Kansas Research and Education Network KANREN Doug Heacock, Executive Director [email protected] Net@EDU Gathering of State Networks, April 2000.

Kansas Research and Education Network

KANREN

Doug Heacock, Executive Director

[email protected]

Net@EDU Gathering of State Networks, April 2000

Overview

• Quick KANREN history

• The organization

• The network

• Current projects

• Challenges

KANREN history

• 1992--35 Kansas colleges and universities form the KANREN consortium to seek NSF funding for a statewide education network

• 1993--First NSF award: $680K to build backbone and connect "charter" member sites

KANREN history

• 1994--2nd NSF award, $110K to enhance backbone and connect six additional sites

KANREN history

• KANREN backbone network, circa 1994:

KSUKU

KUMC

WSU

MIDnet

56k

56k

56k

56k

T1

T1T1

KANREN history

• 1996--KANREN becomes self-supported– Member sites pay membership and

connection fees

• Most member sites are connected at 56K

KANREN history

• KANREN backbone network, circa 1996:

KSUKU

KUMC

WSU

Global Internet

T1

T1

T1

T1

T1

T1T1 T1

KANREN history

• 1996: First K-12 district connections– Other non-profit organizations are also

connected

• Several sites upgrade to fractional T1

• KU, KSU upgrade to dual T1

KANREN history

• KANREN backbone, circa 1997:

KSUKU

KUMC

WSU

T1

T1

T1

T1

T1

T1T1 T1

Verio

KANREN history

• 1997-98--Bandwidth upgrades continue

• Consortium growth continues

• KU, KSU join Internet 2; KANREN affiliates with Great Plains Network for access to Abilene and I2

KANREN history

• April 2000--69 member sites:– Six Board of Regents universities, plus KU

Medical Center in Kansas City– 12 community colleges– 12 private colleges and universities– 17 public school districts– 16 public libraries– 5 other non-profit organizations

KANREN history

Internet 1

KSU

KU

KUMC

Verio

WSU

Internet 2

Internet 1

KANREN ATM

GPN

T1

DS3

OC-3

• KANREN backbone, April 2000

KANREN organization

• A "service unit" of the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (CRINC)

• Independent, non-profit membership consortium

• No official state affiliation– Frame relay circuits are provisioned through

the state information systems division

KANREN organization

• Not incorporated– We operate under CRINC's non-profit

status

• Governed by 11-member executive committee– Elected by the membership

• Membership votes on rates, budget, policy matters at annual meeting

KANREN staff

• Executive Director (full-time)

• Director of Network Services (half-time)

• System Administrator (full-time)

• Student Networking Internet (half-time)

KANREN organization

• Funding is solely through membership and connection fees paid by member institutions– No state appropriations– No grant funding

• FY 2000 budget: $860K

• Four major backbone network nodes:

The KANREN network

KUMC, Kansas City

• Four major backbone network nodes:

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KUMC, Kansas City

• Four major backbone network nodes:

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

KUMC, Kansas City

• Four major backbone network nodes:

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

WSU, Wichita

KUMC, Kansas City

• Backbone connections

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

WSU, Wichita

KUMC, Kansas City

T1T1

• Backbone connections

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

WSU, Wichita

KUMC, Kansas City

T1T1

ATM

DS-3DS-3

DS-3

VerioI1

• External connections:

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

WSU, Wichita

KUMC, Kansas City

T1T1

ATM

DS-3DS-3

DS-3

GPNI1,I2

VerioI1

• External connections:

The KANREN network

KU, Lawrence

KSU, Manhattan

WSU, Wichita

KUMC, Kansas City

T1T1

ATM

DS-3DS-3

DS-3

OC-3

KANREN services

• Internet connectivity, 64K to multiple T1• Internet 2 access for qualifying members• Training and consulting• Annual representatives' conference• DNS, Usenet News, Web caching servers,

virtual Web hosting, etc.• Network monitoring services• Online network stats graphs

Current projects

• May-June 2000: upgrade Internet connectivity at WSU POP– Replace discrete T1s with fractional DS-3

service

• The Kan-Ed project– Legislation to connect all K-12 districts and

public libraries– Joint effort of KANREN, DISC, Dept. of Ed.,

and State Library

Kan-Ed

• Currently under consideration in the legislature

• Requests $4.5M startup, $13M annual recurring

• KANREN's roles:– Network design– KANREN/KanWIN backbone interconnection– Training, staff development, consulting

Challenges

• Funding– Competitive pressure from local ISPs– Staffing

• Increasing bandwidth demands

• Kan-Ed uncertainties

For more information...

• [email protected]

• http://www.kanren.net

• http://www.kan-ed.net