National LambdaRail/ Florida LambdaRail/ Tallahassee Fiber Loop

1. National LambdaRail/Florida LambdaRail/Tallahassee Fiber Loop TalTech Alliance Presentation Larry Conrad Associate VP and CIO, FSU Chair, Florida LambdaRail, LLC

2. Background • Became aware of the NLR initiative the fall of 2002 • Goal was to leverage depressed telecom market to pick-up distressed assets • Initiative came out of CA and WA • They were looking at San Diego to Seattle to Denver to Chicago to Pittsburg to D.C. • Others got involved to “nationalize” the initiative to include D.C. to Atlanta to Dallas to San Diego • Network footprint was being finalized, but still “pliable”

3. Background • In just 3 working days we garnered a commitment from 6 FL universities to invest $5M over 5 years • That commitment secured extension of the NLR to Jacksonville... • ...and a seat at the table to define the NLR • Realizing none of the 6 universities were IN JAX, so we would have to build comparable FL network • A tribute to the strategic insight of the leaders at those 6 FL institutions to make this kind of commitment in these difficult fiscal times!

4. Network Drivers & Motivations • Improve networking costs…”disruptive pricing!” • Control of our networking destiny • Flexibility in responding to future needs • Responsiveness to the needs of higher ed • Innovation and support for corporate research partners • End-to-End networking • Eliminate “place” as an issue for collaboration

5. Science Drivers & Motivations • Growing demand for “application empowered” networks • Support for high performance e-science projects • High-energy physics, astronomy, earth science, bioinformatics, environmental • Study very complex micro to macro-scale problems over time and space • Remote access to instruments, streaming high-definition video, specialized visualization displays, data mining, high-performance distributed supercomputing systems and real-time collaboration • To optimally make use of these technologies, scientists want high-bandwidth connectivity with known and knowable characteristics

6. Science Drivers: Examples • New CERN facility in Switzerland comes on line in 2005—will distribute petabyte (PB) files to multiple institutions • Jefferson Lab to distribute PB files by 2006 • FSU is a managing partner for the Oakridge National Laboratory—ORNL wants 10 Gb connectivity • SURA Coastal Oceanographic Observing Platform (SCOOP) program to distribute PB files by 2006 • NSF sponsored supercomputing centers in San Diego, CA; Champaign, IL; and Pittsburg, PA presently have 10 Gb connectivity and are moving to 40 Gb to support GRID computing applications • Oakridge has recently been awarded an NSF GRID computing grant to establish a new “science ultranet” with 10-40 Gb connectivity

7. Why Fiber? • Capacity needed is not otherwise affordable • Capabilities needed are not otherwise available • Flatten out the expense growth curve... • ...cheaper in the long range • Provides leverage with the telco carriers • Insurance against “monopoly behavior” • Stable and predictable anchor points • Higher Ed can’t be held hostage to what industry thinks the market wants

8. National Lambda Rail • Sparse dark fiber National footprint • Serves very high-end Experimental and Research Applications • 4 - 10Gb Wavelengths (or networks) initially • Capable of 40 10Gb wavelengths at build out • Leverage industry shakeout: distressed vendors are very interested in selling a National footprint • Disruptive pricing • Partnership model

9. Equity owners: CENIC (CA) PNWGP (U of WA) Internet2 Virginia Tech Duke Georgia Tech Florida LambdaRail CIC Group—Big 10 (IU lead) Other: Carnegie Mellon/PSC(purchase services) NCAR/UCAR—CO(potential) Texas Group (potential, UT Austin lead) New Mexico(potential, UNM lead) NLR Participants

10. NLR Goals and Uses • Research! (including Network Research) • Experimentation in networking and in education • Education • Support of GRID computing • Academic Medical Center driven Clinical activities • Development & implementation of network & computing technologies not otherwise likely to be generally available commercially as early as needed in R&E

11. 15808 Terminal 15808 OADM 15808 Regen Fiber route Leased waves NLR footprint and physical layer topology SEA POR BOI BOS NYC CHI OGD CLE DEN SVL PIT WDC KAN RAL NAS STR LAX PHO MEM ATL SAN OLG DAL JAC Note: California (SAN-LAX-SVL) routes shown are part of CalREN; NLR is adding waves to CalREN systems. Also the CENIC SVL- Sacramento (SAC) ELH route will become part of NLR SVL-SEA in exchange for a SVL-SAC LH route NLR is building (not shown here).

12. 15808 Terminal 15808 OADM 15808 Regen Fiber route Leased waves NLR footprint and physical layer topology – Phase 1 SEA POR BOI CHI OGD CLE DEN SVL PIT WDC KAN RAL LAX ATL SAN JAC Note: California (SAN-LAX-SVL) routes shown are part of CalREN; NLR is adding waves to CalREN systems. Also the CENIC SVL- Sacramento (SAC) ELH route will become part of NLR SVL-SEA in exchange for a SVL-SAC LH route NLR is building (not shown here).

13. NLR Partners and Costs • NLR technology partners • Cisco Systems (electronics/optronics) • Level 3 (fiber) • ~$80 M over 5 Years

14. NLR Status • 1st link from Pittsburg to Chicago brought up mid- November • Phase 1 build-out to be completed by July 2004 • NLR has recently been designated the largest, fastest scientific network in the world • NLR is negotiating with SURA on a partnership for Phase 2 to complete the southern route back to Atlanta • ...that could come right through Tallahassee!

15. FLR: The NLR Build Out In Florida • FLR, Florida LambdaRail • FLR equity participants are all public corporation or 501(c)(3) entities • Current members:FAU, FIT, FIU, FSU, Nova SE, UF, U of Miami, UCF, UWF • Expect FLR build out to be in the $20M range over the next 5 years • FLR is a LLC with plans to seek 501(c)(3) status

16. FLR Goals and Uses • NLR connectivity • Build a high-speed FL network for education and research • Put FL universities on an equal footing with the best research institutions in the nation • Initial services: 10 Gb shared IP fabric with • Commodity ISP aggregation • Internet2 aggregation • Potential for corporate partnerships and economic development

17. FLR Goals and Uses • For the first time, Florida has a node on the leading edge Research and Education networking infrastructure • Was not true with Internet2, NSFNet, or SURANet • Supports nominally $1B in research funding at Florida’s research universities

18. One FLR Build Out Option

19. FLR Status • Still in start-up mode • Company formed • Initial equity participant solicitation closed • Will submit 501(c)(3) application shortly • Negotiating with fiber and optronics vendors • Establishing initial contracts for support services

20. FLR Timeline • Dec. 2003: Order finalized for FLR backbone fiber • Jan. 2004: Order finalized for FLR optronics • March 2004: Build and lab test Layer 2/3 transport equipment • April 2004: Order commodity Internet and Internet2 aggregation services • July 2004: NLR Phase 1 build-out of completed • Aug. 2004: Begin testing Layer 2/3 infrastructure • Sept. 2004: Begin connecting participants to the FLR infrastructure • Nov. 2004: Production operation

21. Tallahassee Fiber Loop • Tie together local education entities • Provide FLR/NLR connectivity • Potential participants: DOE, CCLA, FAMU, FSU, NWRDC, TCC • Managed by NWRDC • Status: negotiating with potential providers

22. In Summary… • Many details yet to be worked out, e.g., inter-city fiber, optronics, and metro fiber solutions • Expect members will provide connection to other entities • For FSU, will provide a nominal 100-fold improvement in network speed! • …which will fundamentally redefine our ability to collaborate and compete!

23. Questions? www.flrnet.org www.nationallambdarail.org