Examples of partnerships and collaborations from the Internet2 experience

1. Examples of partnerships and collaborations from the Internet2 experience Interworking2004 Ottawa, Canada Heather Boyles, Internet2 heather@internet2.edu

2. Internet2 Mission and Goals • Develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow’s Internet. • Facilitate the creation of a high-performance network environment for the higher education and research community • To facilitate the development and use of new Internet applications and technologies in support of research, teaching and learning • Share knowledge, experience and technologies with the broader Internet community

3. Who is Internet2 today? • 208 US (research) universities • 60+ corporate members • Increasingly user industries – Ford, Johnson&Johnson • 40+ others (affiliates) • US Government research labs – NASA Goddard, NIH • Regional/state research and education networking organizations – CENIC, NYSERNET • 45 international partners

4. Applications End-to-end Performance Security Motivate Enable Middleware Services Networks Internet2 Today and Tomorrow

5. Selection of activities/projects • Network Infrastructure • Abilene, Fiberco, Hybrid Optical Packet Infrastructure (HOPI), National Lambda Rail (NLR) support • Network Services • Abilene Observatory, IPv6, Multicast, Performance Measurement and Monitoring (end-to-end performance initiative) • International • Global coordination with NRENs around the world • Middleware • Authentication/Authorization tools (Shibboleth), Trust federation (InCommon) • Security • Security at Line Speed (SALSa) • Applications Collaboration environments (Internet2 Commons), Outreach to user communities (science & engineering; arts & humanities; health sciences)

6. How does Internet2 work? • Partnerships and collaborations • Universities, research centers, industry, government • Bringing a variety of resources (money, human, facilities) • Volunteer work of individuals in those organizations • Working groups; workshop instructors/leaders; speakers at technical meetings • Pooled resources (member dues, grants) fund individuals • NSF Middleware Initiative example • Staff funded by member dues • Facilitate, coordinate, support

7. One Example: the Abilene backbone network • High-performance, nationwide, network serving Internet2 members • Started as partnership: • Industry: Cisco Systems, NortelNetworks, Qwest Communications • University: Indiana University • Partnerships have evolved: Juniper Networks, NC and Ohio ITECs, etc. • Internet2 coordinates, facilitates

8. What is NLR? • A collaboration among a consortium of research universities, member organizations and private sector technology companies • The first of its kind, higher-education-owned national optical network facility • A prototype for dark-fiber acquisition (IRUs), motivator of regional optical network creation, and another opportunity for researcher-CIO coordination (50% dedicated to research) 8

9. NLR Goals • Create a national networking physical infrastructure • Support multiple experimental and production networks at multiple layers • Foster both the advancement of networking research and next-generation network-enabled applications in science, engineering, medicine, … • Promote connectivity at all layers to facilitate new forms of peering relationships among high-performance research and education networks 9

10. International collaborations • Collaborating on technology development and deployment • Providing a global network environment for collaborations by scientists, artists, teachers, health practitioners, etc.

11. Internet2 & Other Advanced Networking Organizations

12. Technology Development and Deployment Example #1 • Lightpath concept • Articulated by Bill St. Arnaud of CANARIE • Focus on providing access to sub-IP (Layer 3) capabilities for high-end users; facilities • Development collaboration • US, CA, NL and other contributors to concept, technology • CANARIE’s UCLP software: extensions developed by other national research network organizations • Deployment collaboration • Initial testbeds: both national and international (EuroLink) • GLIF forum: yearly meeting of organizations working on deployment of these capabilities

13. Technology Development and Deployment Example #2 • National Authentication and Authorization Infrastructures • National infrastructures to facilitate inter-institutional sharing of resources • Utilizing local authentication • Allow virtual organizations (e.g. grid user communities) to control authorization • AuthN/Z tool: Shibboleth (Internet2) • Developed by Internet2 community initially • Major work pieces being done in UK, Australia • Deployment of National AAIs • In collaboration across countries • Cotswolds group

14. Supporting global collaborations in research, teaching and learning • Many science and engineering fields • Facilities are singular and/or expensive and/or distributed (Particle physics; astronomy) • Data point of collection is dispersed; archival distributed (earth observation; 3D visualizations from medical records) • Scale, expense, diversity require multiple collaborators • Health sciences • Expertise is distributed • Effectiveness in working hours • Pathology, radiology

15. An example: teaching and learning • Music • Master classes • Conducting Conservatories • Auditions • Expertise is scarce, distributed • Students from diverse locations

16. Conclusions • Partnership and collaboration between academia, industry, government is key • Collaboration between organizations developing and deploying advanced networks provides global platform • The goal: enabling global collaborations in research, teaching and learning • Providing a showcase and proving ground for new technologies, uses of the network