CONNECT THE MAGAZINE FROM THE GÉANT COMMUNITY | ISSUE 21 2016

SUPPORTING EARTH OBSERVATION WITH HIGH SPEED NETWORKS

GÉANT AND THE FEDERATED IDENTITY TO SHARING DATA TO EUROPEAN OPEN SUPPORT RESEARCH FIGHT DANGEROUS SCIENCE CLOUD AND EDUCATION VIRUSES COLLABORATION CONTENTS

CONNECT NEWS 02 USERS 08 Q&A 12 TNC16 update How DFN and GÉANT Ida Holtz are supporting Copernicus

SERVICES 20 GLOBAL 26 GLOBAL 34 How the Cloud can ALL EYES Boost for Asia-EU benefit research ON AFRICA capacity and education

CONNECT is the quarterly magazine from the GÉANT community; highlighting the activities of Europe’s leading collaboration on e-infrastructure and services for research and education. We give insights into the users who depend on the network, and the community that makes GÉANT what it is. We welcome feedback at [email protected] Published by GÉANT. | Paul Maurice Editor: Neither the editor, nor GÉANT necessarily endorse any opinion, real or implied, expressed by contributors to CONNECT. If you would like to reproduce articles from this publication, please contact the editor.

CONNECT is produced as a digital magazine also made available Hyperlinks: in print. To view the digital edition and benefit from hyperlinks to further information, please see: http://connect.geant.org Cover photo courtesy of ESA eduroam® is a registered trademark of GÉANT and all other brand, company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. IN FOCUS 14 IN FOCUS 16 SERVICES 19 GÉANT Breaking GÉANT and the European The need for Green Open Science Cloud federated identity

COMMUNITY 36 COMMUNITY 38 ABOUT 44 Keeping education Innovating Colosseo GÉANT connected by by GARR An at-a-glance HEAnet guide to GÉANT

WELCOME TO THIS ISSUE OF CONNECT!

March sees the annual data networking when it comes to And with clear leadership in vital gathering of GÉANT connecting, communicating and areas such as federated identity project participants at the collaborating. (see page 19) and cloud solutions symposium event – a It is this combination of passionate (see page 20) the GÉANT community Mgreat opportunity to reconnect with people and tremendous technology – together with its e-infrastructure colleagues and collaborate on work that continues to attract vast earth partners – is set to remain at the very programmes for the benefit of observation projects such as heart of global research networking, Europe’s research and education Copernicus (see page 8), newly and to help push research and community. Together with the connected countries such as Lebanon education ever further forward. upcoming TNC16 – Europe’s largest (see page 31) and ensures this We hope you enjoy this issue, and and most prestigious research community is the partner of choice look forward to seeing many of you in networking conference, these events when it comes to helping to network person at these exciting events! serve to remind us that human the African continent (see page 27). networking is every bit as important as Paul Maurice, Editor

01 CONNECT NEWS JOIN US AT TNC16!

Europe’s largest and most prestigious research networking conference TNC is back again this year. TNC16 will run 12-16 June in Prague, Czech Republic, with an expected 650 participants including decision makers, manages, networking and collaboration specialists, and identity and access management experts from all major European networking and research organisations, worldwide sister institutions, as well as industry representatives.

• Olaf Kolkman (ISOC) will reflect on successful project or an invitation to BUILDING THE collaborative security and the open collaborate. Poster ideas may include internet future work that you expect to produce INTERNET OF • Dave Wilson (HEAnet) will talk about results in the first half of 2016. BPuEildiOng PstrLonE g, international how the internet has changed You can also still submit relationships has always been a key peoples' lives demonstration or exhibition ideas, and objective of the conference and in recent • Maria Farrell (ICC) will elaborate on BoF and side meeting proposals until years TNC has grown to be more winners and losers in the internet of 15 April. Send your proposals to: inclusive and to attract more and more things and what we can do about it [email protected]. people from around the globe. TNC is • Steven Tingay (ORA) will talk about the standout event for the research and big astrophysics and big networks • Petr Holub (BBMRI ERIC) will address education networking community, CSoPmpOanNiesS thOat wRaSnt Hto gIPain exposure scalable storage and processing of revolving not only around physical in, and build relationships with the privacy-sensitive data networks, but all the more about human European research and education • John Sexton (formerly NYU) will talk networks, collaborating on a global networking community can still become about the importance of global scale. This focus on human networking a sponsoring partner and exhibitor at education for the research and is reflected in the TNC16 theme TNC16 (contact: Gyöngyi Horváth at education community ‘Building the internet of people’, itself [email protected]). representative of the European research and education networking community this year celebrating 30 years of GÉANT (GN4) collaboration! TPheR GOÉAJNET PCroTjec t will again play an important role, contributing with topics FURTHER KEYNOTE such as virtual collaboration; AAI and IANll reFgiOstraRtioMn, sApoTnIsOorsNhip and eduGAIN; monitoring of alien submissions information can be TSNPC1E6 AkeyKnoEte RsesSsi ons will in various wavelength service; dynamic circuits to found on the TNC16 website: ways play on the conference theme. The support remote collaboration; and future http://tnc16.geant.org. following keynote speakers are transport network architectures. confirmed: On social media, you can find and join the discussion by using • Kees Neggers / Steve Cotter SUBMIT IDEAS AND #TNC16. (Independent / GÉANT) will take PARTICIPATE! participants on a guided tour through Online registration is open until 1 May, We look forward to seeing you the past and towards the future and you can still submit proposals for there! • Deborah Estrin (Cornell Tech) will lightning talks and posters until 15 April. address the shift from mobile health Lightning talks are five-minute to immersive recommendations presentations focusing on an idea, a

02 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 CONNECT NEWS GÉANT AGREES NEW BOARD, COMMUNITY PROGRAMME AND COST SHARING MODEL Towards the end of 2015, representatives of the GÉANT membership elected a new Chair and members of the Board of Directors during the General Assembly (GA) meeting, hosted by RESTENA in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. A new cost-sharing model and community programme were also adopted, and a new member organisation (the Ukranian NREN, URAN) was admitted.

BOARD OF NEW COST SHARING COMMUNITY CDhIriRstiaEn CGriTmmO oRf DS FN was appointed MTheO GeDneEraLl A ssembly also agreed upon PROGRAMME AND as the Chair of the Board and is joined the proposed budget and membership VTerOmsT oIf NReGfere nSceC wHereE aMdopE ted for a on the Board by: fees for 2016, and adopted a new cost new framework for community sharing model, which aims to monitor collaboration, the GÉANT Community • Marko Bonac of ARNES and maintain a fair apportionment of Programme (GCP), which evolved from • Sabine Jaume-Rajaonia of Renater costs between national research and the old TERENA Technical • Valter Nordh of SUNET education networking organisations Programme. It will be overseen by a new • Raimundas Tuminauskas of Litnet (NRENs) as their needs vary over time. GÉANT Community Committee, which • Ivan Maric of SRCE The model is designed to allow the will among other things, follow the work • Dorte Olesen of Technical University GÉANT network to be optimised for high of the task forces and special interest of Denmark performance research and education groups. The GCP will be chaired by • Alberto Pérez of RedIRIS networking and at the same time to Valter Nordh. • Erik Huizer of SURFnet support NRENs in managing their internet traffic. The model promotes fair cost sharing among NRENs and encourages use of the GÉANT network.

GÉANT ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

The GÉANT (GN4-1) Project’s annual symposium event will be taking place in Vienna from 8-9 March. The event brings together the 600+ people from across Europe who work on the project, and provides a great opportunity not only to network and meet some of the researchers who rely on the network and services delivered by the project, but also to encourage and facilitate cross-collaboration across the many areas of work.

The event comprises opening and science facility used by over 3,000 and cloud solutions. She was Chief closing plenaries and around 20 academic and industrial researchers Technology Officer with the Norwegian individual sessions covering areas such across a wide range of disciplines research network UNINETT 2006-2013. as pan-European cloud and application including structural biology, energy, Working for UNINETT since 1994, she services; supporting global science; nanoscience and environmental became Manager of Applications and trust and identity; and how to maximise sciences. Middleware in 1998 and has been innovation. Ingrid Melve will give her keynote involved in the field of Identity The opening plenary will be given by talk, ‘Trustworthy enough for research Management since 2000. Ingrid holds keynote speaker Bill Pulford on ‘Trust data?’ to bring the event to a close. an MSc in Telecommunications from the and Identity – an implementation of Program director Ingrid leads the Norwegian Institute of Technology, and Moonshot’. Bill is currently head of the eCampus Norway program (2011-2016) has been a board member for DeIC, Data Acquisition and Scientific taking on the challenges surrounding Denmark, since 2012. Computing group at Diamond Light lecture recording, large-scale use of Source, the UK's national synchrotron videoconferencing, digital assessment

03 CONNECT NEWS IN THE FIELD: A BLOG SHOWCASING THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKS – OPEN FOR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ALL NRENS AND RRENS IN THE WORLD Research and education networking infrastructure traverses the globe, enabling access to content, tools and resources, connecting people, delivering new experiences, fostering collaboration and cultivating interdisciplinary communities striving to make a difference.

Words astronomers look back in time, new Jane Gifford, technologies bringing cultural heritage to AARNet life and sensor networks helping to predict natural disasters. The blog is a truly global collaboration and welcomes contributions from all NRENs and RRENs in the world. We’re seeking stories that illustrate how R&E networks around the world are utilised to solve problems and make a difference to the everyday lives of people. Stories can involve one or several networks. The focus of the stories needs to be on the impact rather than all about the infrastructure.

If you need help with developing ideas or writing a story, the blog editors: Jane Gifford (AARNet), The In The Field blog disaster management, arts and culture, Helga Spitaler (GEANT) and Arne (http://www.inthefieldstories.net/), astronomy, health and more. Vollertsen (NORDUNET) are developed by AARNet (the Australian For example, you can read about happy to assist. NREN) and launched as a Global NREN people and projects involved in PR Network initiative in October 2015, decoding the diversity of rice to improve For assistance, feedback and embodies that very spirit, bringing the yields for farmers in Asia, telemedicine questions about the blog, R&E network community together in a changing the reality of health in Brazil, please contact global collaboration with users and transitioning to digital exams in Norway [email protected] beneficiaries to showcase and share and France, tracking Kyrgyzstan’s Connect with In The Field inspiring stories and achievements. melting glaciers, supercomputing for More than 50 stories involving 40 archaeology in Denmark, and Facebook: NRENs and RRENs across six connecting students to scientists in the https://www.facebook.com/ continents have been contributed and jungles of Panama and remote robot inthefieldstories published since the blog was launched museum tours in Australia. last year. These stories cover a diverse You can also learn about making the Twitter: https://twitter.com/REfieldstories range of topics, including climate Internet a bit safer, what happens inside science, education, food security, our heads when we listen to music, how

04 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 CONNECT NEWS RESOURCES FOR NRENS AROUND THE WORLD: THE CASE FOR NRENS PORTAL NRENs are essential in providing advan ced ICT services to the research and education communities. Whilst they are well es tablished i n Europe, countries in other parts of the world face diffic ult challenges persuading key stakeholders – funders, users and partners – of the inherent value in operatin g an NREN.

A SHARING AND LEARNING CThiOs isM onMly aU stNartiInTg Ypo int. We would like this portal to continue to evolve and develop over time with new material and content being added. For this portal to be a valuable resource we rely on NRENs to contribute. Please share with us and fellow NREN colleagues your own experiences of 'making the case' for your own organisation and R&E networking in general, your strategies and tactics, your success stories or challenges you face. There is no one- size-fits-all model for a successful NREN, however, the challenges one NREN faces are challenges many other NRENs also have to tackle and overcome. Thus, the spirit behind this portal initiative is that of a community: to share experiences, best practice and to learn from each other.

As part of the Global PR Network The Review group has collated initiative and in collaboration with regional existing material in an extensive THE CASE FOR networking organisations, GÉANT has document library and has developed NThiRs inEitiaNtivSe c oImNp leEmUenRts tOhe PacE tivities coordinated the development of a web additional tools designed to help NREN within the Task Force on Management of portal with resources to help NRENs ‘make the case’ and achieve Service Portfolios (TF-MSP) which are and RRENs argue their raison d'être, sustainability. These include templates focussing on drawing together the value and role and advocate R&E for needs/stakeholder matrices, evidence and arguments supporting networking in general. business/financial model templates and NRENs in Europe. marketing exercises. Of particular interest is a benchmarking exercise to position an NREN in relation to user TMheA idKea IfoNr tGhis 'TCaHseE fo rC NRAENSs'E engagement and funding mechanism in Visit the portal at portal originated in response to demand an attempt to define a ‘successful’ www.casefornrens.org from a number of regional networks NREN. A dedicated section includes Please send your contributions where NRENs are starting up in order to examples of how successful NRENs and feedback to the Review provide a community forum to share present themselves, with an analysis of Group at global experiences and best practice. the reasons why a specific NREN got [email protected] It therefore also contains a toolkit with successfully established in its ecosystem guidance material to support in and how it achieved sustainability. particular new and emerging NRENs to help them progress towards sustainable organisations.

05 USERS

INFINICORTEX PROJECT – BREAKING THE WALLS OF SUPERCOMPUTER CENTRES InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard featuring very high throughput and low latency. It is often used within high performance computing (HPC) data centres and supercomputer facilities, and until recently its use was restricted to the boundaries of those facilities. However at the recent SC15 event, a demonstration was successfully given of this technology being used across vast distances and in so doing showed an unprecedented way of connecting these facilities together.

