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- The National Research and Education Network Program
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- A Report to Congress
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- December 1992
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- Submitted by the Director
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
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- in response to a requirement of
- The High Performance Computing Act of 1991
- (P.L. 102-194)
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- Table of Contents
- Section Page
-
- Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
-
- 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- 1.1. Purpose of the NREN Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- 1.2. Conceptual Architecture of NREN . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 1.3. Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- 1.4. Current Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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- 2. Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- 2.1. Federal Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- 2.2. Communications Service Vendors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- 2.3. Information Service Vendors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- 2.4. Network Service Providers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- 2.5. Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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- 3. Transition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
- 3.1. A Model for Evolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
- 3.2. Implementation of NREN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
- 3.2.1. NSF's Interagency Interim NREN
- implementation plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
- 3.2.2. DOE's/NASA's Interagency Interim NREN
- implementation plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
- 3.3. Commercial Use of the NREN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
- 3.3.1. Information products and services. . . . . . . . 20
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- 4. Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
- 4.1. Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
- 4.2. Protection of Copyrights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
- 4.3. Security and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
- 4.4. Security of the NREN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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- 5. Constituencies and Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
- 5.1. Broadening the Availability of Network Information
- Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
- 5.2. Computer Industry Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
- 5.3. Expanding the Vision for Education . . . . . . . . . . . 26
- 5.4. Plans and Mechanisms to Address Significant
- Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
- 5.4.1. Ownership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
- 5.4.2. Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
- 5.4.3. Acceptable use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
- 5.4.4. Fair competition for network services. . . . . . 28
- 5.4.5. Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
- 5.4.6. Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
- 5.4.7. Copyright protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
- 5.4.8. User base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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- Appendix A. Management/ Coordination of the HPCC Program . . . . . 32
- A.1. Management/Coordination of the NREN Program. . . . . . . 33
- A.2. Federal Networking Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
- A.3. FNC Working and Ad Hoc Task Groups . . . . . . . . . . . 36
- A.4. Agency NREN Program Management Responsibilities . . . . 37
- A.5. Interagency Interim NREN Requirements and
- Implementation: Coordination Process. . . . . . . . . . 42
- A.6. Public Interaction and Advisory Bodies . . . . . . . . . 44
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- Appendix B. Current NREN Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
- B.1. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
- B.2. Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
- B.3. Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
- B.4. Current NREN Program Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
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- Appendix C. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
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- List of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
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- Executive Summary
-
-
- This is a report on the National Research and Education Network
- (NREN) Program required by the High Performance Computing Act of
- 1991 (P.L. 102-194). Six specific issues are to be addressed:
-
- ~ effective mechanisms for providing operating funds for the
- maintenance and use of the Network, including user fees,
- industry support, and continued Federal investment;
-
- ~ the future operation and evolution of the Network;
-
- ~ how commercial information service providers could be
- charged for access to the Network, and how Network users
- could be charged for such commercial information services;
-
- ~ the technological feasibility of allowing commercial
- information service providers to use the Network and other
- federally funded research networks;
-
- ~ how to protect copyrights of material distributed over the
- Network; and
-
- ~ appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources
- available on the Network and to protect the privacy of users
- of networks.
-
- It is useful to group these questions according to three themes:
- funding, transition and protection, and the report is organized
- along these lines. However, before these questions can be
- addressed, the purpose and nature of NREN need to be explained
- with clarity.
-
- Purpose of the NREN Program
-
- The NREN Program is one of the four principal components of the
- interagency program on High Performance Computing and
- Communications (HPCC). The primary purpose of the NREN Program
- is to establish a gigabit communications infrastructure that will
- dramatically enhance the ability to collaborate among members of
- the research and education community. In order to establish such
- an infrastructure, networking technologies have to be developed
- and services from common carriers and other communications
- service providers must be made available in this development
- effort. Furthermore, the process of establishing the NREN Program
- will provide an unprecedented opportunity to catalyze the
- development of a general purpose high speed communications
- infrastructure for the nation. Ultimately, the NREN Program
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- cannot be cost effective or realize its full potential without
- such a development. Thus, the NREN Program has a series of
- synergistic goals:
-
- ~ establishing a gigabit network for
- the research and education
- community and fostering its use;
-
- ~ developing advanced networking
- technologies and accelerating their
- deployment;
-
- ~ stimulating the availability, at a
- reasonable cost, of the required
- services from the private sector;
- and
-
- ~ catalyzing the rapid deployment of
- a high speed general purpose
- digital communications
- infrastructure for the nation.
-
- To achieve these goals, the NREN Program is divided into two
- parts:
-
- ~ the Gigabit Research and Development component;
- and
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- ~ the Interagency Interim NREN component.
-
- As its name implies, the former is an R&D program designed to
- develop needed technologies. The latter is a coordinated program
- to support an operational network that will, in stages, realize
- the primary goal of the NREN Program, viz., to establish a
- gigabit network for the research and education community. Since
- the questions that we are to address all pertain to the
- operational network, we shall henceforth in this document use the
- term NREN, when not followed by the word "program," as an
- abbreviation for the Interagency Interim NREN.
-
- Nature of NREN
-
- To address the issues required of this report, it is necessary to
- understand two important characteristics of NREN. First, it is a
- logical, not physical, entity. It is best understood as a
- collection of interlinked nodes operating under specific rules
- for moving information along the links. The logical network is
- realized by purchasing transport services from network service
- vendors. How the vendors implement the services through hardware
- using cable and switches or bulk purchase of transport services
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- from other vendors, should be transparent to the users and the
- administrators of NREN. Thus, for example, whether non-NREN
- traffic uses the same physical medium as NREN traffic is not an
- NREN issue, unless such traffic affects the operational
- characteristics of NREN as a logical entity.
-
- A second important characteristic of NREN is that it is a
- hierarchy of networks. At the top of the hierarchy, NREN's
- components are backbone networks, each of which is itself a
- network of networks (called midlevels and regionals) connected to
- a common communications trunk (backbone). The major components of
- NREN are national agency backbone networks: NSFnet of NSF; ESnet
- of DOE; NSI of NASA; and TWBnet of DOD. The agencies' NREN
- backbones are high speed networks that will eventually attain
- gigabit speed. The backbones in NREN will be interconnected
- through a set of nodes known as the network access points (NAPs).
- Any backbone, whether or not serving research and education
- purposes, can be connected to the NAPs. The backbone networks
- have a high degree of autonomy and each can impose its own local
- rules and restrictions. It is the policy of NREN, however, that
- restrictions should be based on traffic characteristics and not
- on the source or destination of such traffic. With this
- formulation, we can define "NREN proper" as composed of a
- collection of agency backbone networks plus a set of associated
- NAPs. NREN-in-the-large will also include any backbone network
- connected to one of the NAPs.
-
- The architecture of NREN described above is designed to create a
- synergy between the twin purposes of NREN: to establish a high
- speed network for research and education while catalyzing and
- accelerating the development and deployment of a national
- communications infrastructure.
-
- Funding
-
- Establishing and maintaining a composite gigabit backbone made up
- of the Federal agency backbones, including NAPs, are currently
- the responsibility of the Federal Government. It does not mean,
- however, that the Federal Government should bear the "full
- freight" for either the initial backbone implementation or
- ongoing backbone maintenance and operation. It is expected that
- pricing of the initial establishment will reflect some shared
- investment with industry and the ongoing operation will require a
- charge for transport and connectivity services to the network
- providers, who may then pass charges to the end-users.
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- Federal funds will pay for the operations of the agency networks
- that make up NREN. These funds will also support users that serve
- Federal missions whether or not they access NREN through the
- agency networks.
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- Both common carriers and other service providers have provided
- direct support for the development of network technologies, and
- are expected to share the cost of the initial establishment of
- the high speed backbone by providing services at a rate lower
- than supporting NREN as the sole customer. Such cost-sharing
- would represent an early investment by the communications
- industry in the networking market.
-
- Information service vendors will contribute to bearing the cost
- of operating NREN through connectivity and transport fees mainly
- through network providers, and in turn will charge the users
- directly for the information services provided. The architecture
- of NREN is intended to facilitate such funding arrangements.
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- End users of NREN must go through some network service provider,
- either under contract with an agency or as a commercial service.
- The network service vendor will charge a connectivity fee and a
- subscription fee and possibly traffic dependent fees which will
- then be used to pay connectivity (NAP and backbone) and transport
- charges.
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- Transition
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- The architecture of NREN is designed to foster flexible
- evolution. NREN is a federation of networks at different levels
- of a hierarchy. At the top level of this hierarchy are the
- backbone networks which will be interconnected through the NAPs.
- Adding new backbone networks to NREN is readily accommodated,
- subject only to the capacity of the NAPs and the cost of
- connecting to them. Each backbone network is a network of
- networks connected to a common backbone. A backbone network is
- semi-autonomous and can impose its own restrictions. However,
- such restrictions will be based on traffic characteristics, not
- source or destination of network traffic.
-
- NREN can grow indefinitely by adding new backbone networks and
- additional NAPs. Furthermore, if the same architecture is adopted
- for a national general purpose network, then NREN can be readily
- integrated without change. What constitutes "NREN proper" will
- then be a small sub-collection of the backbone networks plus a
- subset of the NAPs which it shares with other backbone networks
- or other "federations" of networks.
-
- NREN, being a federation of networks, will have segments that
- restrict use. Agency backbones are restricted to uses related to
- agency missions. The NSFnet backbone is restricted to uses
- related to research and education. Some regionals also have
- similar restrictions. NREN restrictions only require that the
- traffic support research and education. Commercial traffic,
- whether for profit or not, that meets this condition is
- unrestricted. Furthermore, even commercial traffic unrelated to
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- research and education could use the NREN NAPs to access backbone
- networks of any variety that wish to connect to these NAPs.
- Thus, NREN in its largest sense can indeed carry commercial
- traffic, and the establishment of NREN will play a major role in
- fostering the development of general purpose high speed networks.
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- Protection
-
- Most of the protection issues concerning NREN are not new. They
- exist for communications systems that are accessible to the
- public in general. It is important that protection policies and
- mechanisms developed for NREN be consistent with those that
- already exist. Wherever possible, it is useful to seek models
- that apply to NREN, or can be generalized to apply to NREN. For
- example, the "common carriage" model fits the role of network
- providers in many ways. The time tested rules and
- responsibilities applied to common carriers may well be
- appropriate to network providers.
-
- With the exception of performance capabilities, high speed
- digital networks are not inherently different from telephone
- networks, or any other point-to-point switched communications
- system. It may be a sound principle to adhere to the rules
- applicable to such systems, unless it can be demonstrated that
- the change in speed renders a particular rule ineffective or
- inappropriate.
-
- The technical mechanism appropriate to protect copyright of
- material distributed over the Network is as yet unclear.
- Electronic information is much easier to copy and transmit than
- paper. Fewer identifying markings which show the source of the
- information exist or are retained in electronic copies. In
- addition, legal issues arise. For example, is the government, as
- a supporter of the Network, liable for the improper use of
- copyrighted material received via or transmitted over the
- Network? Current legal precedent for access to and protection of
- copyrights of material accessed via modems over telephone lines
- does not assign legal responsibility to enforce copyrights to the
- common carriers whose lines are used. The fair use of
- copyrighted materials, a feature of the Copyright Act and
- essential to scientific research, is an example of a concern that
- combines technical and legal issues. So too, technical means to
- ensure copyright protection on the NREN must provide for fair
- use, as must any legal arrangement.
-
- Appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources and the
- privacy of users are addressed via four policy areas. First, the
- Federal Networking Council (FNC) has coordinated the development
- of a draft NREN security policy. A second aspect of security is
- the responsible and proper use of Network resources. Thus, the
- FNC also has been developing, in consultation with the non-
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- Federal communities, an Appropriate Use Policy. In addition,
- P.L. 102-476 broadens the NSF's organic act and authorizes the
- NSF to foster and support access by the research and education
- communities to computer networks, which may be used substantially
- for purposes in addition to research and education in the
- sciences and engineering, if the additional uses will tend to
- increase the overall capabilities of the networks to support such
- research and education activities.
-
- The Computer Security Act specifies a third policy requirement to
- ensure security of resources and protection of privacy. That Act
- requires each agency to create computer security plans for
- Federal computer and telecommunications systems which process or
- transmit sensitive, unclassified information. It also requires
- security and awareness training of Federal employees and
- contractors who use sensitive Federal computer and
- telecommunications systems. These activities, while not presented
- in this document, are separately reported by each agency through
- its Information Resources Management activity.
-
- Finally, protection of users' privacy is provided for, to some
- extent, by the Privacy Act. That Act governs access to
- information about individuals maintained by Federal agencies that
- is contained in "systems of records," as defined by the Act. In
- addition, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act protects
- Network communications from unlawful interception.
- Encryption is an effective means for providing basic data
- security. As such, it is relevant to all the protection problems
- related to NREN.
