Filling Gaps and Needs of NRENS: The SILK Experience

E-AGE 2013, TunisH. Frese, DESY

NATO PDD Consultant

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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

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The nine SILK countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

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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

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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

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Silk-1 – East Beam Transponder Map

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Silk-1 - West Beam Transponder Map

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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)

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SILK-1 hub 5.6m KA band

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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.

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SILK Board Meeting 20, 03.11.2009

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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)

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CAREN Launch

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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

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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, 9 more planned)• further 5 sites are connected by wireless with

11 more planned

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AfgREN fiber traffic

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AfgREN wireless traffic

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ConclusionFor 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.

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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-

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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.

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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

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You find me at hans.frese@desy.de

Questions?

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