NRENs like SURFnet have historically played a key role in pioneering Internet technologies and applications. Looking forward, NRENs will be important for enabling green networking, big data, global collaboration, and next generation integrated optical and wireless networks. The amount of data being generated is growing exponentially, straining campus computing resources and energy consumption. NRENs can help by brokering cloud services to researchers and IT departments to improve efficiency.

1. The Future of NRENs
Bill St. Arnaud
Bill.st.arnaud@gmail.com
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2. Looking Back
• Internet started with R&E networks world wide
– SURFnet was one of the first in Europe to deploy Internet
• Most popular Internet applications like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc
started at universities connected to high speed networks like SURFnet
• SURFnet started AMS-IX which has made The Netherlands global hub for
Internet traffic
• SURFnet pioneered the concept of customer owned dark fiber
– Led to significantly lower costs for broadband and made The Netherlands
world leader in consumer broadband
• SURFnet led world optical networks which has transformed Internet
• R&E networks have enabled a trillion dollar industry, approximately 6% of
GNP
2

3. NRENs will play an even more
important role looking forward
• Technologies developed at SURFnet today may have bigger
impact on Dutch society then Internet had in the past
• Green networking
• Big Data
• Global Collaboration
• Next generation Internet of integrated optical and wireless
networks
3

4. Changing NREN
networking environment
• Global Virtual Research Communities
• Increasing co-operation between public and private
researchers
• Rapidly changing users demands
• Increasing potential of commercial ICT-service
providers
• Education: any time, any place, any device
• Citizen Science and M2M communications and
sensors

5. The ICT energy consumption in
higher- ed
• Campus computing 20-40% electrical energy consumption on most
campuses
– Studies in UK and The Netherlands
– http://goo.gl/k9Kib
• Campus data center alone represents 8-20% of electrical consumption
– http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1341
• IISD study demonstrated that moving Canadian research to cloud would
pay for itself in energy savings and CO2 reduction
– http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1341
• Internet and ICT can reduce CO2 emissions by 15-20%
– No other tool has this potential

6. R&E biggest consumer!!
Per employee Per sector
Australian Computer Society Study
http://www.acs.org.au/attachments/ICFACSV4100412.pdf

7. The real cost of campus computing
• Land - 2%
• Core and shell costs – 9% Belady, C., “In the Data Center, Power and Cooling Costs
More than IT Equipment it Supports”, Electronics Cooling
• Architectural – 7% Magazine (February 2007)
• Mechanical/Electrical – 82%
– 16% increase/year since 2004
Source: Christian Belady

8. The Data Deluge
2004: 36 TB
2012: 2,300 TB
Genomic sequencing output x2 every Climate
9 month model intercomparison
project (CMIP) of the IPCC
MACHO et al.: 1 TB
Palomar: 3 TB
2MASS: 10 TB
GALEX: 30 TB
Sloan: 40 TB
Pan-STARRS:
40,000 TB
1330 molec. bio databases
Nucleic Acids Research (96 in Jan 2001) Source: Ian Foster, UoChicago

9. Growth in sensor networks and Citizen
Science
Glacier Tracking
Real Time Health Monitoring
Smart Trash
9

10. NREN Brokered Cloud for IT
departments and Researchers
• Internet 2 Net +
– Provisioning of multi vendor cloud services leveraging the Internet2
Network and InCommon Federated Authentication
– Interoperable marketplace for services where individual institutions
might procure services from a wide range of cloud services
providers.
• HEFCE and JISC to Deliver Cloud-Based Services for UK Research
– Besides providing brokered cloud services they are also providing cloud
“solutions” for IT departments and researchers
– http://www.hpcinthecloud.com/hpccloud/2011-06-27/hefce_and_jisc_to_deliver_cloud-
based_services_for_uk_research.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
• SURFnet: Community Cloud Models and the Role of the R&E network as a
broker for cloud services
– http://www.slideshare.net/haroldteunissen/community-clouds-shared-infrastructure-as-a-service

11. OpenFlow Follow the wind/Follow the sun
Canadian GSN European GSN
Domain Domain
Export VM
Notify EU
Cloud Manager
Cloud Manager Cloud Manager
Internet
Dynamically Configure
IP Tunnel
Host Network Host
Resource Manager Resource
• Shudown VM
• Copy Image • Update VM Context
Mantychore2 • Start VM
Shared
VM storage
Shared
storage VM
Lightpath
Optical switch Optical switch
Host Cloud Proxy
Cloud Proxy Host

12. Building a NREN wireless network
• Vision: to allow students, researchers and employees to
collaborate, research, learn anytime and anywhere they seem fit!
• Also Internet of Things – Machine to Machine communications
• Existing 3G and 4G networks cannot handle data load
– Roaming gateways prevent global seamless access
– Voice centric architectures
• New mobile networks seamlessly integrate with WiFi on campus
– Utrecht SURFnet 4G wireless pilot
– Already demonstrating with vetinanary students

13. GLIF
13

14. e-Research Scenario
GOLE
14
Source: SURFnet

15. Towards “research IT as a service”
Scientific data management as a service
GO-Store GO-Collaborate GO-Galaxy GO-Transfer
GO-Compute GO-Catalog GO-Team GO-User
Source: Ian Foster, UoChicago
15

16. Virtual Organisations
Collaboration Infrastructure Netherlands BioInformatics Centre (NBIC)
(SURFconext) GuestsNBI
N=6 N=10 N=30 C
Attri N=20 Gro
grou provisioni b. N=66
up
AAI ps ng mgm
…
t
Generic Broker Supporting Services
Network Storage Compute Instrument • SURFfederatie
Virt
Broker Broker Broker Broker
• SURFteamsual
Comput Instrum • OpenSocial
Network Storage
e ent IdP
Services Services
Services Services
Experiment
Publisher
Grid res.
PubMed
My
Apps.NB
IC.nl
Source: SURFnet

17. Left wings pointing to the future
17

18. Let’s Keep The Conversation Going
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