-
- Management and Status
-
- The NREN Program is one of the four principal components of the
- interagency program on High Performance Computing and
- Communications (HPCC). All eight participating agencies of HPCC
- (DOC, DOD, DOE, ED, EPA, HHS, NASA, NSF) also participate in
- NREN. USDA and DOI are also participants in NREN. Management of
- NREN is distributed, with each agency implementing its own
- portion of the overall program. Coordination of HPCC is through
- the High Performance Computing, Communications, and Information
- Technology (HPCCIT) Subcommittee of the Federal Coordinating
- Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET) and the
- recently established National Coordination Office (NCO) for the
- HPCC Program. Donald A. B. Lindberg, M.D., the Director of the
- National Library of Medicine, is currently the Director of the
- NCO and the Chairman of the HPCCIT subcommittee.
-
- In addition to the coordination and management structure that
- exists for HPCC as a whole, the operational aspects of NREN have
- required special interagency coordination. This is done through
- the Federal Networking Council (FNC) which was established by NSF
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- in its capacity as leader of the working group on networking
- within HPCCIT.
-
- A detailed description of the management and coordination
- structure for NREN is given in Appendix A.
-
- NREN is an evolving system that combines operational capabilities
- with technology development in a dynamic environment. A detailed
- description of its current operational status is given in
- Appendix B.
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- 1. Introduction
-
- This report responds to the High Performance Computing (HPC) Act
- of 1991 (P.L. 102-194) which, in Title I, Section 102, requires
- that the Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
- (OSTP), within one year after enactment of the HPC Act of 1991,
- report to Congress on the National Research and Education Network
- (NREN, also referred to as the Network) regarding:
-
- (1) effective mechanisms for providing operating funds for the
- maintenance and use of the Network, including user fees,
- industry support, and continued Federal investment;
-
- (2) the future operation and evolution of the Network;
-
- (3) how commercial information service providers could be
- charged for access to the Network, and how Network users
- could be charged for such commercial information services;
-
- (4) the technological feasibility of allowing commercial
- information service providers to use the Network and other
- federally funded research networks;
-
- (5) how to protect copyrights of material distributed over the
- Network; and
-
- (6) appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources
- available on the Network and to protect the privacy of users
- of networks.
-
- It is useful to group these questions according to three themes:
- funding, transition and protection, and our report will be
- organized along these lines. However, before these questions can
- be addressed, the purpose and nature of NREN need to be explained
- with clarity. Therefore, we begin with a statement on the
- purpose of the NREN and an explanation of its conceptual
- architecture.
-
- 1.1. Purpose of the NREN Program
-
- The NREN Program is one of the four principal components of the
- interagency program on High Performance Computing and
- Communications (HPCC). The primary purpose of the NREN Program
- is to establish a gigabit communications infrastructure that will
- dramatically enhance the ability to collaborate among members of
- the research and education community.[1] In order to establish such
- an infrastructure, networking technologies have to be developed
- and services from common carriers and other communications
- service providers must be made available in this development
- effort. Furthermore, the process of establishing the NREN Program
- will provide an unprecedented opportunity to catalyze the
-
- 8
-
- development of a general purpose high speed communications
- infrastructure for the nation.[2] Ultimately, the NREN Program
- cannot be cost effective or realize its full potential without
- being a part of a national infrastructure. Thus, the NREN Program
- has a series of synergistic goals:
-
- ~ establishing a gigabit network for
- the research and education
- community and fostering its use;
-
- ~ developing advanced networking
- technologies and accelerating their
- deployment;
-
- ~ stimulating the availability, at a
- reasonable cost, of the required
- services from the private sector;
- and
-
- ~ catalyzing the rapid deployment of
- a high speed general purpose
- digital communications
- infrastructure for the nation.
-
- To achieve these goals, the NREN project is divided into two
- parts:
-
- ~ the Gigabit Research and
- Development component, and
-
- ~ the Interagency Interim NREN
- component.
-
- As its name implies, the former is a research and development
- program designed to develop needed technologies. Examples of
- broad research problems that may be addressed in gigabit
- networking include network stability (i.e. the behavior of
- message traffic flow), network response, and network management.[3]
- The latter goal is a coordinated program to support an
- operational network that will, in stages, realize the primary
- goal of the NREN Program, viz., to establish a gigabit network
- for the research and education community. Since the questions
- that we are to address all pertain to the operational network, we
- shall henceforth in this document use the term NREN, when not
- followed by the word "program," as an abbreviation for the
- Interagency Interim NREN.
-
- 1.2. Conceptual Architecture of NREN
-
- To address the issues required of this report, it is necessary to
- understand two important characteristics of NREN. First, it is a
- logical, not physical, entity. It is best understood as a
- collection of interlinked nodes operating under specific rules
-
- 9
-
- for moving information along the links. The logical network is
- realized by purchasing transport services from network service
- vendors. How the vendors implement the services through hardware
- using cable and switches or bulk purchase of transport services
- from other vendors, should be transparent to the users and the
- administrators of NREN. Thus, for example, whether non-NREN
- traffic uses the same physical medium as NREN traffic is not an
- NREN issue, unless such traffic affects the operational
- characteristics of NREN as a logical entity.
-
- A second important characteristic of NREN is that it is a
- hierarchy of networks. At the top of the hierarchy, NREN's
- components are backbone networks, each of which is itself a
- network of networks (called midlevels and regionals) connected to
- a common communications trunk (backbone). The major components of
- NREN are national agency backbone networks: NSFnet of the
- National Science Foundation (NSF); ESnet of the Department of
- Energy (DOE); NSI of the National Aeronautics and Space
- Administration (NASA); and TWBnet of the Department of Defense
- (DOD). The agency backbones are high speed networks that will
- eventually attain gigabit speed. The backbones in NREN will be
- interconnected through a set of nodes known as the network access
- points (NAPs). Any backbone, whether or not serving research and
- education purposes, can be connected to the NAPs. The backbone
- networks have a high degree of autonomy and each can impose its
- own local rules and restrictions. It is the policy of NREN,
- however, that restrictions should be based on particular traffic
- characteristics and not on the source or destination of such
- traffic.
-
- In contrast, subnets that connect strategically secure sites
- and/or provide classified, agency mandated services will not be
- connected to NAPs. Rather they will be connected only via a
- Federal information interchange node.
-
- 1.3. Management
-
- The NREN Program is one of the four principal components of the
- interagency program on High Performance Computing and
- Communications (HPCC). All eight participating agencies of HPCC
- (Department of Commerce, DOD, DOE, Department of Education,
- Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Human Services, NASA,
- and NSF) also participate in NREN as agreed upon within the High
- Performance Computing, Communications, and Information Technology
- (HPCCIT) Subcommittee of the Federal Coordinating Council for
- Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET) Committee on
- Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences (PMES). In
- addition to these agencies, the Department of Agriculture and the
- Department of the Interior are also participants in NREN.
- Coordination of the HPCC Program is provided through the chairman
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- of the HPCCIT Subcommittee and the staff of the recently
- established National Coordination Office (NCO). Management of
- NREN is distributed, with each agency implementing its own
- portion of the overall program.
-
- As cited in "A Report to Congress on Computer Networks to Support
- Research in the United States," the various government networking
- activities touch a significant segment of the U.S. academic
- research community.[4] In addition to the coordination and
- management structure that exists for HPCC as a whole, the
- operational aspects of NREN have required special interagency
- attention. This is done through the Federal Networking Council
- (FNC) which was established by NSF in its capacity as leader of
- the working group on networking within HPCCIT. These elements,
- along with industry, are members of an Advisory Committee to the
- FNC.
-
- A detailed description of the management and coordination
- structure for NREN is given in Appendix A.
-
- 1.4. Current Status
-
- NREN is an evolving system that combines operational capabilities
- with technology development in a dynamic environment. A detailed
- description of its current operational status is given in
- Appendix B.
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- 2. Funding
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- 2.1. Federal Role
-
- As cited in the proceedings of the EDUCOM Workshop on the NREN by
- the EDUCOM Networking and Telecommunications Task Force, "a
- continued high level of Federal investment in the development and
- pre-commercial use of advanced network facilities and services is
- absolutely essential to a national strategy for
- competitiveness."[5] Establishing and maintaining a composite
- gigabit backbone, including NAPs, are currently the
- responsibility of the Federal Government. It does not mean,
- however, that the Federal Government should bear the "full
- freight" for either the initial backbone implementation or
- ongoing backbone maintenance and operation. It is expected that
- pricing of the initial establishment will reflect some shared
- investment with industry and the ongoing operation will require a
- charge for transport and connectivity services to the network
- providers, who may then pass charges on to the end-users.
-
- Federal funds will pay for the operations of the agency networks
- that make up "NREN-proper." Federal funds will also support
- users that serve federal missions whether or not they directly
- access NREN through the agency networks.
-
- 2.2. Communications Service Vendors
-
- Both common carriers and service providers have provided direct
- support for the development of network technologies, and are
- expected to share the cost of the initial establishment of the
- high speed backbone by providing services at a rate lower than
- that which would be required if NREN were the sole customer. Such
- cost-sharing would represent an early investment by the
- communications industry in the networking market.
-
- 2.3. Information Service Vendors
-
- Information service vendors will contribute to bearing the cost
- of operating NREN through connectivity and transport fees charged
- network providers, and in turn will charge the users directly for
- the information services provided. The architecture of NREN is
- intended to facilitate such funding arrangements.
-
- 2.4. Network Service Providers
-
- End users of NREN must go through some network service provider,
- either under contract with an agency or as a commercial service.
- The network service vendor will charge a connectivity fee and a
- subscription fee and possibly traffic-dependent fees which will
- then be used to pay connectivity (NAP and backbone) and transport
- charges.
-
- 12
-
- 2.5. Summary
-
- Funding sources for the operation of NREN can be summarized as
- follows:
-
-
- Interagency: fund advanced network research
- fund collaborative and shared
- NREN operational activities
-
-
- Individual Agencies: fund agency backbone networks
- and their evolution to
- gigabit speeds
- fund NREN user serving agency
- missions
-
-
- Communications Industry: invest in underlying physical
- plant
- develop transport services
- support technology development
- invest in initial deployment
-
-
- Information Service Vendors: develop information service
- pay fee for connectivity and
- transport
-
-
- Users: pay network subscription
- pay connectivity charge
- pay user charge for
- information service
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 13
-
- 3. Transition
-
- 3.1. A Model for Evolution
-
- The architecture of NREN is designed to foster its flexible
- evolution. NREN is a federation of networks at different levels
- of a hierarchy. At the top level of this hierarchy are the
- backbone networks which will be interconnected through the NAPs.
- Adding new backbone networks to NREN is readily accommodated,
- subject only to the capacity of the NAPs and the cost of
- connecting to them. Each backbone network is a network of
- networks connected to a common backbone. A backbone network is
- semi-autonomous and can impose its own restrictions. However,
- such restrictions will be based on traffic characteristics and
- not the source or destination of such traffic.
-
- NREN can grow indefinitely by adding new backbone networks and
- additional NAPs. Furthermore, if the same architecture is
- adopted for a national general purpose network, then NREN can be
- readily integrated without change. What constitutes NREN will
- then be a sub-collection of the backbone networks plus a subset
- of the NAPs which it shares with other backbone networks or other
- clusters of networks.
-
- NREN, being a federation of networks, will have segments that
- restrict use. Agency backbones are restricted to uses related to
- agency missions. The NSFnet backbone is restricted to uses
- related to research and education. Some regionals also have
- similar restrictions. NREN restrictions only require that the
- traffic support research and education. Commercial traffic,
- whether for profit or not, that meets this condition is
- unrestricted. Furthermore, even commercial traffic unrelated to
- research and education could use the NAPs to traverse those
- networks that are unrestricted. Thus, NREN in its largest sense
- can indeed carry commercial traffic, and the establishment of
- NREN will play a major role in fostering the development of
- general purpose high speed networks.
-
- 3.2. Implementation of NREN
-
- The CSPP Report, "Expanding the Vision of High Performance
- Computing and Communications: Linking America for the Future,"
- underscores the importance that government policies and programs
- have on the protocols used in future networks, and that these
- efforts must be coordinated to meet the goal of network
- interoperability.[6] The Interagency Interim NREN Program is an
- integrated program that combines the separate Federal agency
- networks and related technology developments into a consolidated
- multi-faceted national network system that builds on each
- agency's strengths. The Interagency Interim NREN provides
-
- 14
-
- interoperability between the agencies' separate networking
- services in a seamless manner (e.g., via Federal Internet
- eXchanges - "FIXes") in order to achieve end-to-end connectivity
- for the Nation's researchers and educators. A joint DOE/NASA
- project is aimed at accelerating the commercial availability of
- high performance "cornerstone" technologies and services for more
- focused applications, while a related NSF effort emphasizes the
- scope of applicability of such services and infrastructure. It
- is the coordinated integration of these two complementary
- endeavors that will best serve the research and education
- communities as a holistic program. Indeed these efforts were
- endorsed by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and
- Technology.[7] As such, major Interagency Interim NREN activities
- and plans - the NSF's and the joint DOE/NASA's projects - are
- outlined below.
