Linking U.S.-Russian Science, Education, Research

1
Linking U.S.-Russian Science, Education, Research
Developmentwith High Performance Networking

• Natasha Bulashova, Friends and Partners
  Foundation
• Greg Cole, University of Tennessee
• Joe Gipson, University of Tennessee

N S F H I G H P E R F O R M A N C E I N
T E R N A T I O N A L I N T E R N E T S E R
V I C E S P R O G R A M
2
MIRnet

• NSF Cooperative Agreement (ANI-9730330) to the
  University of Tennessee with matching funds from
  Russian Ministry of Science and Technology to
  Russian partners
• A 6 Mbps IP/ATM service between STAR TAP in
  Chicago and the M9 switch in Moscow for purpose
  of linking high performance science and education
  networks in US and Russia
• A program to encourage applications of high
  performance networking for US-Russian scientific
  collaboration
• Network running reliably since July, 1999

Intro
3
Introduction

• Connectivity
• Peering
• Management
• Project Development

Intro
4
Connectivity

• 6 Mbps IP/ATM Service
• U.S. Terminates at STAR TAP in Chicago
• Russia Terminates at M9 switch in Moscow
• US/Transatlantic transport - Teleglobe
• Russian transport - RASCOM

Intro
5
Network Topology
NAP in Chicago is represented with router and ATM
switch connected to STAR TAP NAP in Moscow is
represented with router and ATM switch connected
to Internet Exchange in M9 which is managed by
Russian Institute of Public Networks.
Intro
6
U.S. Users

• Traffic to U.S.
• 93 educational
• 7 .gov/.mil
• Traffic from U.S.
• 92 educational
• 8 .gov/.mil

US Government agency use of MIRnet (megabytes
transferred since July, 2000)
Intro
7
Russian Users
Intro
8
International Traffic Flow to Russia
4 Finland 4 (31G)
2 Sweden 12 (99G)
7 Canada 3 (22 G)
6 U.K. 3 (24G)
5 Netherlands 3 (27G)
13 Japan 0.3 (2.8G)
1 U.S. 63 (508 G)
3 France 4 (33G)
12 China 0.4 (3G)
Primary Country Providers of Traffic to Russia
since July 1, 2000
Intro
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Introduction

• Connectivity
• Peering
• Management
• Project Development

Intro
10
MIRnet Consortium

• US Partners include
• University of Tennessee
• STAR TAP
• Indiana University
• Funding provided by US National Science
  Foundation
• Connectivity provided by Teleglobe
• Russian Partners include
• Russian Institute of Public Networks
• Friends and Partners Foundation
• Moscow State University
• Russian Academy of Science
• Funding provided by Ministry of Science
  Technology
• Connectivity provided by RASCOM/Teleglobe

Intro
11
Budget

• NSF Funding
• 800K annually (4.0 million total)
• 600K for transport (Chicago - Denmark)
• 135K operations (65K overhead)
• 150K cost sharing (UT)

• Russian Ministry of Science Funding
• 500K annually
• 300K for transport (Denmark - Moscow)

Intro
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The Russian Team

• Friends Partners Foundation
• Russian Institute of Public Networking
• Moscow State University
• Russian Academy of Science

Intro
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Friends Partners Foundation

• Originating member of Russian MIRnet team
• Worked with US staff for 7 years on several
  US-Russian networking projects
• Focus on developing domestic Russian
  infrastructure via CIVnet program

Natasha Bulashova, President, FP
Intro
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Russian Institute for Public Networking
Alexei Platonov, Exec. Director, RIPN
Russian Backbone Network (RBnet)
Intro
15
Moscow State University (MSU)

• Added late to original NSF proposal
• ATM decision changed leadership to MSU
• Recipient of Ministry Funds
• Controls Project in Russia
• Determines who in Russia is routed across MIRnet

Intro
16
Russian Academy of Science
Intro
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Introduction

• Connectivity
• Peering
• Management
• Project Development

Intro
18
Project Development
Review Oct 00
Teleglobe Sep 00
Demo Aug 8 00
Newsletter Sep 00
MADAS 2 Sep 00
Demo Jun 00
Meeting Nov 99
Demo Feb 22 00
Launch Sep 99
IP Down Jul 99
IP Up Jun99
MADAS 1.0 Sum99
Moscow/ MASS Nov98
Announce Sep98
Teleglobe Sep98
Cooperative Agreement Jul98
Revised Proposal Mar98
Renegotiate Fall/Winter 97
Proposal Aug97
NSF RFP Jun97
CIVnet Jan97
NATO Sep95
F P Jan94
KORRnet Jun94
Intro
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Usage Statistics

• Usage Analysis
• MIRnet Administrative Data Analysis System (MADAS)

