Extending the European Research Area (ERA) into South-East Europe (SEE)

1. Extending the European Research Area (ERA) into South-East Europe (SEE) Jorge-A. Sanchez-P. – GRNET Initiative Coordinator sanchez@grnet.gr Chisinau – 8 October 2004 NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

2. Structure • Introduction – how it started • First regional attempt – SEEREN • Sustainability plan – parallel activities took off • New areas and applications – SEEGRID • Future plans NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

3. Conceptualization • A couple of beers in Ochrid… • Followed by a memoranda of understanding • October 2000 (Thessaloniki) • INIMA (Albania) • RoEduNet/RNC (Rumania) • UNICOM-B (Bulgaria) • MARNET (FYROM) • GRNET (Greece) • February 2001 (Athens) • AMREJ (FRY) • June 2001 (Athens) • ULAKBIM (Turkey) NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

4. The vision… Ease the digital divide in SE Europe Contribute to the reconstruction and stabilisation of the region NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

5. The vision… Bring SEE in the R&E Networking Map Source: GEANT NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

6. First interconnections… • Athens-Belgrade [2Mbps PCM] daily graph (5 Minute Average) • Athens-Sofia [5.2Mbps ATM] daily graph (5 Minute Average) NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

7. SEEREN SEEREN  South-Eastern European Research and Education Networking • consortium includes: GRNET, HUNGARNET/NIIF, RoEduNet, INIMA, BIHARNET, ISTF/ICTDA, MARNET, AMREJ, DANTE and TERENA • interconnects the Research and Education Networks of: • is funded by the EC/IST programme • was built in 2003, launched and entered its stable operation on January 2004 • constitutes the South Eastern European segment of the multi-gigabit pan-European Research and Education network GÉANT • more at http://www.seeren.org NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

8. Physical Topology • Capacities • INIMA: 2 Mbps (1xE1) • MARNET: 4 Mbps (2xE1) • BIHARNET: 2 Mbps (1xE1) • AMREJ: 34 Mbps (1xE3) • ISTF: 34 Mbps (1xE3) • RoEduNet (backup link): 34 Mbps (ATM, shaped) • Terrestrial links only • MPLS-based backbone provided by OTEGlobe after tender • Equipment donation by Cisco (worth €120.000) NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

9. Logical Topology • Any-to-any eBGP sessions between the connected parties • Intra-NREN traffic & traffic towards GEANT • Backup to RoEduNet • when GRNET links to GEANT fail • Provider’s MSP functions as a “black-box” NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

10. Production stage • SEEREN performing very well • SLA reports: 100% availability for all links for the last 6 months • Collaborative management • Distributes the Network Management & Operations to competent Academic Groups in the Region (the Virtual Network Operations Center – VNOC concept developed by GRNET) • A one-stop-shop for all the open source tools/applications setup by the SEEREN VNOC to monitor and manage the SEEREN infrastructure is available at: http://admin.seeren.org NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

11. Traffic profile Before SEEREN (Bulgaria) After SEEREN (FYR of Macedonia) After SEEREN (Bulgaria) NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

12. Services NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

13. Lessons learned • SEEREN capitalized on the growing aspiration of the SEE countries to integrate to the rest of Europe and eventually be equal peers with advanced European nations. Still a major driving force. Timing was critical. • SEEREN enacted a communication channel between the SEE scientific community. • Strict and professional management created a credible partner(ship) for the EC, the European industry and other international organizations interested in the development of the region. • SEEREN not only helped the participants to resolve networking issues, but also served as a problem solving model. • Refocused the R&E community in their common endeavors and wealthy cultural heritage that dates from several hundred years ago. • Currently not all countries at the same level, supplementary special actions are needed to bring all at same speed. • Still the GNI for all countries is very low therefore specific support actions are needed. NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

14. The avalanche effect • Funding is available • FP6, NATO, ERDF, Government sponsorships, Vendor sponsorships, Bilateral programmes UNDP, EIB, WorldBank, USAID, etc. • Go for new opportunities and projects on the new priorities • Focus now was not only to ease the digital divide but to achieve it in a sustainable way! NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

15. Sustainability Plan • Help in establishing the SEE NRENs - raise and disseminate the importance of eInfrastructures to government/policy making level, turn eInfrastructures into regional priority, funding stability. • (Re)integrate the SEE R&E community in the international organizations (CEENet, TERENA, etc) - co-operation with peer organizations in other countries and at the international level can further strengthen the NREN operational stability. • Ease the infrastructure divide – replace outdated equipment • Ease the access to advanced services - eScience, Grids, etc and create new demand • Ease the access/connectivity divide – upgrade the capacity (3, 4, 5 loop) • Deploy a sustainable integrated & interoperable eInfrastructure – close to zero cost (utopia?) NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