-
- 3.2.1. NSF's Interagency Interim NREN implementation plans
-
- The NSF implementation approach separates (1) the provision of
- Network Access Points (NAPs); (2) the operation of the Routing
- Arbiter (RA); and (3) organizations to provide very high speed
- Backbone Network Services (vBNS). The NSF has made public a
- draft version of its proposed solicitation and has requested and
- received numerous comments on this document.[8] The NSF
- architecture also takes into account major existing network
- components such as regional networks and network service
- providers for which NSF solicitations are not required. The two
- NSF solicitations are due to be awarded in mid-1993.
-
- The NSF has explicitly designed the next generation Interagency
- Interim NREN architecture to allow increased access, greater
- interoperability, and adherence to standards for all subscribers
- to the NREN--requirements established by the HPCC Program and
- recommended by the CSPP.[9] Service providers will have the
- ability and experience to provide value-added services for both
- the original TCP/IP protocol and the CLNP protocol as described
- in the Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (GOSIP),
- which the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- has specified for government acquisitions in a Federal
- Information Processing Standard (FIPS).
-
- Network Access Point and Routing Arbiter
-
- The "Network Access Point" (NAP) is a key feature of NSF's
- Iagencies and commercial service providers to interconnect and
- interoperate with networks of their choice, as well as the
- NSFNET, ESNet and NSI. This enables commercial service providers
- to offer competitively priced services to both commercial and R&E
- customers and will engender a larger set of capable and
- competitive service providers than could be developed under
- Federal funding alone. The NAPs will also provide the capability
-
- 15
-
- for interconnecting networks of dissimilar services (e.g. SMDS,
- ATM, DS3, DS1), and dissimilar speeds (1.5 Mb/s, 45 Mb/s, 155
- Mb/s, 622 Mb/s, etc.). This feature is crucial for addressing
- the needs of scalable and evolutionary network architectures and
- for providing the mechanism for smooth transition to a national
- research and education gigabit network by 1996. These are timely
- concerns as gigabit class technology will begin to be deployed in
- prototype lower speed versions in 1993, with continuing
- escalation of performance and qualitative services as it moves
- towards production status. The NAPs, in conjunction with network
- customers, will incorporate a minimal set of standard routing
- protocols and use a standardized methodology for routing and
- transit of packets in the NREN.
-
- The stability of the network is ensured by the prudent and
- careful maintenance and upkeep of the network-wide routing
- databases. This function is currently performed by MERIT for the
- NSFNET and in the new architecture will be the responsibility of
- the Routing Arbiter. The Routing Arbiter, who is excluded from
- serving as a network service provider, will initially be
- centralized to ensure the stability of the network during its
- transition phase. However, the Routing Arbiter function needs to
- evolve into a distributed and delegated system as soon as
- possible in order to realistically address the expected growth
- and complexity of networks, and to enhance the opportunities for
- commercial service providers to interoperate among themselves and
- with the research and education community. The separation of the
- administration and implementation of the routing database from
- the actual switching of packets will make the introduction of
- differing services easier while maintaining the stability of the
- routing database.
-
- Backbone Service Provider
-
- The third element of the architecture of the next generation
- NSFNET Backbone Services is a very high speed Backbone Network
- Services (vBNS) Provider to establish and maintain a vBNS which
- will be connected to all NAPs and all of whose NSFNET vBNS
- traffic must be in compliance with the NSF Acceptable Use Policy
- (AUP). In the tradition of NSFNET, the vBNS Provider will be
- expected to demonstrate leadership in the development and
- deployment of high performance data communications networks.
- Initially (Spring, 1994), it is expected that the vBNS will
- operate at a speed of 155 Mb/s (OC-3). The vBNS provider will be
- expected to raise the speed during the lifetime of the agreement
- with the NSF to 622 Mb/s (OC-12) or higher as technology permits
- and demand warrants. This component of the architecture will:
- provide for high speed interregional connectivity; enable
- distributed computing applications; enable multimedia
- applications such as visualization, collaboration, and distant
-
- 16
-
- learning; and, promote the development and deployment of advanced
- routing technologies.
-
- For reliability, all networks involved in NREN service
- provisioning must adhere to and support a basic set of
- operational and administrative capabilities. The NAPs will be
- required to be as fault tolerant as possible and all networks
- assisted by the NSF, including the R&E regional networks, will
- need to enhance and extend their operational capabilities in
- order to realize this goal.
-
- 3.2.2. DOE's/NASA's Interagency Interim NREN implementation plans
-
- The joint DOE/NASA project is designed to address the HPCC/NREN
- and other leading edge science requirements of both agencies.
- The mission agencies have HPCC goals and objectives that require
- high performance access to powerful supercomputers, huge data
- repositories, and geographically distributed communities of
- science investigators. Thus DOE and NASA focussed on an
- Interagency Interim NREN architecture which will use commercial
- cell-relay services to increase transmission speeds from the
- current 1.5 Mb/s to 45 Mb/s, with initial deployment early in
- 1993. Transitions to higher speeds including 622 Mb/s second
- will be made when such services become commercially available,
- agency budgets permitting. Deployments of these high performance
- technologies will be systematically engineered by DOE and NASA
- networking experts in close collaboration with industry and the
- research community. Through such collaborations with router
- vendors and communications carriers, DOE and NASA can evaluate
- cell relay technologies on an early availability basis and can
- stimulate development and deployment of cell-relay products and
- services, thereby providing strategic advantages for the U.S.
- telecommunications industry in the world marketplace.
-
- DOE and NASA will be spearheading the technology evaluation and
- deployment of cell relay services and protocols at the Open
- Systems Interconnect (OSI) Layer 2. These Layer 2 services and
- virtual private networks (VPNs) allow for greater resource
- management, accounting, and control than typically provided by
- traditional Layer 3 networks. In addition, DOE and NASA's choice
- of Layer 2 services is based on the Broadband ISDN standards
- advocated by the telecommunications industry as establishing the
- future direction for communications systems. Therefore, DOE and
- NASA will be in full accord with the evolving worldwide
- telecommunications infrastructure and will be able to
- interoperate with the general research and education community as
- new telecommunications products and services emerge and become
- commercially available.
-
- 17
-
- The DOE and NASA networks will initially interconnect at FIXes,
- along with the next generation of the NSFNET backbone - which is
- itself targeting advances in routing and peering technologies at
- OSI Layer 3. These parallel advanced network deployments by NSF
- and DOE/NASA are fully complementary, with each approach playing
- a vital role in energizing the U.S. telecommunications and
- networking industries and creating a seamless interoperable and
- interconnected Interagency Interim NREN.
-
- By choosing early availability service offerings and adopting
- industry standards, DOE and NASA will satisfy their high speed
- HPCC Grand Challenge requirements and also promote the deployment
- of marketable products and services for nation-wide consumption.
-
- 3.3. Commercial Use of the NREN
-
- Industry involvement in NREN use and development occurs in
- several ways. Many U.S. industrial firms have contributed
- significant resources to the NREN research program activities.
- Some of these firms and others have also provided grants and/or
- subsidies to various universities or other research and
- educational institutions to support Interagency Interim NREN
- connectivity. In addition, many commercial firms now also
- participate in the Interagency Interim NREN and thus provide some
- funding for NREN connectivity as participants.
-
- There are no NREN restrictions on traffic whose purpose is to
- engage in or support R&E consonant with NREN Program goals,
- irrespective of whether the source or target of that traffic is
- public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit, a commercial or
- noncommercial enterprise. Many vendors routinely use the network
- to support their R&E customers, and the number of commercial
- (for-fee) information providers offering their services over the
- network is increasing. On the other hand, use for purposes not
- in support of R&E is in general prohibited. Federal NREN funds
- are for the support of R&E, not to provide a network for traffic
- in support of unrestricted commercial purposes, whether the
- source or target of that traffic is public or private, for-profit
- or not-for-profit, a commercial or noncommercial enterprise.
-
- There is, however, an administrative issue since commercial
- traffic is not entirely excluded from the Internet. In contrast
- with Federal agency networks (such as ESnet, NSI, and the NSFNET
- Backbone), many regional networks such as NEARNET, SURANET,
- WESTNET and others - which collectively provide the vital second
- tier (or mid-level) infrastructure to the NREN Program - allow
- unrestricted commercial traffic. They offer these unrestricted
- commercial services because NSF funding, together with the fees
- collected from their R&E clients, is insufficient to support
- their service offering to the R&E community. Their commercial
- customers allow them to serve economically the R&E community. In
- fact, although some regional networks have fee structures that do
- not distinguish between commercial and R&E customers, others
- deliberately subsidize R&E customers with their commercial
- revenues.
-
- 18
-
- Although connectivity between the regional networks for
- unrestricted commercial purposes is prohibited over the NREN
- backbone network components of the Federal agencies, this
- connectivity is already provided for the private sector -
- primarily by members of the Commercial Internet Exchange, (CIX),
- a 501c(6) trade association of private providers of Internet
- access and carriage. Fair and equal access of private providers
- to regional networks and their customers is offered today at
- NSFNET Backbone nodes. In the upcoming competitive solicitation
- for NSFNET Backbone facilities, the Backbone architecture has
- been specifically designed to achieve full symmetry and equal
- access among all backbone networks through "Network Access
- Points" (NAPs) open to all.
-
- Private network providers (e.g., CIX members) have an
- expectation, which currently is largely realized, of being able
- to reach non-R&E customers at low cost using the facilities of
- the regional networks via NSFNET Backbone nodes (now) or NAPs
- (later). However, some regional networks (e.g., CONCERT, the
- network serving the State of North Carolina) are prohibited by
- their primary funding agencies (for CONCERT, the state
- government) from carrying non-R&E traffic. Reaching non-R&E
- customers in regions such as North Carolina where the regional
- network prohibits non-R&E traffic is thus more expensive for the
- private providers, since they must duplicate at their own expense
- existing facilities of the regional network.
-
- The NREN Program policy position on this issue is that such
- issues must be worked out between the affected private providers
- and those regional networks that prohibit non-R&E traffic.
- Federal agencies that provide partial funding for regional
- networks (primarily the NSF, but also DARPA and indirectly DOE
- and NASA through institution and Principle Investigator funding)
- do not interfere in local decisions, and specifically do not
- mandate that the regional network restrict traffic.
-
- A basic problem is that the determination as to whether network
- traffic is "commercial" or not depends not on the network user,
- nor the user's employer, nor on the user's employer's tax exempt
- status, but rather on the particular and instantaneous use in
- progress. "Labeling" traffic to allow the traffic to be routed
- in accord with criteria of acceptable use is one feature of
- so-called "Type of Service" (ToS) routing which is not available
- in current off the shelf technology, although it is under
- vigorous development within the vendor community. Labeling will
- also make cost accounting easier. Several proposals offering
- different ways to label traffic are currently being considered by
- the Federal Engineering Planning Group (FEPG) and the Internet
- Architecture Board (IAB - the relevant standards setting body),
- but a solution may not be generally deployable in the network for
- a year or more.
-
- 19
-
- The FNC and its Advisory Committee have deliberated on the issue
- of commercialization of the NREN and have agreed to a policy in
- this area. The intent is to promote the creation of new,
- commercially viable data communications products and services, to
- promote the growth of private sector sources, and to encourage
- the acquisition of services, as they become generally available,
- from private sector sources.
-
- 3.3.1. Information products and services
-
- Among the network's constituents, there are a variety of views
- about what information products and services should be accessible
- over the Internet. Private providers, naturally, wish for no
- restrictions on traffic. The NREN Program policy has been that
- at least certain federally funded segments should be restricted:
- the NSFNET Backbone should be limited to R&E traffic and the
- mission agency networks should be limited to traffic in support
- of their respective missions. It is important to understand that
- these restrictions are neither on content nor on source, but
- rather relate to the intent of the agency mission. Although such
- restrictions may be difficult to enforce, it has the salutary
- implication that from the point of view of those who desire
- broader access to information products and services, that no
- information provider (public or private, for free or for fee)
- should be denied a connection to the net a priori unless it can
- be demonstrated that the information and/or service to be
- provided cannot possibly be used for mission support or in
- support of R&E. There is the further implication that, in
- accessing such providers, the onus is on the end user to use the
- information/service only for appropriate purposes.
-
- There is a potential conflict between "carrier" constituents
- (e.g., FARNET, CIX) who wish neither responsibility nor liability
- for the content of the information on the network and wish to be
- treated in this regard as common carriers, and the "provider"
- constituents, such as the library and database communities, who
- are concerned about preventing copyright violation and the
- protection of intellectual property generally. These issues and
- views are not unique to the NREN Program. The agencies plan to
- participate in and support workshops in this area during FY 1992
- and 1993. Technical work will continue as well, primarily as
- part of work to ensure the security of Network information.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 20
-
- 4. Protection
-
- 4.1. Principles
-
- Most of the protection issues concerning the NREN are not new.