Statistics
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Usage Statistics

• More traffic has transited MIRnet in the 4.5
  months since June 1, 2000 (1.2 terabytes) than in
  the 9 previous months (1.1 terabytes)

(total daily network throughput in gigabytes)
Statistics
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Monthly Traffic Flow - destination country
Statistics
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Monthly Traffic Flow - source country
Statistics
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Russian Use by Institution ( total)
Statistics
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U.S. Top 10 Institutions ( total)
Statistics
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Russian Use by Protocol ( total)
Statistics
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U.S. Use by Protocol ( total)
Statistics
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MIRnet Administrative Data Analysis System
(MADAS)

• Tracks all MIRnet usage
• SQL database fed every 10 minutes from Cisco
  Netflow data
• All non-proprietary software tools
• Analysis by countries, domains, hosts, protocols,
  time periods, traffic volume
• Generates standard graphics and allows user-based
  queries
• Supplements standard tools (mrtg, etc.)

Statistics
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Network Engineering

• Link Configuration
• MIRnet Access Scheduling System (MASS)
• NOC Services

Engineering
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Link Configuration
PVC for regular applications (PVCr), 4 Mbp/s
PVC for multicast applications (PVCm)
Router CISCO7507 Chicago
Router CISCO7507 Moscow
PVC for special application (PVCs)
Engineering
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MIRnet Access Scheduling System

• Proposed system to provide users mechanism for
  registering themselves and their applications and
  to reserve use of the network for certain
  applications and time periods with reasonable
  assurance that resources they need will be
  available.
• To provide management with mechanism for
  implementing policy in an on-line database system
  which, for the most part, will run unattended.
• To provide differentiated classes of services
  (via PVCs) which can be reserved and which are
  managed in such a way as to ensure reasonable
  network service

Engineering
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MIRnet Access Scheduling System

• The reservation system will involve a registry of
  users, applications, and networks, and a
  reservation database with which users can reserve
  service for specified dates and times.
• The actual approval of request is to be policy
  driven as much as possible and mostly automated
  so that users receive immediate response.
• The database system will interact with the MIRnet
  end point routers in Moscow and Chicago
  periodically updating access control lists which
  govern which PVCs the IP flows traverse.

Engineering
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MIRnet Access Scheduling System

• Through this system we can formalize the
  provision of network services so that users can
  feel confident about the network meeting their
  needs.
• System satisfies concerns of DOE for authorizing
  users and applications - and for providing an
  audit trail of actual use. Meets the same
  security concerns on the Russian side.
• Use of the system should lead to an increased
  confidence in the network and resulting increased
  use.

Engineering
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MIRnet Access Scheduling System

• Elements in place include
• MIRnet administrative Data Analysis System (for
  back-end monitoring and reporting)
• User/application registry
• Elements to be developed include
• Network description component
• Calendar/scheduling component
• Policy component

Engineering
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MIRnet NOC Services

• Currently using public domain software for
  monitoring network and contacting series of
  pagers (24/7) if problems found
• Transitioning to arrangement with Indiana
  University for providing 24/7 NOC services

Engineering
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Outreach Activities

• Presentations
• Demonstrations
• FP Outreach
• Information Dissemination

Outreach
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Information Dissemination

• MIRnet Users Database System
• 1000 US-Russian Partnerships Described
• Partnerships Funded by NSF, DOE, CRDF, NIH, IREX
• US Russian/NIS Language Programs
• Searchable by Institution, City, Investigator,
  Keyword

Outreach
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Information Dissemination

• Letter/Newsletter distributed to over 500
  US-Russian partnerships

Outreach
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The MIRnet WWW Site

• Bilingual
• Database driven
• Dynamic Page Construction
• Browser independent
• Mirrored in US, Russia
• Content
• Proposal
• Project Information
• Applications
• Services
• Usage Statistics

