1. Challenges for BdREN in COVID
Environment
bdNOG 12, October 12, 2020

2. HELLO!
I am Mohammad Tawrit
You can find me at
ceo@bdren.net.bd
2

3. BdREN in brief
● BdREN has been established under HEQEP.
● BdREN has been designed as a high-speed dedicated
broadband network aiming at:
○ Bringing HEIs and RIs under a Single Network
○ Connecting the institutions to global RENs
○ Facilitating Research Collaboration
3

4. BdRENDomestic
Connectivity

5. BdRENGlobalREN
Connectivity

6. BdREN Upstream Connectivity, Mbps
October-2020
6
10000 10000
6000
2000
1000
4000
1000
BDIX AIX BTCL AAMRA NKN-BD GOOGLE CACHE GOVERNMENT
COMMODITY, DOMESTIC COMMODITY, INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CDN OTHERS

7. Present and Planned Connectivity
8
34
10 11 1
U
N
IVER
SITY
M
ED
IC
AL
C
O
LLEG
ES
R
ESEAR
C
H
IN
STITU
ESG
O
VER
N
TM
EN
T…
BdREN Connectivity -
Existing
Private Public
61
40
12 15 4
U
N
IVER
SITY
M
ED
IC
AL
C
O
LLEG
ES
R
ESEAR
C
H
IN
STITU
ESG
O
VER
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EN
T…
BdREN Connectivity -
Planned
Private Public
Total: 132Total: 64

8. Applications & Services
Internet
Bandwidth
Redundancy
7x24 NOC Services
Service Level
Agreement
Distance
Learning, Video
Conferencing
Services,
Telemedicine
34 Public Universities
3 Private Universities
12 Medical Colleges
10 Research Institutes
Cloud
Computing and
Applications
Virtualization Services
Video Conferencing as
a Service
Others
Eduroam
Capacity Building
Consultancy
Collocation
Hosting Services
IP Telephony
8

9. Chronology of COVID-19 Events
9
First COVID
Detection
March 08
Closure of
HEIs
March 16
UGC
Approves
Online
Education
March 19
BdREN starts
providing
connectivity
23 March

10. COVID-19 Strikes with a Thunder
INITIAL THREATS
● All Institutions closed
● Internet Traffic plummeted
● Research Traffic plunged
10

11. 3000
5000 5000
2000 2000 2000
JAN, 2020 FEB, 2020 MARCH,
2020
APRIL,
2020
MAY, 2020 JUNE,
2020
Internet Traffic, Mbps
Internet and Research Traffic Status
11
20
40
60
10 10 10
JAN, 2020 FEB, 2020 MARCH,
2020
APRIL, 2020 MAY, 2020 JUNE, 2020
Research Traffic, Mbps

12. “Disruption is simultaneously the
greatest threat and the biggest
opportunity for any business.
12

13. BdREN Adapts
OPPORTUNITIES
● Institutions started offering Online Courses
● Usage of Video Collaboration Software
surged
● With Zoom Licenses under “Distance
Learning Project”, it came as an automatic
choice for Bangladesh
● Also the service demand was same in
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand who were
beneficiaries under the same project
13

14. Initial Challenges
● Warning from License Provider
● Available Licenses not adequate
● Reporting for the users
14

15. Big
Discovery
Knowledge is Power
15

16. 16
Measures Taken: Conversion of License Type
● BdREN followed Sri Lanka Research and Education Network (LEARN) and
converted all Zoom users from “Licensed” to “On-prem” mode.
● With “On-prem”
○ User Database remains with Zoom
○ Meetings run on MMR in Client Hardware, so NORDUnet hardware
resources were spared
NORDUnet was convinced to allow us to continue using the Licenses on “Production” mode

17. 17
Measures Taken: Licensing Limitations
● NORDUnet agreed to increase the Licenses by a smaller margin
○ Demanded: 10,000
○ Granted: 7,500
But, Was it enough?

