April 18, 2023

Examples of partnerships and collaborations from the Internet2 experience

Interworking2004Ottawa, Canada

Heather Boyles, Internet2heather@internet2.edu

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

Who is Internet2 today?

208 US (research) universities60+ 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

Internet2 Today and Tomorrow

Motivate Enable

End-to-end

End-to-end

Perform

anceP

erformanceNetworksNetworks

MiddlewareMiddleware

ApplicationsApplications

ServicesServices

Securit

Securit

yy

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)

ApplicationsCollaboration environments (Internet2 Commons), Outreach to user

communities (science & engineering; arts & humanities; health sciences)

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

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)

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

International collaborations

Collaborating on technology development and deployment

Providing a global network environment for collaborations by scientists, artists, teachers, health practitioners, etc.

Internet2 & Other Advanced Networking Organizations

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

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

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

An example: teaching and learning

Music• Master classes• Conducting Conservatories• Auditions

Expertise is scarce, distributed

Students from diverse locations

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