Compared to the nature and limitations Initiated and led by A*STAR CRC of the transmission control protocol THE INFINICORTEX (Agency for Science, Technology and (TCP), IB can reach higher throughput PROJECT Research - Computational Resource for long-distance flows and distribute To harness the power of this protocol Centre in Singapore), the project hit its heavy-parallel computational jobs over widespread industry collaboration is first major breakthrough at more facilities, thanks to the message essential, leading to the creation of the SuperComputing14 (SC14), showcasing passing interface (MPI) and remote InfiniCortex project. Over the past two a first-time-ever 100G IB trans- direct memory access (RDMA) years, InfiniCortex has clearly continental connection from Singapore capabilities inherent in the IB protocol. demonstrated that IB can perform over to the SC14 venue in New Orleans Furthermore, it can be encapsulated in trans-continental distances, exploiting (USA). This was made possible primarily other protocols, as was the case for the this technology to create a “Galaxy of thanks to the support of TATA InfiniCortex project which uses Ethernet Supercomputers” (a term coined by Telecommunications, which provided as the carrier protocol to transport IB. Marek Michalewicz and Yuefan Deng the 100G trans-pacific link from However, despite being the world's whose research focus is on Singapore to the US, and Obisidian most popular supercomputer mathematically optimal network Strategics, the Canadian manufacturer interconnect, and largely known as a topologies for supercomputers), a of the IB long-range equipment, that data centre fabric, to date IB it is virtually worldwide IB network spanning sites made available a number of units to be unknown in the internet community. across Asia, Europe and North America. deployed in the participating sites.

06 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 USERS

TCheR teEstbAedT wINas Grea liTseHd cErea TtinEg aS pTartBial EmeDsh of layer 2 point-to-point Ethernet circuits between the endpoints, then encapsulating InfiniBand (IB) over the Ethernet link. This was made possible thanks to the Obsidian Longbow E- 100, an IB-Ethernet gateway equipped with 10G Ethernet ports. This box allows an 8Gbit IB connection, plus an in-band 2Gbit Ethernet connection.

Following SC14 the project project, has increased the total expanded to include several National- capacity between the TEIN network SUCCESSFUL and Regional Research and Education and GÉANT, with the latter providing LARGE SCALE Networks (SingAREN, TEIN, GÉANT, hosting for A*STAR network and IB PIONIER, RENATER, Internet2, ESnet) equipment in the GÉANT PoP in CThiOs hLugLe eAffoBrt wOasR mAadTe IpOossNib le and end-sites (e.g. France’s University of London Slough; thanks to the collaboration and the Reims Champagne-Ardenne and • the GÉANT 100G circuit between support of several institutions and Poland’s Poznan Supercomputing and Paris and New York t o connect PSNC actors. Obsidian has made available a Networking Centre [PSNC]). During the to the SC15 venue in Austin, with number of units to be deployed in course of 2015 these project partners a 30G connection. several sites. Internet2 has enabled the joined forces to demonstrate IB at • ‘sub-netting’ the different world areas in-land capacity from New York to Austin various exhibitions, culminating in the to build the testbed, effectively for the PSNC-SC15 connection, not to complete topology being showcased at enabling IB routing. mention the co-funding (together with SC15 in Austin, involving around 10 NSCC) of ACA100, the 100G trans- different sites across four continents, For the first time ever, an IB fabric that pacific link from Singapore to the USA. connected with high-speed IB links circumnavigated the world was ESnet has enabled the European (including 100G Singapore-Austin and deployed, with the final important partners to connect to A*STAR in 30G Poznan-Austin). segment being the direct GÉANT- Singapore with a temporary solution This successful demo relied on: SingaGAREN link. prior to the deployment of the new direct The InfiniCortex project has now link from London, consisting of a • the newly-deployed 10G direct link achieved its final milestone, put in place connection reaching from the US East between Singapore and London to by Vincenzo Capone, Business coast to their PoP in Amsterdam. connect the European sites to the Development Officer for GÉANT, who RENATER, PIONIER and SingAREN A*STAR Computational Resource coordinated the cooperation of more have been instrumental in enabling their Centre and other sites in Singapore. than a dozen partners, culminating in respective connecting sites to be part of This circuit, jointly funded by NSCC the IB around-the-world ring, this endeavour. (National SuperComputing Centre - demonstrated at SC15, traditionally the Singapore) and the Asia-Pacific TEIN world's fastest-network showcase event.

07 USERS EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY TO DISTRIBUTE COPERNICUS DATA OVER GÉANT AND DFN

GÉANT and the European Space Agency (ESA) have finalised an agreement to distribute data from Copernicus, the EU earth observation and monitoring programme, to research and education users worldwide.

Copernicus collects vast amounts of e-infrastructure partners connects over scope. This important partnership will Picture global data from satellites and other 50 million users and is helping to keep help citizens, researchers and policy Photos: ESA systems which it stores, analyses and Europe at the heart of scientific makers improve their decision-making, distributes for a wide range of excellence. which could have dramatic benefits for applications including environment Mr. G. Buscemi, Network and society.” protection, agriculture, health, transport, Security Officer of the Copernicus GÉANT CEO Steve Cotter adds, climate change, sustainable Ground Segment explains, “Earth “Earth observation is becoming ever development and emergency response observation datasets are vast and their more important and touches so many and crisis management in the case of value to users cannot be parts of our lives, so it follows that natural disasters. underestimated. To ensure the making earth observation data widely DFN, the German National Research continued distribution of these datasets, available is beneficial to all of us. The and Education Network (NREN), will GÉANT and the NRENs are an essential GÉANT community therefore is connect the Copernicus data centre partner, delivering the scalable, robust extremely proud to be enabling this gateway in Frankfurt via a 10Gbps capacity required to meet the large-scale collaboration, something that (gigabits per second) link to the Copernicus programme’s critical would not be possible without our close pan-European GÉANT network that parameters, including bandwidth and partner DFN.” together with Europe’s NRENs and latency, reliability and geographical

08 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 USERS

TAheB COopUernTicu sC pOrogPramEmRe,N ledIC byU thSe E uropean Union, is one of the most ambitious Earth Observation systems to date and aims to manage the environment and respond to the challenges of global change. The fast provision of accurate data is central to this innovative global monitoring initiative, which offers key information services for a wide range of practical applications to improve and secure everyday life and to help mitigate the effects of climate change. EU’s main partner in this endeavour is ESA which coordinates the space component. This component is made of satellites developed specifically to meet Copernicus needs, so called Sentinel families, and of missions from other space agencies, not designed originally for Copernicus, but contributing to the program. As well as the challenging task of building and launching a satellite, the success of this Earth observation programme relies on being able to operate the satellite from the ground and ensure that the data gathered are of good quality and made readily available to users. Copernicus will be affected by a growing volume of data and information. There is no definitive answer to the many challenges the deluge of available data will pose, but there are gradual solutions for Copernicus in view of the progressive expansion of the space infrastructure and the thematic services. To cope with this, a robust data dissemination infrastructure needs to be developed, including in particular the development of the Big Data paradigm in the Copernicus data dissemination architecture. This means that an underlying framework is required to support growing requirements (e.g. new products in DAeButsOcheUs FTo rsDchFunNgs netz e. V. (DFN) is the non-profit the Copernicus services, platforms interoperability, hosted processing, cloud association that manages operation and development of computing). Copernicus data must first be captured, and then organized and Germany’s National Research and Education Network. integrated. There are myriads of individual technologies and libraries which Founded in 1984 DFN today represents with more than provide an overall analytics framework (e.g. Hadoop, MapReduce, parallel 330 members the vast majority of German academia. processing, distributed file systems) needed to process the required massive DFN’s mission is to foster research and higher amounts of data in an efficient, cost-effective, and timely fashion. education by promoting innovation and development as The EC, jointly with ESA, are working on a step by step evolution of the well as operation and utilization of network resources. To current Copernicus Ground Segment and Data dissemination system in order achieve this, DFN is involved in a number of projects. to incorporate some of the above data management technologies. Together with its members, DFN investigates in organizing and managing federated services. This extends the role of DFN from a network service organization to an enabler of e-Infrastructure processes for research and higher education communities. More information about DFN is available at: TAheB EOuroUpeTan STpHaceE A gEenUcyR (EOSAP) prEovAideNs E uSroPpeA’s CgatEew aAy Gto sEpaNceC. Y www.dfn.de/ ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, of whom 20 are Member States of the EU. ESA has established formal cooperation with seven other Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes. ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities. Today, it develops and launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space.

09 USERS GÉANT INTERNATIONAL USER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETS AT EUMETSAT The 5th face-to-face meeting of the GÉANT International User Advisory Committee (IUAC) was held in Darmstadt, Germany, with activities taking place over two days on 15-16 December 2015. Instituted during GN3, the IUAC is formed of representatives of large international user groups in GÉANT’s most demanding research areas. Chaired by Maryline Lengert (ESA), the IUAC meets twice-yearly to provide feedback on GÉANT’s strategy and activities and articulate its requirements in different service and engagement areas.

The dense meeting agenda included GÉANT speakers followed on the The remainder of the day’s talks project and organisational reports from association’s engagement with the focused on user specific activities: GÉANT, an overview of GÉANT‘s global United States, Asia and the Eastern Jakob Tendel (DFN) from the GN4-1 engagement activities, and updates Partnership countries. User team presented a recently from the user liaison team and the users The Committee expressed implemented cross-border contract for themselves. GÉANT's recently considerable interest in this area the COPERNICUS Programme for appointed CEO, Steve Cotter, joined the specifically in improving connectivity to which GÉANT acted as multi-party meeting remotely and took the Asia and Africa, which denotes an contract broker; Ernesto Doelling opportunity to introduce himself and increased demand for research (ESA/ESOC) gave a description of ESA’s welcome the IUAC members. As the collaborations with these regions. network infrastructure and specified host organisation’s representative, GÉANT is considered to be well requirements for future work with Lothar Wolf (EUMETSAT) then opened positioned to meet this global need in GÉANT and the NRENs; finally Arpad the two-day session with a talk on the terms of its reach and its capacity to Szomoru (JIVE) provided an introduction impact of big data and the resulting extend connectivity beyond individual to ASTERICS, the Astronomy ESFRI and challenges for EUMETSAT services. users to cover entire countries and Research Infrastructure Cluster within Several of the talks on the first day regions. H2020, highlighting future areas of focused on GÉANT’s global The session on the second day was support for GÉANT. engagement and connectivity with other opened by Christos Kanellopoulos world regions beyond Europe, (AARC) with an overview of the AAI highlighting GÉANT’s role in supporting landscape and of the AARC project, the creation of a global infrastructure. placing the different approaches to AAI Cathrin Stöver (GÉANT) gave a in context and explaining their impact for comprehensive overview of GÉANT’s the R&E community going forward. As involvement in International connectivity AAI is of ongoing interest to the users, and the integration of regional projects ensuing discussions addressed both the such as AfricaConnect with the GÉANT strategic high-level view and practical backbone. Presentations by other issues related to single researchers.

10 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 USERS TRANSMITTING JUMBO FRAMES The Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre is a recently re-furbished radio telescope facility located in Irbene, on the Baltic coast in Latvia. The Irbene facility needed to connect to other eVLBI facilities in Europe that are part of the JIVE (Joint Institute for VLBI) European research infrastructure consortium (ERIC), representing 10 national radio astronomy institutes, to transfer large amounts of data. A local commercial provider, keen to meet their needs, approached the facility’s management with an offer. But the Latvian national GÉANT access team at the University of Latvia offered a trial high-bandwidth connection to JIVE to demonstrate the power of research and education networks and the flexibility to meet the dynamic needs of astronomy researchers. JIVE is located in the Netherlands and hosted by the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON).

To allow the reliable transmission of THE LATVIAN large data packets, Jumbo Frames were REQUEST enabled end-to-end for the Ethernet link. Looking ahead, the Irbene facility Increasing the size of the Ethernet anticipated multiple-partner frames from the standard 1500 Bytes to measurement events that would require the so-called “Jumbo” size (9000 Bytes) up to 20Gb/s of data transmission allows the transfer of more “real” data in capability in total. This meant a stable every frame (the “payload”). This means transmission of large data streams less overhead in the bit flows and between up to 5 partners with estimated increased data throughput. This type of data flows of 4Gb/s per single stream setup makes better use of the network from each radio telescope. Each data connections, especially at speeds of source needed to be capable of reliably 10G and beyond, to fully exploit the transmitting large data packets without available capacity of the links. risking data loss. To allow packets The pilot was carried out over a beyond 1500 bytes to be transferred, week in December to allow a viable Jumbo Frames were necessary. This is a demonstration of the stability over a relatively unusual application that period of several days. requires non-standard network configurations. IMPRESSIVE RESULTS R&E NETWORKS First and foremost, the pilot delivered the COLLABORATE TO capacity, reliability and speed required. STEP UP TO THE Set-up was fast and with end to end support and coordination, the team was CHALLENGE able to identify the most suitable solution The Irbene facility, JIVE, the University of quickly. LOOKING AHEAD Latvia, SURFnet and GÉANT worked The network connection delivered Following the successful pilot, the Irbene together to facilitate a pilot to greater than 4 Gbps, the highest facility continues to use the link and is demonstrate the advanced capabilities bandwidth possible on the current very satisfied with the quality and of R&E networks and that could serve hardware at the Dutch site, and the capacity it provides to transit to JIVE. as a baseline to compare R&E network large packet size (Jumbo Frames) was Both the Irbene facility and JIVE are performance against the local successfully transmitted along the entire eager to carry out further tests this year commercial IP. path. Beyond showcasing advanced once additional VSRC equipment is in A Layer 2 VPN was established GÉANT technologies, the pilot place. This will allow testing of even across GÉANT between the University demonstrated stable end-to-end larger data flows and further stress-test of Latvia and SURFnet. The local bandwidth they can be relied on in the the envisaged setup. NRENs took care of the local future. Moreover, the service provided by connectivity to the user site. GÉANT was at no additional cost. The data was delivered over a separate route via normal GÉANT IP network.