18. 18
Measures Taken: Dashboard for Stakeholders
● Dashboard Developed by BdREN
● Reports Available on classes
○ Institution wise
○ Day wise
○ Hourly
○ And many more
Available at:
https://zoom.bdren.net.bd

19. 19
BdREN Dashboard for Stakeholders

20. Massive Outcome
● Institutions grabbed the solution
with open heart
● Expectation soared higher
● Demands went off the chart
20
30 20 38 28
4067
47514
66251
130378
107330
90728
120424
NOV,
2019
DEC,
2019
JAN,
2020
FEB,
2020
MAR,
2020
APR,
2020
MAY,
2020
JUN,
2020
JUL,
2020
AUG,
2020
SEP,
2020
Classes over last 12 months

21. Surge in IX Traffic
● Data Volume
21
● MRTG

22. Additional Challenge
● Licensing Limits: primary threat for BdREN
● For BdREN
○ Total Number of Faculties: 20,000
○ Available Licenses: 7500 License
○ With repeated request NORDUnet didn’t agree to increase
the number of Licenses for BdREN
● With ”On-prem” Licenses, Hardware started
crunching
22

23. Big Invention
Necessity is the mother of Invention
23

24. Licensing Limits: Traditional Usage
24
user1@bdren.net.bd
user2@bdren.net.bd
user3@bdren.net.bd
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
user100@bdren.net.bd
user1@bdren.net.bd
user2@bdren.net.bd
user3@bdren.net.bd
:
user30@bdren.net.bd
user31@bdren.net.bd
user32@bdren.net.bd
user33@bdren.net.bd
:
user60@bdren.net.bd
user61@bdren.net.bd
user62@bdren.net.bd
user63@bdren.net.bd
:
user100@bdren.net.bd
As many Faculties ======================= >>>>> As many Lienses
Efficiency < 10%

25. Licensing Limits: Adaptive Usage
25
As many Faculties ======== >>>> As many Accounts in Magic Box
As many meetings ====== >>>>> As many Zoom Accounts
user1@bdren.net.bd
user2@bdren.net.bd
user3@bdren.net.bd
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
user100@bdren.net.bd
user1@bdren.net.bd
user2@bdren.net.bd
user3@bdren.net.bd
:
user30@bdren.net.bd
user31@bdren.net.bd
user32@bdren.net.bd
user33@bdren.net.bd
:
user60@bdren.net.bd
user61@bdren.net.bd
user62@bdren.net.bd
user63@bdren.net.bd
:
user100@bdren.net.bd
zoom1@bdren.net.bd
zoom2@bdren.net.bd
user13@bdren.net.bd
:
:
zoom10@bdren.net.bd
Efficiency close to 100%
MAGIC BOX

26. Magic Box Opened
26

27. Hardware Crunching: Case Study - BdREN
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0 50000 100000 150000
0 50000 100000 150000
At Present:
Forecasted:
Busy Hour Meetings: Busy Hour Participants: MMR Requirements:
0 100 200 300
Available Required
0 100 200 300
Required Available
How to address this GAP?
GAP

28. Hardware Crunching: Available Solutions
● Long Term Solution
○ Procurement of New Servers: Found to be Time
Consuming
● Short Term Solutions
○ Staggering Classes: Built inside the ”Black” box
○ Adaptation of Software: VMWare replaced by Proxmox
○ Renting Servers: Found to be most feasible Option

29. Figure out major challenges
● Quantitative Survey
○ One for Students
■ Survey Conducted on: 09-15 May, 2020
■ Total Respondents: 19218
○ One for Faculty Members
■ Survey Conducted on: 06-20 May, 2020
■ Total Respondents: 7140
29

30. Outcome of Students’ Survey
30Lastmile Network Quality and Bandwidth Cost were found to be most predominant obstacles
Types of Challenges:
Mode of Access:

