Access to dark fiber in Serbia & Montenegro

1. Access to dark fiber in Serbia & Montenegro NREN – National Research and Education Network of Serbia & Montenegro Zoran Jovanović Slavko Gajin Belgrade University Computing Center

2. 1.5 Mbps Backbone of the NREN in 2000. NoviSad 2Mbps Beograd 2 Mbps 2 Mbps Kragujevac 2 Mbps 2 Mbps Kruševac Niš Podgorica

3. 1.5 Mbps First access to dark fiber after the SINSEE pilot phase NoviSad 1 Gbps Beograd 2 Mbps 2 Mbps Kragujevac 155 Mbps Grnet 2 Mbps 2 Mbps Kruševac Niš Podgorica

4. Topology - January 2004.SEEREN and Gbps backbone Subotica SMIN Telekom Srbija 34 Mbps 1 Gbps NoviSad 1 Gbps SEEREN 34 Mbps Beograd 1 Gbps E Kragujevac 1 Gbps E Niš 2 Mbps or 1 Gbps (E?) Podgorica GRnet GEANT

5. MAN backbone of Belgrade 1 x C3550-12G Institute Vinča 1 x C3550-12G PMFdistribution node Internal Optical network of Vinča International and intercity links University of Arts 1 x C3550-12GLOSTUD Distribution node 1 x C3550-12G LOV distribution node 1 x C6509 RCUB Central Node Faculty of Economy Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts 1 x C3550-12G LOMED distribution node Faculty of Philosophy Institute of Economy 1 x C3550-12G LOTEH distribution node

6. Where are we now • Completing the national Gbps backbone • Completing the Gbps MAN networks in Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad. • Starting the Gbps backbone in Kragujevac • Expanding the network to high schools and even primary schools • Establishing services • For the first time normal international connectivity - SEEREN

7. Newest technology • Avoiding the PST infrastructure and using dark fiber • Low end newest technology (still 1 Gbps) • 500 times higher capacity on the internal backbone and 45 times higher capacity for international connectivity in 3 years • Dark fiber to individual institutions – wherever possible • Investments are very low compared to POS solutions

8. Cooperation! • Exceptional cooperation of all universities, Ministry of Science and Technology and Telekom Srbija • Even without a legal entity, all key players were pushing in the same direction • Contracts with Telekom Srbija where we guaranteed that the NREN cannot be used for any form of commercial traffic (according to GEANT AUP) • Young team of experts at university computing centers throughout the country

9. Conclusions (1) • From 0.1%of the backbone capacities of developed countries, we reached about 40%. • Capacity of the international connectivity is below 1%of the capacity of most developed countries. • All Web and FTP traffic on international links is still passing through proxy servers • We believe that our technological solution has the best price/perfomance • There will be a fast increase in the number of users of the network • Our wish is to soon be on the better side of the digital divide – at least for the NREN

10. Conclusions (2) • The development was done under the following circumstances: destroyed economy, 600.000 refugees, more than 1.000.000. unemployed and very low salaries. Donations like SEEREN were crucial. • Our NREN had the best possible support, especially from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development of Serbia • Cooperation with Telekom Srbija, when clear AUP is defined in contracts, opened the access to dark fiber • New services on the NREN are emerging – distant learning, GRID infrastructure, … • Our Network Information System NetIS is already expanding to the SEEREN network

11. SEEREN • The best way to change the less developed SEE countries • Exceptional cooperation between participants – new friendships • Coordination by GrNet in SEEREN and EU and NATO proposals at the highest level • Thanks to EU, GrNet, DFN, Hungarnet, RoEduNet, Dante, Cesnet and CEENET for helping us to make a great step forward • Best investment in the future of the region