Abilene update and Internet2 Network of the Future

Southern Illinois University

Internet2 Day

Steve Corbató, Director of Backbone Network Infrastructure

25 April 2001

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Outline

Abilene Network – current status

Internet2 End-to-End Performance Initiative

Advanced infrastructure directions

Internet2 Network of the Future

An analogue with the oil industry…

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Advanced U.S. research university connectivity requirements• Research testbed

• configurable, breakable, measurable infrastructure• serving computer science research and advanced engineering• traditional province of DARPA

• Advanced service/application deployment network • standards based, 7x24 operation expectation (NSFnetvBNS

Abilene)

• National education intranet• interconnecting all K-20 educational institutions/networks to

enable applications and services unavailable over the commercial Internet

• Commercial entities (high performance connectivity)• providers of content of value to EDU (e.g., Nexis-Lexis, Akamai)• EDU-related startups (genomics, network performance/mgmt)

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Unique features of Internet2 environment• Per capita available bandwidth O(10-100) higher than over the commercial Internet

• TCP flows of 0.5 Gbps possible

• Active advanced service deployment efforts• Native multicast most widely deployed

• Commitment to open network management and active measurement

• Collaborative relationship with GigaPoPs and research university campus technical communities

• Commitment to the original end-to-end architecture vision

• Emphasis on end-to-end performance: measurement and assurance

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Abilene

• A high-performance Internet2 national backbone dedicated to the support of advanced Internet application and service development within the U.S. research university community and in collaboration with its partners - including federal and corporate laboratories, international research & education networks, and the broader American educational community

• A partnership of UCAID, Cisco Systems, Nortel, Qwest Communications, Indiana University, and two Internet2 Test and Evaluation Centers in Ohio and North Carolina

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Qwest acquisition of U S WEST

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Abilene – April, 2001

• Inflection point in network development• OC-48c (2.5 Gbps) IP-over-SONET backbone• 52 current and pending connections in 33 states

– Two OC-48c connections: P/NW and SoX

– 16 connections at OC-12c or higher

• 185 participants in 48 states and D.C.• Ongoing strong partnership

– Cisco, Nortel, Qwest, Indiana Univ., ITECs (NC and OH)

• Increasing backbone utilization • Characteristic exponential growth• O(OC-12c) peak utilization on some links• Traffic doubling time: 7 months

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Seattle

Kansas City

Denver

Cleveland

New York

Atlanta

Houston

Abilene Core – autumn 2000

Sacramento

Los Angeles

Denver

Indianapolis

Washington

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Abilene connection fees (annual)

Previous New

OC-3c $110,000 ($110,000) SONET & ATM

OC-12c $320,000 $270,000 SONET

$280,000 ATM/1 PVC &

1 BGP peering

$290,000 ATM

OC-48c $495,000 $430,000 SONET

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Abilene participation categories

Regular Member Participant• University member of Internet2

Collaboration Site• Affiliate or corporate member of Internet2

Sponsored participant• University member sponsors collaborating affiliate with advanced

networking requirement

Sponsored Education Group Participant• University member sponsors educational aggregate network

(ususally, a state network)

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Sponsored Education Group Participation• In November, 2000, the Abilene Conditions of Use (CoU) were modified

• Effective January 15, 2001, a networked aggregate of educational institutions may gain access to Abilene as a Sponsored Education Group Participant.

• designed primarily to accommodate existing and emerging state-based education networks

• This new class of Abilene participation supplements the existing classes of Member Participant, Collaboration Site, and Sponsored Participant

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Sponsored Education Group Participation - statusState education networks approved (8)

• California (CalREN-2)• Michigan (Merit)• Missouri (Great Plains Network)• Oklahoma (OneNet)• Oregon (Oregon GigaPoP)• Rhode Island (Northern Crossroads - NOX)• Virginia (Mid-Atlantic Crossroads – MAX)• Washington (Pacific/Northwest GigaPoP)

Additional states in review process (4)• Georgia• Indiana• Ohio• Pennsylvania

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Abilene International Peering and International Transit Network (ITN)

APAN/TransPAC, Ca*net3, CERN, CERnet, IUCC, NORDUnet, RENATER, REUNA2, SURFnet, SingAREN, SINET, TAnet2 , (ANSP, HARnet?)

OC12 NYCMTEN-155*,

JANET, NORDUnet,

SURFnet CA*net3(HEAnet)

STTLCA*net3, (AARnet)

SNVA(SINET, GEMNET)

LOSASingAREN, SINET

AmPATH(REUNA2, RNP2, RETINA?)

