The Virtual Silk Highway Project

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The Virtual Silk Highway Project
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What is the Virtual Silk Highway?

• A satellite-based network designed to bring
  high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity to the
  Southern Caucasus and Central Asia for research
  and education.

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Overview

• Background of the project
• The project rationale
• The project concept
• The parameters chosen
• Implementation and funding
• Requirements of host sites
• Summary and conclusion

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Background of the Project

• NATO Network Infrastructure Grants (NIGs)
  designed to improve national research network and
  infrastructure
• Much of cost for connectivity
• Current bandwidth too small
• Need to connect isolated groups and institutions

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Rationale of the Project

• Higher bandwidth
• Economies of scale
• National and regional collaborations
• set-up and develop National Research and
  Education Networks (NRENs)
• provide peering and exchange points
• decrease in-country costs
• increase reliability and redundancy

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Benefits of Project

• Less expensive
• Higher bandwidth
• Better quality of service
• redundancy of routing
• Increased collaborations
• Improved sustainability
• local support and service

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The Silk Task Force

• Jane Butler, Cisco, London
• Sergey Berezhnev, MSU, Moscow
• Hans Frese, DESY, Hamburg
• Robert Janz, RUG, Groningen
• Walter Kaffenberger, NATO, Brussels
• Askar Kutanov, Academy of Management, Bishkek
• Ramaz Kvatadze, GRENA, Tbilisi
• Ruben Mkrtchyan,Yerevan Physics Institute,
  Yerevan
• Peter Kirstein, UCL, London
• Rolf Nordhagen, Univ. of Oslo, Oslo
• Zita Wenzel, USC, Los Angeles

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The Project Concept

• EurasiaSat satellite
• Earth stations in each country
• Managed by NREN
• Initial funding by NATO
• Shared bandwidth
• Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) Network
  Operations Center

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Proposed Silk System
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Satellite (East) footprint
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Local node configuration
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Current Parameters

• Bandwidth from NATO sources currently 64-512 Kbps
• want to increase by an order of magnitude
• cost unaffordable in current model
• NRENs partially exist in most of the targeted
  countries

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Possible Technologies

• Mainly fiber in Western Europe
• no affordable fiber yet in Caucasus and Central
  Asia
• Satellite attractive in these areas
• bandwidth is driving force
• Broadcast capability can be used
• Footprint is critical

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Implementation

• Staged implementation
• Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgz Republic, Uzbekistan
• Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
• Depends on readiness of country
• must have single, operating NREN
• country provides satellite license

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Funding

• Funded by NATO
• 2.5M over 2001-2004
• 500 Mbpsmonths to 8 countries
• NRENs in partner countries
• Addditional 1.0M co-funded by
• Cisco
• NGOs
• DESY

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Requirements of Host Sites

• Need government approval to connect Earth station
  to NREN
• Must have agreement on frequency plan
• Must have a suitable site with power and network
  connectivity
• Must have some capability to operate system
• If these are not available well before
  installation, will install another site first

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Policy Steering Committee

• Will include at least all co-Directors and
  representatives of funders
• Terms of Reference to be decided by all members
• Policy includes many areas
• Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) rules
• membership
• bandwidth rules
• NREN responsibilities
• dispute resolution
• move to financial sustainability

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Summary

• The Virtual Silk Highway is an implementation of
  a Caucasian regional information infrastructure
  that promotes entry into the global
  communications and information network and will
  be used to solve social and economic issues such
  as education (e.g., connecting educational
  institutions to the Internet, distance learning,
  curriculum development).

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Conclusion

• Cooperative regional network
• The project is starting
• Equipment has been ordered
• The technical and organization framework is in
  place
• Readiness of each country is the key

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Thank you

• ltemail address lecturergt