Well-controlled Finance - Income: - Contribution from members - Service fee (software, network) - Expenses: - Administration (staff costs, general expenses) - Software and Training - Accounting service by PolyU of HK

Current Services Network Services Software Licensing Tenders Training Workshops and conferences Joint off-site workshops with leading higher education institutions in Mainland China

Visiting Beijing University – Nov 2003

Future Directions (1) JUCC has laid a good foundation for inter- institution cooperation The network task force is concentrating on Next-Generation Internet technologies The video task force is working on joint video conferencing among the eight universities Seed money for future network development HKSAR Government puts emphasis on IT development

Future Directions (2) Explore opportunities for joint software development Improve negotiation with vendors, regarding software and hardware pricing Develop more inter-institutional cooperation on new technologies, training, network security, administrative applications and support Promote exchange with sister institutions in Greater China and Asia Pacific regions

Vision: HK a leader in the use of IT Support high-bandwidth applications Facilitate research into new Internet technologies Develop into Research Internet hub for Asia Pacific Expand to be a Hong Kong wide Education Network for all the school sectors

Thank you