Filling Gaps and Needs of NRENS: The SILK Experience

1. Filling Gaps and Needs of NRENS: The SILK Experience E-AGE 2013, Tunis H. Frese, DESY NATO PDD Consultant

2. The Virtual Silk Highway Project • is a major component of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme • has provided Internet connectivity and infrastructure support for the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) along the SILK road in the Caucasus and Central Asia 2002-2010 • and continues with SILK-Afghanistan 2010-2015 e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

3. The nine SILK countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

4. Before SILK (1992) • After the fall of the Soviet Union the demand for communication between CIS scientists and the outside world increased dramatically • Cocom limited telephone modems to 1200 Baud • Fiber was non-existent • Russian satellites were available • DESY stepped in for the High Energy Physics community with INTAS funding linking HEP institutes across the CIS at 128kbps rates to HEPNET/CERN e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

5. Towards SILK (2001) • Since the mid-1990s, the NATO Science Programme had been providing Networking Infrastructure Grants (NIGs) both for hardware and for communication links to individual institutes in the NATO Partner Countries of the former Warsaw Pact • A wholesale unified approach was agreed by the NATO Networking Panel covering the whole area with one high power satellite under a multi-year contract geared to annual NATO budgets e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

6. Silk-1 – East Beam Transponder Map e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

7. Silk-1 - West Beam Transponder Map e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

8. SILK-1 (2002-2006) • $2.5m for the first 3 years could afford 20Mbps of shared bandwidth, co-funding reached 30Mbps later • SILK connected NRENs, not single institutes • NRENs had to have a proper Acceptable Use Policy to be connected • The NRENs had to agree internally on bandwidth sharing inside their country • Satellite broadcasting enabled sharing of otherwise unused bandwidth across NRENs between NRENs and across 3 time zones • Specific gaps and needs were covered with NIGs, typically $100k over 2 years (e.g. last mile issues) e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

9. SILK-1 hub 5.6m KA band e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

10. Running SILK • A computer network needs a people network to run it • The hub crew and eight of the nine POPs spoke Russian as well as English • Regular telephone and video conferences plus two to three rotating face-to-face board meetings annually were crucial, with participation of both the administrative and technical experts, especially in the cases of bleeding edge technology use. • The necessary equipment was provided by NATO grants (NIGs), including batteries, generators and diesel fuel • Complementary EU projects helped out here greatly when NATO could not provide personnel support. e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

11. SILK Board Meeting 20, 03.11.2009 e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

12. SILK-2 (2007-2010) • Technology neutral tender produced only satellite offers • Continuation with new satellites and their teething problems: KISS vs. SLA • Gradual replacement by fiber where available • Total bandwidth (shared if on same satellite) ~100 Mbps • Transfer of NRENs to EU co-funded regional networks like the Central Asian Research and Education Network (CAREN, 2010) e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

13. CAREN Launch e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

14. SILK-Afghanistan (2010-2013) • Continuation with multiple satellite POPs in Afghanistan initially • Additional bandwidth to Kabul on fiber • Development of the Afghan Research and Education Network (AfgREN) under the auspices of the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education covering the provinces (>25 locations) • Preparation of SILK-AFG 2.0 e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

15. SILK-AFG 2.0 (2014-2015 so far) The big steps forward are • the 155 Mbps STM-1 connection of AfgREN from Kabul to GÉANT in Vienna • the use of domestic fiber where available (6 active, 9more planned) • further 5 sites are connected by wireless with 11 more planned e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

16. AfgREN fibertraffic

17. AfgREN wirelesstraffic e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

18. Conclusion For more than a decade, the NATO Virtual Silk Highway Project • has used available funds and available technology to maximum effect • to fill the gaps and needs of the NRENs in Central Asia, • enabling them in turn to provide their stakeholders • with access to the Internet for education including schools, • audio and video conferencing support, • and scientific projects from earthquake detection to telemedicine. With the SILK background, let us look at the gaps and needs of ASREN and possible NATO grants. e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

19. Outlook • Information on NATO grants can be found at www.nato.int/science • Grant applications require two co-directors, one from a NATO Partner and one from a NATO Country … • … passing a peer-review … • … and approval by the 28 NATO Countries. • Grant giving organizations like regional and co-funded proposals. e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

20. 41 NATO Partners (11 in Arabia) Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Malta, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan. ¹Turkey recognizes the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name. e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

21. 28 NATO Countries Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States e-AGE 2013 Tunisia

22. You find me at hans.frese@desy.deQuestions? e-AGE 2013 Tunisia