11 Q&A

IDA HOLZ: THE “MOTHER” OF THE INTERNET IN LATIN AMERICA

Ida Holz is a Uruguayan professor of engineering and computer science and researcher and a highly recognised pioneer in the 4eld of networking and the Internet. For over 20 years, until 2011, she directed Central Computer Services at Uruguay’s University of the Republic; it was under her direction that the university installed the 4rst node of the Internet in Uruguay. Ida was instrumental in the actual formation of the local networking industry, helping to establish 4ve of the region’s cornerstone organisations – the Latin American Network Forum; LACNIC (the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Address Registry); LACTLD (Latin American and Caribbean Association of Country Code Top-Level Domains [ccTLDs]; RAU, the Uruguayan NREN, and the Latin American regional research and education network, RedCLARA, where she still serves on the Board of Directors.

12 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 Q&A

In 2009 Ida was awarded a Lifetime HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HOW DO YOU SEE THE Achievement Award by LACNIC. In URUGUAYAN SOCIETY ROLE OF WOMEN IN 2013 she was the first Latin American CHANGE AS A RESULT LATIN AMERICA TODAY, to be inducted into the Internet Hall of OF THE GROWTH OF BOTH IN THE WORLD Fame. Most recently she was THE INTERNET? OF TECHNOLOGY AND recognised as an outstanding Uruguayan in 2015, and a stamp was The changes are very varied and MORE WIDELY? issued by the Uruguayan postal service depend on things like education, Slowly women in our region are making in her honour. age and openness to change. progress. Today there are as many Thomas Fryer, GÉANT Senior It is important to remember that the women as men, or more, studying at International Relations Officer, had development of the Internet enabled university. Yet social integration is a slow the pleasure of meeting with Ida on progress towards the mobile telephone. process because as long we do not behalf of CONNECT to learn a bit more Both factors have without a doubt have equal participation of men and about the legend that is, Ida Holz. brought about profound changes. women in family and home life, it will be In 2009 the government launched a hard to say that women are truly equal THE WORK REFLECTED public education initiative called Ceibal on all fronts. I think that this is a subject IN YOUR LONG LIST OF (“a laptop for every child”). An inherent which concerns both genders. Women feature of the programme was that will not be able to achieve the level of AWARDS HAS BEEN FOR laptops were given to the schoolchildren freedom they deserve as long as men THE BENEFIT OF as their own, meaning that they were continue to the think that they do not URUGUAY AND LATIN encouraged to bring them home so that need or aspire to this freedom. I am AMERICA, BUT YOUR their whole family could use them. This happy to see that in the younger ROOTS ARE EUROPEAN. programme has accelerated the spread generation this is changing dramatically. CAN YOU TELL US HOW of Internet usage because it enabled IT IS THAT URUGUAY equal access for all levels of society. THOUGH ONE MIGHT CAME TO BE YOUR SAY YOU ARE RETIRED, HOME COUNTRY? WHAT ROLE DO YOU WE SEE THAT YOU ARE Although my family origins are FEEL NRENS PLAY IN STILL QUITE BUSY AND European, I was born in Uruguay in THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUE TO WORK 1935. My parents were Jewish EXCELLENT SCIENCE AT REDCLARA. CAN immigrants from Poland. My mother AND RESEARCH IN YOU TELL US WHAT was the youngest of eleven siblings and LATIN AMERICA? YOUR DREAMS ARE came from a very religious family. Her I think that collaboration among FOR THE FUTURE? father and her eldest brother were countries and their researchers is rabbis. My mother’s entire extended I don’t think that I am capable of not fundamental for the development of family, brothers and sisters, their wives working. I really do not want to live science in general, and for each of its and husbands, nephews and nieces without contributing and I am grateful I constituent parts in particular. and grandchildren, were murdered in still have a clear mind and still dream of Organisations like ours, which promote the Holocaust. a better future. Even though I know that and enable collaboration across My father moved with his mother the distant future is not something I will advanced networks are an extremely and his sisters to Uruguay in the 1930s. be a part of. important factor for both science and He died when I was only three years old What do I dream of? Well, it’s hard society. I have often said that in our and I believe that had a lot to do with my to put into words. I guess you could call region, unity, which unfortunately is not poor, challenging and difficult childhood. it a utopian vision. I dream of a fairer, being achieved on a political level, is I received a traditional Jewish more participative and inclusive society. being achieved through scientific upbringing but eventually became more I dream of the happiness of my children collaboration. This is, and always has involved in the problems of my native and their descendants. What more can been, the fundamental purpose of country, particularly at university and we ask for? my activities. when I met the man who was to become my husband. During the dictatorship, we spent eleven years in exile in Mexico. That helped me to better WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY understand Latin America and Uruguay The online community NREN Women in Technology (NREN-WIT) launched in the context of the history and culture at TNC15. Active email list discussions and sharing has begun, and web of the region. resources are planned for sharing of best practice and ideas to reduce the gender gap in the NREN community. CONNECT readers are invited to participate in the NREN-WIT community by sending a blank email to: [email protected]

13 IN FOCUS GÉANT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND "BREAKING GREEN"

Ensuring the healthy future of our planet is all of our concern. Every responsible organisation is expected to ‘do their bit’ to make more efficient use of energy and help slowdown global warming. GÉANT is hoping to do just that by launching “Breaking Green”, a project to follow the guidelines set forth in the new GÉANT corporate environmental policy. GÉANT The GÉANT Environmental Policy document is a BREAKING result of the organisation’s participation and work GREEN in the GN4-1 Project ‘Green Team’ task. Stimulated into action by the Green Team initiatives, GÉANT adopted a company-wide environmental policy, The ‘Green Team’ was established in 2008 to assist approved in January 2016, and its roll- out has been dubbed "Breaking Green". NRENs with various tools, best practices and policies “We are currently evaluating where we stand now, in terms of how to help them be as energy-efficient and ecologically environmentally friendly our current practices are and what can we do to sound as possible. One of the first steps to do this, improve,” says Trupti Kulkarni, senior software engineer at GÉANT who is is to adopt an Environmental Policy by the NREN leading the work on this project and has always been, in her own words, or R&E organisation. somewhat of an “environmental activist”. Breaking Green is about putting into

14 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 IN FOCUS GÉANT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND "BREAKING GREEN"

action the guidelines adopted in the • Phase 3, which will start in July, is Trupti is hopeful of success: “It is not GÉANT Environmental Policy. The year- about Breaking Green - putting into about doing this just for the duration of long project was launched in January action the recommendations from the project, but also adopting it as a and is divided into 3 phases. Phase 2 and staff will be expected lifestyle choice. On paper, Breaking to take an active role, bringing their Green runs until December 2016, but I • Phase 1 is primarily an audit of ideas and contributions to webinars have faith that we will all come together various forms of energy and and workshops. to continue to make positive resource usage, such as utility bills, contributions and keep the environment and even staff commuting and travel “It’s all about corporate social in our thoughts as we go about our patterns, to ascertain what is being responsibility and doing your bit,” says daily activities.” used and how much it costs the John Dyer, Business and technology organisation and environment. One Strategist, GÉANT. “Our aim is to of the tools that will be used is the increase our engagement on such an SURF Green ICT Maturity Model, important global issue. GÉANT and its For more information on the developed by SURFNet, a tool for projects, past and present, have been Breaking Green project and to find self-evaluation in Green ICT. pioneering in building and providing R&E out how to help visit: networks to advance technology and http://www.geant.org/about/ • Phase 2 will develop knowledge. So now we need to be just BreakingGreen recommendations and best practice as pioneering when it comes to vital ideas, based on the data gathered issues like effecting change in in Phase 1, to reduce our carbon environmental awareness.” footprint.

15 IN FOCUS GÉANT AND THE EUROPEAN OPEN SCIENCE CLOUD How GÉANT Can Help Achieve the EC’s Vision for Open Science in Europe

OPEN SCIENCE EUROPEAN OPEN GÉANT AND THE EC The large amount of data produced by SCIENCE CLOUD GÉANT and its predecessor European the use of ICT in research has been The European Open Science Cloud networks have received the support of identified by the EC as having further (EOSC) is essentially the vehicle by the European Commission in the form of value which should be unlocked. The which the European Commission co-fund grants for nearly twenty years. EC’s vision is that the exponential proposes to achieve Open Science. It is The EC’s vision in supporting pan- growth of data will drive societal proposed that the EOSC will federate European research & education challenges, scientific advances and existing and emerging data networking has helped make it the productivity gains across the European infrastructures, bridging the international success it is today. GÉANT economy. This vision is about achieving fragmentation and ad-hoc solutions and its European NREN partners Open Science. which populate the e-Infrastructures provide a world-leading foundation so landscape today, so as to remove the European research and education obstacles to wide access to publicly community can communicate and funded research publications and collaborate, across Europe and around OPEN SCIENCE underlying data. It will enable sharing the world, keeping Europe at the Open Science is about and re-use of research data across forefront of global research. transforming research through disciplines and borders, taking into The collaboration of the NREN ICT tools, networks and media. account relevant legal, security and partners is paramount to the continued By changing how research is privacy aspects. success of the GÉANT Project. The carried out, disseminated, unique and enduring GÉANT deployed and transformed, partnership balances European and research can become more open, national interests through the EC co- global, collaborative, creative EUROPEAN OPEN funding and the cost-sharing model. The and closer to society: SCIENCE CLOUD GÉANT cost-sharing model helps overcome the digital divide caused by • Research knowledge will The EOSC is perceived as a differences in levels of competition in the become more easily accessible trusted, open environment for telecoms markets across Europe. This • Use of scientific data will be storing, sharing and re-using helps ensure the participation in GÉANT increased, with participation scientific data and results and of NRENs from across Europe and its from industry and commerce supporting Open Science Associate countries, reducing including SMEs, from citizen practices. It will seamlessly fragmentation and supporting scientists and from the integrate existing networks, data cooperation between the partners. public sector. and high-performance computing GÉANT procures and operates inter- systems and e-Infrastructure NREN capacity on behalf of the NRENs, services across scientific fields, aggregating demand at European level. within a framework of shared Together, GÉANT and the NRENs policies, standards and innovate to develop and operate investments. scalable, multi-domain, pan-European services.

16 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 IN FOCUS

CONNECTIVITY: The GÉANT and NREN networks underpin the work of a wide range of e-infrastructure and scientific research projects by providing a high performance, reliable and cost-effective communications platform across the The successful and enduring European Open Science Cloud research and education (R&E) community. Service partnership between GÉANT and the (reproduced in full overleaf), which options cover IP, dedicated private connections, virtual European Commission has been details eight elements for the success of private networks and roaming options. recognised in the form of the GÉANT the EOSC: that it be open, publicly eduroam provides 50 million students and Framework Partnership Agreement funded and governed, research-centric, researchers with access to thousands of wi-fi access (FPA), which identifies the parties’ comprehensive, diverse and distributed, points in over 70 countries using a single, secure login common long-term vision for GÉANT’s interoperable, service-oriented and facility - making international collaboration much easier. continued contribution to the success of social. Over 5 million international logins a day are enabled by European research and education. GÉANT can contribute to this vision eduroam. GÉANT also provides an advanced testbeds in several ways. GÉANT can essentially service to support innovative research into the next serve as the access provider for the GÉANT AND THE EOSC, contributing, together with the generation of networking. EUROPEAN OPEN NRENs, secure seamless high-speed SCIENCE CLOUD multi-domain networking and wide peering together with federated identity The European Open Science Cloud is services delivering appropriate access to TRUST, IDENTITY & still in the process of being defined but cloud services, data, research as the fundamental layer underpinning infrastructures and the many other SECURITY: other e-Infrastructures, GÉANT will components and resources of the GÉANT and its NREN partners provide technologies that undoubtedly play a role. EOSC. In addition, GÉANT has a role in build trust, promote security and support the use of The EC’s data infrastructure model a coordinated data management online identities. This is an essential component of many combines processing data (HPC framework where the network, compute infrastructure projects by bringing together services and infrastructure), storing data (data and storage are all working together to users in a scalable, manageable and secure manner. infrastructure) and moving data (network serve the needs of researchers. eduGAIN enables single-sign-on access for students and infrastructure). GÉANT fulfils the “moving Furthermore, we can contribute to end- researchers from 1,500 institutions worldwide to over data” part of this model, although there to-end performance optimisation and 1,000 academic services. is much more involved than simply user support services including data moving data: GÉANT and the NRENS planning consultancy, troubleshooting, provide the secure, performant training and service marketing. The aim European and global connectivity and is to overcome the challenges of the federated access services essential for EOSC such as fragmentation of CLOUDS AND OTHER realising the potential of data storage solutions, lack of trust, lack of SERVICES: and processing; these services are key interoperability and the skills gap for realising the EC’s vision for HPC and between users and e-Infrastructures. Cloud services offer higher education and research Big Data in Europe, and for achieving On the road to a trusted, seamless, organisations the opportunity to become more agile and the objectives of Open Science. integrated environment for research, not provide their users with a wider range of IT services at a GÉANT’s potential role in the EOSC only the fundamental role of the network lower cost. GÉANT provides the platform for users to extends beyond this however. but also the organisational strength, access cloud services and, through its cloud service GÉANT is collaborating with other services and expertise of GÉANT and its catalogue, works with other e-infrastructure projects and European e-Infrastructures to develop a NREN partners all have a key commercial cloud service providers to help deliver common approach towards the EOSC, contribution to make towards the innovative services to research and education institutions and is a signatory to the joint e- successful realisation of the European and their users. Infrastructures statement on the Open Science Cloud.

