2006 DANTE Review
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DANTE Limited City House 126-130 Hills Road CREATING THE Cambridge CB2 1PQ GLOBAL RESEARCH UK COMMUNITY Tel: +44 (0)1223 371300 Fax: +44 (0)1223 371371 Email: [email protected] Web: www.dante.net ANNUAL REVIEW 2006 CREATING THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY ANNUAL REVIEW 2006 Contents Chairman’s Report 01 Leading edge technology 03 Global reach 09 World class engineering 17 A year in pictures 22 Collaboration & Community 25 Customer focus 29 Accountability 35 2006 Report and Financial Statement 39 Income and Expenditure Account 39 Balance Sheet 40 Statement of Cash Flows 40 DANTE Shareholders and Staff 41 DANTE and the NRENs builds the networks that With this global research orientated 2006 – the are helping to create a truly global research connectivity now established and running Chairman’s view community where advanced resources and new successfully, our focus is turning to ensuring learning can be shared to the benefit of every that both our partners and our EC supporters Welcome to the DANTE Annual Review for partner. Networking projects led by DANTE derive value from their investments. For our 2006. This year has confirmed the value of now span the globe: part, we are enhancing our ‘transition to DANTE’s global achievements and prepared the service’ arrangements to ensure that European stage for the renewed boost that the Seventh • Europe: GÉANT2 links NRENs in NRENs, end users and international network European Framework Programme (FP7) will 34 European countries with a further partners can exploit the new technologies to bring to research infrastructures and global 8 countries connected via the SEEREN2 best advantage. As well as full implementation research networking. The networks DANTE network in south-eastern Europe support and troubleshooting, GÉANT2, builds and operates, in close co-operation • Mediterranean: EUMEDCONNECT brings DANTE’s biggest and most important project, with its partner European NRENs, now benefit together 11 NRENs from the is introducing formal training programmes for researchers across Europe – and an increasing Mediterranean, North Africa and the NREN engineers and, derived from the research number of their academics and researchers Middle East, and provides links to Europe activities, a range of new tools to help users across the globe. We are proud of our • Latin America: the ALICE project’s RedClara make the most of the high speed global achievements but recognise there is more network connects 14 NRENs across Central connections now available to them. still to do. and South America, and to Europe • South East Asia: – The TEIN2 network The central significance for Europe of DANTE’s Traditionally, science research has been connects 10 partners in the region to each work is evidenced by the importance attached undertaken by small groups working on their other and to Europe to research infrastructures in the 7th own and sharing their methods and findings • China: the 2.5 Gbps ORIENT link – the first Framework Programme for Research and at the end of the task. Communications direct overland connection between Europe Technological Development (FP7): “Research technology has revolutionised the process by and China – is fostering closer collaboration infrastructures play an increasing role in the allowing researchers geographically remote between scientists in the two regions advancement of knowledge and technology from each other to collaborate fully at every • India: a new direct link with India and their exploitation … they are at the core level and in real time - as though they were strengthens TEIN2’s presence in the of the knowledge triangle of research, sharing a laboratory. Research networking Asia-Pacific region education and innovation.” helps to bring together colleagues working • North America: extensive connectivity across both the European and worldwide provided from Europe to both the US and Our Annual Review 2006 looks at the broad research landscapes. It actively contributes Canada stimulates collaboration with range of DANTE’s activities and achievements to their research, supporting new scientific European researchers and reports on our key projects. To provide a and academic discoveries. • Africa: connections from London to South deeper insight into our organisation and ‘the Africa have been supplemented by a new people behind the networks’, we have peering agreement with the UbuntuNet organised this year’s review into six themes Alliance that illustrate the kind of organisation we are, the work we do and our approach to working with our partners, users and suppliers in Europe and around the world. Klaus Ullmann 01 L e a d i n g e d g e t Milos e c Karapandzic h n o l o g y Susan Taylor G l o b a l r e a c LEADING EDGE h Kim TECHNOLOGY Cunningham W o DANTE plans, builds and operates cutting r l edge research and education networks and d c l our flagship is GÉANT2 – amongst the most a s s advanced networks of its kind in the world and e n the first to deploy hybrid