Proposed S A Videoconference Plans for Year 4 plus 6 Months (M37 to M54)

1. Proposed SA Videoconference Plans for Year 4 plus 6 Months (M37 to M54) János Mohácsi, András Kovács (NIIF/HUNGARNET) 4th GÉANT2 Technical Workshop Cambridge, 6 June 2007

2. Present Problems • Volunteered multipoint resources for international meetings: • Ad-hoc, without any guarantees • No MCU/VC service in many countries (“digital divide”) • No coordination between NREN VC support groups: • Slow problem identification and resolution • Bad user experience • Lack of common monitoring tools: • Interdomain facilities not monitored at all (SLA? Stability?) • GDS has been very unstable recently • Difficult to find contact points for remote endpoints: • Seeking new partnerships (?) • Difficult to organise a multi-party conference

3. Background and synergy • European VC service history: • Has been subject of discussions since 2002-2003 • Technical and organisational complexity • Failed to agree on technical content for GN2 Y3 • Recent activities (TERENA TF-VSS) → proposal • Recognised synergies: • GN2 monitoring services (PerfSONAR) • GN2 EduGAIN AAI • TF-VSS and TF-ECS cooperation • Related NREN activities/projects ← to be harmonised

4. Planned Work WI1 (14MM) • Support coordination activity: • A central website will be established • National support group contact information database • Available at the central website • Single communication channel for support groups (mailing list) • Central trouble ticketing system (TTS) • Help problem resolution and joint work • Federated directory of institutional videoconference endpoints • Hierarchical architecture, federated data management • Any organisation/institution can join and feed its data • Very simple, RSS based architecture

5. Planned Work WI2 (8MM) • Monitoring infrastructure: • L3 reachability of equipment: • GDS gatekeepers, national gatekeepers, SIP proxies, etc. • MCUs and other relevant equipment • Deployment of national test numbers: • Used for reachability testing and end-user tests • H.323/SIP interdomain reachability matrix: • Both for H.323 and SIP (GDS and ENUM) • Overall reachability statistics • Audio/video echo test services (central and national) • For end-user equipment testing • Integration with PerfSONAR (plugin)

6. Planned Work WI3 (7MM) • Pan-European videoconference website: • Host support information database: • Contact points • Test facilities, basic NREN service information • Host management tools: • Reachability matrix • Monitoring tools and reachability statistics (PerfSONAR) • TTS • Host the federated directory • Knowledge base wiki of support cases • Multipoint service access point (reservation system)

7. Planned Work WI4 (9MM) • Central Pan-European multipoint resources: • Procure and deploy a state-of-the-art MCU: • Support European research projects • Support countries without service (“digital divide”) • Procure 2 servers (central website, monitoring, etc.) • Free gatekeeper/SIP registrar for end-users (GDS/ENUM access) • Deploy a resource reservation system: • Central website, EduGAIN AAI enabled • Support invitation of participants to help VC organisers • To use/modify an existing one • Support for central resources: • NRENs, rota basis

8. Structure

9. Effort • Required: • ~40MM (~3.16MY) • 200kEuro (for central VC equipment – optional) • Offered: • Positive feedback (TERENA TAC & GA) • Manpower offers needed ASAP • Issues: • Decision on starting an SA • Decision on central resources • Provide your feedback/ideas • Further discussion on technical content • Finalise the proposal

10. Participation • Number of NRENs: (for 1st preliminary proposal) • CESNET, CSC, GRNET, NIIF/HUNGARNET, REDIRIS, SWITCH, TERENA • 0.5MY in overall • Key contributions • To be defined according to contributions • Summary: • We need more NRENs to express their interest • Technical content should be finalised with participants • Please confirm your contribution ASAP to gn2savc@niif.hu

11. Work Item 1 (Support) • Deliverables • DS?.1.38: TTS • DS?.1.39: Cookbook recipe for setting up PSTN dial-in facilities • DS?.1.40: contact point database at SA webpage • Milestones • MS?.1.40: completion of helpdesk infrastructure. • MS?.1.43: integration of MCU services into the SA website.

12. Work Item 2 (Monitoring) • Deliverables • DS?.2.40: cookbook recipes on test number infrastructure • DS?.2.42: PerfSONAR plugin for H.323/SIP reachability testing • DS?.2.43: mechanism for collecting info from distributed beacons • DS?.2.44: web reachability matrix • Milestones • MS?.2.43: reachability monitor plugins deployed at NRENs • MS?.2.45: central monitoring in place

13. Work Item 3 (SA website) • Deliverables • DS?.3.41: website requirements • DS?.3.48: fully functional website • Milestones • MS?.3.43: website with basic informational services • MS?.3.48: fully functional website with invitation system and EduGAIN integration.

14. Work Item 4 (Central MCU) • Deliverables • DS?.4.38: equipment specification (MCU, servers) • DS?.4.45: integration of MCU API for resource scheduling • Milestones • MS?.4.40: installation and initial configuration of servers • MS?.4.43: installation and initial configuration of MCU • MS?.4.48: MCU scheduling integrated into SA website

15. Next steps & Risks • Decision needed on SA to start • Manpower bids needed ASAP (gn2savc@niif.hu) • Until now, limited activity and contributions • Technical content should be finalised with more NRENs’ technical experts involved • Decision needed on expensive central resources