17 IN FOCUS

POSITION PAPER: EUROPEAN OPEN SCIENCE CLOUD FOR RESEARCH

SUMMARY THE OPEN SCIENCE CLOUD: EIGHT As part of the Digital Single Market strategy, 1 the Open Science Cloud will ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESS raise research to the next level. It promotes not only scientific excellence and I. Open: This is the driving principle of the Open Science Cloud: openness in data reuse but also job growth and increased competitiveness in Europe, and design, in participation and in use. The Open Science Cloud will be based on drives Europe-wide cost efficiencies in scientific infrastructure through the open access and promote the development and adoption of open standards, promotion of interoperability on an unprecedented scale. The Open Science enabling collaborative environments with no artificial barriers to participation or Cloud offers researchers from all disciplines seamless, open access to the resource-sharing by any stakeholder. It will enable accessibility, transparency, advanced digital capabilities, resources and expertise they need to collaborate and reproducibility in all stages of the research life-cycle. Having a flexible open and to carry out data- and computing-intensive science. Secure and design, the Open Science Cloud will foster public-private partnerships, turning trustworthy, the Open Science Cloud engages researchers in governing, all investment into economic growth. managing and preserving resources for everyone’s benefit. The Open Science Cloud is an open, service-driven endeavour, inclusive of all stakeholders. II. Publicly funded & governed: A publicly funded and publicly governed Governed as a commons, it leverages two decades of public and private Open Science Cloud will guarantee persistence and sustainability, and ensure investment in e-infrastructures for the benefit of scientific research and that outcomes are driven by scientific excellence and societal needs rather innovation. than profit. This “commons” approach, welcoming partnership with private- sector actors while driven by the public good, will encourage the development of innovative services that are conducive to the future of Open Science, while BACKGROUND guaranteeing the long-term, persistent care of resources. Science is changing, both in the way it is performed and the way it is communicated. Driven by remarkable advances in information and III. Research-centric: Following the true spirit of agile co-design and communication technologies, today’s scientific infrastructures offer researchers participation, researchers and research communities—including those from unprecedented access to data sources, data-intensive sensors, and the private sector—will be fully engaged in the design of the Open Science increasingly comprehensive analysis and simulation facilities that have Cloud, to ensure the development of services responsive to their needs. revolutionized scientific methods in a remarkably short space of time. IV. Comprehensive: The Open Science Cloud will be universal, specific to no Research services, processes and outputs are becoming accessible to all single scientific discipline or research field. It will promote inter- and multi- levels of society. Enormous amounts of data are being generated, bringing disciplinary science and encourage innovation and integrated knowledge extraordinary new opportunities for their innovative reuse in novel scientific, creation among all research communities, also capturing the long tail of commercial, and citizen-science contexts. This is Open Science. science and citizen science. Open Science is a key driver, not only of scientific progress, but also of economic and societal innovation. To harness its full value and reap the fruits V. Diverse & distributed: The Open Science Cloud will leverage the richness of public and private investment, Europe needs to foster an open, of Europe’s distributed e-infrastructures, encompassing a resilient network of collaborative platform for the management, analysis, sharing, reuse and actors, resources and services organized nationally and at the European level. preservation of research data on which innovative services can be developed Embracing diversity through openness, the Open Science Cloud will drive a and delivered. For this, Europe can build on decades of public investment in more efficient use of ICT investments across infrastructures and communities, scientific infrastructures—experimental facilities, networking, high-performance addressing the digital divide and lowering the barriers to adoption for and high-throughput computing, cloud services, scientific software and institutions and researchers. institutional and community data repositories—by connecting national and VI. Interoperable: Through the promotion and adoption of common international infrastructures and services. The Open Science Cloud is the standards and protocols for all resources and digital services, the Open vehicle to achieve this vision. Below we articulate the eight essential elements Science Cloud will connect networks, data, computing systems, software, it needs to succeed. tools and services for research as seamlessly as the Web connects Many of the resources and services needed for the Open Science Cloud information. already exist; while technical challenges remain, most of the barriers are ones of policy and concern funding, lack of interoperability, access policies and VII. Service-oriented: The Open Science Cloud will be protocol-centric and coordinated provisioning. The Open Science Cloud will address these issues service-oriented. It will provide services that address the full research lifecycle, and enrich and further advance the portfolio of resources and services to including data gathering, management, analysis, sharing and discovery. The make the entire scientific lifecycle more open and transparent. To this end, Open Science Cloud will be the framework and testing environment for new, governance of the Open Science Cloud will be modelled after the governance innovative methodologies and services that further advance research in the of the Internet, conducted by a decentralized, international group of Open Science context. stakeholders drawn from across research and civic society, from both public and private sectors. The Open Science Cloud’s governance will hold custody VIII. Social: The Open Science Cloud will be a socio-technical endeavour that of the shared services, policies and standards that maintain its persistency, its connects diverse communities and promotes the development of human global interoperability and its adherence to the Open Science vision. By networks. By adopting community-based rules and procedures with involving all the relevant stakeholders who support today’s research—funding incentives for sharing and responsible use, it will enable the sharing of agencies, policy makers, research infrastructures, e-Infrastructures, libraries, knowledge and facilitate the embedding of Open Science practices into data providers and service providers—the Open Science Cloud will researchers’ everyday workflows. This will require a strong social dimension of significantly impact the way research is done in Europe and will put European consultation, outreach, advocacy, training and support, in an ecosystem of research at the forefront of Open Science globally. local, national and international programmes. Dr. Kimmo Koski, Project Coordinator, EUDAT Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen, President, LIBER 1 http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/open-science-competitiveness- Prof. Mike Chatzopoulos, Project Coordinator, OpenAIRE council-28-29-may-2015 Yannick Legré, Director, EGI Dr. Bob Day MBE (Interim CEO of GÉANT until Nov 2015) 18 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 SERVICES FEDERATED IDENTITY - SUPPORTING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION COLLABORATION

Federated identities and Web SSO do THE NEED FOR not replace all elements of identity FEDERATION "AS A FEDERATED management, but allow providers to SERVICE" – GÉANT use existing identities in a secure and IDENTITY scalable manner. They allow service SUPPORTING NEW providers to manage access to systems With the rapid growth in distributed IDENTITY on a per-user, per-organisation level or services across research and education even (particularly for free services) to FEDERATIONS (R&E) there are increasing numbers of all identities. service providers offering access to Using identity federation and their systems. participating in eduGAIN provides huge Most R&E institutions will have EDUGAIN – benefits for the R&E community, but the provided some form of single-sign-on SUPPORTING development of an identity federation is (SSO) identity within their facilities, giving not always simple and not all institutions students, staff and researchers the RESEARCH AND have the infrastructure or expertise to ability to use one username and create an identity federation from scratch. password across the campus EDUCATION In order to reduce the workload for environment. Federated identity allows eduGAIN is an important feature in this a new federation and to simplify the the same SSO identity to be used landscape. This fast-growing initiative processes, GÉANT has developed across multiple services provided by interconnects research and education Federation as a Service (FaaS). This is a many different organisations. Interfederation – the interconnection of identity federations around the world. toolbox for managing identity federation multiple identity federations – allows this It enables the trustworthy exchange of metadata and exchanging metadata SSO identity to be used even more information between service providers with other federations through eduGAIN. widely, giving users much easier access and research and education institutions FaaS focuses on scalability, a user to a greater range of services from a or other identity providers. This means friendly interface and high security. larger pool of providers internationally. simpler access to a wider range of The FaaS toolbox is built using For interfederation to succeed, all online content, services and other open-source software and is provided participating organisations need to resources that benefit collaboration in as a hosted single tenant service, where operate to the same standards and the research and education community. each FaaS customer gets its own FaaS ‘rules of engagement’, to ensure that eduGAIN: instance that can be localised and identity providers share the correct level branded as desired. of information to trusted parties in a • provides access to all the online By using FaaS, new identity secure way and that service providers services that students, researchers federations can quickly implement use that information in a consistent and and educators need while services without the steep learning secure manner. This requires minimising the number of accounts curve usually required in a green field cooperation between all the parties users and service providers have to implementation. In addition, the use of and use of a common standard set manage - reducing a standardised toolbox of elements of protocols. costs, complexity and security risks; helps ensure compliance with • gives service providers access to a standards and minimises the need • Service providers benefit by gaining larger pool of users internationally, for customised solutions. access to more users without and allows users to access Federation as a Service and increased demand for passwords and user support. resources of peer institutions or eduGAIN together help support • Identity providers can offer more to commercial or cloud services using access to research and education their users without any extra their one trusted identity. around the world. administrative burden. • Users benefit by getting access to a With eduGAIN participants from more wider range of resources without the than 1,500 identity providers accessing For more information on need to manage multiple identities services from 1,000 service providers, eduGAIN and FaaS visit and credentials. eduGAIN has fast become the primary eduGAIN.org interfederation mechanism for research and education collaboration around the world.

19 SERVICES

HOW THE CLOUD BENEFITS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

loud computing offers new In simple terms, cloud services are opportunities and challenges software, applications or facilities that NEW USAGE as both a technology and are hosted in data centres connected to MODELS operations model, but what the internet, remote from the users. The rise of BYOD (Bring Your Own Cimpact does it have on the Research They are based on infrastructure owned Device) within the education sector is and Education (R&E) sector? The by a third party with access rented by being matched by the increase in BYOC traditional answers have been cost multiple users. They are called “Cloud (Bring Your Own Cloud). Users are reduction and flexibility. However the Services” simply because in diagrams increasingly technologically savvy and so cloud offers a wide range of additional the internet is usually represented by less willing to accept what IT benefits, including global collaboration, drawing a cloud and these facilities are departments give them. If a researcher accelerated innovation, and enhanced inside this cloud! or a student needs a service now then user experience and satisfaction — as Cloud services offer NRENs new they will try and obtain it, rather than well as risk mitigation and the ability to ways to deliver existing services and to wait for a potentially lengthy or inflexible smooth users' demands and allow enable services that could not otherwise provisioning via their IT department. NRENs to support new and emerging be delivered. They offer a flexible “pay- requirements cost effectively. as-you-go” model enabling researchers and students the ability to start small GLOBAL and grow as needed. WHAT IS “THE In many cases, the needs of the COLLABORATION CLOUD”? Research and Education community go The world is becoming more beyond the basic commodity offerings interconnected and this is most Just as there are hundreds of cloud of many cloud service providers. In apparent within the R&E sector. The services, there are hundreds of different addition, areas such as data integrity, ability to work together and manage definitions of what “The Cloud” really privacy and security mean that GÉANT “knowledge-intensive” collaboration in means. This has resulted in many and the NRENs have a key role to play today’s interconnected world relies on organisations rebranding their services in ensuring that services are fit for the cloud. The cloud offers these as “Cloud Services” in order to jump on purpose and are contracted in ways that international collaborations the ability to the bandwagon of this new technology. meet the needs of the R&E community. acquire immensely powerful systems without lengthy development projects and without the need to bring in dedicated support systems and teams.

20 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 SERVICES

AGILITY AND Purchase Models and ACCELERATED Cost Predictability INFRASTRUCTURE AS A The purchase models offered by cloud SERVICE - DELIVERY AND INNOVATION providers often do not match the More and more research and education financial structures in the R&E ADOPTION THROUGH activities are becoming reliant on community/environment. For instance, GÉANT those purchasing the services on behalf connected IT services. Whilst the of an institution will have limited access European NRENs are working through GÉANT to extremely large projects have the in- to company credit cards. So cloud stimulate the adoption of cloud services in research and house resources to manage complex IT services will have to be acquired through education, by representing their member institutions solutions, it is arguably within smaller the institutions’ purchasing structures, and establishing framework agreements with suppliers of projects that cloud services can benefit meeting procurement and tender Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions. This R&E more. regulations. In addition, the payment framework will be the result of a European tender, which Projects from across the spectrum structures offered by cloud providers are will be launched in April 2016, resulting in a portfolio of of education can use the flexible, on- too unpredictable, as they contain large services for the community. The frameworks will provide demand, “pay and play” offerings to variable cost components. To prevent standardised contract terms for use by the NRENs to manage their needs and enable them to the (fear of a) bill shock, predictable cost bring to their client institutions, without the need to run a focus on their research rather than have models and purchase-order-based tender themselves . to spend time and resources on making systems are needed. For more information on the tender process visit the IT work. Media and the Performing http://services.geant.net/clouds/Activities/Pages/ arts are an example of groups that can Connectivity IaaS-delivery-and-adoption.aspx focus on being IT consumers rather than Users expect services to be highly NRENs wishing to take advantage of this IT developers. available and offer seamless procurement process are invited to contact the clouds performance as if the services were team via [email protected] local. The NREN networks and GÉANT ENHANCED USER have significant roles to play in ensuring the user experience of cloud services EXPERIENCES match expectation. Developments such With the rise in high performance as SDN and other advanced networking networks and Federated Identity, technologies will be driven by this need CLOUDS ACADEMY computing resources can be located for high performance networking. Also, virtually anywhere with users being able the variable costs of services can be To help NRENs and users understand the opportunities to reach and manage them from any reduced by limiting network traffic and challenges of cloud services, GÉANT has created a location. As IT becomes less “something charges (data ingress and egress), Clouds Academy which provides video showcases, that needs to be done” and more through peering arrangements and presentations, white papers and a series of workshops “something that can be used” it makes connecting cloud providers to the that will help NRENs support the clouds environment. GÉANT and NRENs networks. clouds.geant.net/clouds/academy research much more agile and innovative. Cloud Services become a basic commodity to be turned on and Access and User Identity off on demand which allows the skills of Access and Security of cloud services is the teams to be directed towards another challenge for the future generating new and innovative activities. development of cloud services (particularly hybrid solutions). The cost CLOUDS CATALOGUE and complexity of managing user With over 15 service providers and 25 different cloud HOW GÉANT AND access to services can be considerable services the GÉANT Clouds Catalogue provides NRENs and users don’t want to manage with a quick and easy guide to a range of services for the THE NRENS CAN multiple logins and identities. R&E community. The catalogue, with its structured listing The Interfederation approach HELP THE R&E of cloud providers’ answers to the cloud requirements, developed by eduGAIN can provide an offers to the research and education community clarity COMMUNITY open, flexible and extensible solution to about providers’ capabilities, which helps when procuring the need for users to be able to access Within the R&E community the cloud services resources from multiple suppliers in a opportunities for the use of cloud https://catalogue.clouds.geant.net seamless and secure manner. computing are clear; increased flexibility, eduGAIN, and federated identity demand smoothing, expansion of solutions via NRENs, also provide services to wider audiences. But there opportunities for CSPs to enhance their are significant challenges. offerings to the R&E community and help gain acceptance. By combining these three fields – Cloud Customisation Cloud Services, High Performance Most Cloud Service Providers offer a Networking and Interfederated Identity, range of basic services targeted at either GÉANT and the NRENs can leverage individuals or businesses. The needs of the skills and abilities of their own the R&E community frequently go resources with those of cloud providers beyond this – particularly in areas such to offer their users enhanced facilities. as data integrity and transferability. For more information on how GÉANT and the NRENs can work with GÉANT is supporting the NRENs and CSPs to help ensure that these services the wider Research and Education are suitable for our community. Community visit http://clouds.geant.net