Outreach
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Impact

• Institutional Users
• Applications
• Benefits

Impact
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Russian Institution Users
Megabytes transferred July 1 - October 14, 2000
Impact
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US Institution Users
Impact
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US-Russia Networking Project Web Cache for
Science and Education
Averaging nearly 1.2 gigabytes of total traffic
per day, the heaviest single application of
MIRnet during its first year has been between the
U.S. National Laboratory for Applied Network
Research (NLANR) web cache and the Russian
academic web cache located in Chernogolovka
(scientific city located 50 km northeast of
Moscow). Managed by the Theoretical Physics
Institute, the goal of the project is to study
the properties of WWW traffic and determine
optimal path calculations for receiving and
sending information via the distributed cache
servers. The Cherogolovka web cache functions as
the root web-cache for the Russian science and
education community.
.
Impact
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Telecommunications for Technology Transfer and
Distributed Learning
The primary goal of the project is to develop an
advanced infrastructure able to supply video
conferencing (both point-to-point and
multi-point) as a regular service for
institutions involved in US-Russia research and
academic collaboration and the commercialization
of technologies. During the first year of
MIRnets operation, the two involved institutions
(the Zelinsky Institute and the University of
Missouri-Columbia) have engaged in regular
video-conferences supporting a variety of
programs - and have achieved good results using
very low bandwidth (64 kbps) H.323 and H.120
technologies.
.
Impact
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Moscow State/Iowa State University Cooperation in
Nuclear and High-Energy Physics
The project is in support of cooperation between
three units of Moscow State University -- the
Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Department of
Theoretical High Energy Physics and Department of
Physics of Atomic Nucleus -- and the
International Institute of Theoretical and
Applied Physics at Iowa State University.
MIRnet traffic between Iowa State University and
Moscow State University often exceeds 500
megabytes daily. The graph above shows total
traffic transiting MIRnet between the two
institutions since September, 1999.
.
Impact
45
Nonproliferation and Arms Control Projects in the
FSU
Since February, 2000, MIRnet has been used by the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory to support its
various collaborations with the Kurchatov
Institute and other Russian research
laboratories. In June, 2000, peering
arrangements were put in place enabling all DOE
laboratories in the US to use MIRnet. The
primary applications discussed and observed
related to US-RF programs are in nonproliferation
and arms control. Several video-conferencing
demonstrations have been held - including with
senior US government leaders - to demonstrate the
utility of high performance networks in
supporting existing US-RF collaborative efforts.
All of these demonstrations have been coordinated
with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the
Kurchatov Institute.
.
Oak Ridge - Kurchatov Institute traffic from
February, 2000.
Impact
46
Weapons Disposal Reactor Physics / Thermal
hydraulics Analyses for Plutonium Disposition
The US and RF are engaged in a cooperative
program to dispose of weapons usable plutonium in
pressurized water reactors in both countries.
While plutonium fuels have been routinely used in
western pressurized water reactors (PWRs) in
France and Germany, such fuels have not been used
in Russian reactors (VVERs). For the past four
years, ORNL has been responsible for transferring
technology for mixed oxide (MOX) fuel to Russia
and Kurchatov Institute has been responsible for
educating ORNL staff as to the design and
operation of VVERs. MIRnet has supported this
cooperative program through video-conferencing,
ftp, use of the Centra Symposium web-based
teaching package, whiteboard, and applications
sharing.
Academician Ponimarev-Stepnoi (seated, on screen
from Moscow) of the Kurchatov Institute addresses
the June 13, 2000 video-conference involving
participants from Moscow, Washington, Argonne
National Lab in Chicago and Oak Ridge. Included
was Howard Baker, former US Senate Majority
leader, heading up a Blue Ribbon Panel observing
US-Russian programs.
Impact
47
US-Russia Materials Protection, Control
Accountability program
The objective of the lab-to-lab MPCA Program is
to enhance, through U.S.-Russian technical
cooperation, the effectiveness of nuclear
materials protection, control, and accounting in
Russian nuclear facilities. The enhancements are
implemented by Russian institutes. The U.S.
laboratories provide funding for the Russian
institutes through laboratory-to-laboratory
contracts. The two partnering institutions, the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Kurchatov
Institute in Moscow, have used MIRnet since
February, 2000 to support a variety of
applications - including video-conferencing
(demonstrations, seminars, contract negotiation),
large database (200 Mbytes) transfer, radio
propagation analysis, and application sharing.
US participants interact with Dr. Evgenii
Velikhov, President of the Moscow Kurchatov
Institute, and other Russian academicians during
the February 22 video-conference between Moscow,
Washington, Knoxville and Oak Ridge. In addition
to the video-conferencing, a demonstration was
conducted of application sharing for joint
control of a radio propagation analysis
Impact
48
NASA-Russian Space Science Internet (RSSI)
Collaboration
FTP dominates as the primary application between
hosts on NASAs high performance NREN network and
the Russian Space Science Internet. With daily
flows occasionally reaching 500 megabytes or
more, MIRnet supports a wide variety of NASA-RSSI
programs and activities.
Traffic from NASA hosts to RSSI hosts is shown
above. The primary application is ftp which
often exceeds 256 Megabytes transferred daily.
Impact
49
US-Russian Military Officers Training
Humanitarian Law
This program is in support of a new Russian
Federation Defense order which requires
humanitarian law training for all members of the
Russian Armed Forces. Working with the
University of Virginia Center for National
Security Law, the Russian Ministry of Defense
will begin utilizing MIRnet to support curriculum
development, transfer of training materials, and
live classroom training between sites in Moscow
and Charlottesville, Virginia. The initial
demonstration event is scheduled for November 30,
2000.
Impact
50
Sample Academic Partnerships Utilizing MIRnet
Services

