INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING

AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY

JAMES WILLIAMS
DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING
WILLIAMS@INDIANA.EDU
INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S COMMITMENT TO
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

“The value of an IU education cannot be contained within

one classroom, one state, or one continent. It spans the
globe.”
President Michael McRobbie
February 15, 2008
TOPICS

1. Wandering general observations

2. A bit of international networking history
3. Where are we today?
4. The global picture of international networking
5. Where are we headed at Indiana?
HIGH-PERFORMANCE NETWORKING
AS A TOOL

 To facilitate international collaborations in research

and education
 To provide for sharing of expensive/scarce resources
(telescopes, microscopes, physical locations …)
 To facilitate access to scientific materials and
databases
 To enable one-way and site-to-site telepresence
(remote medical activities)
 Science diplomacy
THE NSF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK CONNECTIONS
PROJECT LEVERAGE AND PARTNERSHIPS

Key IRNC concepts:

1. Much more extensive network development and
connectivity than IRNC only funding would permit.
2. Fostering/developing more active relationships
between US and non-US network engineers.
3. Leads to better international scientific and technical
interactions
A BIT OF HISTORY

 It all began with Michael McRobbie

 TransPAC – connecting Indiana to Asia
 Michael moves on, Jim moves in…
 TransPAC2 – more Asia, and Pakistan
TRANSPAC

 HPIIS, Steve Goldstein, APAN and San Francisco

 35Mbps ATM service from Chicago to Tokyo
purchased from AT+T (1998)
 Cost – about $130,000/month
 Gradually increased bandwidth (155Mbps; 2 x
622Mbps)
TRANSPAC2 (2005)

• Michael moves on to bigger things (VP–Research;

Provost; President)
• IRNC replaces HPIIS
• Jim leads TP2 effort
• TransPAC2 10Gbps – cost about $45,000/month
(2005)
• Extension to Pakistan in 2008
TRANSPAC2 ASIA PARTNERS

 TransPAC2 Co-investigator partner – Internet2

 TransPAC2 Asia regional partner – APAN http://
www.apan.net
 TransPAC2 Japanese partners – National Institute of
Information and Communications Technology (NICT)
and the National Institute of Informatics (NII)
 TransPAC2 – EU TEIN2 partnership
http://www.tein2.net/
TRANSPAC2 OVERVIEW
EXTENSION TO PAKISTAN

 Connection to Asia funded by US National Science

Foundation and partners in Japan
 Connection to Pakistan funded by US National
Science Foundation and Pakistan Higher Education
Commission
 My trip to Pakistan is blogged at: http://
jiminpakistan.blogspot.com
WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

 Indiana is a major participant (along with UT-Knoxville) in

international networking
 We have two new, large NSF awards – ACE and TP3 (map
next)
 We have significant international partnerships with other
NRENS
 We are investigating workshops as a mechanism for
strengthening international collaborations [US-India; US-
Vietnam; US-Czech Republic].

See: http://internationalnetworking.indiana.edu/
TWO NEW INITIATIVES/NETWORKS

America Connects to Europe (ACE)

TransPAC3: US connection to Asia

TRANSPAC3 – CONNECTING ASIA AND THE US

 Lead institution: Indiana University

 PI: Jim Williams
 Partners: APAN, TEIN3, NICT-Japan, NII-Japan,
CERNET – China, DLT, others…
 Multiple 10G connections from the US to Asia
 Connections continued to South East Asia and South Asia
 Connection to TEIN3 network provides link to Europe
 Connection to Taj network provides second link to Asia,
Europe and North Africa
 Asia part of TP3-TEIN3-GN3-ACE global network
ACE – AMERICAN CONNECTS TO EUROPE

 Lead institution: Indiana University

 PI: Jim Williams
 Partners: DANTE, NYSERNet, Internet2, DLT and others…
 Multiple 10G connections between the US and Europe
 Connections continued across GN3 and TEIN3 to Asian
and TP3
 Will partner with GLORIAD to provide backup and service
redundancy
 Trans-Atlantic part of TP3-TEIN3-GN3-ACE global network
OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

 But, Indiana University is not the only US university

interested in international activities…
 UT-Knoxville is home to the GLORAID/Taj projects which
also supply global bandwidth
 Florida International University supplies US-Latin/South
America connectivity
 Georgetown and Duke have well developed international
outreach activities and campuses in the Middle East and
Asia
 MIT has a well-known partnership with Singapore.
 And there are many others
SO, WHERE ARE WE HEADED AT INDIANA?

1. Focus some attention on underserved areas (Africa,

Central Asia, South Asia)
2. Provide services beyond bandwidth (utilization, e-2-e,
DC, security)
3. Develop better tools for scientists
4. Work as a community to being planning for future
science experiments (gene sequencing; SKA;
“brighter” LHC; ITER)
INTERESTING URLS

TransPAC2: http://www.transpac2.net
APAN: http://www.apan.net
Pakistan blog: http://jiminpakistan.blogspot.com
NSF IRNC program: http://www.irnclinks.net
GlobalNOC: http://globalnoc.iu.edu
Me: williams@indiana.edu