Transcript Optimizing Your Organization`s Use of MichNet Dial-in

A Gathering of State Networks:
Strategies for the Next Decade
Merit Network, Inc.
www.merit.edu
Scott Gerstenberger - [email protected]
Mike Mosher - [email protected]
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Merit Background
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Private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3), Michigan
membership corporation
Founded in 1966 by Michigan State
University, the University of Michigan, and
Wayne State University
Members now include all 13 public
universities in Michigan
– Each member has a seat on the Board of Directors
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100 employees
$23M annual budget
MichNet Services Overview
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MichNet is the name of Merit’s network
Michigan GigaPOP and MichNet backbone
MichNet dial-in service
Web and email hosting and support services
Center to Support Technology in Education
USF (E-rate) educational activities
Performance analysis and security consulting
MichNet Services
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Michigan GigaPOP and MichNet backbone
– External Connectivity
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Abilene (Cleveland)
Chicago NAP
Cable & Wireless
Qwest
OC-12
OC-3, OC-12 on order
3 DS-1s, 2 DS-3s
DS-3, second DS-3 on order
– Abilene Service
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Michigan State University
Michigan Technological University
UCAID Ann Arbor offices
University of Michigan
Wayne State University
Western Michigan University
MichNet Services - 2
– Commodity Service
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18 POPs in Lower Peninsula
3 POPs in Upper Peninsula
Mix of POS and ATM
DS-1, DS-3, OC-3, OC-12 point-to-point circuits
Cisco 7500 and 12000 routers, LS-1010 switches
Connections to Ameritech ATM/Frame Relay (OC-3)
Connections to GTE ATM/Frame Relay (OC-3)
24x7 Network Operations Center
400 customer attachments (56k to OC-3)
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MichNet Services - 3
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MichNet dial-in service
– Service provided to organizations, not individuals
» Each organization provides its own end-user support
» Distributed authentication/authorization/accounting using
Merit-developed RADIUS software
» Sophisticated mechanisms for regulating shared use of dialin facilities by many different organizations
» Over 250,000 users
– 12,000 Michigan lines at 163 POPs
» 95% local call coverage in Michigan
» 36% ISDN and v.90
» 72% v.90
– National 800 service
– National/international dial-in via AT&T
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MichNet Services - 4
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Web and email hosting and related services
– Build and support Internet servers
– Provide streaming media services
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Center to Support Technology in Education
– Develops online K-12 resources and training materials
– Often involves state level K-12 partnerships
– Activities generally grant funded
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USF (E-rate) educational activities
– Popular email forum and in-person activities
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Performance analysis and security consulting
MichNet Customers
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Merit’s 13 owner-member universities
275 other affiliated organizations
– Approximately 90% of the state’s K-12 districts
– Approximately 95% of the state’s public libraries
– Most of the state’s community colleges and
private 4-year colleges
– Various governmental, health-care, and non-profit
organizations
– Over 50 commercial organizations and ISPs
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State Educational Environment
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Very decentralized
– 13 universities are all independent of each other
– K-12 and community colleges also decentralized
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No state-provided network for education
No state-imposed networking standards for
K-12 or higher education
No explicit state funding for networking
Merit has no formal relationship with state
government, but lots of informal contacts
Merit’s R&D Activities
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Active in networking software and standards
development for many years
Lead partner with IBM and MCI in managing
the NSFNET, 1987-1995
Current activities:
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AAA (RADIUS) Consortium
GateD Consortium
Multithreaded Routing Toolkit (MRT)
Internet Performance Measurement & Analysis
North American Operators Group (NANOG)
Merit’s Funding Model
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No state funding
The 13 members pay annual sliding
membership fees that cover uncapped
connectivity wherever they need it
– Fee based on bandwidth and Board voting rights
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Affiliates pay for services based on service,
bandwidth, location, and organization type
K-12 technology training is grant funded
R&D is grant funded or funded by licenses
Consulting services are fee-based
Challenges for Merit
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Network capacity management
– Forecasting bandwidth requirements
– Buying commodity service and telco circuits
» Good news – new providers, prices are dropping
» Bad news – new providers, erratic lead times, unmet due dates
– Sharing infrastructure for Abilene and commodity
– Looking for less expensive last mile connectivity
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Using CLECs
Installing dark fiber
Co-locate POPs with carriers
DSL
Wireless
Challenges for Merit - 2
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Working with K-12s and libraries
– Decentralized environment makes this time
consuming
– Uneven understanding of technology
– Large disparity in financial resources
– Merit generally can’t represent or speak on behalf
of the Michigan community with any authority
– Struggling with IP video, training teachers,
computer-based curricula, etc.
– Role and direction of state government has often
been unclear.
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Challenges for Merit - 3
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Sustaining grant-funded K-12 training
– Have learned that teacher training is not
something for which most school districts have
money available
– Evolved to relying on grant funds
– Grants are often fairly short term and time
consuming to obtain
– Staff uncertainty about future projects
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Challenges for Merit - 4
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Promoting Internet2
– Signing up additional participants
– Participating in demos and other Internet2
promotional activities
» Demos can be expensive and/or hard to arrange
» Applications not yet abundant
– Devising equitable ways to use shared
infrastructure to support both Abilene and
commodity traffic
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Challenges for Merit - 5
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Sustaining R&D activities
– Staff losses to commercial world
– Changes in NSF priorities makes funding harder
– Merit R&D activities less related to operation of
MichNet than they once were
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Challenges for Merit - 6
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Being a non-profit in an increasingly
commercial world
– Is Merit a technology partner or just another
vendor?
– Sometimes viewed with skepticism by
organizations that haven’t used our services
– Hard to retain staff (pay rates, stock options), but
good working environment and high quality of
current staff helps
– No deep pockets when major capital needed
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