21 SERVICES EDUOER - NEW EUROPEAN SEARCH HUB GIVES ACCESS TO AGGREGATED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT

Open Education Resources can be repositories across Europe in an openly findable and accessible, more effective searchable, findable and reusable in helping students, serving minority fashion. To search eduOER visit: populations, improving the teaching and https://portal.oer.geant.org/ learning process and potentially lowering The service will be launched at raditional web-based search the cost of higher and adult education." facilities often have difficulties GÉANT’s annual symposium, this year with searching and categorising held at Vienna in March. multimedia data and, with the SUPPORTING DATA gTrowth in the use of video and audio PROVIDERS material, there is an increasing need The metadata aggregation service of across the R&E community to be able to eduOER supports national, institutional TNC ARCHIVE share and reuse this type of content. or thematic content repositories of any TNC archive session recordings eduOER is an Open Educational size, in order to facilitate their technical back to 2001 are now indexed in Resource (OER) service with the aim of developments and let them contribute to eduOER and can be linked to any facilitating access to digital multimedia the open educational movements of related content available in content such as lecture recordings, Europe and world-wide. Connected connected NREN or university webinars, audio-visual learning objects, repositories can make sure that their repositories. And eduOER will animations. It operates across Europe metadata has good quality, openly soon be able to offer recordings as a search hub and portal by searchable, findable and harvestable. from the NORDUnet Conferences aggregating content metadata and Using eduOER will help maximise the re- as well as the RDA events. allowing researchers and students to use of content and increases its value to search multiple repositories and the community. For more information on PRACE TRAINING services. Initiated in the GÉANT task adding a repository to eduOER visit: force TF-Media, eduOER helps https://oer.geant.org/services-for- RESOURCES educators and researchers find and re- content-providers/ eduOER is connected to the use a wide range of multimedia PRACE repository containing more resources across multiple research and than 160 multimedia training educational content repositories, SUPPORTING materials in the field of advanced languages and disciplines. RESEARCH computing. These materials can eduOER supports owners of The end-user web portal service of be shared and reused through data repositories wishing to provide eduOER and linked to related eduOER targets all learners and access to their content, and gives content. Training materials educators; students, professors, and researchers and educators access produced by other e- also system integrators. The portal to a wider range of resources. infrastructures including CERN will shows information (metadata) about the Peter Szegedi of GÉANT explains, soon be available in eduOER. "The European NREN community is in multimedia educational resources an excellent position to facilitate how harvested from various content

22 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 SERVICES TF-MSP PROGRESSES THINKING ON POLICIES FOR CLOUD AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERS

workshop of TF-MSP, where several Picture NRENs presented their CPs and AUPs. Martin Bech Though similar in intent, these are and John Dyer diverse in their details and formulation; – the chair and the AUP of an NREN may be affected by secretary of the legal structure within the country and TF-MSP – with also the way in which the network is Andres Steijaert provisioned and funded. at the Berlin workshop, which was hosted by JANUARY’S TF-MSP DFN on 11-12 BERLIN WORKSHOP January 2016. Andres Steijaert (SURFnet), who leads the GÉANT (GN4-1) Project's clouds activity, gave a presentation on cloud network peerings, joint tenders and the place of NRENs in the delivery of such services, exposing many of the issues. Participants agreed that settlement- free peering agreements or connection at open exchange points are practical ways to provide the necessary network connections. The imperative is to ensure the continued integrity of the NREN and GÉANT technical and business models. Cases where one NREN has a direct connection to a commercial cloud service provider and other NREN users wish to gain access could raise issues of transit traffic between entities. Other more complex situations would need to be addressed in detail. Participants noted that the economic and policy issues raised in this respect must be picked up in some appropriate high-level but focused community forum. An explicit and concise GÉANT AUP is expected to provide much needed clarity. A draft is expected to be presented to the GÉANT General he GÉANT Task Force on the GÉANT network. This can pose Assembly during 2016.. Management of Service challenges regarding service Portfolios (TF-MSP) is taking performance and for ensuring that the the lead in helping national services comply with the connection Presentations from this workshop rTesearch and education networking policies (CPs) and acceptable use are available from: organisations (NRENs) and GÉANT to policies (AUPs) of the partner networks. http://bit.do/geant-msp-2016-01 be 'cloud friendly' in order to support the In order that NRENs and users can use of cloud services in the research be confident that the use of cloud To learn more about GÉANT Task and education community. With the services complies with differing policies, Forces see the Community rapid growth of cloud services, the it would be advantageous for the Development section on situation increasingly arises that users community to have a consistent policy www.geant.org within one NREN are accessing cloud for connecting cloud service providers service providers that are connected by and commercial collaborators. So another NREN - frequently via the agreed participants at a January

23 SERVICES

MULTI-DOMAIN MULTICAST – THE NEXT GENERATION OF BROADCAST TECHNOLOGIES Everyone is now familiar with live streaming video and audio services across the internet. From listening to your favourite national radio station while on the beach to watching live rocket launches through NASA TV, the ability to access content when you want it is no longer “magic”. But these services are usually delivered either by unicast solutions or via expensive, dedicated Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).

Within the R&E community, the Organisations and projects are “traditional” unicast solutions do not SUPPORTING already starting to use multicast services scale well and are only suited for low NRENS WITHOUT to distribute streaming data across bandwidth services or very low user GÉANT. The flexibility of enabling multi- numbers. If large amounts of data MULTICAST domain access and the tunnelling ability needs to be streamed, the unicast For users connected to multicast to reach non-multicast networks method can quickly swamp even high NRENs, the data can be accessed provides the essential platform for capacity R&E network links. simply (with the permission of the innovative collaboration across the To solve this problem GÉANT and sender) but for those NRENs currently community. the NREN networks have worked without multicast capability GÉANT has together to enable multi-domain implemented an innovative system that multicast - able to deliver streams of up allows users to “tunnel” across their To find out more about GÉANT’s to 200Mbps to users worldwide. This network to the GÉANT backbone and multicast capabilities and how development allows the R&E community access the multicast. This combines the your project could benefit to distribute high capacity live data power and scalability of multicast and from them visit streams in a uniquely scalable manner. the GÉANT backbone with the ubiquity http://www.geant.org/services This opens up opportunities many of “unicast” technology to provide a different fields of research from live high system that can reach out to research definition video broadcast to weather and education users across the world. data.

24 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 SERVICES

GÉANT EXTENDS THE REACH OF 100GPS SERVICES TO SUPPORT CLOUD SERVICES AND HIGH CAPACITY DATA FACILITIES GÉANT has recently deployed the Infinera Cloud Xpress to extend 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network connectivity into data centers. Initial connectivity is being provided to Jisc and CERN. The addition of the Cloud Xpress allows GÉANT to extend 100GbE services seamlessly into more European data centers.

With Cloud Xpress, GÉANT leverages Cloud Xpress also enables efficient 100 GbE connectivity into more Infinera’s unique photonic integrated scaling with simple provisioning and locations across Europe to meet the circuit (PIC) technology to support up to open interfaces to plug into existing growing demands of our users while one terabit per second (Tbps) of input cloud provisioning systems using open minimizing the need for space and and output capacity in just two rack software defined networking (SDN) power. Rapid and easy provision of new units. With its small form factor and low systems. Instant Bandwidth™ allows services was also a critical factor for us.” power consumption, Cloud Xpress the activation of WDM bandwidth in delivers a full 500 gigabit per second 100Gbps increments via a few clicks of (Gbps) super-channel of wavelength a mouse enabling GÉANT to meet For more information on this division multiplexing (WDM) bandwidth customer demands. exciting development visit over 150km without any need for Mark Johnston, chief network http://www.geant.org/News_ additional multiplexers or amplifiers and operations officer at GÉANT: and_Events/Pages/GEANT- up to 600km with an amplified line “We wanted something that deploys-Infinera-Cloud-Xpress. system. integrated with our existing Infinera XTC aspx footprint across Europe to provide a scalable, cost effective way to extend

25 GLOBAL

ALL EYES ON AFRICA

With just over 330 million users, the internet penetration in Africa is of 28%* (as of Nov. 2015), compared to an average of 50% for the rest of the world. This number, which includes both the commercial and non-commercial internet, has nearly doubled in less than a year. No wonder Google, Facebook, IBM and others are in for their piece of cake. Access to information is transforming African societies and economies at a fast pace.

AfricaConnect, co-led by GÉANT and the UbuntuNet Alliance allowed to connect over 3 million users across 6 countries only in Eastern and Southern Africa. With AfricaConnect2, we expect to connect more users to the UbuntuNet network and reach out to another 5 million potential users in West and Central Africa and North Africa together. Connecting this small percentage of the African population will have a huge impact not only in Africa but also in other regions of the world through educational and research collaborations and advances.

26 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 *Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm#africa GLOBAL 2015 IN A FEW DATES

May July September November

H2020 TANDEM project Barack Obama visits Kenya UN accepts proposal for 8th UbuntuNet-Connect to suppoFrt Wraesnt &c is Tusubira receives the a Technology Bank for conference in Maputo, the Least Developed Mozambique, goes pan-African Central African NRENs IBM invests $60 million to NI&I award for his work as countries is launched develop technical talent in Africa

WACREN thesigns M CoUE O of theKEN UEbT puarntnetrus wNithe IBtM to with Internet2 deliver advanced online Alliance certi!cations to 50 universities

2015 2016

Francis Tusubira 6th African Peering and African Development 5th e-Age conference wins the Network Interconnection Forum Bank invests €70m in led by ASREN builds a Information and (AfPIF) discusses Senegal Digital bridge between the Infrastructure (NI&I) cross-border Technology Park Arab states and Africa Service Award interconnections AfricaConnect2 is signed

June August October December

2016 continues to see green signals as AfricaConnect2: in the North, Algeria later this year in Senegal. Further East the Internet society pledges support to has already upgraded capacity from the UbuntuNet Alliance is connecting the African research and education 622Mbps to 2.5Gbps. More is to come new members. All pursuing a shared networks. Major transformations are in West and central Africa as WACREN vision of a connected pan-African under way with the implementation of organises its 2nd annual conference research and education community. AFRICACONNECT2 IS A DEAL!

The project’s mission is to establish regional networks in all African regions, interconnect and link them to other world regions via the GÉANT network. frica and Europe gathered at AfricaConnect2 is a pan-African AfricaConnect2 is expected to open the end of 2015 to seal a connectivity project involving three a wealth of opportunities for African deal that is already African regions: researchers and students as well as the A transforming Africa and global community as the networks and global research and education: the • Eastern and Southern Africa, upgrades implemented by each partner €26.6m EU-funded AfricaConnect2 has managed by the UbuntuNet Alliance; provide support to critical research in been signed by all partners and the • West and Central Africa co- climate change, food security and project is on its way to provide managed by WACREN, the infectious diseases. Students from dedicated high-speed internet all over regional research and education around the world will be able to Africa thus laying the foundations for a network, and GÉANT; collaborate and take their work to pan-African network for research and • North Africa also co-managed by the next level thanks to e-learning education. ASREN, the Arab states network for services and further advanced research and education, and GÉANT. communication tools.

27 GLOBAL WE WERE THERE UBUNTUNET)CONNECT OPENS THE ROAD TO NREN MATURITY

he 8th edition of the about tech hubs accelerating local in the rest of Africa. The UbuntuNet UbuntuNet-Connect growth in Africa, global services such as network will also make the most of conference took place in Sci-GaIA science grid, eduroam and AfricaConnect2 by upgrading its T Maputo on 19-20 November multiple strategies to add value to local services and welcoming more countries, 2015 attracting over 150 participants networks from building fibre to creating an ambition which was showcased by from all over Africa and beyond with local telecoms synergies. the signature of a membership representatives of local research and Cathrin Stöver, Chief International agreement with the Somali NREN education networks as well as West & Relations and Communications Officer (SomaliREN) during the conference, Central African and North African at GÉANT, presented the made possible thanks to the further regional networks, the World Bank, the AfricaConnect2 project to the assembly, contribution of the World Bank. European Union, global collaboration stressing the need for engagement from Find all the UbuntuNet-Connect projects such as MAGIC, and the pan- universities and research institutions to 2015 expert presentations at: European GÉANT network. NRENs and policy makers across the https://www.ubuntunet.net/ The theme of the conference was whole African continent. uc2015_programme ‘’Beyond connectivity: the road to AfricaConnect2 aims to repeat the maturity’’ and featured presentations success story of the UbuntuNet network

WEST & CENTRAL AFRICA: LE NOUVEL ÉLÉMENT West & Central African regional organisation WACREN held its first AfricaConnect2 project meeting at IRD research institute in Montpellier on 7th of December 2015, prior to JRES, the main research and education networking event in France. Following their involvement in the H2020-funded TANDEM project to support the development of national NRENs locally, West and Central Africa appears all set to roll out connectivity them to cater for the specific needs of 2016 is already full of planned in a mainly French-speaking region, the research and education community rendez-vous, not least the 2nd annual making the most of partnerships with in the region with tailored services and WACREN conference in Dakar, Senegal RENATER and French research applications. on March 17-18th sure to become the institutes such as IRD. AfricaConnect2 will assist WACREN main R&E networking event in the region. Through TANDEM, WACREN has to reach out to nearly 3 million users Find out more about the WACREN also launched a survey that will allow in the region. conference at www.wacren.net