31. Massive
Milestone
Persuasion and strong commitment
can bring success
31

32. Address Bandwidth Cost
● Planned Strategy:
○ Charge for connectivity using mobile network to Zoom
MMR Servers shall be free-of-cost
● Subsequent Drive:
○ All mobile operators were requested by BdREN to come
forward in this national interest on 21 July, 2020
● Achievement:
○ Teletalk came forward on 29 August, 2020 accepting
BdREN proposal

33. Established connectivity with TBL
● TBL doesn’t have IX connectivity. Hence, Direct peer-
to-peer connectivity was established.
● Redundant Optical Fiber Connectivity with Primary
being 10G and backup being 1G. Tertiary Backup is
maintained over Internet.
33

34. 0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
Traffic In (speed), kbps Traffic Out (speed), kbps
Bandwidth in kbps, Sep 08-Oct 09, 2020
Impact of
connectivity with TBL
34
● Busy Hour Bandwidth
200 Mbps
● Bandwidth per user 200
kbps
● Total User during busy
hour: 1000 [2-3% of
Total users]

35. 35

36. Biggest Failure
● BdREN failed to convince the other Mobile Operators
Grameen Phone, Robi and Banglaphone to provide
Zoom Services free-of-cost.
● 97-98% of Mobile Internet users are still paying high
value to avail online educational resources
36

37. What happened in NRENs in Developing Countries
37
2425 2425 2650
275 800 825
23190
23970
18820
9410
4410
9490
30000 30000
20,000
15,000 15,000 15,000
22 23 20 20 20 20
JAN, 2020 FEB, 2020 MARCH,
2020
APRIL, 2020 MAY, 2020 JUNE, 2020
Internet Traffic
DrukREN LEARN PERN MyREN NREN
365
710
683
470
532
467
810 810 810
100
200
550
470
380
500
200
230
250
500 500
300
200 200 200
11 12 11 2 2 3
JAN, 2020 FEB, 2020 MARCH,
2020
APRIL, 2020 MAY, 2020 JUNE, 2020
Research Traffic
DrukREN LEARN PERN MyREN NREN
Slump in both Research and Internet Traffic for
LEARN, PERN and MyREN

38. What happened in NRENs in Developing Countries
38
0
50,000
1,00,000
1,50,000
2,00,000
2,50,000
3,00,000
3,50,000
BdREN DrukREN LEARN PERN THAIREN NREN
Growth of Virtual Meetings
Jan, 2020 Feb, 2020 March, 2020
April, 2020 May, 2020 June, 2020
300%
96%
667%
100%
0
91%
63%
0 00%
100%
200%
300%
400%
500%
600%
700%
BdREND
rukR
EN
LEARN
PER
NTH
AIR
EN
N
REN
M
yR
ENLERN
ET
N
KN
Increase in Domestic [IX] Traffic, %
Bangladesh and Pakistan are leading Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are using local solution
Continued

39. What happened in Developed Countries => AARnet
39
Increase in Number of Meetings almost 10-15 times in and around April and May

40. 40
Increase in IX traffic by 2-3 times in and around April and May
What happened in Developed Countries => AARnet
Continued

41. Present Challenges
● Convincing other Mobile Operators => BdREN
● Improving Last Mile Connectivity => Telecom Operators
● Hands on Laboratory Activities => Software Industry
● Low confidence on online Assessment => High Cost
41

42. Future Challenges
● Introducing Federated Access
● Introducing LMS and incorporating Zoom with LMS
● Sustainability of Offered Solution

43. BdREN Roadmap
● Persuading the other mobile operators
● Introducing LMS and combine it with Zoom
● Moving Towards Federated Access
● Requesting NORDUnet to come forward with
aggressive plan for sustainability of the project
43

44. 44
Expected New Normal
The Future is in our hand

45. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at
● ceo@bdren.net.bd
● Mohammad.tawrit@gmail.com
45