Abilene Update Joint Techs Summer ’05 Vancouver, CA Steve Cotter Director, Network Services Steve Cotter Director, Network Services

2 Welcome Current Abilene Network Advanced Networking Services Offered Abilene Network Futures

The Abilene Network

4 Abilene Partnerships Indiana University Juniper Networks Nortel Networks Qwest Communications ITECs NC ITEC Ohio ITEC San Diego ITEC Texas ITEC Internet2

5 Abilene Overview 10-Gbps ‘best effort’, over-provisioned IP network Current normal load ~2 Gbps; ~10 Gbps peak Carrier provisioned backbone λ’s (Q-Wave) ~4.7 9’s availability over past 12 months SONET backhaul available to connectors IPv4/IPv6, native multicast, MPLS LSPs Network research facilitation (data + co-lo) Abilene Observatory project Extensive domestic and int’l R&E peering Cost recovery model motivates network utilization and bandwidth upgrade

6 Abilene Community 39 direct connections (OC-3c  10 Gbps) 3 10 Gbps (10 GE) connections OC-192c SONET also supported 7 OC-48c connections & 3 GE connectors 25 connected at OC-12c (622 Mbps) or higher 234 Primary Participants – research universities and labs Library of Congress and U.S. Holocaust Museum most recent additions Expanded Access 126 Sponsored Participants - Individual institutions, K-12 schools, museums, libraries, research institutes 34 Sponsored Educational Group Participants - state- based education networks See:

7 The Abilene Network

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10 The Abilene Network

11 The Abilene Network

12 Abilene Federal & Research Peerings

13 Abilene International Network Peerings

Advanced Services Across Abilene

15 Advanced Network Services IPv6 Approx. ⅔ connectors, ½ peers are v6 enabled 2005: 11 new non-production v6 peerings at Palo Alto PAIX, also added France Telecom, soon MCI MAE-West MPLS NC-ITEC experimenting (with ITEC Ohio) with creating a multipoint Layer 2 VPN using inter-domain MPLS tunnels & Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS). BRUW: experimenting with how to bandwidth reservation across packet and circuit switched networks Abilene Observatory Provides data from router nodes or equip. collocated in Abilene racks 30+ research projects currently using Observatory data (see Manhattan Landing (MAN 32 A of A in NYC - partnership with NYSERNet, Indiana University, and the IEEAF A high performance, open bilateral exchange facility for research

Abilene Network Futures

17 What’s Changed? Over the last 5 years, the U.S. research university community has become wholesale customers of telecoms for raw assets & ancillary services Upwards of 30,000 route-miles of inter-city dark fiber are held by the U.S. R&E community > 60% in the regionals More than 20 Regional Optical Networks (RONs) have emerged mostly state based – some with strong gubernatorial support often concurrent economic development objectives Meanwhile carriers generally did not invest in new optical infrastructure during the downturn Increased end-to-end network transparency View of the network as a schedulable resource

18 Next Generation Abilene Active examination of new network service models is underway Group A Report - moving beyond the common bearer service view of best-effort IP ‘Core’ and ‘Flexible’ waves Hybrid architecture evaluation (HOPI Project) IP core using 10→40Gbps λ transport Dedicated capabilities using NLR wave and Abilene λ’s, GigE channels, MPLS tunnels Evaluation of optical transport capabilities Both commercial and higher ed owned options (NLR & the RONs) Design & planning collaboration with U.S. & international partners ESnet, TeraGrid, NLR, SURFnet, GEANT2

19 Next Generation Abilene Timeline October 2007 – End of recent 1-year extension to Abilene transport MoU with Qwest Dictates 3rd-generation network timeline Architecture: end 4Q05 Transport provider(s): end 1Q06 Equipment selection: end 2Q06 Backbone deployed: end 4Q06 Connector transition: begin early 2007 Concurrently, need to review business and management models Coincidentally… Late 2007 – expiration of ESnet transport agreement with Qwest

20 NLR & Abilene Group B Report recommended a merger of Internet2 and NLR as the best way to deliver to the community the services outlined in the ‘Group A’ report Both Boards passed resolutions to begin consolidation discussions Committee of 8 individuals has been appointed to develop a merger strategy plan Work to begin immediately Goal is to have a plan ready for each board’s consideration by the end of Oct.

21 Abilene / NLR Map

22 Next Generation Abilene Design Considerations Critical factors: Complexity of delivering dynamic network bandwidth NLR, RON and international integration How do we deliver these services from the campus of one researcher to the campus of another Advanced service support Multicast, v6, High Performance Throughput, Measurement Enhanced network research facilitation Network and end-user security Options for increased reliability and additional services (i.e. Commodity Internet services)

23 Abilene Information For more Information: Or contact us at: RONs / Abilene Connectors BoF 8:15pm in Crystal Ballroom 3, Hilton Vancouver Metrotown

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