28 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 GLOBAL E)AGE 2015: INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IS KEY, INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY IS A MUST!

the focus on scientific and academic applications supported by R&E connectivity, with contributions from researchers across a wide array of fields, ranging from medical diagnostics, high- energy physics, climate change studies to remote sensing for disaster warning. he 5th “International Platform Esther Wilkinson, Jisc’s Head of on Integrating Arab e- International, made the case for Infrastructure in a Global supporting the ‘E’ in NREN by providing Environment” (e-AGE 2015 T an overview of Jisc’s Transnational conference) took place 7-8 December Education activities with focus on the 2015 in Casablanca under the Arab region. The message of all patronage of HM King Mohammed VI of presentations was: international Morocco, attracting 120 high-profile collaboration is key, international are currently being negotiated with participants from over 30 countries connectivity is a must! several other Arab partners. spanning all world regions. The development of eduroam and With this new momentum in the eduGAIN throughout the Arab region Eastern Mediterranean countries, FOCUS ON R&E was another recurring theme during the negotiations are underway with the EC COLLABORATIONS two days, with various countries having to extend the EUMEDCONNECT3 already implemented these services, or project (which with the migration of the Ministers and senior EC officials are in the process of doing so. . North African partners to emphasised the strategic value of e- AfricaConnect2 now comprises Jordan, infrastructure for the development of GROWING Lebanon and Palestine) beyond 2016. research and education across the Arab region and the role of ASREN in COMMITMENT Furthermore, following promising providing Arab scientists, students and At previous e-AGE conferences ASREN network readiness studies, the North academics with a gateway to had announced ambitious plans to African partners in AfricaConnect2 participation in world-class activities. construct a regional R&E network and (previously EUMEDCONNECT3 Rupert Joy, EU Ambassador to secure long-term sustainability of e- beneficiaries) have shown renewed Morocco, explicitly mentioned the role of Infrastructures in the region. Following interest in international R&E connectivity. GÉANT and other regional networking ASREN’s first link to the ASREN PoP in Algeria has recently upgraded its initiatives, such as AfricaConnect2 and London in November 2015, a year on, connection from 622Mbps to 2.5Gbps, EUMEDCONNECT3, in contributing to a another connection was announced: driven by increased user demand, while global knowledge society by facilitating Lebanon is joining the international R&E Tunisia and Egypt are also expected to R&E collaborations across borders. networking community with an ASREN re-connect this year. Themed “Revealing and Harvesting link from the American University in For more information, please visit Knowledge”, this year’s conference put Beirut (AUB). Further peering contracts http://asrenorg.net/eage2015/

29 GLOBAL WHO WE MET PATRICK OKUI, A NETWORK ENGINEER AND A TRAINER

connected networks: an engineer from Uganda may ask his colleague in Kenya for help and support and work together on joint issues. WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION IN TERMS OF rior to UbuntuNet-Connect a COSTS? four-day advanced routing Working together as a network of workshop was organised by people is definitely the way towards NSRC to teach engineers P sustainability since we can share human across Africa how to run a network and resources and much more. Here at build new connections. The workshop NSRC we have supporters such as was attended by 21 participants from CISCO which have lent us materials at across the UbuntuNet region, including time. We have a good relationship with 4 women engineers. We met Patrick Ubiquity and are developing our Okui, a consultant at NSRC who after relationship with Juniper. These people training on his own and graduating from are part of our network and they also WHAT OTHER AREAS OF Makarere University in Uganda contribute to this success story. When volunteered as a teaching assistant with TRAINING DOES NSRC engineers are connected they can AfNOG, the African Network Operators OFFER? address shared matters such as Group, in 2001 and a trainer of maintenance and other aspects of the In addition to routing, we also offer engineers. network and share resources. training in network monitoring, campus NSRC, the Network Start-up design network, services such as cloud Resource Centre, is a not-for-profit HOW DO YOU MEASURE and eduroam and we have started to organisation, part of the University of work on wireless in places hard to reach Oregon, funded by US National Science THE IMPACT OF SUCH with cable, such as in Senegal lately Foundation, Google and several other WORKSHOPS? between two universities which where private and public bodies. NSRC has The workshops that we organise at 50 kms apart. been instrumental in building network regional conferences have a huge engineering capacities by providing impact on our audience, not only HOW CAN ENGINEERS training and they continue to develop a because we train new engineers each ADD VALUE TO THEIR community that projects such as year but also because we can monitor NETWORKS, BESIDES AfricaConnect2 is serving. those we have trained and end up Patrick accepted to share his in-the- RUNNING THEM AND coaching them as trainers themselves in FIXING BUGS? field insight as an engineer himself and a ‘’Train the trainers’’ perspective. The a trainer. best possible positive outcome is that By sharing info and analysing the data NRENs go back and run their own their networks provide to find insights on WHY ARE NETWORK workshops in their countries. Since how to address the needs of their users ENGINEERING UbuntuNet-Connect14 ZAMREN has better. Basically network monitoring can WORKSHOPS NEEDED? run 4 of our workshops on their own help engineers see patterns in their and KENET has organised many more traffic, where it comes from, where it Every network relies on a network of training on campuses around Kenya. goes to, why and this can help make people. To run it properly you need to We provide material but the NRENs use better decisions. Sharing this info develop skills and share best practice. their own trained staff to deliver it. Some between networks could surely These workshops work on both aspects NRENs like Benin even translated some empower the whole backbone regional since we teach technical hands-on of our material in French, and used them network and support a common vision matters but also bring people together in their workshop to further support their at a wider scale. It’s all about analysing to fix possible problems. In the field the bidding for being part of AfricaConnect2 this mine of information and sharing it. same process applies between with WACREN.

30 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 GLOBAL LEBANON JOINS GLOBAL R&E NETWORKING COMMUNITY

ebanon has recently joined the AS CIO OF AUB WHAT ARE a fast and cheap network” to “let’s focus on shared global R&E networking YOUR MAIN ARGUMENTS services to build a community of R&E institutions and community with a link from the FOR LERN? then use this community as leverage to build the high American University of Beirut bandwidth”. L As the founding CIO at New York So we first focused on the services that an NREN (AUB) to the ASREN PoP in London, bringing the number of non-EU countries University Abu Dhabi, I got to work very can provide without a high-bandwidth network. We reached by GÉANT to 65. We spoke to closely with various NRENs and started by implementing eduroam at AUB - a simple but AUB’s CIO Yousif Asfour on what this networking organisations, including very effective collaboration service. We then showed this connection means to AUB, Lebanon and Ankabut, Internet2, ASREN and GÉANT. service to a few other universities in Lebanon, who the global R&E community. This gave me the opportunity to help quickly adopted it and started promoting it to yet other establish the Arabian Global Education institutions. Once we had a critical mass, we kicked off LET’S START WITH SOME Open Exchange (AGE-OX) in Fujairah discussions about other potential services, and how as BACKGROUND… connecting the UAE with other regional a community of R&E institutions we can work together networks. My experience at NYU Abu to change the landscape. LERN took off from there. Lebanon’s network infrastructure has many Dhabi gave me insight into the type of In other words, we have taken a “community and limitations which have slowed down the services that education and research services first, connectivity second” approach to the development of an NREN and prevented institutions need. It also made me realise NREN, untangling it from politics – and it seems to be us from connecting with the rest of the that NRENs are much more than just a working! As a matter of fact, we were able to global R&E community. Rather than waiting “cost- effective high-bandwidth network” accomplish within a few months what had been stuck for an infrastructure upgrade, we decided and that they are about developing and in discussions for over 5 years. at AUB to use our existing connectivity to providing services that transform teaching, set up a VPN tunnel to the ASREN PoP in research and collaboration across the London, which is our gateway to GÉANT. WHAT FUTURE STEPS ARE world. This has also paved the way for ENVISAGED TO GET LERN OFF When I joined AUB, it became very establishing LERN (Lebanese Education clear to me that it was essential for THE GROUND? and Research Network) in our country. Lebanon to join the R&E networking We have started discussions with 10 universities and WHAT WAS THE MAIN community to regain its leadership role in research centres across Lebanon to formally establish research and education in the world. LERN. The institutions have already agreed on the DRIVING FORCE BEHIND objectives and draft by-laws, and are currently reviewing THIS CONNECTION? WHAT ARE THE MAIN them internally for final approval. It is my hope that the At AUB we believe that IT should be a CHALLENGES FOR LERN? GÉANT-ASREN-AUB connection will quickly show the partner with academic and administrative value of an NREN and help us accelerate the process of Connectivity in Lebanon is very expensive; staff to help transform teaching, research, formalising LERN. Once LERN becomes operational, building a cost-effective, high-bandwidth student life and patient care. This means our plan is to open the current connection to all LERN NREN in Lebanon and connecting it to the turning IT from being a pure service members, use it to market GEANT’s services to the rest of the NREN community is cost- provider into a service broker that identifies LERN community, and encourage LERN members to prohibitive and politically challenging. This services from different institutions and provide services to the R&E community in order to explains why AUB’s connection to ASREN integrates them seamlessly into the AUB encourage collaboration among Lebanese institutions is currently limited to only 10Mbps. fabric. This allows us to give our faculty and between Lebanon, Europe and the rest of the But there is also an awareness issue. access to a large service portfolio and Arab World. Most people – not just in Lebanon - think facilitate collaboration between them and of NRENs as “cheap, high-bandwidth researchers across the world. We see AUB WHAT IMPACT DO YOU EXPECT internet providers” without realising that as both a user and provider of services to they also build communities and provide WILL LERN HAVE ON LEBANON? the R&E community at large, and the services on top of connectivity. Getting NRENs as the conduit for sharing such Partnering with EUMEDCONNECT3, GÉANT, ASREN institutions to understand the added value services. and other NRENs will help Lebanon regain its leadership of NRENs is therefore critical. role in R&E, regionally and globally. Such partnerships WHAT IS ASREN’S ROLE are already beginning to bear fruit. We already see a IN THIS? WHAT WAS YOUR significant uptake of eduroam which encourages faculty APPROACH? and students to move between universities locally, ASREN has been both the catalyst and regionally and globally. Lebanon in general, and AUB in conduit for getting this done. It was at the Well, how do you go about convincing particular, in partnership with the EU is also playing ASREN meeting in Jordan last autumn that R&E institutions in Lebanon to invest time leadership roles in multiple regional programmes such I connected with David West from GÉANT, and resources in establishing an NREN, as ProGreen, a multi-disciplinary online program. and jointly with ASREN’s leadership team especially when the infrastructure, tariffs Over the next 5 years, I expect AUB and LERN to we figured out the best way to move and political climate are all but favourable? help Lebanon become a significant player on the global forward in setting up an NREN in Lebanon The answer is simple – just flip the typical R&E scene as well as a major contributor to NREN and in providing international R&E NREN argument around: change the services within the region and beyond. connecting to AUB. NREN discussion from “how can we build

31 GLOBAL GÉANT AND NICT STRENGTHEN TIES THROUGH NEW MOU

uring the TEIN and APAN41 NICT is Japan’s principal ICT research meetings in Manila, GÉANT organisation and, through the JGN-X (JGN and NICT (National Institute of eXtreme) network, provides advanced, Information and new-generation research testbed facilities DCommunications Technology in Japan) for the development of cutting-edge reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen internet technologies and applications at network research cooperation between national and international levels. Europe and Japan by signing a new For its part, the GÉANT Testbed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Service (GTS) delivers integrated virtual At the signing ceremony on 26 environments to test novel networking and January Dr. Makoto Imase, Vice President telecommunications concepts, at scale, of NICT said: “NICT’s goal is to develop a and across a geographically dispersed reliable and energy-conscious global footprint. network infrastructure utilising innovative The primary areas of cooperation technologies. Such a goal is widely shared agreed upon in the memorandum include by many organisations across the world, testbed interconnection and interoperability including our partners in Europe. In the and research in the field of Software programme from its outset in 2004 and framework of Horizon2020, NICT has built Defined Networking (SDN). Further areas of this has helped foster the good relations a sound partnership with European players mutual interest are expected to be between us. We look forward to joining through participation in various EU- identified during the term of the MoU. forces with NICT to continue shaping Japanese network research projects. We Steve Cotter, CEO GÉANT, welcomed Future Internet research and are happy to therefore welcome extending the MoU to the new cooperation opportunities: “The be the bridge between NICT and the continue our collaboration with GÉANT relationship between the GÉANT European NRENs and their users for better and to jointly support our many community and Japan is longstanding. collaborations and improved research researchers across Europe and Japan”. NICT has been a major partner in the TEIN outcomes in the future”. DENGUE FEVER WORKSHOP AT APAN41

bring to the table. Not just in terms on Picture supporting videoconferencing for clinical Participants at case discussions and capacity building, the 3rd Dengue but there are now plans to develop a digital Fever and Public platform for data exchange and to work Health Workshop towards a regional outbreak prediction on 24 January in model. This is computationally intensive Manila stuff, which requires good connectivity and therefore our networks!” Workshop co-chair Helga Spitaler from GÉANT added: “With global travel and climate change the infection corridor ver 30 clinicians, researchers make a difference. “We share the virus and across the world map is widening. Dengue from within the multi- mosquitos, let’s share also our data”: this fever and other viruses are no longer disciplinary dengue fever statement of Dr Raul Destura from the confined to endemic regions. We see an community, public health National Institute of Health-University of the increased need to also engage with the oOfficials and NREN representatives from Philippines in Manila – a passionate infectious diseases research community across the Asia-Pacific gathered in January champion of this cooperation - here in Europe. The Zika outbreak has during APAN41 in Manila to share encapsulates the very essence of the certainly hammered it home.” experiences and best practices and to workshop. exchange ideas around how to manage, The driving force behind this initiative, prevent and fight this infectious tropical Prof. Francis Lee Bu Sung, President of disease. SingAREN and Chair of Governors of To view the workshop agenda and Now in its third edition, the joint TEIN*CC, commented: “We have come a presentations visit TEIN/APAN Dengue Fever and Public long way since we set out back in 2014. https://master.apan.net/meetings/ Health Workshop saw lively interaction and There is now a much better understanding Manila2016/Sessions/session. enthusiasm within the medical community among the dengue fever research php?id=72 to join forces with NRENs and thus to community as to what our networks can

32 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 GLOBAL GÉANT AND NICT STRENGTHEN TIES THROUGH NEW MOU

ARMENIA AND GEORGIA CONNECT TO GÉANT

eorgia and Armenia GRENA and ASNET-AM are Next to join in is Azerbaijan, which Pictures have started to established networks which have been has started contract negotiations to Left: Tbilisi implement links to the connecting the main research and connect their national network, Bridge of Peace, GÉANT network, as education institutions in Georgia and AzScienceNet, to GÉANT. There is also Georgia part of EU-funded Armenia for two decades already. Two a tender under way to link the Belarus EaPConnect project. 1Gbps links to GÉANT will now enable network, UIIP NASB, to the pan- Right: Mount GEaPConnect aims to create a over 50 universities and research European network. Ararat, Armenia modern digital environment for institutes locally to join the European We expect the Eastern Partnership innovations and collaborations in the research and education community and countries to be fully connected to Eastern Partnership region –Armenia, collaborate with their peers across GÉANT by the end of 2016. For the Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova borders. Researchers in Georgia and European research and education and Ukraine – by providing advanced e- Armenia already work with global community, this enlargement will provide infrastructure and services to students partners such as CERN in high-energy a welcome addition of expertise in the and researchers and integrating them in physics, meteorology, climate change, fields of physics, climate change, the European research area. and seismology. disaster prevention or life sciences.

