NSF Office of CyberinfrastructureInternational Research Network Connections Program

October 6, 2011

Grant 0963081Cultivating the International Research and Education

Network Fabric: An Essential Underpinning of Cyberinfrastructure

Dale Smith, PI and Steven Huter, co-PINetwork Startup Resource Center

Roots of the NSRC

• Started by Randy Bush and John Klensin in late 1980s and early 1990s

• Helped establish the first email systems (FidoNet and/or UUCP) in many countries around the world

• Facilitated the first Internet links in southern Africa in 1988-91 (ZA, BW, NA, ZW, ZM, etc.)

• First NSF grant from CISE formalized the NSRC in 1992• NSRC helped establish the first Internet connections for

– Peru, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, and assistance to many others

3

Education Outreach and Training• Provides technical information, engineering

assistance, training, and equipment to R&E institutions and ISPs in developing areas

• Helps US scientists with connectivity needs in developing areas

• Facilitates networking to and within the least connected regions of the world

• Works on solving specific communication problems with scientists and engineers on both ends of the connectivity spectrum

4

Approach and Strategy

• Cultivate cyberinfrastructure by disseminating information, training, and tools to R&E network operators via hands-on workshops and remote assistance

• Gather and distribute donations from Cisco, Google, ISPs, O’Reilly, and other publishers, etc.

• Promote culture of networkers helping each other• Synergize and catalyze local and regional cooperation• Forming and supporting NOGs

– AfNOG, SANOG, PacNOG, WALC, ngNOG, ghNOG

• Leverage our experience and contacts to benefit NSF, IRNC collaborators and our constituency

NSRC Approach

Four prongs:• Campus network design/R&E network

development – Facilitate best practices

• Wireless and wireless sensor networks

• Critical infrastructure and cybersecurity (IXPs, ccTLD registries, DNSSEC, etc.)

• Digitization of scientific and cultural resources

Recent Work (2010)MONTH COUNTRY EVENT ACTIVITYMay Rwanda AfNOG/AfREN Network ManagementJune Sri Lanka APTLD Meeting Reliable DNSJune A. Samoa PacNOG 7 System Admin/DNSSECJuly Bhutan SANOG 17 ISP/IP ServicesJuly Guatemala ccTLD (sp) Advanced ccTLDAugust Nicaragua University/NREN (sp) Network ManagementSept Ghana GARNET NREN Network/NREN DesignSept Mali APTLD (fr) Advanced ccTLDOct Bolivia WALC (sp) Network Management/IPv6Oct Wisconsin NSF CI UWisc CI and Biodiversity Oct Ghana AAU Connectivity Higher Ed. ConnectivityOct Turkey MENOG 7 Network ManagementNov Micronesia PacNOG 8 Network ManagementNov South Africa UbuntunetAlliance R&E Network DevelopmentDec Thailand intERLab/AIT Multicast Dec Chile NIC Chile Assist with .cl DNSSEC signing

Recent Work (2011)MONTH COUNTRY EVENT ACTIVITYJanuary Sri Lanka SANOG 17 Univ. Net Design & MgmtJanuary Thailand WUNCA 23 Campus Network DesignFebruary Thailand intERLab/AIT Campus Wireless DesignFebruary Hong Kong APRICOT/APAN Network Management,

Reliable DNS, DNSSECFebruary Italy ICTP/WSN Wireless Sensors NetworksMarch Ghana AAU Direct Network AssistanceApril Senegal UCAD/SnRER (fr) Campus Network DesignMay Kenya KENIC DNSSECMay Tanzania AfNOG (fr) Network Management,

DNSSEC

June Kenya KENET Wireless/R&E NetworkingJune Fiji PacNOG 9 Reliable DNS/DNSSECJuly Nigeria NG-REN/ngNOG Network Design WorkshopAugust Colorado NCAR/NSF Science CI in AfricaAugust Guatemala RedCLARA/CONCyt (sp) Campus Network DesignSept Nepal SANOG 18 Campus Network Design

Upcoming WorkMONTH COUNTRY EVENT ACTIVITYOctober Ecuador WALC (es) Network Management,

Advanced Routing/Multicast

October Malawi AfChix Unix System Admin

October Senegal ICANN 42 (fr) DNS Security / Net. Mgmt.

