Public Interest Networks (try UCLP)

JP Velders jpv at veldersjes.net
Mon Nov 29 15:11:23 UTC 2004



> Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 21:33:24 -0500
> From: Gordon Cook <cook at cookreport.com>
> To: deepak at ai.net, nanog at merit.edu
> Subject: Re: Public Interest Networks (try UCLP)

> [ ... ]
> In Europe Kees neggers with Surfnet6 is doing the same thing.

Well, some people over here in .NL might take offense ;) If you're
interested, check out http://www.gigaport.nl/info/en/home.jsp

Kees Neggers and Boudewijn Nederkoorn are the directors of SURFnet,
the party which is basically the educational ISP, where educational
should be viewed (nowadays) from K12 to Academic levels ;)

SURFnet6 is the next version of the SURFnet network over here in
Holland. It is developed through a partnership comprising Universities
research institutes etc. That partnership is called "GigaPort", and
the new effort is called "GigaPort NG" (Next Generation - we're not
that imaginative over here ;D).

> [ ... ]
> As I understand it Internet 2 and Dante/Geant in europe are primarily
> carrier dependent and therefore for the most part onlookers.

I believe that Dante/Geant are looking at the model which is at the
core of SURFnet5 and SURFnet6. SURFnet5 (the current network)
already incorporates a lot of dark-fiber. But it's only used at L3.
SURFnet6 will basically make the ISP (SURFnet) also the carrier
operating at L2 and semi-L1 (the cable is still rented via IRU).

> [ ... ]
> This stuff is not yet well understood outside these research network
> circles.  I believe that it is hugely important and I will be
> devoting most of my time in december and january to explaining to a
> broader audience what these folk are doing.

Well, apart from high-volume data-sets like LOFAR (check out
http://www.lofar.org/), having 30+ 10G paths at your disposal as an
ISP would make for interesting cases ;) Look at the DSL
oversubscription model. Over here consumer DSL is usually 1/40.
Business DSL can be had from 1/20 to 1/1. For an ISP that could allow
for a much more flexible differentiation within it's backbone
resources. Another much cited possibility was that in case of an
overcrowded pipe, connections could be moved to another
lightpath; alleviating the pressure of a bandwith-usurping event on
the regular path it would travel... (DoS, severe Slashdotting etc.) Or
implementing QoS on a L1/L2 level ;)

> to the world of the best effort public internet it is utterly ALIEN.
> but my understanding is that it works. NOW.  That it is a walled
> garden and that a big unknown is how long it will remain a walled
> garden.

GigaPort (which resulted in SURFnet5) had a bunch of R&D labs from
commercial companies on board. I believe they're also on board for
GigaPort NG. The usefulness of such a network, or better formulated
the results from all the research on / with / about these types of
networks is clear from a scientific point. From a "ISP World" point it
is definitely something for the larger carriers. But for all ISP's of
Network Operators (getting back to the 'NOG'-part of NANOG) it's
definitely worth keeping tabs on. To quote Erik-Jan Bos of SURFnet:
"The Paradigm Shift is upon us".

Kind Regards,
JP Velders
(working at a GigaPort NG partner ;D)



More information about the NANOG mailing list