33 GLOBAL GÉANT PARTNERS UP WITH UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN 'UFM( TO SUPPORT THE DIGITAL ECONOMY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

commercial initiatives, the importance of David West, GÉANT’s project high-speed connectivity for all Southern manager for this activity welcomed Mediterranean countries with GÉANT UfM’s recognition: “This is a great was expressly recognised and this is to endorsement of GÉANT’s work in the be built upon through DEWoG’s region. The agreed priorities for our ÉANT has recently been activities. involvement in DEWoG’s work plan are given official recognition by Along with officials of the 43 UfM to connect all Southern Mediterranean the Union for the member states and of the European countries to GÉANT, secure additional GMediterranean (UfM) of its Commission, DEWoG also comprises EU funding for Eastern Mediterranean role in R&E networking and invited to ‘promoters’, i.e. experts to act as countries beyond 2016 and to promote use its expertise to help UfM implement champions for aspects of the digital the use of GÉANT connectivity to the its digital economy agenda in the economy implementation. GÉANT has user communities in the region. These Southern Mediterranean. now been formally granted the status for efforts are very complementary to GÉANT’s role was confirmed in R&E promotion activities; this clearly GÉANT’s core activities and it is hoped Barcelona last December at the first reflects GÉANT’s active support of the that UFM’s endorsement will bring meeting of UfM’s new Digital Economy development of R&E networks in the additional political support to achieving Working Group (DEWoG) set up to Southern Mediterranean since 2004 them.” implement recommendations of the through the EUMEDCONNECT project The UfM is an intergovernmental 2014 UfM Summit of Digital Economy and now also through AfricaConnect2, institution bringing together the 28 EU Ministers to accelerate the development as well as the confidence that the member states, the European Commission of the digital economy for Euro- organisation’s expertise and relationships and 15 Southern Mediterranean Mediterranean citizens, consumers and in the region will prove beneficial to countries to promote cooperation in the businesses. As well as regulatory and achieve the overall DEWoG goals. Euro-Mediterranean region. BOOST FOR ASIA)EU CAPACITY

he last year has witnessed a 10Gbps link from Singapore to London connectivity from India to GÉANT by the step-up of connectivity which has recently gone into service; National Knowledge Network (NKN) between Europe and Asia. jointly funded by the TEIN project and which provides India’s network TFirst, there was the launch of the Singaporean government, it provides backbone. This is providing a further the previously reported 10Gbps link additional connectivity between the 10Gbps of capacity over two diverse between GÉANT and China which GÉANT and TEIN communities in cable systems, giving a strong base for continues from the successful Europe and Asia opening up, in increasing EU-India collaboration ORIENTplus collaboration for a further particular, direct channels for projects. 10 years. More recently, a number of supercomputing tie-ups between the further major capacity injections are in regions. An early beneficiary is the SINGAPORE the pipeline, with existing links either InfiniCortex project, with genomics and being upgraded or additional links Connections between GÉANT and climate science being other candidates. becoming operational. Taking together, Japan are also being ramped up. Up to they represent a major increase of direct now, connections between GÉANT and connectivity between GÉANT and its INDIA SINET (the Japanese network operated sister networks in Asia, underpinning To stay ahead of increasing traffic by NII) have been achieved by transcontinental R&E collaborations. demand between Europe and Asia, in interconnection in North America. Now, particular from the HEP community, the SINET is bringing 20 Gbps directly to SINGAPORE TEIN project is upgrading its connectivity GÉANT and this will give faster and GÉANT, TEIN*CC and SingAREN have to GÉANT from 2.5 to 10Gbps from higher capacities as well as lower worked together to deploy a new Singapore to Madrid via Mumbai. latency to support R&E collaborations. Imminent also is further international

34 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 COMMUNITY 1ST EuroPEAN LAryNgoLogiCAL LiVE SurgEry BroAdCAST from PozNAń

maximum quality of the image, which is Words very important for medical education, Piotr Pawałowski, however requires more bandwidth. PSNC During the session 9 sites (10 medVC terminals, as two have been used in the each procedure and maintain high Pictures he 1st European Live studio in Poznań) have been connected educational value throughout the whole 6 Left: Operating Surgery Broadcast sending a HD video stream of 5 Mbps hours of the broadcast. The surgeons from room equipped (http://els.livesurgery.net/), each. The MCU was receiving 50 Mbps of the clinics stayed in contact throughout the with the medVC an interactive videoconferencing incoming traffic and sending out 450 Mbps T whole session and were able to exchange system at the session presenting otolaryngological of video streams. surgery, took place on December 2nd remarks and pass on their knowledge. Department of 2015. The event was organised by the At the end of the broadcast, a discussion Otolaryngology - European Laryngological Society (ELS), the was conducted between all surgeons and About PSNC: Head and Neck Department of Otolaryngology, Head and moderators concerning surgical methods Surgery of Poznan PSNC is the operator of the PIONIER Neck Surgery of Poznan University of and difficult cases. University of network (Polish Optical Internet), a Medical Sciences (PUMS) and Poznan In order to augment the educational Medical Sciences nationwide broadband optical Supercomputing and Networking Center effect, the whole session was also network for e-science and is the (PSNC). The aim of the session was to streamed live through the Internet in HD Right: Moderators Polish NREN. PIONIER connects all demonstrate the newest surgical methods quality using PlatonTV, the Interactive in the PlatonTV Polish scientific institutions, including utilised by specialists from leading Scientific TV Platform operated by PSNC. studio at PSNC all clinical hospitals, with its over European laryngology clinics. Hospitals Over 1000 participants from all around the (left to right): 7000 km wide network built on own from Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Leiden, world have watched the broadcast. Over Professor Manuel fibres. PIONIER is directly connected Essen, Luxembourg and Poznan took part 226 GB of video data was streamed. The Bernal Sprekelsen to the GÉANT network, which made in the event. recording of the session is available at (University of it possible to seamlessly perform the The team of doctors from PUMS and http://tv.pionier.net.pl/play?id=5629. Barcelona), live surgery session. the staff from PSNC, who had cooperated The hospitals and the studio at PSNC Professor Jens in numerous telemedical undertakings, were interconnected through medVC Klussmann prepared this all-day educative session (http://medvc.eu), a remote medical (University of under the auspices of ELS. The central collaboration platform providing the About medVC: Giessen), point of the broadcast, both from the possibility to perform multipoint audio- Professor Witold medical as well as the technical point of video communication in realtime. medVC medVC is a cutting edge remote Szyfter (Poznań view, was located in the PlatonTV allows to carry out multistream high medical collaboration platform University of (http://tv.pionier.net.pl/) TV studio at definition (HD) video transmissions using enabling realtime communication Medical PSNC. Professor Frederik Dikkers video from surgical cameras, microscopes, between operating rooms, Sciences), (University of Groningen), Professor Manuel endoscopes, surgical robots and other conference rooms and doctors' Professor Frederik Bernal Sprekelsen (University of medical imaging devices. During this offices. Apart from multistream HD Dikkers (University Barcelona), Professor Jens Klussmann broadcast, video from medical equipment video transmissions, medVC offers of Groningen) (University of Giessen) and Professor of such manufacturers as Storz, Olympus, numerous tools facilitating remote Witold Szyfter (Poznań University of Medrobotics, Trumpf Medical and ConMed collaboration of doctors, like pausing Medical Science) were moderating the was used. the video stream, marking areas of session from the studio. The Multi-Point Control Unit (MCU) the picture, saving snapshots of the The extraordinary element of the enabling multi-point connectivity was image to a medical repository, and session was that surgeons from deployed at PSNC’s data center in remote control of computers running participating hospitals performed multiple Poznań. medVC's MCU is a packet medical software (e.g. DICOM otolaryngological interventions in parallel, reflector providing all participants of the browsers). medVC is compatible with allowing the moderators to dynamically videoconferencing session with video stereoscopic video streams coming switch between the operating theatres. streams in the same quality as they are from surgical robots or 3D endoscopes This permitted to show the highlights of being transmitted from their sources, with that are just entering the market. no need for recoding. This ensures

35 COMMUNITY NEWS

One of the most tangible benefits of this network is that every school in Ireland now also has high-speed access KEEPiNg to the internet. “Our network provides world-class internet connectivity to 800 post-primary schools and every single one of them has a 100Mb dedicated connection,” said John Boland. “This EduCATioN gives teachers the opportunity to confidently use their electronic white boards and use activities on the internet for teaching. It is one thing for the CoNNECTEd teacher to describe from a book the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but it is another to navigate right around it on John Boland, Chief Executive, explains how HEAnet - the white board.” Ireland’s National Education and Research Network keeps education institutions at the cutting edge of technology. market Leader in Services Established in 1983 by Ireland’s have access to the same services as Words An area where HEAnet and Ireland have Universities, with the support of the their counterparts across Europe. We Fi Coyle, HEAnet lead the way is the delivery of the Higher Education Authority, HEAnet offer our one million users connectivity Edugate system. Edugate is a single provides essential e-infrastructure that is typically 1000 times faster than sign-on authentication service for services across all levels of the Irish what small businesses or home users Pictures students and academic researchers that education system. The 100 Gbit- have access to.” Left: HEAnet allows them to access and collaborate capable, high-bandwidth, resilient network map on lots of different web resources, network connects all Irish Universities, including online databases, e-books and Institutes of Technology (IoTs) and other Advanced Network Right: Lord exam systems as well as uploading David Puttnam, higher education institutions as well as Thanks to HEAnet, Ireland’s education assignments, without having to Ireland's Digital research organisations. In addition, all and research community now has a very remember multiple usernames and Champion primary and post-primary schools high-speed bandwidth network that passwords every time. speaking at the across Ireland greatly benefit from using connects institutions across the length “In this instance, Ireland is a leader, HEAnet National HEAnet for their internet services. and breadth of the country. The network not a follower, with more and more Conference “Students, staff and researchers is being constantly improved, with the institutions signing up to Edugate each here in Ireland have all the advantages next phase of development entitled year. We have also developed a which the largest EU countries have RMAN (Replacement of Metropolitan federation management tool called access to”, said John Boland. “We are Area Networks), facilitating increased JAGGER. Federation management can at the leading edge of research collaboration across institutions, and be complex, but JAGGER has made networking, ensuring our end-users ensuring a reduced carbon footprint. this task much simpler and is now being

36 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 adopted around the world”, Boland said. Edugate membership comes with an opt-in mechanism to participate in the wider eduGAIN confederation; providing Edugate members with an extended range of academic services and allowing Edugate services to authorise access to international academic users. Management Information Systems (MIS) are also important in Picture Ireland’s education sector. HEAnet now HEAnet Awarded green John Boland, has a subsidiary EduCampus Services HEAnet Chief Ltd providing centrally managed MIS Campus Certification Executive and services covering library, finance and Andrew student systems to all of Ireland’s Mackarel, HEAnet has been collaborating with An Taisce’s Green Campus FEE Institutes of Technology. HEAnet Project (Foundation for Environmental Education) programme for several years now. “This is another example of our Manager This programme encourages a partnership approach to environmental mission to provide cost-effective shared accepting the education, management and action in third level institutions. Primarily services,” explains Boland. “It gives our Green Campus aimed at campus communities it ensures that students and staff can clients the most effective way of Certification engage in a meaningful way to enhance sustainability on campus. obtaining complex systems, without award from As HEAnet and An Taisce share a common client base across the having to individually and expensively Anthony Purcell, University and Higher Education sector, they have combined their procure their own solutions and recruit Development efforts to promote sustainability and dissemination through the use staff to maintain the systems.” Manager, of ICT technologies. All of this underlines how HEAnet Environmental To fully establish this collaboration, HEAnet successfully undertook has moved towards offering a diverse Education Unit, Green Campus Certification in their own right, in order to fully experience portfolio of shared services. Evolving An Taisce, at the program being pursued by an increasing number of their clients. beyond being simply the supplier of the HEAnet’s HEAnet are the first company to be awarded Green Campus Certification National network connection, HEAnet now in this category. Conference, represents a responsive network HEAnet also lead GÉANTs Green Team activities, part of the GÉANT 13 November focused on clients’ needs as well as Project (GN4-1) and are in discussions with other NRENs about their 2015. real collaboration. participation in FEE activities in their own countries.

