Download - Beginning Decade #2…
Beginning Decade #2…
StateNets 2004Doug Heacock, Executive DirectorKansas Research and Education
Network
Overview
• The first decade
• The KanREN backbone network
• The KanREN consortium, governance
• Fiscal growth and funding model
• The next decade: collaboration & Kan-ed
The first decade
• Beginnings in NSF Connections program, 1993
• Small staff—2 to 3 FTE until 1999• Relatively simple institutional needs to
meet– Internet access (4.5 – 21 Mbps)– Low-bandwidth connectivity between member
institutions (56k-T1 backbone)
• Internet 2 via GPN
The first decade
• Staff expansion in 2000-2003– 4 to 7 FTE– Approaching “critical mass”
• Institutional needs growing more complex– QoS, IP multicast, growing security issues
• Outgrowing our “host family”– KanREN leaves the umbrella of KUCR,
incorporates independently
The first decade
• New opportunities and initiatives– Video initiative: tuning the network for video
applications, putting up an MCU– EETT/TRC project: connecting 24 elementary
schools across the state to provide videoconferencing services for collaboration
– SEGP
The KanREN network
The KanREN Consortium
• Membership consortium serving:– Higher education– K-12– Libraries– Other non-profits
• Incorporated as a not-for-profit in 2002
• Filed for 501(c)(3) status
• Independent of the state
Governance
• Board of Directors– Representation from each major constituency
group (K12, community colleges, private colleges, regents universities, libraries, other organizations)
• Each member institution has a vote on matters of consortium policy, budget, rates
Fiscal growth
• 1993/94—NSF funding totals ~$790k
• 1995-present—self-funded– Annual budget increases from ~$400k to
~$2M– Increases reflect growth of staff and increased
bandwidth demands
Funding model
• Self-funded since NSF grant days– Membership fees– Fees for service (connectivity, circuits, etc.)– No state funding– No grants or gifts
• Kan-ed– Concept born in 1998 (KSDE)– Kan-ed Act passed in 2001—to be administered by
the Board of Regents– Funding bill passed in 2002
• A bumpy road at times– It took a long time for KanREN’s role to become clear– The politics were weird at times– But we were Kan-ed “evangelists” throughout the
process
The next decade
• Kan-ed commissioned an Engineering Trade Study to sort things out– Network design– Collaborations with vendors, providers
• Clear roles for KanREN have emerged– Assistance with network engineering– Operation of the Kan-ed NOC; network
management
KanREN/Kan-ed
The Kan-ed network
• A “network of networks”• NAPs (Network Access/Aggregation
Points) located strategically across the state—up to 20 of them
• NAPs bring connectivity to convenient/economical places for providers to connect
• Providers/“peering partners” connect their Kan-ed member customers to the network
The Kan-ed network
• Engineering trade study/RFP process• Juniper M7i/M10i selected for NAPs• OC-3 circuits from multiple telecoms
interconnect NAPs– Very aggressive circuit pricing– Some redundancy– Some details to be worked out
NAP distribution
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KanREN/Kan-ed
• Kan-ed has opened a funding stream from the state that simply didn’t exist before
• Kan-ed has engineered a collaborative environment that is unprecedented in Kansas– Equipment vendors– Big telecoms, independents– A zillion “K-acronym” organizations