communications g i n technology on an international scale. DANTE’s e e r business is delivering innovative networking i n solutions for the European research g community that help underpin the vision of a C European Research Area. Our work is at the o l l forefront of communications technology and a b o generally well in advance of the commercial r a t marketplace. i o n & C o m m u Alex n i John t Gosnell y Chevers “Extending the boundaries of worldwide research depends on developing and C u installing leading-edge communications s t o m infrastructures. DANTE devises innovative e r f o networking solutions that feed into the c u development of GÉANT2 – the world’s first s international scale hybrid network. We are setting new standards for what can A c c be achieved.” o u n t a b i l i t Marian Garcia Vidondo, y Operations Manager, DANTE F i n a n c i a l R e p o r t 02 03 L e a d i n g e d g Looking ahead – end-to-end e t GÉANT2 The frontline Point-to-point e co-ordination c GÉANT2 – focusing h n “The internet of technology – creating optical o l Co-ordinating the monitoring of dedicated o on the future g of the future” – deploying hybrid private networks circuits creates new challenges since each y GÉANT2 celebrated its anniversary in June networks end-point may lie in a different NREN, each The extension of point-to-point (P2P) services 2006 by reaching a total of 50,000 km of having its own approach to monitoring, # Connect has been a key step forward this year. A basic installed network, offering its innovative GÉANT2 is a hybrid network, designed to switch troubleshooting and liaison with its providers. Communicate element of GÉANT2 technology, the effect of With NREN support, DANTE will oversee the G # technology, unrivalled geographical coverage, l both data packets and data streams. Combining o P2P is to increase overall network capacity and, creation of a GÉANT2 End-to-End b Collaborate and high bandwidth capacity to more than the two methods in one network is innovative a # therefore, to allow larger amounts of data to l Co-ordination Unit (E2ECU) in 2007 to monitor r 30 million researchers in Europe via its partner and opens up new service possibilities. e be transmitted in a given time than is possible E2E circuits, enabling NRENs to concentrate on a NRENs, and as many again around the world. c GÉANT2’s leading position and role among in an IP switched network. h Funding for GÉANT2 is in place at least until their own networks while providing users with European infrastructures is widely Switching data streams between two defined August 2008. points on the network enables the creation stability for their international data transfers. acknowledged. In the 7th Framework P2P connections guarantee the quality of the of paths dedicated to specific users Programme for Research and Technological connectivity, enabling researchers to handle Now that the GÉANT2 network is operational, (point-to-point) and carrying only their traffic. development (FP7) work programme for 2007, large quantities of data with stability and W DANTE is focusing greater attention on This contrasts with the switching of data o the EU recognises that GÉANT2 is “the security. DANTE reserves paths across the r l ensuring that best use is made of these packets in a conventional IP network and d fundamental underlying enabler for the network that create dedicated, high bandwidth c leading edge networking resources. Working allows extremely large volumes of data to be l realisation of e-Science and the European a links between their defined end points - in s in partnership with the NRENs, our research sent with unparalleled stability and with none s Research Area. The advanced communication essence a private network. P2P services are e and engineering teams are developing tools of the network congestion characteristic of IP n capabilities of GÉANT and the associated particularly suited to researchers needing to g i and services that help our community and its networks. At the same time the network can n NRENs will foster new paradigms of transmit large volumes of data and are e end users to understand and exploit the full carry normal IP traffic. e collaborative research across Europe and r essential to a growing number of data i potential of the networks. n globally. GÉANT should represent an intensive projects, typically in the particle g This hybrid technology – never before deployed instantiation of the ‘Internet of the future’ physics and radio astronomy disciplines. on such a scale – allows dedicated connections C by making timely use of state-of-the-art o l of up to 10 Gbps between distant research l communication technologies.” P2P’s ability to handle large volumes of data a b centres on an intercontinental scale – all o is being exploited by CERN (the European r a supported by a new system that monitors t i Leading the field in global research Organisation for Nuclear Research), which is o traffic status across the multiple network n currently building the largest scientific networking domains that connect the centres.