BOREAS-Net : Broadband Optical Research, Education and Sciences Network

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BOREAS-Net Broadband Optical Research,
Education and Sciences Network

• Paul Lustgraaf
• Mike McQuiston
• March 30, 2007

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What is BOREAS-Net?

• Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind
• BOREAS-Net stands for Broadband Optical Research
  Education And Science Network (yes, the acronym
  was reverse-engineered!)
• A consortium formed to build a Regional Optical
  Network (RON)
• See web page at http//www.boreas.net

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What is BOREAS-Net?

• Connects members to the national research nets in
  Chicago and Kansas City
• Connects to other RONs especially in Chicago with
  CIC OmniPoP and StarLight
• Also connects to more affordable and diverse
  commercial Internet services

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Who belongs to BOREAS-Net?

• The founding members of BOREAS-Net are
• Iowa State University
• University of Iowa
• University of Minnesota
• University of Wisconsin Madison

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BOREAS-Net Design

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Why Do We Need Amplifiers?

• Signal strength is lost with distance due to
  absorption. This is called attenuation.
• Attenuation varies by fiber type.
• Signal strength can be boosted by amplifiers.
• Amplifiers must typically be used every 70 to 100
  kilometers.

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Access Sites
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Access Sites

• Kansas City Colo in I2 Suite at Level3
• Same facility as NLR
• Chicago Colo in StarLight and in I2 Suite at
  Level3 (900 N Kingsbury, AKA 600 W Chicago)
• NLR is at 111 N Canal (facility was space and
  power limited)
• CIC has dark fiber between sites

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Access Sites

• Two Access Nodes on each participating Campus
• Diverse fiber paths to campus and diverse Nodes
  on campus
• Extra Access Nodes
• Eau Claire, Milwaukee, St. Paul

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Transport Services

• 10G Ethernet Wave Transport
• OC192c SONET Wave Transport
• 1G Ethernet Sub-Wave Transport
• SONET Sub-Wave Transport (OC3-OC48, by special
  request only)

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Capacity

• Each wave supports 10 Gigabits.
• Currently configured for ten 10G waves.
• 100 Gbps per segment.
• Can be expanded in ten wave increments.
• Equipment can support up to 80 waves.
• For a total of 800 Gbps on each segment.

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Creating BOREAS-Net

• CIOs agreed in principle on Nov. 1, 2004 to
  create a RON
• A technical team was tasked with issuing an RFP
  for dark fiber
• Fiber RFP was issued June 17, 2005
• CIOs agreed to an MOU on Dec. 19, 2005, formally
  creating BOREAS-Net

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Buying Fiber

• Wisconsin and Minnesota already owned fiber along
  the I94 corridor
• BOREAS-Net purchased 455 miles of fiber from
  Wiltel(Level3) on Dec 21, 2005
• BOREAS-Net purchased 391 miles of fiber from
  FiberLink Mar 2, 2006
• Some laterals were also purchased for Ames,IA
  from McLeod and ICN

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Buying Hardware

• Optronics RFP released Mar 3, 2006
• Contract with Infinera signed Oct. 9, 2006
• First hardware shipped Dec 4, 2006
• First segment install started Dec 13, 2006
• First wave provisioned Jan 17, 2007
• All segments accepted Jan 24, 2007

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Current Status

• 1,544 miles of fiber are lit with Infinera DWDM
  gear
• 100 Gbps configured
• 14 add-drop nodes and 22 amplifiers
• Fiscal Agent is University of Minnesota
• NOC services by WiscNet
• Field service contract with Level3

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Infinera Add-Drop Node
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Infinera Amplifier Node
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Example Amplifier Hut
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Hut Environment

• Multiple rooms, each with air conditioning.
• DC power plant with several hours of battery
  capacity.
• Generator backup power.
• Remote monitoring of door access, temperature,
  power.

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McLeod Aerial Fiber
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BOREAS-Net Costs

• Capital Costs 6.3M
• Dual nodes on major campuses added about 10,
  but increase reliability greatly.
• Annual Operating Costs about 1.0M
• Costs are shared among members.

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Next Steps For BOREAS-Net

• Test lab in Madison
• Includes Terminal Node, Add-Drop Node, Three-Way
  Node, and Amplifier Node
• Build circuits
• Finalize procedures for operation
• Establish Network Operations Center

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National Networks

• New Internet2 network.
• National LambdaRail (NLR)
• Regional Optical Networks (RONs)
• Northern Tier Network Consortium
• http//ntnc.org

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New Internet2 Network
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National RON Map
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Future Directions

• Work with Northern Tier
• To Fargo, North Dakota.
• Maybe eventually all the way to Seattle
• Maybe to Winnipeg
• South Dakota is looking at options
• Expand foot print within Primary States
• Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin

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National Developments

• Internet2 and National Lambda Rail have agreed to
  merge by June 2007.
• The disposition of the two national networks is
  unclear at this time.

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Implications for ISU

• Commodity Internet.
• Internet2 connection.
• Waves for research projects.
• Other uses.

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Commodity Internet Connections

• ISU will use BOREAS-Net for our commodity
  Internet connections.
• ISU will connect to one or more Internet Service
  Providers (ISP) in Kansas City.
• U of Iowa will connect in Chicago.
• We will provide backup to each other.
• We also act as an ISP to the ICN.

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Internet2 connection

• ISU will connect to the Great Plains Network
  (GPN) in Kansas City at 10 Gbps.
• GPN will connect to the Internet2 network at 10
  Gbps.
• U of Iowa will connect in Chicago.
• We will back each other up.

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Waves for Projects

• Both 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps waves will be available
  for research projects. These can be connected to
  other networks to get almost anywhere in the
  world.
• SONET connections (OC3 to OC192) can be
  accommodated by special arrangement.

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Other uses for BOREAS waves

• Off-site backups
• Storage at Iowa City?
• Disaster recovery?
• Dynamic waves
• For example, an astronomy project may need to be
  connected to San Diego today, Japan tomorrow, and
  Hawaii the day after.

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Competing For Grants

• Grants today often involve extensive
  collaboration and sharing of large datasets.
  BOREAS allows ISU to compete for these grants,
  e.g. the BP grant.
• The connectivity provided by BOREAS eliminates
  some of our geographical disadvantage compared to
  peer institutions.

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Wave Pricing

• 1 Gbps 25K per year
• 10 Gbps 160K per year
• These prices get you from the edge of campus to
  anywhere BOREAS goes. Other networks may have
  additional charges.
• Depending on your situation, it may cost more to
  get from the edge of campus to your location.

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Contact Us!

• Angela Bradley
• bradley_at_iastate.edu
• 294-4514
• Mike McQuiston
• mmcquis_at_iastate.edu
• 294-8558
• Paul Lustgraaf
• grpjl_at_iastate.edu
• 294-0324

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Thank You

• Questions?