____________________________________________________________________ * * A bi-monthly electronic news bulletin * * reporting on the activities of DANTE, * the company that organises international * network services for the European THE WORKS OF D A N T E research community. No.30, December 1998 Editor: Cathrin Stover _____________________________________________________________________ * HTML version: http://www.dante.net/pubs/works/30.html * _____________________________________________________________________ TEN-155 OPERATIONAL! TEN-155 became operational on 11 December 1998. First production traffic was flowing in the 155 Mbps SDH-ring connecting France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as in the links connecting the Nordic countries (via a node in Sweden) and Switzerland to Germany and the Netherlands. Acceptance testing is currently being carried out on the 45 Mbps connection between Belgium and the Netherlands and we expect this link to become operational during the next week. The national research networks of Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Italy will migrate to TEN-155 progressively before the end of January 1999. Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain will follow soon after that. A connection to Ireland is also planned for 1999. TEN-155 is the first network to truly support advanced applications and will create a new dimension in European research cooperation. Although much of the capacity of the TEN-155 network will be dedicated to a 'best efforts' IP service, the network will also offer guaranteed Quality of Service using a combination of ATM and IP technology. Specific user groups at universities and research institution can make use of this "Managed Bandwidth" Service which allows for the technical setup of pan-European connections with committed bandwidth. The TEN-155 Managed Bandwidth Service will be introduced in three phases. The alpha phase has started in December 1998 with ERCIM (European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics) as the alpha tester. It is anticipated that the alpha phase will last for two to three months. This will be followed by a beta test phase with approximately four to five different user groups and a broadened geographical scope. The full Managed Bandwidth Service should become operational by mid-1999. The TEN-155 network will be enhanced by a 155 Mbps link to the United States. The national research networks of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia have subscribed to this DANTE service with the Spanish research network, RedIRIS, also expressing an interest to sign up to the DANTE US connectivity. CERN and the German research network, DFN, are planning to co-locate with DANTE in Telehouse, New York. Peering has so far been arranged with ESnet and DANTE is currently investigating a connection to STARTAP as well as looking into possible peering arrangements with the American academic and research networks vBNS and Abilene. More information on the TEN-155 network, including a topology map, frequently asked Questions and Answers as well as web order forms for the TEN-155 brochure and poster can be found on http://www.dante.net/ten-155/. All TEN-155 routers now distribute information on their geographical location via DNS LOC records; for more information see http://www.ckdhr.com/dns-loc/ QUANTUM TEST PROGRAMME (QTP) In addition to the operational TEN-155 network, the Quantum project will implement a testing programme (QTP) which has the objective of testing and validating new technologies, products and services with a view to introducing them into the operational TEN-155 service at a future date. A joint DANTE/TERENA Task Force under the name TF-TANT has been established to carry out the experiments in the QTP using the Managed Bandwidth Service of the TEN-155 network. TF-TANT will experiment on new IP and ATM technologies such as RSVP, multicasting, differentiated services, IP version 6 and ATM signalling. The participation in the Quantum Test Programme and TF-TANT is open to any individual or organisation able to make a contribution in the form of manpower, equipment or services. You can find more information on the QTP and TF-TANT on http://www.dante.net/tf-tant/ Q-MED - CONNECTING ISRAEL AND CYPRUS The Q-MED project is a complementary project to QUANTUM and will provide for the connection of the Israeli research network MACHBA/ILAN and the University of Cyprus/CYNET to the TEN-155 network. The location for the connection to TEN-155 is yet to be determined and will most likely depend on the cost of international access circuits. Tenders for these circuits have been evaluated and final negotiations are in progress with potential suppliers. DANTE is the coordinating partner in the Q-MED project with GRNET (Greece) and INFN/GARR (Italy) as additional partners to MACHBA/ILAN and the University of Cyprus/CYNET. GOOD-BYE TO TEN-34 In its last months of service, the TEN-34 network again proved to be reliable, with an access port availability of more than 99.9% for twelve national research networks in October and for ten in November. A major outage affecting GARR and GRnet led to a very high number of unscheduled hours and changes made in preparation for TEN-155 increased scheduled maintenance incidents in November 1998. The lifetime statistics for the TEN-34 network show that the monthly access port availability between August 1997 and November 1998 averaged at 99.587%. During this period the increase of Gbytes/month shipped over the network amounted to 7.5% per month from app. 13500 Gbyte in August 1997 to app. 40000 Gbyte in November 1998. Figure 1 shows the increase in traffic flows in Mbps in the TEN-34 network between October 1997 and December 1998. During this period traffic in the backbone doubled from 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps. Christmas, Easter and Summer breaks can easily be picked up as well as the fluctuations from weekdays to weekends. The decrease in traffic at the beginning of December 1998 is obviously a consequence of the migration of the first national research networks to TEN-155. Figure 2 gives an overview of the TEN-34 backbone utilisation in November 1998. CAPE STUDY AVAILABLE The CAPE (Connecting Asia Pacific to Europe) Study carried out by DANTE is now available from the web at http: //www.dante.net/cape/cover.html. The study includes overviews of the status and developments of the Internet in Europe as well as in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia. Special attention is given to the developments in the Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN). The study evaluates the potential and economics for a regional cooperation. STAFF AT DANTE At the beginning of December 1998, Roberto Sabatino was promoted to lead the DANTE Networking and Planning Group. Congratulations, Roberto! We currently have a vacancy at DANTE for the position of Systems Administrator / User Support. More information on this job opportunity can be found on http://www.dante.net/jobs/ . Deadline for applications is 14 January 1999. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a good start into 1999! _____________________________________________________________________ DANTE Tel +44 1223 302992 Francis House Fax +44 1223 303005 112 Hills Road E-mail dante@dante.org.uk Cambridge CB2 1PQ WWW http://www.dante.net _____________________________________________________________________