- They exist for communications systems that are accessible to the
- public in general. It is important that protection policies and
- mechanisms developed for the NREN be consistent with those that
- already exist. Wherever possible, it is useful to seek models
- that apply to the NREN, or can be generalized to apply to the
- NREN. For example, the "common carriage" model fits the role of
- NREN network providers in many ways. The time tested rules and
- responsibilities applied to common carriers may well be
- appropriate to network providers.
-
- With the exception of performance capabilities, high speed
- digital networks are not inherently different from digital
- telephone networks, or any other point-to-point switched
- communications system. It may be a sound principle to adhere to
- the rules applicable to such systems, unless it can be
- demonstrated that the change in speed renders a particular rule
- ineffective or inappropriate.
-
- 4.2. Protection of Copyrights
-
- The technical mechanism appropriate to protect copyright of
- material distributed over the Network is as yet unclear.
- Electronic information is much easier to copy and transmit than
- that recorded on paper. Fewer identifying markings that show the
- source of the information exist or are retained in electronic
- copies. As cited in an Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
- report, "Finding a Balance: Computer Software, Intellectual
- Property, and the Challenge of Technological Change," the rapid
- pace of technological change in computer hardware and software
- contributes to the complexity of this topic.[10] Further, another
- OTA report, "Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of
- Electronics and Information" states that this technological
- paradigm is "outpacing the legal structure that governs the
- system, and is creating pressures on Congress to modify the law
- to accommodate these changes."[11]
-
- For example, the current legal precedent for access to and
- protection of copyrights of material accessed via modems over
- telephone lines does not assign legal responsibility to enforce
- copyright to the common carriers whose lines are used. The fair
- use of copyrighted materials, a feature of the Copyright Act and
- essential to scientific research, is an example of a concern that
- combines technical and legal issues. There must be a balance
- between the rights of copyright proprietors and the rights of the
- public. The courts or other legal proceedings will hopefully
- recognize that "arguments that equate copyright with royalty
-
- 21
-
- income run counter to this principle and might be inconsistent
- with the intent of the framers of the Constitution."[12] Any
- technical means to assure copyright protection on the NREN must
- provide for fair use, as must any legal arrangement.
-
- The agencies plan to participate in and support workshops in this
- area during FY 1993. Technical work will continue as well,
- primarily as part of work to ensure the security of Network
- information. Because consensus has not been reached in this
- complex area, implementation of technical measures on the Network
- has not yet been scheduled.
-
- 4.3. Security and Privacy
-
- A report, "Mathematical Foundations of High Performance Computing
- and Communications" to the National Research Council, clearly
- recognizes that the security of any national network is of major
- concern. Issues of valid user access to the Network and the
- information resources, authentication, and integrity of network
- connections among collaborating users all require a high level of
- security.[13]
-
- Appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources and the
- privacy of users are addressed via four policy areas. First, the
- FNC has coordinated the development of a draft NREN security
- policy. A second aspect of security is the responsible and
- proper use of Network resources. Thus, the FNC also has been
- developing, in consultation with the non-Federal communities, an
- Appropriate Use Policy. In addition, P.L. 102-476 broadens the
- NSF's organic act and authorizes the NSF to foster and support
- access by the research and education communities to computer
- networks, which may be used substantially for purposes in
- addition to research and education in the sciences and
- engineering, if the additional uses will tend to increase the
- overall capabilities of the networks to support such research and
- education activities.
-
- The Computer Security Act specifies a third policy requirement to
- ensure security of resources and protection of privacy. That Act
- requires each agency to create computer security plans for
- Federal computer and telecommunications systems which process or
- transmit sensitive, unclassified information. It also requires
- security and awareness training of Federal employees and
- contractors who use sensitive Federal computer and
- telecommunications systems. These activities, while not presented
- in this document, are separately reported by each agency through
- its Information Resources Management activity.
-
- Finally, the privacy protection of users is provided for, to some
- extent, by the Privacy Act. That Act governs access to
- information about individuals maintained by Federal agencies that
-
- 22
-
- is contained in "systems of records," as defined by the Act. In
- addition, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act protects
- Network communications from unlawful interception. Both these
- Acts may need to be updated given the rapid advances in and
- proliferation of networking technology.
-
- Information and system security and user privacy can be enhanced
- by technical security measures. Tools are available today that
- can protect information travelling across the Network.
- Encryption may be one approach to securing information that is
- transmitted via the NREN and other public networks.
-
- 4.4. Security of the NREN
-
- The Federal Networking Council (FNC) is actively investigating
- methods for enhancing the security of the NREN. The NSF, in
- conjunction with NIST, has sponsored a security workshop on
- methods for enhancing the network access and site security for
- the NSF supercomputer centers. The results of this workshop are
- expected to be applicable to all supercomputer centers and the
- sites, scientists, and educators accessing them via the NREN.
- These results and techniques are expected to provide a "proof of
- concept" and act as a basis for enhancing security for the NREN
- and the Internet at large. Other workshops on network security
- were held during 1992 by the Department of Energy and by DARPA's
- Software Engineering Institute in its role as coordinator for
- Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) nationwide. NIST
- coordinates and contributes to the development of security
- technology, guidelines, and standards that are related to the
- NREN component of the HPCC Program. NSA, in its capacity as an
- advisor on national security systems, participates in identifying
- potential security issues that may arise due to the development
- of the NREN Program and conducts research and develops
- information security products used to secure and protect national
- security systems.
-
- The Federal Networking Council has chartered the Security Working
- Group to develop a Security Policy for NREN sponsored networks.
- Its charge is to develop a high level policy which; establishes
- a common foundation for the development and use of security
- services and mechanisms to be used in the NREN Program; defines
- the responsibility for security among the users, managers,
- administrators, vendors, service providers and overseers of the
- NREN; and provides the basis for refining the high level policy
- as experience is gained in NREN operation. Public input will be
- sought prior to adoption by the FNC and final publication. As
- recommended by the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the
- full suite of laws, policies, memorandum of agreements, and
- current schema, etc., will be reviewed and evaluated for
- potential applicability to implementing an effective NREN
- security program.[14]
-
- 23
-
- 5. Constituencies and Concerns
-
- The ARPANET, the ancestor of the current Internet system and of
- NREN, was a continental U.S. network operated on DARPA funding
- for a small and relatively homogeneous group of academic and
- industrial researchers in the area of information processing
- technology. In little more than two decades, the network has
- spread beyond the borders of the United States to 39 or more
- countries worldwide with usage by - and financial support from -
- national governments (including several U.S. Federal Agencies),
- supranational entities such as the European Commission and the
- United Nations, regional and local governments; small, medium,
- large and multinational commercial and industrial businesses;
- educational institutions at every level; and private citizens.
-
- Internet's suppliers of network access and carriage have
- increased from DARPA's single contractor for the ARPANET, to a
- variegated collection of private businesses, both for-profit and
- not-for-profit, large (e.g., US Sprint) and small (e.g.,
- Performance Systems International), and even the post, telephone,
- and telegraph agencies of some foreign governments.
-
- Although the amount of network traffic has grown phenomenally,
- even more astonishing is the growth in type and variety of the
- traffic. Segments of the Internet with substantial support from
- the U.S. Federal Government are subject to restrictions,
- typically to usage consistent with the mission of the funding
- agency (e.g., "Research and Education", in the case of the NSF).
- As noted in section 3.3, some state networks have similar
- restrictions, but others recognize the network as a potentially
- vital adjunct to commercial activity and industrial development,
- and not only allow but encourage network use by business,
- commerce, and industry. In Europe, restrictions on the use of
- even government funded networks are the exception, rather than
- the rule, and use by the commercial sector is substantial.
-
- With the growth in number and type of suppliers, number of users,
- and variety of usage, it is not surprising that the unity of
- intent and custom that characterized the early and homogeneous
- ARPANET has to a degree dissipated, leading to the emergence of a
- number of distinct constituencies. Below are discussed several
- of the concerns they frequently express with the federally funded
- part of the network - particularly the NSFNET Backbone.
-
- Section 5.4 will briefly describe how the newly adopted NSFNET
- architecture provides a framework for dealing with the concerns
- of these various constituencies in a constructive and equitable
- manner.
-
- These concerns cut across the three issue categories introduced
- in Section 1 of this report -- Funding, Transition, and
-
- 24
-
- Protection -- and the six HPC Act topics. As such they give a
- flavor of the complexity of the issues that the evolution of the
- Network raises.
-
- 5.1. Broadening the Availability of Network Information Sources
-
- The library community is concerned that the libraries function as
- channels for users to access information service vendors and
- individual agencies providing information from diverse sources at
- predictable, economical, and equitable costs.[15] Nearly all
- research libraries and some college, public, school, special, and
- state libraries are already connected, but no NREN funding has
- been targeted specifically for library connectivity. However,
- the Department of Education has targeted the nation's public
- libraries as access points to its network, SMARTLINE. This is an
- example of opportunities that exist to enhance library
- connectivity through research and education objectives.
-
- The number and diversity of network accessible information
- resources continues to grow rapidly. Many are available without
- charge but most undoubtedly will not be. An intermediate
- position is that the offerors of for-fee resources make indices
- and possibly summaries accessible without fee; this would allow
- such automatic search programs as WAIS and others to find the
- resources, which should result in increased volume and lowered
- cost for all. Other concerns expressed by the information
- services industry and specifically by the Information Industry
- Association (IIA) include: a) stable pricing mechanisms to access
- the network; b) network reliability; c) comprehensive user
- directory services; and d) clear mechanisms for settling policy
- disagreements.[16]
-
- 5.2. Computer Industry Concerns
-
- The Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) and other industry
- groups cite the need to address interoperability, privacy and
- security, standards, the need for an industry voice in policy
- setting, and the desirability of wide access. Privacy and
- security are being vigorously developed in both the private and
- public sectors. Examples include: federally sponsored workshops;
- a workshop at Carnegie Mellon University entitled, ~The Fourth
- Workshop on Computer Security Incident Handling~; and an industry
- led initiative on privacy enhanced electronic mail sanctioned by
- the Internet Architecture Board. Internet standards are adopted
- by a formal procedure after community comment and demonstrated
- interworking among independent implementations. The standards
- setting process is the most open in the telecommunications
- industry. The resulting standards are open and nonproprietary,
- and they are in widespread use, insuring interoperability the
- world over. The NREN will acquire, as appropriate and when
- viable, the ISO protocol standards as identified by the GOSIP
-
- 25
-
- Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), and provisions
- for interworking the GOSIP and TCP/IP protocol suites are being
- made.
-
- The Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee (FNCAC),
- provides a channel for industry inputs into NREN policy.
- Representatives of the telecommunications and computer industries
- are members of the FNCAC. All meetings of the FNCAC have been
- open to the public, and special interest groups (including
- industry representatives) have participated.
-
- 5.3. Expanding the Vision for Education
-
- EDUCOM members and others wish assurances that the higher
- education community have a voice in policy, advocating that the
- network support services for higher education and research. They
- are concerned about the lack of apparent incentives for the
- participating Federal Agencies to invest in common network
- infrastructure rather than mission specific facilities. They
- feel there is also a need to examine a vision of the NREN beyond
- HPCC. Just as in the case of the CSPP, the formal channel for
- EDUCOM's influence on policy is the FNCAC. Currently, higher
- education is represented on the FNCAC both institutionally by
- EDUCOM staff and other members. The NSF supported a September
- 1992 workshop in Monterey on NREN Policy sponsored by the
- Computer Research Association, EDUCOM, and the IEEE to help
- develop a consensus on major NREN policy issues.
-
- In addition, the FNC has created an Ad Hoc Task Group (see
- Appendix A.3 (5)) to develop a report on the issues and to
- prepare a plan to support educational requirements within the
- constraints of the HPCC budgets and capabilities.
-
- 5.4. Plans and Mechanisms to Address Significant Issues
-
- This section summarizes plans and mechanisms for addressing
- several significant issues related to the NREN Program. These
- policy issues cut across many constituencies and are discussed
- here as separate topics. Many of these topics have no final
- solution yet, but progress is being made on all of them. The FNC
- invites public comment on many of these through its FNCAC as well
- as through public forums such as the NREN Policy workshop in
- Monterey sponsored by EDUCOM, Computing Research Association
- (CRA), and the IEEE-USA Committee on Communications and
- Information Policy. In many instances, the Federal networking
- coordination has proven to be an effective means to advance
- experimental services while progressing towards a fairer
- resolution of various policy issues. This section illustrates
- the policy issues and details the progress being made. In
- addition, public meetings and workshops will continue to be held
- to clarify these issues and to build consensus for approach or
- coordination.