Nov Ghana GARNET Campus Network Design

Nov New Caledonia PacNOG 10 (fr) Unix Admin, DNS Security

Dec Vietnam intERLab/AIT Campus Network & Multicast

January Senegal UCAD Direct Engineering Assistance

February Nigeria ng-REN/ngNOG Network Management

February India APRICOT/SANOG 19 DNS Security

March Morocco MARWAN Network Management

April TBD MENOG 10 Net. Mgmt., Security, Routing

May Gambia AfNOG 13 AfREN Meeting, Network

Management, DNSSEC

KENET-NSRC Campus Network Design Workshop in Kenya (March 2010)

10

An Example - Ecuador• Worked with the Consorcio Ecuatoriano para el

Desarrollo de Internet Avanzado (CEDIA), FUNDACYT and the National Telecommunications Council (CONATEL) to facilitate advanced network infrastructure and applications, connecting Ecuador to RedCLARA, Internet2, GEANT, etc.

• Assisted Ecuadorian networkers with:– technical information and negotiating for circuits– connecting Ecuadorian scientists with US counterparts– training Ecuadorian R&E network engineers

• This network is actively used by US and Ecuadorian Scientists for Seismic and Volcanology research

Science and CI in Africa

Two-day workshop held as part of an NSF/NCAR two-week colloquium with African Climate and Atmosphere scientists in Boulder, Colorado.

– Follow-up event with AAU in Africa

– Network connectivity for UNAVCO climate sensor in Malawi with ICTP wireless project for the Malawi College of Medicine.

– Low cost, low power rain gauges and wireless transmission devices from ICTP as part of UCAD and NCAR project in Senegal.

– Discussion of mitigating high connectivity costs in Zambia.

– Potential Internet2 and UbuntuNet peering agreement in Europe.

Training is only part of the picture…

It's about much more than just connecting switches and routers to build physical networks. NSRC emphasizes knowledge dissemination by helping to develop a community of professionals that will enable continuous and sustainable progress. It really is all about building the human network.

The Americas: WALC 2010, Bolivia

Asia: Pre-SANOG VI, Bhutan

The Middle East: ccTLD Jordan

Africa: AfNOG Morocco

Africa: UCAD Dakar

Cyberinfrastructure and Universities

Steven Huter with Professeur Saliou NDIAYE, the President of the University Cheikh Anta DIOP in Dakar, Senegal after the successful completion of a Campus Network Design workshop in April, 2011.

19

Leveraging NSF Investment

• Since initial NSF award in 1992, NSRC has facilitated distribution of $6,000,000 worth of donated technical reference books and $40,000,000 worth of equipment to engineering and computer science departments, university libraries, and centrally based networking facilities in the poorest and least-connected countries in the world.

• 50% discount from DHL for UO-NSRC account• Extensive volunteer support and pro bono

contributions

21

Distribution of DonationsANESA: Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi,

Cameroon, Comoros Islands, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Americas: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela

CEE: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

EAP: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Laos, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tokelau, Vanuatu, Vietnam

NSRC Budget and Team

• Current NSRC team consists of 12 paid personnel, three of whom are full-time, and about 100 longtime volunteers in various countries around the world.

• Annual operating budget of about $1M• Around 40% is funding from the NSF, with the rest

coming from industry and private foundations

Other Principal Funding Sources

African CI Buildout

Wireless Networking

Training and Materials

Cybersecurity training and - assisting ccTLD registries registries with DNSSEC deployment

Unrestricted gifts

24

Conclusion

• NSRC enhances network operations globally, making it easier for US scientists to collaborate with international partners

• Builds goodwill for NSF and US scientists collaborating with R&E sites and network training facilities throughout the less-connected areas of the world

• Current annual support from NSF enables leveraging of other strategic alliances and funding sources in support of the IRNC program