OC3-12UT El Paso(CUDI)

CALREN2CUDI

* ARNES, BELNET, CESnet, DFN, GRNET, HEAnet, RESTENA, SWITCH, HUNGARNET, GARR-B, POL-34, RCCN, RedIRIS

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Advanced services on Abilene

Multicast

IPv6

Measurement

Quality of service (QoS)

IETF Differentiated Services model

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Advanced services - Multicast

Abilene is a leading backbone globally in aggressive protocol deployment (MBGP, MSDP, PIM-Sparse, SSM)

Early detection of the Ramen worm

Deployment

72% of BGP peerings are multicast-enabled

Peering at MIX (NASA Ames) and soon elsewhere

However, multicast remains an experimental service

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Advanced services – IPv6

Overlay network of Cisco 7206 routers• Collaboration between Abilene NOC and I2 v6 WG• Initial ARIN address allocation received• Planning for v6-only peering with WIDE (Sunnyvale)

Is v6’s time coming in the U.S.? • wireless, • End-to-End Architecture• International deployment efforts

Watch this space…

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Advanced services - Measurement

Open network measurement stance

Active measurement: Surveyor

Traffic characterization project: Ohio ITEC• Source/destination matrix, traffic types

Requested measurement services

Passive measurement (MOAT)

Off-net Netflow feeds

Will play a strategic role in End-to-End Performance Initiative

NOC and Measurement WG

DDoS detection testbed (Asta Networks)

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End-to-End (e2e) PerformanceInitiativeHuman to Human Collaboration Experience

• User perception EYEBALL• Application CORE APPLICATION• Operating system• Host IP stack STACK• Host network card• Local Area Network (LAN) JACK• Campus backbone network• Campus connection to regional network/GigaPoP• GigaPoP connection to Internet2 national backbone• International connections

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Internet2 End-to-End Performance Initiative

• Extending focus from raw connectivity to the actual performance experienced by the campus end user

• e2e will address all obstacles to performance• Application readiness and tuning• End system operating systems and networking support• Local Area Network and campus backbone upgrades• Outreach to end users and campus support teams

• Widely distributed, pro-active measurement

• Performance Evaluation and Response Function (PERF)• Hybrid of Network Operations Center and Applications Support Team

• Knowledge database and associated tools

• Phased approach• Design team report completed – February, 2001• Call for Participation to be released soon

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Defining E2E Performance Success Metrics

• Selecting set of appropriate core applications and services• TCP applications – e.g., Web, file transfer• Internet-based telephony (VoIP)• Internet-based videoconferencing

– Multiple technologies with distinct service levels

• Pervasive multicast for multimedia and data distribution

• Scope• How broadly across the campus network should e2e be

supported?

• Timing• How quickly can these goals be met?• End user expectation management essential

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New technology drivers – carrier hotels

Facilities that permit interconnection of telecom carriers

Necessary components• critical mass of fiber-based carriers (national, local)• common fiber interconnection facilities• riser space

Facilitate peering of ISPs • local exchange point

Legacy hotels• 60 Hudson (NYC), One Wilshire (LA), Westin Bldg (SEA)

New purpose-built facilities under construction• NAP of the Americas (MIA)

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New technology drivers – optical

Aggressive period of fiber construction on the national & metro scales

• Every conceivable right-of-way being explored and/or excavated

Many campuses and GigaPoPs have or are pursuing fiber• University of Washington metro fiber project• CENIC Optical Networking Initiative

Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM)• Allows the provisioning of multiple channels (’s) over distinct

wavelengths on the same fiber pair• Now over 100 channels supported (100xOC-192c is 1 Tbps!)• Still very expensive on the national scale

– Amplification required and also repeaters (OEO) until ULR

• C(oarse)WDM is a cheaper alternative in metro areas

Optical switching• Technology on the horizon

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Telephony’s recent past (from an IP perspective)

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IP Networking (and telephony) in the not so distant future

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Gigapop Transport Options:Topics for future discussion• RoW, conduit, dark & dim fiber, ’s

• IRU arrangements

• Optical technologies (amps, repeaters, DWDM, optical switching)

• DWDM interoperability 

• 10 Gigabit Ethernet vs. OC-192c

• Strategic carrier hotel development

• Colocation for interconnection, peering (not data centers)

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Network of the Future: architecture

Initial Internet2 architecture defined – January, 1997

Four components• National backbones

– optical networking - amplification and regeneration

• GigaPoPs– regional fiber initiatives

• Campuses– ubiquity (wireless)

– high performance (wired)

• Advanced services– roles of IPv6 and QoS

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Next steps for Abilene

Continuing advanced service deployment

Playing our part in E2E Performance Initiative

Ongoing planning for Network of the Future

Close collaboration with the Gigapops and new fiber initiatives

Expanding access to broader education community in support of advanced networking

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For more information

www.internet2.edu/abilene

www.internet2.edu/e2eperf

abilene@internet2.edu