• Experimental High Energy Physics High energy
  physicists in the Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear
  Physics at Moscow State University use MIRnet for
  collaborating with US partners at the Fermi
  National Accelerator and the Stanford Linear
  Accelerator. Data is shared and analyzed from
  experiments performed in the particle
  accelerators for the purpose of obtaining insight
  into macroworld structures.
• Investigation of Magnetospheric Perturbances
  Moscow State University and the Space Physics
  Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan
  are using MIRnet in support of a joint project
  involving a heavy computational component and the
  creation/maintenance of a shared cosmophysical
  information database addressing experimental and
  theoretical research in the area of
  magnetospheric and space physics.

• Research of on-line collaboration methods in
  distance learning technology development Based
  on the collaboration of Ural State University,
  Perm State University, and North Caroline State
  University in the framework of their 1997-2000
  project Collaboration in the field of distance
  learning in the area of business management
  supported by the US State Dept., the project is
  exploring methods of remote collaboration via
  video- and audio- data exchange (mBONE and
  H.32x).
• US-Russia Collaboration in Plasma Astrophysics
  Project is multi-disciplinary, involving
  specialists in numerical magnetohydrodynamics,
  plasma physics, and astrophysics. Russian
  scientists work at Cornell during one-month
  visits, and the US scientists visit Russia on a
  regular basis. Collaboration on developing 2D
  computer codes between Keldysh Institute and
  Cornell.

Impact
51
Benefits

• Increased network capacity for data sharing
• Some capacity available for richer communications
  (video-conferencing)
• Spurring development of high performance
  infrastructure in Russia
• Encouraging US and Russian partners to learn
  about new network technologies

Funding
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Funding

• US Potential
• NSF REU Supplement
• NASA, DOE, DOD
• Russian Reality

Funding
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The Future

• Applications
• Capacity Expansion
• Russian High Performance Network Expansion
• Extension to other NIS countries

Future
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Application of Scientific Visualization to
MarineEcosystem Analysis
Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography at Old
Dominion Univ. with oceanographic colleagues in
Moscow and Vladivostok. MIRnet services for
visualization (fly-thrus of oceanographic
models), large data sets (ftp),
video-conferencing, etc.
Future
55
Radiation Epidemiology Collaboration
The Radiation Epidemiology Branch of NCI proposes
to use MIRnet to cooperate with partners in
Russia, Kazahkstan, Ukraine and Belarus. Part of
the project focuses on epidemiological follow-up
on the Chernobyl disaster.
Future
56
Distance Learning International Security in a
Changing World
Stanford University will offer a course
"International Security in a Changing World" to
students at Yaroslavl State University and
Southern Ural State University. Both Russian
universities are now (recently) routed across
MIRnet. Efforts focus now on identifying
mutually available technology to be used for the
coursework.
IS/IDL, Institute for International Studies,
Stanford University
Future
57
US-Russian InternetPhysics Olympiad
In April '00 high school students in Novosibirsk
and St.-Petersburg (Russia) combined with
students in Seattle and San Diego (America) to
participate in an internet-based science
competition. Each of eight teams were composed of
four American and four Russian students. Each
pair of team halves were linked with their own
private chat and whiteboard connection so they
could consult in solving the problems. They were
presented with questions and then submitted
answers through an internet-based platform which
was controlled at a central site the system
delivered each team's answers to separately
located panels of judges. Novosibirsk State
University and Cornell University propose to use
MIRnet to enhance opportunities and expand
participation.
Future
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Collaboration on Spallation Neutron Source (SNS),
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Interest from and potential collaboration with
Kurchatov Institute, Obninsk, other Russian
scientific communities on the new Spallation
Neutron Source project being constructed at the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Future
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Planned Capacity Expansion

• Negotiations with Teleglobe and Russian partners
  to expand to 155 Mbps
• Link split between MIRnet (80 Mbps) and academic
  commodity traffic (75 Mbps)

Future
60
Russian High Performance Network Expansion

• Critical need to expand beyond Moscow region
• First priorities St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk
• Success depends upon working with Russian
  academic network partners (RBnet)
• Recent dramatic decrease in regional
  telecommunications costs for non-profit purposes
  will help

Future
61
Extension to other NIS countries

• Conversations with Ukrainian and Kazakh academic
  communities
• Interest from US side in Belarus
• Can happen only after MIRnet upgrade

Russia
Belarus
Ukraine
Kazakhstan
Future