1 introduction to nets marla meehl nets manager scd network engineering and technology section...

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Introduction to NETS

Marla MeehlNETS Manager

SCD Network Engineering and Technology Section (NETS)

December 8, 1998

Supercomputing • Communications • Data

NCAR Scientific Computing Division

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Basic Contextual Information



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Role of NETS in UCAR• NETS is responsible for almost all of UCAR networking

– Historical evolution for SCD to manage all UCAR networking

– Important for NETS to remain in SCD (periodic discussion of moving NETS to UCAR administrative domain)

» http://www.scd.ucar.edu/nets/Introducing/organizationlocation.html)

• NETS has additional SCD networking responsibilities– Discussed later

• NETS advised by NCAB– NCAB: Network Coordination and Advisory Board

– Reports to SCD Director

– Technical representatives from all parts of UCAR

– Successful paradigm proposed by ITC to be replicated for other UCAR-wide functions to be managed in an NCAR Division



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NETS Responsibilities



• Types of networking supported for UCAR & SCD– All LANs

– All MANs

– All WANs

• Levels of networking supported for UCAR & SCD– Layer1: All physical cabling plant for UCAR/SCD

– Layer2: All logical networking - VLANs/ELANs, etc. for UCAR/SCD

– Layer3: All routing (99.9% IP) for UCAR/SCD

– Layer4 & above support: a little for UCAR; a lot for SCD

» More details later

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What NETS Doesn’t Do

• “NETS responsibility ends at the wallplate”– “wallplate” means “telecommunications outlet” and is the

point at which building infrastructure network leaf-node cabling terminates

– Other Divisions are responsible “past the wallplate”

» This mainly means they do the host-networking part

» NETS does consult on configuration, performance, etc.

» “Private” networking beyond the wall plates isn’t forbidden

– For SCD, NETS is involved with all aspects of networking:

» Supercomputer networking

» Host-based networking: routing, configuration, etc.

» Special networking research projects• National Laboratory for Advanced Network Research (NLANR)

Engineering

• Hosting NLANR/CAIDA Web Cache Research Project



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What NETS Doesn’t Do (cont.)

• NETS doesn’t do DNS, email, security policy, etc.– NETS does implement security perimeters based on CSAC

recommendations

• NETS doesn’t do MSS networking: HiPPI, FC, etc.– These use non-IP channel-extension protocols

• NETS doesn’t do telephones and PBXs– NETS does install the telephone cabling

– And we do inter-site tie-lines

• NETS doesn’t do first-level NOC/operations– Handled by Computer Room Operators

– They determine which Network Engineer to call

– We will visit network monitor station later



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How Networking is Paid For• UCAR networking funding mechanisms

– Space tax: all UCAR programs (including SCD) pay for networking via an annual “tax” based upon square footage occupied by the program

– Space tax pays for “standard service” as defined by NCAB

» Includes all LAN, MAN, and WAN networking necessary for, and benefiting, UCAR as a whole

» Includes all UCAR cabling and core networking to the “wallplate”

» Includes 10-Mbps service to the office

» Includes telephone wiring and inter-site telephone tie-lines

– NETS charges back for anything beyond standard service

» Host-connects greater than 10-Mbps

» “Rush” jobs (less than 1-week advance notice)

» “Special” networking (e.g., satellite hookups)

• SCD networking funding mechanism– Line item in SCD budget



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Magnitude of NETS Work

• NETS supports ~1,136 UCAR employees– Located in 9 buildings at 4 different sites

• NETS supports ~3,000 network-attached devices

• NETS supports ~114 IP subnetworks

• 46 dialup lines (via 2 all-digital PRI T1 links)

• ~100 pieces of network-equipment– routers, switches, monitorable repeaters, etc.

• Building cabling– 920 Standard “wallplates” installed

– 1,360 “wallplates” to install by end of FY2000

• NETS consults with 63 UCAR member universities– Involves 700 users of just SCD facilities, with 345 projects

involving 90 university facilities



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Networking “Fun”Facts

• Total number of Ethernet switch ports available: 1950

• Total number of Ethernet switch ports used: 1750

• Total number of feet of backbone cable: 27,000 feet

• Total number of feet of wallplate cable: – Fiber: 17,000 feet

– CAT5: 240,000 feet

– 10BaseT: 230,000 feet

– Telephone: 300,000 feet

– Total: 787,000 feet



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Resources Available to NETS

• NETS budget (FY1999)– $2,341,100 UCAR funding to NETS

– $261,769 SCD funding to NETS

• Total NETS staff: 15 people– Type of Staff

» 8 Network Engineers• Perform design, operation, tuning, trouble-shooting, etc.