For more information on HEAnet more information: and its services, visit: For HEAnet’s involvement with An Taisce Green Campus, www.heanet.ie please contact [email protected] To learn more about An Taisce Green Campus, see http://www.greencampusireland.org/

37 COMMUNITY NEWS

iNNoVATiNg CoLoSSEo: ArT ANd SCiENCE ComE TogETHEr oVEr THE NETworK Archaeology and fiber-optics, theatre and networking; ultra-high definition for actors and musicians participating from distant locations; past, present and future come together in a digital environment. Thus the inauguration of the fiber-optic connection to the GARR network of all the sites of the Superintendency for the Rome Archaeological Area becomes a unique event with the performance of “La Nave Argo” by director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti in the Aula Ottagona of the Baths of Diocletian.

38 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 COMMUNITY NEWS

foremost a network of people. GARR researchers and academics to access Words director Federico Ruggieri describes a their museums’ databases not just for Maddalena challenging and greatly satisfying research but also for teaching purposes. Vario, GARR experience. “As is often the case, when I would like to extend access to our everything works the public does not enormous wealth of resources, they are Pictures notice the significant technical work that extraordinary and unique items that Left Credit: goes into it, but this is the value of a should be shared through collaborations Edoardo network that is ‘transparent’ for its with universities and schools”. Angelucci, users”. Prosperetti also speaks of digital GARR The performance required an ultra- infrastructures to enhance tourism: “We high definition video stream with must provide high quality content to Right Credit: extremely low latency, setting up two promote thoughtful tourism. We prefer Stefano Cavese locations with the LoLa (Low Latency) that tourists arrive with some prior “A leap into the future” commented software developed by GARR in knowledge of our monuments, so they Superintendent Francesco Prosperetti, collaboration with the Tartini Music come not merely to be amazed but also “which shows us how the network is not School in Trieste. Preparations took to gain a deeper knowledge. In this way only a tool for researchers but also a key about a month and saw the the network is not just a physical tool enabler of the creative spirit”. collaboration of multimedia experts from but also an indicator of our civility, as we The event was an opportunity for the GARR Netcast community. collaborate with a growing number of the cultural heritage community to come The collaboration between GARR institutions to maximize the sharing of together and discover how the potential and the Superintendency is deeply knowledge”. of ultra-broadband comes alive through rooted. “Ours is truly a Special Research, conservation and the vision of an internationally acclaimed Superintendency,” says Prosperetti, “we enhancement of artifacts are thus artist. Says Corsetti, “I was curious to have many sites in our organization, and keywords for the future of cultural explore the possibilities of a poetic sharing data and applications is part of heritage, but there is also great interest approach to concepts of presence and our daily life. As an example, the in the performing arts. According to absence in different places, and how National Roman Museum is distributed Federico Ruggieri, “with the great this would reflect on perceptions of time over four sites, so having them joined potential of fiber-optics the only limits are and space.” with ultra-broadband connections is those of the imagination. Today we A space which, like the network, has essential to our research”. opened an avenue and we will continue no borders, bringing together four There are already several highly to support people from the performing remote locations (Baths of Diocletian, innovative projects, such as the SITAR arts community who wish to explore Colosseum, Crypta Balbi and the INFN system, which relies on GARR for these techniques for their National Laboratories in Frascati) onto a connectivity, storage and digital identity performances”. single stage. “The theatrical spectacle management. It is a multi-dimensional Corsetti offers a thought from the lives off its components which are a digital archaeological survey, based on artistic perspective as well as that of temporal duration and a space;” an open source platform for the benefit creating new languages: “traditional explains Corsetti, “we have challenged of the entire community. culture is sometimes the domain of a both these notions.” In other areas there is still work to restricted elite. The experience with “La This relation between archaeological do, for instance, in establishing Nave Argo” raises a number of locations and experimental research collaborations with other institutions: questions and opens up new underscores the added value of a multi- “The technology is ready but not the possibilities that speak to a new disciplinary network such as that mindset,” observes the Superintendent. audience”. provided by GARR, which is first and “In the United States it is normal for

39 COMMUNITY NEWS

ComBiNiNg STrENgTH ANd SPEEd With Europe excelling through PRACE in the supply and use of computational infrastructure and services, it is important that this developing and improving use of High Performance Computing in industry and academia be coupled with a reliable, adaptable, secure and high speed network which will allows for European-level pooling and sharing of resources.

Interconnecting Europe’s national project.eu) led by RTE (France) which Words simulating how the system behaves for research and education networks, the encompasses 20 partners and which Marjolein a large number of potential problems, for GÉANT high speed connectivity network received 10 million hours on Curie, the Oorsprong, instance the loss of a network lines allows for massive volumes of data French supercomputer hosted by PRACE following a short-circuit. generated by computational scientists to GENCI at CEA, through PRACE access. After a year of simulations, the be shared, accessed and processed by For the iTesla project’s partners, it results will develop the next generation PRACE Tier-0 users. involved generating the widest possible tools that will be needed to operate the GÉANT offers the network that range of representative situations for a European power grid and allow for the European industry and academia pan-European power network – the creation of security rules. These rules will requires, and it is currently creating a cables and generators that bring form the framework for any corrective long term partnership with PRACE and electricity to our homes and businesses action to be taken in case problems with other e-infrastructures and the European - such as a series of particularly cold the grid or the supply. They will outline Commission, to guarantee operational winter scenarios, or the growing how the availability of electricity can be sustainability of services to HPC users. contribution of less predictable and guaranteed for Europe’s citizens and An example of this partnership is intermittent renewable energy sources entrepreneurs. the iTesla project ( http://www.itesla- (wind energy, solar power), and then

40 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 COMMUNITY NEWS

CESNET CELEBrATES iTS 20TH ANNiVErSAry THiS yEAr The CESNET association, managing the Czech national e-infrastructure for science, research and education will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its foundation this year. Academic networks in the Czech Republic originated in 1991, when the Czech Technical University in Prague installed a mainframe computer connected to the EARN academic network. The official Internet connection of the Czech Republic dates back to 13 February 1992 and was fathered by the current CESNET managing director Jan Gruntorád. There was a significant interest of the academic community in the Internet connectivity and it led to the FESNET project with the aim to connect universities and the Czech Academy of Science to the Internet.

After the split of Czechoslovakia, the governmental funding. The project was transmissions of time and frequency via Words project was changed to CESNET. The closely linked to eIGeR (2011–2013), optical networks or development of a Gabriela CESNET network started operation in providing an initial investment in the specialised hardware-accelerated Krcmarova, early 1993. The team responsible for the development of the CESNET regional e- network card for traffic processing and CESNET network operation was part of the infrastructure. filtering at the rate of 400 Gb/s. CESNET computation centre of the Czech The current CESNET e-infrastructure holds several European and U.S. Technical University in Prague, however, represents a complex of modern ICT patents. The results of the in-house the universities and the Czech Academy services for research and development, research are applied in licensing of of Science soon agreed on used by 94% of the scientific and developed technologies and establishment of an independent entity, research community, including all 54 contributing to the establishment of the CESNET association, founded in institutes of the Academy of Sciences, spin-off companies (INVEA-TECH, 1996. The involvement in the TEN-34 28 universities, private colleges, Comprimato Systems). European project building the European research centres, libraries, hospitals – in In 2014, the national e-infrastructure backbone academic infrastructure total close to 300 user institutions and was subject to a detailed ministerial immediately followed. 450 thousands of individual users. evaluation. CESNET received the A fundamental reconstruction of the CESNET also performs significant highest rating level, which is a key national research network to the e- in-house research on advanced prerequisite for public financing of the e- infrastructure was performed by the communication technologies, including infrastructure in 2016–2022. It has CESNET Large Infrastructure project support for specialised low-latency confirmed the key role of the CESNET e- (2011–2015), one of the large priority sound and image transmissions (4K infrastructure for research, development infrastructure projects approved for Gateway, UltraGrid), accurate and education in the Czech Republic.

41 COMMUNITY NEWS NomiNATE A CoLLEAguE for THE 2016 CommuNiTy AwArd!

The winner will be selected by a panel of judges from the GÉANT community and will be presented with a token gift during the closing plenary session of the 2016 networking conference, TNC16, in Prague, Czech Republic on 15 June 2016.

furTHEr iNformATioN

Information about past winners and full details of the criteria for nominees and for people submitting nominations for this year’s award are available via the GÉANT website under www.geant.org/People/ Community_Awards/ Since 2012, TNC has been the place where public recognition has been given to members of the research and education networking community for their contributions to the development Time is tight, but it is still possible to nominate a of relevant technologies and services or to collaborative candidate or two for this year’s research and community activities. Information education networking Community Awards. about TNC16: https://tnc16.geant.org Information about nominees can be submitted If you have any queries, please online until midnight on 31 March 2016. contact [email protected].

GÉANT honours community members The online nomination form has who have made outstanding been shortened since last year and it is contributions to collaborative work now possible to submit more than one and the development of services and nomination. A maximum of two technologies by sharing their ideas, submissions per person will be expertise and time with the community . accepted; if more candidates are Past community award winners submitted, only the first two complete have included individuals whose ideas forms will be taken into account. led to the development of a world-wide Nominations for people who were service, or who volunteered suggested but not selected in previous considerable effort to ensure the smooth years will also be accepted. Please running of a community service, or who nominate candidates were influential across a broad range of via: https://www.surveymonkey.com/ collaborative activities over a number of r/2016communityaward. years.

42 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 COMMUNITY NEWS

gÉANT grEEN-LigHTS SofTwArE 'grEENHo uSE' In today’s digital environment there is a tension between grass-roots development and the convenience of off-the-shelf procurement. The proliferation of cloud services and simplified apps means the market for commodity software tools is large. On the other hand, we are encouraged to embrace coding and produce rather than just consume to meet requirements. The research and education environment is a natural home for innovation creations to meet community needs, with open-source code also being second nature. But what happens when the tool you developed for your small department suddenly becomes an in-demand application?

National research and education legal agreements and good practice for networking organisations (NRENs) have code management and software quality. “The Nordic NRENs and a strong history of producing successful The SIG will provide advice to projects at NORDUnet fully support the open-source software from within their different points in their lifecycle – from creation of a software greenhouse communities. As these projects grow issues to consider when first making function hosted by GÉANT” into well-used products, initial developer code publicly available, to process for NORDUnet teams need a range of support to meet managing user requests and support, the needs of expanding groups of users. through to providing a framework for An excellent coder might not necessarily accepting donations and managing have the skills to manage multiple code teams. “There is a sense of urgency for contributions from other parties, or know The SIG was launched towards the this to be put in place and we how to provide effective support to the end of 2015 and a steering committee would like to see that this growing community of users. Most and the wider community immediately activity will be given priority so importantly, the funding may not be in began setting its scope and direction. A that pilots can start from the place to ensure the product’s stability for list of open-source software developed beginning of 2016” organisations that are growing in or by the GÉANT community and in dependent upon it. use in real service scenarios was SURFnet A new GÉANT special interest compiled: if you would like to suggest group, SIG-Greenhouse, has been set suitable projects to be included, contact up to support open-source software [email protected]. The SIG will development and sustainability and now focus on two specific issues: Current materials involving the address such challenges. It will provide a piloting funding models with mature Greenhouse idea can be found framework for managing donations to projects and defining good practice on the Greenhouse Wiki open-source software projects as well within the community for software home page. as advice and guidance on licensing, quality.

43 ABOUT GÉANT GÉANT AT A GLANCE GÉANT is the leading collaboration on network and related infrastructure and services for the benefit of research and education, contributing to Europe's economic growth and competitiveness.

GÉANT has 41 member countries and is owned by its core NREN membership, and also has Associate members including commercial organisations and multi-national research infrastructures and projects.

44 CONNECT ISSUE 21 2016 ABOUT GÉANT

PAN-EUROPEAN HIGH INTERNATIONAL NETWORK PERFORMANCE COLLABORATION The GÉANT backbone offers NETWORK GÉANT continues to cooperate capacities of up to 2 Tbps and, closely with research and together with Europe’s NRENs, SERVICES education networks across the connects over 50 million users at GÉANT’s range of connectivity world to ensure that the users’ 10,000 institutions across services, underpinned by the global connectivity and other Europe, supporting research in network, covers everything from service needs are being met. The areas, such as energy, the robust, high-bandwidth IP, focus of these global interactions environment, space and through Virtual Private Networks covers North America, Latin medicine. (L3VPN), point-to-point America, the Caribbean, Sub- connectivity (Plus) to bespoke Saharan Africa, the solutions for long term, highly Mediterranean, Central Asia and data-intensive requirements Asia-Pacific, and increased (Lambda). As user needs emphasis is being placed on change, the service portfolio has dialogue with partners in to scale and adapt, in order to countries where European ensure that GÉANT remains at research and education interests the forefront of networking are high: USA (Internet2 and technology and service delivery. ESnet); Canada (CANARIE), GÉANT advanced services in Brazil (RNP), Chile (REUNA), monitoring, trust and identity, South Africa (TENET and security and certification, mobility SANReN), India (NKN), China and access, and media and real- (CERNET and CSTNET) and time communications, all serve to Japan (SINET and JGN-X). enhance the user experience. Furthermore, GÉANT has signed Memoranda of Understanding with TEIN*CC (Trans-Eurasia Information Network * Cooperation Center) and with AT THE HEART APAN (Asia-Pacific Advanced Network), to promote cooperation OF GLOBAL and collaboration between the RESEARCH AND organisations on various levels. EDUCATION The GÉANT network remains the best connected research and education network in the world, and is driven by extensive partnerships which continue to Learn more at flourish. GÉANT successfully www.geant.org manages regional network projects in other parts of the world: in the Mediterranean (EUMEDCONNECT); Sub-Saharan Africa (AfricaConnect); and Central Asia (CAREN). In addition, GÉANT coordinates the Europe- China collaboration (ORIENTplus) and continues to secure direct China-Europe connectivity via a long-term contract.

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This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of GÉANT and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. CONNECT/0216