Network Technical Planning Committee Report

1. Network Technical Planning Committee Report Great Plains Network 4/27/2010

2. Report Contents • Bandwidth projections • Recommendations to meet the CPS demand • Committed headroom triggers for adding bandwidth • Network related organizations, meetings, etc. to engage • Network architecture & design • Technical & management monitoring/reporting • Network policies • Next steps

3. Bandwidth Projections

4. Cost-Effective Ways to Meet Commodity Bandwidth Needs • 2nd 10g to I2 in production • NLR/I2 CPS Transit Rail Pilot initiated • Identified internal GPN Connector Peering opportunities and began implementation • Other opportunities to be researched, including: • Group Commodity Internet purchases and bandwidth sharing • Direct peering with other R&E Networks • Other approaches that become available – this is a very dynamic area • Concern: TR/CPS consolidation will increase CPS traffic on our I2 circuits • Sub-committee appointed to look at this in-depth

5. Committed ‘Headroom’ Trigger for Adding Bandwidth • 95% Percentile = 6g on a monthly basis • At trigger point, Initiate research and recommendation for best course of action

6. Identify network-related organizations, meetings, etc. that GPN should engage • Initial list developed • Priorities and what level of engagement will be completed

7. Network Architecture & Design • Conference call held with I2 re: their DR/BC plans/approaches • We are working on a 2nd GPN PoP scenario • May be more feasible for each connector to work with I2 on an alternate connection location that is geographically advantageous and meets their individual DR/BC requirements

8. Network Architecture & Design (2) • Requirements being developed & prioritized for Layer 2 and Layer 3 services • Should we formalize standards on how GPN Connectors connect – i.e. all will connect to I2 via Layer 2 and peer with each other via Layer 3? • Requirements will then drive various scenarios for Layer 2 and Layer 3 services • Pro/cons • Equipment configurations • Costs • Etc.

9. Network Architecture & Design (3) • Draft requirements include: • Resiliency • Flexibility • “Speed to respond” to request for new services • Layer3 server connections for network performance tool kits, web servers, etc. • Backplane throughput for new purchases can handle 40 and/or 100g interfaces • GPN NOC will flush out the scenarios based upon the agreed to requirements • NOTE: priorities critical as some requirements may be in contention – i.e. resiliency versus flexibility

10. Technical Monitoring & Reporting • For Layer 2 Services • Measurement • Reports to member organizations regarding utilization on specific transit VLANs • Monitoring • Alerts / notifications when "upstream" interfaces are experiencing outages or failures. • For Layer 3 Services • Measurement • Member-accessible graphs for individual routed VLANs • Provide both average and maximum throughput for standard time periods • Monitoring • Alerts / notifications when "upstream" interfaces are currently offline or experiencing errors. • Monitoring: Active monitoring of BGP sessions between GPN members and the GPN router

11. Management Monitoring & Reporting • ‘User-friendly' graphical dashboard with selectable reporting periods • 95% percentile is likely the best measurement • Aggregate utilization for each I2 and ESnet circuit • Aggregate utilization by GPN Connector by circuit • Aggregate utilization by service: CPS, SEGP, ION, research, etc regardless of connection method (i.e. layer 2 or layer 3) • For each service: • utilization by GPN Connector - for instance - how much CPS is each connector using? • GPN Connector to GPN connector peering traffic utilization • To let us know how much we are off-loading from our 'external' circuits and can be used to GPN 'marketing' as a value-add, cost-saving service • Standard set of tools so that we can easily add new circuits, services, etc.

12. Network Policies • Review AUP wrt networking use • Security – currently member’s responsibility -- under what conditions can GPN NOC shut down a member’s connection? • ION reservation policy – how much bandwidth can be reserved for what length of time • What is the process to request exceptions? • Should each GPN Connector be ‘guaranteed' a minimum amount of bandwidth? • Should each GPN Connector be ‘guaranteed' a minimum number of ports? • Network Tookit access and usage • a GPN Connector throughput testing could have a potential adverse affect on the entire network • What data should be public? Available to GPN Connectors?

13. Next Steps • June 1: Network Technical Planning Committee will work on remaining items and meet in Kansa City to finalize draft recommendations • June 2: (a.m.): Draft recommendations will be reviewed at a joint GPN Network Program and Technical Committee Mtg • June 2 (afternoon): Draft report will be made to the GPN EC • June 3: Panel session will discuss the report during the GPN Annual Conference • August: Final report presented to the GPN Network Program Committee and approval, and then to the GPN Executive Committee • August 15: FY11 implementation will be developed and implemented