» 4 Network Technicians• Mainly Layer1 (cabling) construction

» 3 Administrative/Support Staff

• Source of staff funding– 12 UCAR-funded staff

– 2 SCD-funded staff

– 1 staff funded by outside funding (NSF NLANR Program)



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Overview of UCARLANs, MANs, and WANs



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LANs



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LAN Cabling

• Standard “wallplate” to each workspace– Connects nearest telecommunications closet to:

» 4 Cat5 cables

» 2 Fiber cable pairs (62.5 micron Multimode)

» 2 Cat3 cables (mainly for telephone)

– Only 40% of space meets this standard (920 wallplates)

– 1,360 new wallplates must to be installed by end of FY2000

» Required to support Fast Ethernet (100BaseX)

» $2,000,000 project (approved by UCAR management)

• Closets connect to root closet with fiber bundles– ML root closet is in SCD machine room (ML 29)

– FL root closet is in SCD machine room (FL2 3095)

• Network equipment goes in closets (~35 closets)



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LAN Design & Equipment

• Backbone UCAR LAN network is largely ATM– OC-3 (155-Mbps) so far; some OC-12 testing

– Use ATM ELANs in the core: one per VLAN

– 3 Cisco ATM switches (model 1010)

• Rest of network is mainly switched Ethernet– VLAN-based (one VLAN per IP-subnet)

– 10BaseX and 100BaseX technology

– 23 Cisco 5500 Ethernet packet switches

• Routing– 4 Cisco 7507 routers

– 1 Cisco 4700 router

– 1 Cisco 2500 router

• UCAR is essentially an all-Cisco shop



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Important LAN Projects

• FY1999– FUN Recabling Project (FL4 Uniform Network)

– ATD, MIS, COMET Computer Room Recabling

– FL1 South Atrium Recabling

– Y2K engineering

• FY2000– Year 2000 Recabling Project

– 100BaseX standard service implementation/expansion

– Y2K troubleshooting



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MANs



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Basic MAN Networking

• Inter-site connectivity– ML-FL OC-3 (155-Mbps) ATM link

» Also carries two virtual T1 voice tie-lines

– 10 Mbps link to Jeffco site

– T1 (1.5 Mbps) link to Marshall site

– UCAR-owned fiber between all FL campus buildings

• Home dial-up to NCAR– 2 PRI T1 lines (46 56Kbps/ISDN lines)

– Cisco 5300 Remote Access Server

• OC3 ATM atmospheric laser link to NOAA, Boulder (owned and operated by NOAA)



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The BRAN MAN



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BRAN• Boulder Research and Administration Network

– “Fiber for a healthy community”

• Consortium to build private fiber loop in Boulder– City of Boulder

– University of Colorado-Boulder

– National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Boulder

– National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Boulder

– NCAR/UCAR

• Connects partners’ facilities + US West & ICG POPs– Includes ML-FL link of ~20 fiber pairs

• Construction estimated at $350,000/partner

• Essentially provides unlimited free bandwidth

• Bypasses US West– Provides competition between US West & ICG



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WANs



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UCAR WAN Connections

• Commodity Internet Connection– DS-3 (45-Mbps) Cable and Wireless service

– Cost-shared with local gigapop partners (more later)

– Steady 50% utilization; 85% peaks (5 min averages)

• OC-3 (155-Mbps) connection to NSF’s vBNS

• Planned OC-3 connection to UCAID’s Abilene Internet2 network

• All UCAR WAN connections part of the Front Range GigaPop (FRGP) operated by NETS (details later)



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NSF’s vBNS:very-high-speed

Backbone Network Service



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vBNS: History



• vBNS goals– jumpstart use of high-performance networking for advanced

research while advancing research itself with high-performance networking

– supplement Commodity Internet which has been inadequate for universities since NSFnet was decommissioned

• vBNS started about 3 years ago with the 5 NSF supercomputing centers

• vBNS started adding universities about 2 years ago

• NSF funding for vBNS ends March 2000

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vBNS: The Network

• Operated by MCI/Worldcom

• ATM based network using mainly IP

• OC-12 (622-Mbps) backbone

• OC-12 (622-Mbps), OC-3 (155-Mbps) & DS-3 (45-Mbps) to institutions

• 73 institutions currently connected

• 131 institutions approved for connection to vBNS



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vBNS and NCAR

• NCAR was an original vBNS node

• 43 of 63 UCAR member-universities are approved for vBNS (at last check on 8/1998)

• 28 UCAR members currently connected

• Major benefit for UCAR and its members– greatly superior to the Commodity Internet

– example: more UNIDATA data possible

– example: terabyte data transfers possible



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UCAID’s Abilene Internet2 Network



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Abilene: History

• First called the Internet2 Project

• Then non-profit UCAID (University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development) was founded

– UCAID is patterned after the UCAR model

– UCAID currently has 130 members (mostly universities)

• Abilene is the name of UCAID’s first network

• Note: Internet2 used to refer to:– the Internet organization, which is now called UCAID

– the actual network, which is now named Abilene

– the concept for a future network, soon to be reality in the form of Abilene



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Abilene: Goals

• Goals: jumpstart use of high-performance networking for advanced research while advancing research itself with high-performance networking (same as vBNS)