-
- 26
-
- 5.4.1. Ownership
-
- All networks in the NREN Program are value-added overlays on the
- nation's privately owned telephone network's fabric of switches,
- fibre optic and copper lines, and microwave links. Mission
- agency participants in NREN such as DOE and NASA own a small
- amount of networking hardware, such as routers and network
- monitoring workstations. The NSF does not own any network
- hardware or systems as it obtains network services through
- assistance grants. The grant holder or their subcontractors, if
- any, hold title to any equipment. DoD operates TWBnet and
- DARTnet through subcontractors. that are part of the NREN
- Program. These ownership and operational relationships allow the
- mission agencies to maintain access to advanced network services
- in order to satisfy critical mission requirements. The FNC is
- developing a policy statement regarding "Transition to Commercial
- Services" which deals with the ongoing evolution of the
- networking infrastructure and ownership.
-
- 5.4.2. Operation
-
- There is important ongoing cooperation between several agency
- members of the Federal Internet community in the FNC Engineering
- and Operations Working Group. The ESNET (DOE) and NSI (NASA)
- networks are operated by government and contractor staffs at DOE
- and NASA facilities, respectively, with policy and programmatic
- oversight provided by agency headquarters in Washington, D.C.
- The NSF, in Washington, provides overall policy and guidance for
- the NSFNET (Backbone + regionals) project, but does not operate
- any networks. The regional networks are operated by independent
- business entities, some of which receive assistance grants for
- their purposes from the Foundation. The NSFNET Backbone network
- is provisioned by Merit, Inc., through a Cooperative Agreement
- with the NSF. Merit subcontracts operations to Advanced Network
- and Services, Inc. (ANS) a nonprofit corporation. The five year
- Cooperative Agreement was awarded in November, 1987 after
- competitive solicitation and panel review. Under this Agreement,
- Merit deployed 1.5 megabit per second (T1) services and is in the
- process of deploying 45 megabit per second (T3) services which
- will be accessible to all NSFNET Backbone clients by the end of
- 1993. The T3 development entails design, implementation and
- experimentation with hardware and software for storing, routing
- and dispatching traffic. In 1991, the National Science Board
- authorized the Foundation to seek an extension of the Cooperative
- Agreement for a period not to exceed eighteen months, in order to
- allow time for another competitive solicitation for a follow-on
- Agreement, and for "overlap" time to allow an orderly transition
- if needed. This subsequent NSF solicitation involves a process
- that includes a period of months for public comment on a draft
- solicitation; approval of a final solicitation by the National
- Science Board of NSF; issuance of the solicitation in early 1993;
-
- 27
-
- competitive peer review of an award by the Summer of 1993; and
- start of operations of a new Backbone by Spring 1994.
-
- 5.4.3. Acceptable use
-
- An NREN services Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) policy is now in
- draft for comment from Federal and external parties. It is
- anticipated that an NREN AUP will be finalized within a year.
- Each Federal agency will also implement an AUP policy on their
- own networks that is in line with their mission and objectives.
- There is also P.L. 102-476 that broadens the NSF's organic act
- and authorizes the NSF to foster and support access by the
- research and education communities to computer networks which may
- be used substantially for purposes in addition to research and
- education in the sciences and engineering, if the additional uses
- will tend to increase the overall capabilities of the networks to
- support such research and education activities.
-
- Apart from such a legal broadening of the NSF charter, the NSF
- solicitation for the next phase in network technology development
- and deployment ("Request for Public Comment: Solicitation
- Concept", NSF, June, 1992) calls for an industrial partner to
- provide Network Access Points (NAPs) which will be AUP-free. The
- existing backbones, ESNet, NSI and NSFNET, will have no
- privileged access to the NAPs, but they are expected to continue
- interconnecting via the FIXes. Each interested vendor (network
- service provider or regional network) may connect to one or more
- NAPs (for a fee) and provide whatever network services are deemed
- profitable and useful. However, as before, commercial traffic on
- the new incarnation of the NSFNET backbone will be limited to
- services that enhance R&E.
-
- 5.4.4. Fair competition for network services
-
- The Backbone Network System of the Interagency Interim NREN is
- emerging as a set of technology driving and precompetitive
- service offerings including the advanced ATM services being
- acquired by DOE for use of ESnet and the NSI, and the OC-3
- service that is the subject of the NSF solicitation. Although
- mission agencies may for a time continue directly to operate
- critical portions of the Interagency Interim NREN, direct Federal
- funding of commodity services is minimized. As such the
- marketplace for competitive offerings by the private sector will
- not be distorted by Federal involvement. In particular, future
- NSF funding of mid-level networks will not in general be for the
- purpose of subsidizing the provision of commodity services in
- competition with private businesses.Such funding will be for
- enhanced services such as white and yellow pages directories, and
- outreach to K-12 schools and other nontraditional communities
- (e.g., Public Health Service clinics on reservations). In the
- solicitation for NSFNET Backbone Services, the proposed
-
- 28
-
- restriction that the Routing Arbiter and NAP Operator may not
- also be a network service provider ensures that the NAPs provide
- a "level playing field" for the private sector.
-
- Moreover, in the new competitive solicitation for the NSFNET
- Backbone, the NSF will centrally fund only a precompetitive 155
- (or greater) Mb/s national Backbone. The Backbone will be
- accessible through several "Network Access Points" (NAPs) which
- will be implemented as Acceptable Use policy-free facilities to
- which regional networks and private network providers may, for a
- fee, attach and exchange both routing information and packet
- traffic. Regional networks will be given grants to attach by
- acquiring NAP-connectivity competitively from private network
- providers, or by leasing circuits and equipment (and paying the
- NAP attachment fee) to manage NAP connectivity themselves.
-
- The NAP-based architecture guarantees equal access to all
- "retail" providers of network service (i.e., private providers
- and regional networks) to each provider's customers in full
- competition for unrestricted traffic exchanges. Equal access to
- the high speed NSFNET Backbone for R&E traffic is available to
- all networks attached to the NAPs. The NAPs provide a consistent
- and symmetric view of the networking world to both the high speed
- backbone and to a private provider who attaches to all the NAPs.
-
- 5.4.5. Interoperability
-
- The FNC Engineering and Operations Working Group has proven to be
- an effective mechanism to insure interoperability. The agencies
- have worked together following DARPA~s introduction of important
- standards for network protocols and routing procedures. The NSF
- and other Federal Agencies have followed this lead and have
- aggressively promoted the use of these methods as de facto
- standards. The de facto standards originally developed by DARPA
- (embodied in documents known as "Requests for Comment", or
- "RFCs") are openly accessible at no charge electronically over
- the Internet or on paper for the cost of reproduction and
- postage. This policy of ready availability has encouraged small
- and medium sized businesses in the U.S. and abroad to enter the
- networking business. The effort has been largely successful in
- this respect and has had a major impact not only domestically,
- but also internationally.
-
- In those cases where different protocols are used by networks
- that must meet and exchange traffic, "application layer gateways"
- are used to perform the necessary conversions. The benefits and
- limitations of this technology are well understood and the
- necessary hardware and software are available from commercial
- vendors. For example, gateways between the two open standards
- based electronic mail systems (CCITT's X.400 and the Internet
- standard RFC822) are maintained at the Universities of Michigan
-
- 29
-
- and Wisconsin, and in several countries in Europe, and the high
- energy physics laboratory CERN in Geneva maintains gateways
- between the file transfer protocols of the Internet (ftp), the
- International Standards Organization (ftam), and the German
- national research network (dfn file transfer).
-
- The Interagency Interim NREN must provide seamless
- interoperability to a diverse research and education community
- while evolving continuously to achieve its infrastructure
- enhancement and technology development goals. In planning NREN's
- evolution, the FNC Engineering and Operations Working Group
- (EOWG) will need to strike a balance between common carrier
- developed telecommunications technologies documented in voluntary
- industry standards and more experimental computer network
- technologies that may be documented in de facto NREN standards.
- Use of voluntary standards is mandated in the FNC's NREN
- Transition Policy and in OMB Circular No. A-119, and is a
- powerful means of accelerating the deployment of advanced
- technologies, such as SONET and ATM, in public networks.
- Selective implementation of more experimental technologies is
- required to achieve NREN research objectives, and the
- documentation of such technologies in de facto standards can
- expedite their commercialization and acceptance in public
- standards forums.
-
- Aggressive liaison between the EOWG and voluntary
- telecommunications standards forums will be required to balance
- common carrier and computer network perspectives in shaping the
- NREN and its public network counterparts. Liaison with Committee
- T1 and CCITT is particularly important because of the strong role
- these organizations play in public telecommunications planning.
- The EOWG should integrate public network technologies specified
- in emerging T1 standards and CCITT Recommendations in NREN when
- such initiatives will accelerate their deployment in public
- networks or substantially enhance the services provided to NREN
- users. The EOWG should provide NREN research results to
- voluntary standards organizations whenever such contributions
- will substantially benefit public network providers and their
- users.
-
- 5.4.6. Availability
-
- Network access at 1.5 Mb/s per second or greater is currently
- available to all National Laboratories, major DOE academic
- contractors, NASA centers and contractors/grantees, and (through
- the NSFNET infrastructure) to nearly all universities in the top
- four categories of the Carnegie classification. Availability is
- being extended both in depth as well as breadth. Service over
- the NSFNET Backbone and that specified in the recent DOE award is
- increasing to 45 Mb/s per second with planned upgrades to higher
- speeds only if funding permits. The NSF Connections Program, and
-
- 30
-
- similar programs sponsored by other Federal Agencies, are
- extending basic network service to an additional hundred or more
- institutions each year. Institutions being connected in the
- latter category include medical school campuses (under NIH
- sponsorship), and agricultural extension services.
-
- 5.4.7. Copyright protection
-
- The problems in protecting and granting fair usage of information
- in electronic form are not unique to the NREN. These problems
- exist in all forms of electronic exchange of information. The
- rights of the creators of information, and the rights of the
- library and users of this information need to be balanced. The
- FNC will be looking to the legal community to aid in developing
- appropriate guidelines.
-
- The fair use of copyrighted materials, a feature of the Copyright
- Act essential to scientific research, is an example of a concern
- that combines technical and legal issues. Any technical means to
- ensure copyright protection must provide for fair use, as must
- any legal arrangement.
-
- The agencies plan to participate in and support workshops in this
- area during FY 1993. Technical work will continue as well,
- primarily as part of work to ensure the security of Network
- information. Because consensus has not been reached in this
- complex area, implementation of technical measures on the Network
- has not yet been scheduled.
-
- 5.4.8. User base
-
- The user base, although intended to be limited to the R&E
- communities, is extensive and rapidly growing. U.S. efforts also
- play an important role in developing network technology world
- wide. The Internet can reach a user community estimated to be
- between 5 and 10 million, using more than 1 million computers on
- 7,500 interconnected networks worldwide. The U.S. user community
- is easily 1 to 2 million, and has 80% of the host computers. It
- should be noted that the R&E communities include commercial and
- industrial users and information suppliers, not just users from
- the academic and government sectors. Moreover, the Internet's
- commercial sector, which includes many U.S. corporations, both
- large and small, represents the most rapidly growing segment of
- the Internet.
-
- Traffic on the NSFNET Backbone network, in addition to DOE's
- ESnet and NASA's NSI network, which together form the principal
- large-scale structure of the domestic Internet, is growing at an
- exponential rate of 10% per month. The number of accessible
- networks is also growing, though not quite as rapidly. Thus,
- both the number of users per network and the traffic per user are
- growing dramatically.
-
- 31
-
- Appendix A. Management/ Coordination of the HPCC Program
-
- This section summarizes the HPCC management and coordination
- processes that help implement the NREN activities. Section A.4
- and A.5 were developed by the participating agencies and
- represent their agreed upon roles and responsibilities in
- implementing the NREN Program.
-
- The principal management mechanism of the overall HPCC Program is
- coordination. The NREN Program is implemented in the model of
- the HPCC Program as a partnership among Federal Agencies and
- other organizations. Major portions of the HPCC Program are
- cost-shared and leveraged by the participation of industry and
- universities. Leadership for the HPCC Program is provided by the
- Office of Science and Technology Policy, through the Federal
- Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering, and Technology
- (FCCSET) Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering
- Sciences (PMES). The membership of PMES includes senior
- executives of many Federal Agencies. Planning for the HPCC
- Program is coordinated by the PMES High Performance Computing,
- Communications, and Information Technology (HPCCIT) Subcommittee.
-
- This process provides for agency participation through agency
- proposal development and review, budget crosscut development and
- review, and interagency program coordination. Agency programs
- are reviewed against a set of evaluation criteria for merit,
- contribution, readiness, linkages to industry, and other factors.
-
- The schedules, roles, and responsibilities of the agencies
- participating in the U.S. HPCC Program for the planning and
- budget process for each fiscal year are outlined in Section A.4.