16. Help in establishing the NRENs • EU-Balkan countriesAction Plan in Science and Technology • A Greek Presidency Initiative with Solid Roots • Ministerial Conference (26-27/6/2003) adopted the documents (Shared vision, Action Plan) • Shared Vision document, sets the Political context – Zagreb process and Thessaloniki Summit and defines four Main Goals: Improvement of Infrastructures, Improvement of Human Potential, Institution Building, Joint RTD activities. • The Action Plan: Specifies the objectives and thematic priorities, proposes for the implementation: instruments ( Multilateral, Regional, Bilateral ), implementing modalities, (Workprogramme, ad-hoc group). NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

17. (Re)integrate the SEER&E community • Albania, FYR of Macedonia already a member • +Bulgaria, +Serbia-Montenegro • Bosnia-Herzegovina? • FYR of Macedonia already a member • +Serbia-Montenegro, +Bulgaria • Bosnia-Herzegovina?, Albania? NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

18. Upgrade of infrastructure • Networking Infrastructure Grant (NIG) with Bulgaria finished (200k €) • Networking Infrastructure Grant (NIG) with FYR of Macedonia (200κ €). Metropolitan Network in Skopje inaugurated in September 2004 • Advanced Networking Workshop (ANW) “Policy Issues for NRENs in South East Europe” (25κ €) in Varna, Bulgaria http://www.terena.nl/conferences/nato-anw2003 • Follow up with FYR of Macedonia • Albania?, Serbia-Montenegro?, Bosnia-Herzegovina? NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

19. Access to advanced services • EU Geant binds national networks and creates a high performance production network for Europe • EGEE  will bind national Grid infrastructures - focussing all activities towards establishing a production quality Grid for Europe • Both together constitute the eInfrastructure NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

20. SEEGRID Vision Contribute to building a Pan-EU eInfrastructure by expanding the “eInfrastructure inclusion” into South-East Europe SEEREN SEEREN Contract No.: FP6-RI-002356 Project type: Specific Support Action (SSA) Start date: 01/05/2004 Duration: 24 months Total Budget: 1,215,000 Є > http://www.see-grid.org NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

21. SEEGRID Objectives Mission GRIDs IPv6 GÉANT + SEEREN Communication Network • Integrate SEE National Grid Initiatives in the Pan-EU and worldwide Grid Infrastructures • Establish a seamless and interoperable pilot-Grid infrastructure that will expand and support the ERA. • Create a Human network in the area of eScience in the SEE region • Allow smaller, less-equipped sites to access computing resources that would otherwise be unaffordable. • Ease the digital divide and release the scientific & productive talents of the region NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

22. Lessons learned - Planning • Reinstated vision to benefit the whole R&E community and the society at large – should open the eInfrastructure to all scientific sectors. • In many cases achieved multi-organization collaboration per country (many members in NGIs, many relying parties (users/applications)) - additional actions (internationally, regionally and locally) should be implemented to achieve the formation of NGIs in all countries • Tremendous brain potential in the region, software development interest and expertise - keep and extend the objective to build up and demonstrate a Grid application of regional interest • At a country-level NGIs need to form as soon as possible, and take the initiative of carrying out detailed surveys through which the actual potential GRID resources per country could be identified and/or implemented. • Growth added complexity. To keep the quality of the results, needed to grow the management potential. • Other international organizations gained interest in contributing to the vision - should capitalize on this fast NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

23. Access to Advanced Services • EUGridPMA • The SEE-GRID project will be a relying party in the EUGridPMA (along with EGEE, DEISA, and other major grid projects) • GRNET will establish a regional SEE-GRID “Catch-all” CA for the partners who do not yet have a PMA-accredited Grid CA • Project partners will be encouraged to develop their own Grid CA and apply for membership in PMA NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

24. Access to Advanced Services • Deployment of IPv6 • Formalize the continuation of the dissemination and promotion of the best practices from the 6NET project to the SEEREN network of countries and partners, that was started in March 2004, • Help the main SEEREN beneficiary countries to study potential deployment scenarios/solutions over the SEEREN infrastructure, experiment and get familiar with IPv6, • Support (technically) the continued connectivity of SEEREN countries via IPv6, that was started in March 2004, • Support the transfer of 6NET’s IPv6 application demonstrations to SEEREN. • Provide information about experiences of IPv6 deployment in less developed network user communities. • Organise a joint technical workshop based on the 6NET Cookbooks and the programme of workshops in SE Europe, held within the scope of the SEEREN project. • Produce joint reports on the results of the 6NET-SEEREN cooperation. NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)

25. Here we are… Thank You ALL! NATO ANW: The Fourth CEENet Workshop on Network Management - Management Issues for Excellence in Research and Education Networking (MIXREN)