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NATO Virtual Silk Highway Project

The Silk Project aims to provide cost-effective internet connectivity to the research and education community in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This project increases information exchange between academic institutions and improves data network infrastructure in the region.

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NATO Virtual Silk Highway Project

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  1. NATO Virtual Silk Highway Project Ramaz Kvatadze Georgian Research and Educational Networking Association (GRENA) Tbilisi, Georgia ramaz@grena.ge

  2. The Goal of the Silk Project To bring cost effective Internet connectivity to research and education community of 3 countries in Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and 5 countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). To increase significantly exchange of information between academic and educational institutions in these regions.

  3. Silk Project Countries

  4. Status Before Silk Project - End 2001 • National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) existed only in few countries. • Available bandwidth for Internet connectivity of NRENs were from 64 Kbps to 512 Kbps. • Poor data network infrastructure of NRENs.

  5. Constraints on Silk Project • Not more than $2.5M was available from NATO Computer Networking Panel Budget in 2001-04. • Feasibility study demonstrated: - Only satellite technology was feasible - A minimum of 500 Mbps*months bandwidth should be devoted to 8 countries during 2002-05

  6. Additional Resources • Cisco Systems - equipment & maintenance donation - $500K. • DESY Hamburg - central hub housing, network operation and GEANT access - $400K. • EC SPONGE project - project management and measurements - $230K. • Internet Society - workshops - $120K. • National Start-up Resource Centre - books, wireless LAN equipment - $115K. • OSI support to some NRENs.

  7. Silk Project

  8. Equipment at Each Site • Kalitel-supplied satellite stations for central hub and remote sites - 5.6 m dish for central hub - 2.4 or 3.8 m dishes for remote sites - depending on geography • Cisco Systems -supplied at each site - Router and a switch - A large content engine as a Web cache - 2 IP phones

  9. Satellite Stations HEPI TSU

  10. Current Status • Stations are operational in all 8 countries since 2003. • Each country is receiving guaranteed bandwidth about 2/0.5 Mbps, advantage - not used bandwidth is used by other countries. • Additional station will be installed in Kabul, Afghanistan in October 2004.

  11. Management • Silk Board (SB) - Managers (Project, Technical, Service, NOC) - NATO Programme Director and Panel Chair - One representative from each Silk country - Regional consultants - Cisco Systems • Silk Executive Committee agreed in SB Managers (Project, Technical, Service, NOC), Programme Director, one representative from each region (Caucasus & Central Asia), regional consultants, Cisco Systems.

  12. Personal Communications • 2 Cisco phones per site - University College London (UCL) operates voice server - DESY operates voice server Used regularly for Executive Committee meetings • Videoconferencing H.323 usage - Included Heads of State and NATO Secretary General - Distance lectures including World Bank

  13. Technical Workshops ISOC provided support for organization of technical workshops. Four workshops were held during 2004 on Silk infrastructure (Tashkent), network security (Yerevan), IPv6 (Hamburg) and Distance Learning (Baku).

  14. Current Projects • Distance learning program. • School Internet connectivity in several countries. • Cisco Academy program.

  15. IPv6 Activities • Countries expressed interest in getting experience – but not at cost of IPv4 service. • Easy to arrange with dual-stack router and tunnelled IPv6. Native IPv6 needs special hardware for DVB. • ESA/IABG provided boards and 3 MHz channel for two months to test IPv6/DVB.

  16. The Future • NATO has agreed to provide a further $1M for continuing until mid-2007 - Expect to reduce funding from NATO - Co-funding from countries - Talking to EC, OSI, World Bank, Aga Khan Foundation and others • Looking both at other satellites and at fibre connectivity.

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