- In accordance with the Federal Budget Process for the HPCC
- Program and other crosscut budget activities, member agencies of
- PMES must submit to OMB their HPCC budget requests and
- supporting documentation, as reviewed by senior agency officials
- and the PMES committee. These requests must be described and
- justified relative to the goals, objectives, and research
- priorities of the HPCC Program. The PMES then develops and
- submits to the OMB and PMES member agencies a combined,
- integrated, multi-agency budget recommendation that reflects the
- goals, objectives, and integrating priorities of the HPCC. PMES
- members then submit to OMB their resulting HPCC Program requests
- as part of their total fiscal year budget submission.
-
- Under the HPCCIT there are currently four special groups which
- coordinate activities in specific areas including; Applications,
- Networking, Research, and Education. From time to time,
- individual agencies are assigned responsibility to lead the
- coordination of the HPCCIT and these groups.
-
- 32
-
- The coordinating methods that evolved among the agencies
- participating in the HPCC Program produced a consistent and
- effective set of managerial mechanisms. In addition, HPCCIT
- explored and considered several options for strengthening the
- interagency coordination while retaining the strengths of the
- current management structure, namely:
-
- ~ effective multi-agency budget advocacy;
- ~ tight coupling with agency programs and missions; and
- ~ diverse applications, requirements, and technical approaches
- to ensure accomplishment of HPCC objectives and technology
- transfer.
-
- In response to these needs, HPCCIT has established a permanent
- National Coordination Office for the HPCC Program that will
- combine the functions of the current HPCCIT Chairman with the
- necessary supporting functions of a permanent staff office.
-
- A.1. Management/Coordination of the NREN Program
-
- During 1990, in order to provide for broader and more inclusive
- coordination of research and education communities, the NSF, as
- part of its HPCCIT network task group activities, created the
- Federal Networking Council (FNC) and initiated the creation of an
- FNC Advisory Committee (FNCAC) consisting of non-Federal
- scientists and network users to serve as an NSF advisory
- committee. The FNC is based on the successful model of the
- Federal Research Internet Coordinating Committee (FRICC) - an
- informal body established by core Federal Agencies in 1987 to
- coordinate their networking activities and expenditures. The FNC
- consists of representatives from Federal Agencies that have
- requirements for operating and using networking facilities,
- mainly in support of research and education, and for advancing
- the evolution of the Federal portion of the Internet.
-
- First level management of the NREN Program is accomplished
- through normal agency structures. Multi-agency NREN coordination
- is achieved through the PMES and its HPCCIT subcommittee. The
- HPCCIT Networking group, currently led by the NSF, coordinates
- network integration activities and works closely with the FNC,
- wHPCC participants and other Interagency Interim NREN governmental
- constituents, in addition to providing a liaison to non-Federal
- communities interested in the Federal program. The FNC and its
- Executive Committee set policy and address operational and
- management issues through its working groups and ad hoc task
- forces. Currently, the chair of the HPCCIT Networking group also
- serves as the chair of the FNC, thereby providing the liaison and
- coordination necessary between the HPCCIT and the FNC.
-
- Each of the participating agencies has enhanced their HPCC and
- NREN management functions. DOE's NREN management is located
-
- 33
-
- within the Energy Research (ER) Program's Scientific Computing
- Staff, to which the ESnet network manager reports directly on
- issues relating to the ESnet and its role in the NREN Program.
- NASA's NREN Program management structure is derived from a matrix
- organization, in which the Network manager for both NASA's
- Scientific and HPCC networks, reports directly to both NASA's
- HPCC (Code R) and Science Board (Code S) programs. The NSF has
- instituted an HPCC coordinating committee with budget, planning,
- and oversight responsibilities. The NSF's NREN Program works
- with the NSF HPCC coordinating committee and the NSFNET Executive
- Committee on NSFNET and NREN issues. The NSF has created a NREN
- Program Director position to handle NREN and interagency issues.
- DARPA has created a High Performance Computing Joint Program
- Office to coordinate advanced technology development within the
- DoD and cooperatively with other agencies. Efforts are clustered
- together for more effective administration. For example, the
- DARPA/NSF testbeds are jointly overseen by DARPA and NSF, with a
- coordinating committee to insure inter-testbed exchanges, annual
- jamborees, and the like. As gigabit technology becomes more
- widely available and used by multiple agencies, Federal efforts
- will be coordinated by working groups under the Research Working
- Group of the FNC.
-
- A.2. Federal Networking Council
-
- The Federal Networking Council (FNC) consists of representatives
- from Federal Agencies that have requirements for operating and
- using networking facilities, mainly in support of research and
- education, and for advancing the evolution of the federally
- funded portion of the Internet. The FNC works closely with the
- appropriate FCCSET committees to provide a broader forum for
- discussion and resolution of networking plans, operations, and
- issues.
-
- Specifically, the FNC is responsible for establishing policies
- and guidelines to promote coordination among its various
- committees and agency program managers. The FNC also guides the
- evolution of NREN services to promote U.S. competitiveness as
- well as to broaden the community, including commercial
- availability.
-
- The FNC chairperson is appointed by the HPCCIT networking task
- group chairperson. The duration of the term is normally 18
- months. The FNC will operate through an Executive Committee that
- will be responsible for decision making and implementation
- (generally on a consensus basis), through working groups that
- will address ongoing areas of interest or activity, and ad hoc
- task groups established to work on specific tasks with set
- deadlines.
-
- 34
-
- (1) FNC Management and Committee Structure
-
- The FNC structure is explained below.
-
- (2) Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee (FNCAC)
-
- The Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee shall provide
- the FNC with technical, tactical, and strategic advice from the
- constituencies involved in the NREN Program. Constituencies
- include the following: the research and scholarly communities
- who are the end users of the networks; organizations that need
- connectivity to the NREN; transmission and other facilities
- providers; industrial organizations that develop and provide
- relevant technology and services; and experts in networking and
- computer science who provide technical guidance.
-
- The FNCAC is advisory in nature and shall work on areas of policy
- and technical direction and user/program needs and requirements,
- excluding budgets and funding. Membership is limited and
- meetings of the FNCAC occur at least two times per year. The
- FNCAC must draft a charter to be approved by the FNC. FNCAC
- members are appointed by the FNC chairperson in response to
- recommendations by the FNC. The FNCAC can, with FNC approval,
- create subcommittees with open membership to provide assistance
- to the FNC on appropriate issues.
-
- (3) FNC Executive Committee
-
- The FNC's Executive Committee comprises representatives of the
- participating HPCC agencies with major network initiatives and
- others as designated by the FNC chairperson. The Executive
- Committee provides support to the FNC chairperson and serves as
- primary decision making and implementing body of the FNC to
- coordinate with the FCCSET HPCCIT Subcommittee on HPCC crosscut
- budgets, plans, and activities. It will also perform annual
- reviews of FNC working groups and task groups with regard to
- membership, purpose, and continuing need in order to make changes
- as appropriate.
-
- The FNC Executive Committee may charge any of the working groups
- to perform specific tasks or studies, or create a focused ad hoc
- task group with a specific deadline and lifetime to do so, as
- deemed necessary to accomplish FNC goals. The FNC Executive
- Committee may also request working groups or task groups to
- produce or to present reports on specific topics to the FNC
- Executive Committee or to the FNC within two weeks of such
- requests.
-
- 35
-
- A.3. FNC Working and Ad Hoc Task Groups
-
- Working and ad hoc task groups of the FNC address issues that
- require interagency coordination or have policy implications.
- The working groups are: (1) Engineering and Operations; (2)
- Security; (3) Research; and (4) Policy. One ad hoc task group
- currently exists for Education. These groups meet as appropriate
- to carry out their responsibilities and report regularly to the
- FNC. Group membership may include non-Federal employees as
- appropriate to provide technical expertise or other required
- consultation or coordination. By January 1 of each year, each
- working or task group will submit to the FNC a summary document
- outlining the accomplishments during the previous year and the
- goals for the coming year for activities within their purview.
-
- (1) Engineering and Operations Working Group (EOWG)
-
- The Engineering and Operations Working Group is responsible for
- integrating new network technologies into the Interagency Interim
- NREN and providing support to the Federal HPCC Program. The EOWG
- oversees the ongoing operation of the Federal research and
- education portion of the Internet and has overall responsibility
- for coordinating the requirements, engineering, and operational
- activities, for both domestic and international research and
- education requirements, for implementing the Interagency Interim
- NREN.
-
- (2) Security Working Group (SWG)
-
- The Security Working Group is responsible for addressing network
- security technology, management, and administration issues
- related to maintaining and improving the availability, integrity,
- and confidentiality of Interagency Interim NREN resources. The
- SWG will develop, coordinate, and propose to the FNC a security
- policy for use of the Interagency Interim NREN. It will also
- review security requirements of the evolving NREN and propose
- technical developments, operational guidelines, and
- administrative procedures needed to meet them. It will prepare
- input to the FNC, as needed, on security related matters. The
- SWG will work closely with other organizations developing or
- defining security policies, standards, services, and mechanisms
- in fulfilling these duties.
-
- (3) Research Working Group (RWG)
-
- The Research Working Group is responsible for coordinating
- research and development activities in network technologies. The
- Research Working Group will coordinate federally sponsored
- research required for the development of the NREN. The RWG
- defines and prioritizes gigabit research areas, develops research
- plans, and coordinates these plans with the FCCSET task group on
- High Performance Communications.
-
- 36
-
- (4) Policy Working Group (PWG)
-
- The Policy Working Group is responsible, in conjunction with the
- other FNC working groups and the FNC at large, for identifying,
- documenting, and reviewing policy issues affecting the
- development of the NREN. The PWG develops plans and proposals
- for managing the NREN and for the operation of the FNC, and
- identifies policy issues associated with the operation and
- evolution of the NREN and develops policies and plans to address
- these issues. The PWG responds similarly to issues referred to
- it by other FNC Working Groups. The PWG is then responsible for
- presenting its results as recommendations to the FNC.
-
- (5) Education Ad Hoc Task Group
-
- The FNC ad hoc Education Task Group will prepare a report on
- issues, requirements, and recommended FNC activities with regard
- to educational networking support needs and benefits.
-
-
- A.4. Agency NREN Program Management Responsibilities
-
- The agencies participating in the FNC have established a Charter
- and worked to define their respective roles. The FNC has approved
- the following set of agency responsibilities:
-
- (1) Agencies participating in the FNC who have requirements for
- the use or development of NREN facilities (i.e., federally
- funded equipment, software, services, etc., which are part
- of the Interagency Interim NREN or NREN funded testbeds) or
- who have approved budgets for the HPCC, should, as
- appropriate, in coordination with the HPCCIT Subcommittee:
-
- ~ provide representation to and actively participate in
- the FNC;
-
- ~ use the NREN Program facilities;
-
- ~ coordinate their NREN Program development as part of
- the interagency NREN Program;
-
-
- ~ coordinate their research and education data network
- installations, upgrades, modifications, and activities,
- both national and international, through the FNC and as
- part of the coordinated interagency NREN Program;
-
- ~ coordinate the development of plans and budgets for
- NREN activities through the FCCSET crosscut budget
- process for each fiscal year budget submission;
-
- 37
-
- ~ coordinate their network research activities through
- the FNC and as part of the interagency NREN Program;
-
- ~ submit an implementation plan for NREN activities for
- FNC interagency coordination prior to the start of each
- fiscal year; and
-
- ~ participate in the development of annual NREN
- implementation and gigabit research plans.
-
- (See Section A.5 for an explanation of the process for
- coordination of requirements and implementation.)
-
- (2) The Department of Defense through:
-
- (2.1) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) shall
-
- ~ be the lead agency for gigabit technology development
- and coordination for research on gigabit networks;
-
- ~ carry out a gigabit technology research program;
-
- ~ provide for basic and applied research in gigabit and
- other advanced communications technologies; and
-
- ~ for NREN budgets and activities, develop a gigabit
- network research plan as part of the interagency NREN
- Program for coordination by the FCCSET/PMES and the
- FNC. The plan shall include all proposed gigabit
- research activities of participating agencies and is
- submitted to the FNC for review and approval.
-
- (2.2) National Security Agency (NSA) shall
-
- ~ in its capacity as an advisor on national security
- systems, participate in identifying potential security
- issues that may arise due to the development of the
- NREN Program and assist the FNC in identifying the
- appropriate bodies to resolve such issue; and
-
- ~ conduct research and develop information security
- products used to secure and protect national security
- systems.
-
- (2.3) Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) shall
-
- ~ be the lead agency in planning and providing the
- Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and
- Intelligence (C4I) mission requirements for the DoD
- Military Departments and Agencies in the NREN Program;
-
- 38
-
- ~ conduct research for the development of applications of
- high speed networking for the DoD C4I community;
-
- ~ support and contribute to the development of open
- architecture and standards that affect the DoD C4I
- networks as impacted by the NREN; and
-
- ~ upgrade and enhance The Wide Band network (TWBnet) and
- the Defense Information System Network (DISN) testbeds
- networking infrastructure for the DoD C4I related
- mission activities.