• To be operated and managed by the members themselves (similar to the UCAR model)

• Provide an alternative when NSF support of the vBNS terminates on March 2000



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Abilene: The Basic Network

• Uses Qwest OC48 (2.4Gbps) fiber optic backbone– grow to OC192 (9.6Gbps) fiber optic backbone

– Qwest to donate .5 billion worth of fiber leases over 5 years

• Hardware provided by Cisco Systems and Nortel (Northern Telecom)

• Internet Protocol (IP) over SONET– no ATM layer

• Uses 10 core router nodes at Qwest POPs– Denver is one of these



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Abilene: Status



• Abilene soon to be designated by NSF as an NSF-approved High-Performance Network (HPN)

– puts Abilene on an equal basis with vBNS

• Abilene reached peering agreement with vBNS so NSF HPC (High Performance Connection) schools have equal access to each other regardless of vBNS or Abilene connection

• UCAID expects Abilene to come online 1/1999– UCAID expects 50 universities online on 1/1999

– UCAID expects 13 gigapops online on 1/1999

• Abilene beta network now includes a half-dozen universities

– plus exchanging routes with vBNS

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Abilene and NCAR

• 48 of 63 UCAR member-universities are UCAID members (at last check on 8/1998)

• NSF funding of vBNS terminates March 2000

• Same benefit for UCAR and its members as vBNS– greatly superior to the Commodity Internet

– example: more UNIDATA data possible

– example: terabyte data transfers possible



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The GigaPop Concept



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What Is A GigaPop?

• Multiple sites agree to aggregate to a central location and share high-speed access from there, instead of each maintaining direct links to multiple networks

• Share costs through sharing infrastructure

• Share Commodity Internet expenses

• Essentially statistical multiplexing of expensive high-speed resources

– at any given time much more bandwidth is available to each institution than each could afford without sharing

• Share engineering and management expertise

• More clout with vendors



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Front Range GigaPop (FRGP)



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FRGP: Current NCAR Services

• vBNS access

• Shared Commodity Internet access

• Intra-Gigapop access

• Web cache hosting

• 24 x 365 NOC (Network Operation Center)

• Engineering and management



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FRGP+Abilene: What Should NCAR Do?

• Why should NCAR connect to Abilene?– fate of vBNS is unknown after March 2000

– 48 of 63 UCAR members are also Internet2 members

• Why should NCAR join a joint FRGP/Abilene effort?– combined FRGP/Abilene effort saves NCAR money

– provides excellent intra-gigapop connectivity

– provides greater depth and redundancy of commodity internet access



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FRGP: Why NCAR as GP Operator?

• NCAR already has considerable gigapop operational experience

• NCAR is already serving the FRGP members– Abilene connection is an incremental addition to existing gigapop

– doesn’t require a completely new effort from scratch

• NCAR already has a 24 x 365 NOC

• NCAR has an existing networking staff to team with the new FRGP engineer

• NCAR is university-neutral



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FRGP: Membership Types

• “Full” members– both Commodity Internet + Abilene and/or vBNS access

• Commodity-only members– just Commodity Internet access



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FRGP: Full Members

• University of Colorado - Boulder

• Colorado State University

• University of Colorado - Denver

• NCAR/UCAR

• University of Wyoming



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FRGP: Commodity-only Members

• Colorado School of Mines

• Denver University

• University of Northern Colorado



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FRGP: Possible Future Members

• U of C System

• NOAA/Boulder

• NIST/Boulder

• NASA/Boulder



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FRGP: But!!!

• This is far from a done deal at this time!

• Members still have funding issues

• No agreements have yet been decided

• Latest developments– Qwest asked to bid on FRGP, but bid was unacceptably

expensive



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FRGP: Why Add a Denver Gigapoint?

• Much cheaper for most members to backhaul to Denver instead of to existing NCAR gigapoint

– U of Wyoming, Colorado State, UofC Denver

• UofC Denver has computer room space that’s two blocks from Denver’s telco hotel.

• But also don’t want to re-engineer NCAR gigapoint– wanted to preserve vBNS backhaul to NCAR

– wanted to preserve MCI Commodity Internet backhaul to NCAR

– wanted to minimize changes to the existing gigapoint

• Incremental addition of Denver gigapoint is most cost-effective engineering option



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FRGP: Abilene Implications for NCAR

• New annual expenses for NCAR

• New one-time share of startup costs

• NCAR employs & manages new FRGP engineer

• NCAR manages additional network equipment– including new off-site equipment in Denver

• Increased engineering responsibilities for NCAR

• Increased administrative/accounting responsibilities for NCAR



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Useful URLs

• http://www.scd.ucar.edu

• http://www.scd.ucar.edu/nets

• http://www.ucar.edu/ucargen/groups/ncab/

• http://www.vbns.net

• http://www.ucaid.net



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