Transcript Building a Backbone Network with Community Owned Fiber Robert Duncan Merit Network, Inc

Building a Backbone Network with
Community Owned Fiber
Robert Duncan
Merit Network, Inc
September 20, 2007
1
Synopsis:
Merit Network is a non profit company that provides
Research and Education (RON) network services within
the State of Michigan. In the Merit Network service area
are many small communities with local fibers builds that
are under utilized or unutilized. Merit is undertaking
projects to link these communities together and make
them loops on the Merit backbone network. This extends
the reach of the Merit Research and Education network
and provides high performance connections to national
and international networks to otherwise inaccessible
schools, libraries and research organizations.
2
Merit History
 Founded as a not-for-profit network services company
in 1966 by three large Michigan universities:
• University of Michigan
• Michigan State University
• Wayne State University
 Merit is a member organization, includes colleges,
universities, K-12, libraries and government institutions
 Merit established networking in Michigan long before
the term “Internet” was invented
 From 1987 until 1995 Merit managed the
original NSFNET, which led to the modern
Internet
3
A Past of Innovation and Development
A focal point for networking development
 Participant in IETF
 Ran the NSFNET “Regional Techs” meetings, precursor to
NANOG (North American Network Operators Group)
Leader in economic development in the state with
spin-offs including:
 Advanced Network and Services (ANS), sold to AOL in 1996;
 Interlink Networks in 2000, AAA software, with Nokia and
Siemens as major investors
 NextHop Technologies in 2000, focusing on
GateD routing technologies, with VC
investment from New Enterprise Associates
4
Backbone Network
Backbone Fiber
To Windsor,
Ontario
 Red line, Michigan Lambda Rail (MiLR), is
member university owned fiber on which Merit
has usage agreements
 Blue line is fiber that Merit owns outright or has
a long term Indefeasible Right to Use (IRU)
 Green line is fiber that Merit is currently
building out
• Portions of the upper peninsula are already lit and
functioning
 Fiber is supplemented with gig or DS3 circuits
to off-fiber members
5
To Chicago
Community Owned Fiber
 Over the last 10 to 15 years individual communities
have built fiber for various uses
• Connecting school districts together for interactive television and
distance learning
• Connecting government buildings together for data center access
• Traffic monitoring and signal control
 Most are low to moderate fiber counts (6-18 strands)
 Many use fiber strands for single use
•
•
•
•
•
6
Analog or digital TV
Shared Internet Service provider (ISP) connectivity
Internal IT services
Command and control of equipment (HVAC, Traffic lights)
Typically not built for IP
Community Owned Fiber (continued)
 Many builds are isolated fiber plants with circuit
based ISP service
 Single connection to an ISP with no redundancy
 In many cases Internet connectivity is limited
• 1-10 mb ISP access
• No Internet2, GEANT2, ESnet, etc.
 High cost ISP services, $30-50 mb/month
 Sub-standard monitoring and reporting
7
Bringing Merit Network Services to
Community Owned Fiber
 Merit, in partnership with the community, has developed a business
model that assists the fiber owner in connecting to the Merit network
 By bringing together several communities and sharing build costs
 Merit services are brought to the community with access
agreements for Merit
• Ring topology provides high availability
 Build costs are amortized over 3-5 years
• Based on current leased circuit costs to existing customers
• Costs then fall dramatically
• Bandwidth is no longer throttled by ongoing costs
 Expands to a new range of available services
• Reduces bandwidth upgrades to capital equipment costs, not MRC
• Strategic benefits appear
8
Alpena Area
 Alpena is a remote rural area of Michigan
 Multiple community groups owned
segments of fiber (total of 110 miles)
• City
• County
Community owned fiber
Merit backbone fiber
New build fiber
 Community college
 Public schools
 NOAA* needed connectivity, they became
catalyst for Merit to bring groups together
 Merit and community groups met and
initiated builds to interconnect fiber
 Merit lit the fiber network and provided
operations of the IP network
 Currently, a 100mb circuit provides
connection to Merit backbone
• Plans underway to connect adjacent communities to
reach Merit backbone with fiber
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
9
100meg circuit to backbone
Mid-Michigan Area
 MMnet began in 1993 as an
interactive television (ITV) network
between schools
 Network is 200 miles of 6-strand fiber
to 12 locations in a 4 county area
 Initially used analog TV and ATM to
transport IP at OC-3 rate
 Merit obtained an IRU to pass
through fiber network
• Build to Lansing to the south
• Build to Alma college to the north
 Two attachment points has brought
redundancy
 Now in process of replacing ATM with
WDM to expand services to multiple
gig wavelengths
10
Community owned fiber
Merit backbone fiber
New build fiber
Ottawa and Muskegon Area
 Merit backbone long haul fiber was
within 3,600 feet of Muskegon Area
Intermediate School District (MAISD)
fiber
 Fiber build to MAISD connected 8
schools and two community colleges
in Muskegon
 Additional build of 0.8 miles
connected two Grand Valley State
University research sites
 8 mile build to Ottawa Intermediate
School District (OAISD) fiber
• Second attachment to Merit backbone
provided a ring
• Redundancy for all members involved
11
Community owned fiber
Merit backbone fiber
New build fiber
Lower Central Michigan Area
 Several existing Merit members
located in lower-central Michigan
area own fiber
• Hillsdale ISD
• Calhoun ISD
• Jackson ISD (fiber currently connected at a
single point)
 Each have fiber connecting schools,
libraries and government buildings
 Each using circuit based services to
connect to Merit
 Three builds of 3-7 miles required to
connect all together
 Currently in process, expected to
complete Spring 2008
12
Community owned fiber
Merit backbone fiber
New build fiber
Summary
 Single use or little used fiber can be found in many
small communities
 Most community private fiber owners do not have the
expertise or resources to fully utilize the fiber assets
 Both Merit and the community benefit by increased
utilization of fiber assets
 Owned infrastructure insures control of future growth
 All communities can benefit from higher performance
access to Research and Education networking
Non profit organizations working together save costs
13
Email
robert.duncan AT merit.edu
14