-
- (3) National Science Foundation (NSF) shall
-
- ~ coordinate the Interagency Interim NREN activities,
- including coordinating the development, deployment, and
- operations of the Interagency Interim NREN facilities
- and services;
-
- ~ upgrade the NSF funded network as part of the
- coordinated Interagency Interim NREN Program;
-
- ~ assist regional networks to upgrade their capabilities
- as appropriate and as part of the coordinated
- Interagency Interim NREN Program;
-
- ~ serve as the primary source for information or access
- to and use of the Interagency Interim NREN;
-
- ~ assist colleges, universities, and libraries, where
- appropriate, to connect to the Interagency Interim
- NREN;
-
- ~ provide for basic research and development in gigabit
- and other network technologies; and
-
- ~ develop an Interagency Interim NREN implementation
- plan, for review and approval of the FNC, as part of
- the interagency NREN Program, for coordination of the
- broad deployment of the Interagency Interim NREN
- working with universities, industry, and agencies
- having mission specific requirements. The plan shall
- be the basis for coordination of all participating
- agency NREN activities subsequent to FNC approval.
-
- (4) Department of Energy (DOE) shall
-
- ~ provide for applications based gigabit research;
-
- ~ provide for energy related mission Interagency Interim
- NREN facilities deployment;
-
- 39
-
- ~ upgrade and enhance the DOE Energy Sciences Network as
- part of the coordinated Interagency Interim NREN
- Program to provide quality networking infrastructure
- support for energy related mission activities; and
-
- ~ participate in basic and applied research and
- development of gigabit technology.
-
- (5) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall
-
- ~ provide for applications based gigabit research;
-
- ~ provide for Interagency Interim NREN facilities
- deployment for aeronautics and earth and space science
- missions;
-
- ~ participate in Interagency Interim NREN architecture
- development;
-
- ~ participate in the research and development of gigabit
- technology; and
-
- ~ upgrade the NASA Science Internet and AEROnet as part
- of the coordinated Interagency Interim NREN Program.
-
- (6) The Department of Commerce through
-
- (6.1) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- shall
-
- ~ coordinate, research, and develop instrumentation and
- methodology for performance measurement of high
- performance networks and computer systems;
-
- ~ conduct research and development on new high
- performance communications protocols;
-
- ~ promote "Open Systems" standards to aid industry to
- commercialize the products of research and development,
- with the aid of other agencies;
-
- ~ support, coordinate, and promote the development of
- standards within the Federal Government to provide
- interoperability, common user interfaces to systems,
- and enhanced security for the Interagency Interim NREN;
- and
-
- ~ coordinate and contribute to the development of
- security technology, guidelines and standards for
- unclassified systems.
-
- 40
-
- (6.2) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- shall
-
- ~ provide access to oceanic and atmospheric research and
- education facilities to meet mission needs in keeping
- with the coordinated Interagency Interim NREN Program.
-
- (6.3) National Telecommunications and Information Administration
- (NTIA) shall
-
- ~ in its capacity as Executive Branch adviser on
- telecommunications policy issues, participate in
- identifying potential legal and regulatory policy
- issues affecting the national telecommunications
- infrastructure that may arise due to the development of
- the NREN Program and assist the FNC in identifying the
- appropriate bodies to resolve such issues;
-
- ~ contribute to the planning and conduct of research and
- development of quality of service measurements on the
- NREN in support of network optimization and management
- for the public switched network; and
-
- ~ support, promote, and contribute to the development of
- commercial communications standards that affect the
- public switched network, as impacted by NREN related
- research and development, and with the aid of other
- agencies.
-
- (7) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall
-
- ~ provide for states environmental mission assimilation
- into the Interagency Interim NREN;
-
- ~ develop a facility and campus-wide environmental
- modeling research capability and network based on
- Interagency Interim NREN-compatible technologies,
- including ethernet, FDDI, and ATM/SONET, and to include
- in these activities cooperative efforts with local
- "telephone company" communications service providers
- for planning and installing local and metro-area high
- speed interconnects compatible with the NREN; and
-
- ~ begin planning with state environmental agency research
- and education groups for assimilation into the
- Interagency Interim NREN. Initial contacts and
- specific plans will be developed for at least five
- states. Relationships will be established to begin the
- process of technology transfer from the EPA research
- network to the states' environmental research and
- education environments.
-
- 41
-
- (8) Health and Human Services (HHS) through the National
- Institutes of Health (NIH) shall
-
- ~ provide for medical mission NREN facilities deployment
- as part of the coordinated Interagency Interim NREN
- Program; and
-
- ~ provide for applications based gigabit research.
-
- (9) Department of Education shall
-
- ~ support, coordinate, and promote where appropriate, the
- use of the Interagency Interim NREN in the K-12
- community; and
-
- ~ conduct research on the applications of networking with
- an emphasis on the coordination of activities with
- libraries, school facilities, educational research
- groups and the general education community with respect
- to the advancement and dissemination of educational
- information to improve teaching and learning.
-
- (10) Department of Agriculture, through its Science and Education
- Agencies (the Agricultural Research Service, Cooperative
- Extension Service, National Agricultural Library, and
- Cooperative State Research Service), shall
-
- ~ provide for agricultural research and education mission
- assimilation into the Interagency Interim NREN
- involving the agencies named in this section and the
- land grant university community including local
- Extension and research offices.
-
- (11) Department of Interior, through its U.S. Geological Survey,
- shall
-
- ~ participate in the gigabit technology research program
- through the EROS (Earth Resources Observatory System)
- Data Center; and
-
- ~ provide for earth science mission assimilation into the
- Interagency Interim NREN Program.
-
- A.5. Interagency Interim NREN Requirements and Implementation:
- Coordination Process
-
- The coordination of the multi-agency HPCC networking requirements
- and of their implementation is a critical activity for the
- Interagency Interim NREN Program. This is so because the
- Interagency Interim NREN is an evolving, operating system of
- networks that is broad both in technological scope and in
-
- 42
-
- communities served, yet also serves as a proving ground for
- innovative networking technologies whose introduction pose
- certain elements of risk. This risk, however, is offset by the
- demanding network requirements of leading edge grand challenge
- research endeavors.
-
- Coordination involves three formal activities which must be
- synchronized with normal agency budget processes: requirements
- definition, requirements analysis, and implementation and
- execution. Coordination is also a continuing process for the
- Executive Committee and the EOWG, since the treatment of de novo
- and ad hoc situations should not be deferred.
-
- (1) Requirements Definition
-
- The initial definition of networking requirements for the
- federally funded portion of the Interagency Interim NREN will be
- done separately by the participating FNC agencies, and should be
- submitted to the Executive Committee by the fourth quarter of the
- fiscal year. This requirements definition will include planned
- activities for the next fiscal year as well as identified
- requirements for the following budget year. Requirements will be
- identified as to type (e.g., information services, connectivity
- to locations and institutions, network capabilities, etc.), and
- will be described in enough detail to support a technical and
- administrative interagency coordination.
-
- (2) Requirements Analysis
-
- The EOWG, under the auspices of the FNC, will perform a technical
- analysis of the agency requirements documents and present a
- written summary of technically feasible solutions, including cost
- estimates, to the Executive Committee who will present it to the
- FNC. This process will be completed prior to the submission of
- the President's budget for the following budget year, and will
- allow the FNC to ensure that Federal Interagency Interim NREN
- requirements are coordinated and well planned.
-
- (3) Implementation and Execution
-
- Based upon the requirements analysis, cost estimates, and balance
- of infrastructural and mission specific impact, the Executive
- Committee will prepare a plan of action for the next fiscal year
- and an implementation plan, as part of the Federal Budget Process
- for the HPCC Program, for the following budget year. The final
- plan will be reviewed by the FNC and submitted as an
- informational item by the FNC Chairperson to the FCCSET HPCCIT
- Subcommittee.
-
- 43
-
- A.6. Public Interaction and Advisory Bodies
-
- All HPCC agencies receive advisory input from their sister
- agencies via the FNC in addition to the FNC Advisory Council
- (FNCAC), which is a formally chartered Federal advisory committee
- comprised of computer vendors, telecommunications providers,
- representatives of the library community, and researchers and
- senior managers from universities, supercomputer centers, and
- national laboratories. In addition, each agency maintains
- various mechanisms for incorporating advice and information from
- interested parties. Involvement by the communication and
- computer industries is always a goal. Every gigabit testbed
- involves at least one common carrier, a computer manufacturer,
- and a university. Mutual interest guarantees technology
- transfer. Gigabit testbeds are always in the service of gigabit
- applications, so systems are evaluated both by its authors and by
- its users.
-
- In order to increase end user input into the planning of NREN
- services, the NSF is planning to establish and charter a Users
- Advisory Group made up of scientists, engineers, and educators
- who use NSFNET and NREN services.
-
- In the planning and conduct of its NSFNET and NREN activities,
- the NSF regularly consults a variety of private sector R&E
- networking entities, such as:
-
- ~ The Federation of American Research Networks (FARNET) that
- includes private sector IP service providers (e.g. PSI,
- Sprint), State networks, and both independent and NSF
- subsidized regional R&E networks;
-
- ~ EDUCOM, a nonprofit educational consortium;
-
- ~ The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), a nonprofit
- education and library consortium; and
-
- ~ The Internet Architecture Board (IAB), an informal association
- of technical experts who have guided the technical evolution
- of R&E networking since the early 1980's.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 44
-
- Appendix B. Current NREN Program
-
- B.1. Background
-
- No single agency has hierarchical authority to direct and manage
- the HPCC Program, however, the HPCC Program and, in particular,
- the NREN activity is characterized by close coordination between
- the participating Federal agencies. The NREN Program is an
- integral component of the HPCC Program and is executed through
- the activities of several independent agencies coordinating their
- efforts and plans developed through the HPCC budget planning and
- other related program planning processes described in Appendix A.
-
- In 1985 the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering
- and Technology (FCCSET) established a Network Working Group
- comprised of Federal agency representatives from the National
- Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects
- Agency (DARPA), Department of Energy (DOE), National Institute of
- Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Aeronautics and
- Space Administration (NASA), to coordinate Federal agency
- research networking activities. The Network Working Group
- generated a FCCSET report, "Interagency Networking for Research
- Programs," which was published in February 1986, recommending the
- interconnection of existing federally supported data
- communications networks for research programs and the formation
- of an Interagency Research Internet Organization.
- Subsequently, network managers from NSF, DARPA, DOE, NIST, NASA,
- and other agencies worked together to oversee, coordinate, and
- manage the evolution of the Federal portion of the Internet. The
- results of this collaboration are stable operational
- relationships that now serve as the basis for interagency
- oversight, management, and focus for the federally funded portion
- of the Internet. In addition, this collaboration led to
- large-scale interconnectivity between the mission agencies'
- research data networks, the NSFNET (NSF Computer Network), and
- the remainder of the Internet, primarily based on the Federal
- Internet eXchanges (FIXs), as well as coordinated multi-agency
- international links.
-
- As participation in the Federal research networking program grew,
- agencies recognized the need to more closely coordinate Federal
- research networking activities with those of industry, academia,
- and, in general, with other interested groups. Accordingly, the
- original vision of this interagency activity was extended to
- include additional Federal and non-Federal components.
-
- The National Research and Education Network (NREN) Program is a
- multi-agency activity that will provide for the evolution from
- the current federally funded research and education (R&E)
- networks, to a gigabit network system that allows for both the
- interconnectivity and interoperability of federally funded R&E
-
- 45
-
- networks with each other and with private sector networks by the
- mid-1990~s to support the increasing demands in R&E. As its name
- indicates, the NREN activity is primarily for research and
- education, not general purpose communication. Nonetheless, the
- NREN Program incorporates vital connections to industrial and
- governmental sectors and develops general testbeds for new
- communications technologies.
-
- The principal goals of the NREN Program are to;
-
- ~ advance the leading edge of networking technology and
- services,
-
- ~ widen network access within the research and education
- community to high performance computing systems and other
- research facilities, and to electronic information resources
- and libraries, and
-
- ~ accelerate the development and deployment of networking
- technology by the telecommunications industry and by the
- private sector generally.
-
- The program has two principal components: the Interagency Interim
- NREN, and Gigabit Research and Development. The Interagency
- Interim NREN activity is an evolving operating network system.
- Near term (1992-1996) communications and networking research and
- development activities will provide for the smooth evolution of
- this networking infrastructure into the future gigabit network
- supporting research and education. The Gigabit Research and
- Development is a comprehensive program of gigabit-per-second
- network hardware and software technology that embodies the goal
- of the NREN Program evolution by the mid-1990~s. This activity
- also develops technologies and demonstrates applications.
-
- B.2. Scope
-
- The Interagency Interim NREN is an evolving operational system of
- networks. Near term (1992-1996) research and development
- activities will provide for the smooth evolution of this
- networking infrastructure into the future gigabit NREN.
- Interagency Interim NREN activities will achieve this goal by
- expanding the connectivity and enhancing the capabilities of the
- federally funded portion of today's research and education
- networks, and by deploying advanced technologies and services as
- they mature. The Interagency Interim NREN, which is primarily
- based on DARPA's Internet technology, builds on the NSF's NSFNET,
- DOE's Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), NASA's Science Internet
- (NSI) and other networks supporting research and education.
-
- Today's Interagency Interim NREN is used to support collaboration
- among people through electronic mail and bulletin boards, access
-
- 46
-
- to information sources through file transfer, and access to
- remote computers and other laboratory facilities through remote
- log-in. It is anticipated that the next generation of
- applications will require a radical extension of not just the
- speed of the network, but of the capabilities. For example,
- collaboration among people through real-time digital multimedia
- conferencing or remote access to visualize supercomputer
- experimental results requires new capabilities, not just a faster
- version of today's capabilities. The NREN Program for the
- federally funded portion of the NREN is intended to provide a
- radical extension beyond existing capabilities of current
- hardware and software. The goal is to spur the deployment of the
- most advanced networking services that support the ever-
- increasing networking demands of high performance computing to
- the extent feasible, while assuring a stable and consistent level
- of services for the advanced HPCC R&E community.
-
- The underlying strategy of the HPCC Program has been to support
- the solution of important scientific and technical problems of
- broad national significance in collaboration with all interested
- sectors in government, industry and universities. In the
- networking area this strategy has led to a unique collaboration
- in both the research and operational aspects of the NREN
- activity.
-
- At each stage of its evolution, the Interagency Interim NREN
- activity consists of an infrastructure of multi-protocol
- value-added services carried on the nation's existing underlying
- telecommunications fabric. Both components of the NREN Program
- are designed for participation of the private sector to maximize
- the leverage of Federal funds. It is intended that Federal
- operation and ownership of network facilities and services,
- already minimal, be continuously reduced even further as the
- program develops.
-
- Although the NREN is an R&E network program, a deliberate
- consequence of including substantial private sector activity is
- that the technology and services developed, and even the
- facilities themselves, may be the model for a more ubiquitous
- network offering developed under private, or other public
- efforts. In fact, many industrial research organizations and
- commercial establishments that support the nation's scholarly
- enterprise are connected. The commercial networks are the
- fastest growing segment. Nevertheless, HPCC Program priorities
- remain the central focus of the NREN Program. While other
- Federal and private sector participants are encouraged, the
- degree of their participation must be contingent on several
- factors, such as, program focus, cost sharing, and technology
- leverage.
-
- 47
-
- DARPA has the HPCC lead role for developing gigabit class
- technology for the NREN activity. This work is complementary to
- Interagency Interim NREN work done elsewhere and DARPA's own
- defense related research in network technology.
- The NSF coordinates the broad deployment of the Interagency
- Interim NREN Programs and systems, and supports the HPCC Program
- by: coordinating interagency network activities; providing
- backbone services to the general R&E community; providing
- information services on access and use of the network; assisting
- regional R&E networks to upgrade and enhance their own services;
- and supporting the development and deployment of gigabit
- technologies.
-
- Currently, and at the end stage of this development, the
- Interagency Interim NREN Program activity will result in a
- comprehensive service offering to the nation's community of
- researchers and scholars at all levels. It will interconnect
- them to one another and to the facilities and other resources
- they use in their scholarly endeavor, such as, databases and
- libraries, laboratories, scientific instruments, and computation
- centers. As a facilitator and enabler of intellectual activity,
- the Interagency Interim NREN system will include connectivity to
- supporting organizations, such as, publishers and hardware and
- software vendors. International connections that serve the
- national interest are also included.
-
- Important features of the NREN Program are:
-
- ~ use of existing telephone company facilities, and not the
- laying of fiber or building a physical network; and
-
- ~ driving technology and broadly seeding the market, while
- avoiding competition with the private sector.
-
- Because of this latter aspect, success of this part of the
- program inevitably leads to tension and concerns that government
- services not remain in place once a technology offering has been
- demonstrated and seeded. It is the policy of the NREN Program to
- seek to accelerate this transition to the private sector, while
- not compromising the need for stable and consistent services by
- the R&E community.
-
- B.3. Vision
-
- The NREN is both a goal of the HPCC Program and a key enabling
- technology for success in the other components. As used in this
- report, the NREN is the future realization of an interconnected
- gigabit computer network system supporting HPCC. The NREN is
- intended to revolutionize the ability of U.S. researchers and
- educators to carry out collaborative research and education
- activities, regardless of the physical location of the
-
- 48
-
- participants or the computational resources to be used. As its
- name implies, NREN is a network for research and education, not
- general purpose communication. Nonetheless, its use as a testbed
- for new communications technologies is vital. A fundamental goal
- of the HPCC Program is to develop and transfer advanced computing
- and communications technologies to the private sector of the U.S.
- as rapidly as possible, and to enhance the nation's research and
- education enterprise. The development and deployment of advanced
- applications, such as image visualization and distributed
- computing, will be applied to problems such as medical diagnosis,
- aerodynamics, advanced materials, and global change, and will
- provide the impetus necessary for transferring the supporting
- technologies and capabilities throughout the U.S. science,
- technology, and education infrastructure. These capabilities and
- technologies will be developed through the cooperative effort of
- U.S. industry, the Federal Government, and the educational
- community.
-
- The interagency High Performance Computing and Communications
- (HPCC) Program has undertaken the Interagency Interim NREN
- activity, not solely as support for the HPCC Program including
- the solution of Grand Challenge problems, but also as an
- infrastructure for community wide connectivity for broad support
- of the Nation's intellectual activity. In doing this, the focus
- remains on providing advanced, leading edge, and in some cases,
- prototype network services to the Nation's R&E community, rather
- than attempting to serve as a general public computer network.
-
- For the long term, DARPA is developing technology today which
- will be the foundation of the NREN from 1995-2000. It is not
- simply a matter of more of today's technology; this will not do
- the job. The NREN research program, under DARPA coordination,
- includes a broad effort to develop a set of complementary gigabit
- networks based on common carrier standards (e.g. ATM), satellite,
- wireless, optical and others. New internetwork architectures use
- these as building blocks for new sets of coherent services such
- as global file systems, multicast delivery, and other services.
- There are issues involving: smooth scaling to multi-gigabit
- speeds, universal access, multimedia, real time, policy controls,
- and other services which do not exist in today's Interagency
- Interim NREN that need to be addressed. This technology
- development will track Interagency Interim NREN developments, and
- early use of new commercial technologies, to insure that there is
- a clear technical and policy roadmap to smooth transition from
- today's systems to those of the future.
-
- In summary, the NREN Program comprises a spectrum of coordinated
- networking activities by the several Federal Agencies that ranges
- from providing a framework for commodity offerings by the private
- sector, through the funding of an infrastructure of
- precompetitive networking technologies. The program is designed
-
- 49
-
- to serve the most advanced scientific and educational demands,
- and foster an aggressive collaboration with private industry in
- the development of next generation network systems that will
- operate in the gigabit-per-second, and beyond, range of speeds by
- the mid-1990~s.
-
- B.4. Current NREN Program Status
-
- As mentioned above, the NREN component of the HPCC Program is
- comprised of two related and complementary subprograms, the
- Interagency Interim NREN subcomponent, and the Gigabit Research
- and Development subcomponent.
-
- The Gigabit Research and Development subcomponent is aimed at
- providing the research and technology base needed to achieve, at
- a minimum, gigabit speeds and advanced capabilities in the NREN
- Program. Gigabit network development already underway includes
- the joint DARPA/NSF gigabit testbed program and gigabit network
- exploitation of the ACTS satellite with National Aeronautics and
- Space Administration (NASA), and programs to foster development
- of low cost gigabit LANs for workstation environments. These
- development efforts are complemented by research efforts in less
- developed areas, such as, all optical networks. Advanced
- Internet technology will tie these networks together. The DARPA
- Advanced Research Testbed Network (DARTNET) is the testing ground
- for new capabilities developed at over a dozen research sites.
- Multimedia, and resource allocation work is nearing the maturity
- necessary for wide use, while multicast and policy routing are
- already transitioning into the Interagency interim NREN. Future
- efforts will develop gigabit LAN interoperability agreements.
-
- The Interagency Interim NREN Program is an evolving operational
- network system that supports early deployment of networking
- technologies and systems for the high performance computing R&E
- community. It is this part of the NREN Program that is
- attracting the widest interest from various constituencies as
- they become aware of the potential use of this developing
- technology base. This in turn has led to serious concerns
- regarding various issues such as, ownership, funding, operation,
- commercialization, etc. The main purpose of this report is to
- present the context for the discussion of these issues and the
- Federal agency plans for dealing with them.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 50
-
- Appendix C. Glossary
-
-
- ANS
- Advanced Network and Services, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
-
- ANSI
- American National Standards Institute
-
- ARPANET
- primarily a continental U.S. computer network that preceded
- the Internet and was operated by DARPA
-
- ATM
- Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a new telecommunications
- technology, also known as cell switching, which is based on 53
- byte cells
-
- AUP
- Acceptable Use Policy
-
- Backbone Network
- a high capacity electronic trunk connecting lower capacity
- networks, e.g., NSFNET backbone
-
- CCITT
- International Consultative Committee for Telegraphy and
- Telephony
-
- CERTs
- Computer Emergency Response Teams
-
- CIA
- Central Intelligence Agency
-
- CIX
- Commercial Internet eXchange
-
- CLNP
- ConnectionLess Network Protocol
-
- CNI
- Coalition for Networked Information, a nonprofit education and
- library consortium
-
- CONCERT
- regional network serving the State of North Carolina
-
- CRA
- Computing Research Association
-
- 51
-
- CSPP
- Computer Systems Policy Project
-
- C4I
- Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence
-
- DARPA
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
-
- DARTNET
- DARPA Advanced Research Testbed Network
-
- DISA
- Defense Information Systems Agency, formerly the Defense
- Communications Agency
-
- DISN
- Defense Information Systems Network
-
- DOC
- Department of Commerce
-
- DOD
- Department of Defense
-
- DOE
- Department of Energy
-
- DS1
- a multiplexed channel of 24 DS0 channels (i.e., one DS0
- channel carries one voice grade channel equivalent of data at
- 64 Kb/s)
-
- DS3
- a multiplexed channel of 28 DS1 channels
-
- ED
- Department of Education
-
- EDUCOM
- a non-profit, primarily academic consortium for information
- technology
-
- EOWG
- Engineering and Operations Working Group of the Federal
- Networking Council
-
- EPA
- Environmental Protection Agency
-
- 52
-
- ESnet
- Energy Sciences Network
-
- FARNET
- Federation of American Research Networks
-
- FBI
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
-
- FCCSET
- Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and
- Technology
-
- FEPG
- Federal Engineering Planning Group, operational arm of the
- Federal Networking Council's Engineering and Operations
- Working Group
-
- FIPS
- Federal Information Processing Standard
-
- FIX
- Federal Internet eXchange
-
- FNC
- Federal Networking Council
-
- FNCAC
- Federal Networking Council Advisory Committee
-
- GOSIP
- Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile
-
- HHS
- Health and Human Services
-
- HPC
- High Performance Computing
-
-
- HPCC
- High Performance Computing and Communications
-
- HPCCIT
- High Performance Computing, Communications, and Information
- Technology subcommittee
-
- IAB
- Internet Architecture Board, an Internet group originally
- chartered by DARPA for the ARPANET
-
- 53
-
- IEEE
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
-
- Internet
- the global set of interconnected computer networks of which
- NSFNET, ESnet, and NSI are components
-
- IP
- Internet Protocol
-
- ISDN
- Integrated Services Digital Network
-
- ISO
- International Standards Organization
-
- Mb/s
- Megabits per second or millions of bits per second
-
- NAP
- Network Access Point, a set of nodes interconnecting NREN
- backbone networks
-
- NASA
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
-
- NCO
- National Coordination Office for the High Performance
- Computing and Communications Program
-
- NEARNET, SURANET, WESTNET
- regional computer networks in New England, the Southeast, and
- Western parts of the U.S.
-
- NIH
- National Institutes of Health
-
- NIST
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
-
- NOAA
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
-
- NREN
- National Research and Education Network, consisting of the
- Interagency Interim NREN component and the Gigabit Research
- and Development component
-
- NSA
- National Security Agency
-
- 54
-
- NSF
- National Science Foundation
-
- NSFNET
- NSF Computer Network
-
- NSI
- NASA Science Internet
-
- NTIA
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration
-
- OC-3
- network transmission speed of 155 Mb/s
-
- OC-12
- network transmission speed of 622 Mb/s
-
- OMB
- Office of Management and Budget
-
- OSI
- Open Systems Interconnection, a protocol suite of the ISO
-
- OSTP
- Office of Science and Technology Policy
-
-
- PMES
- FCCSET Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering
- Sciences of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
-
- PWG
- Policy Working Group of the Federal Networking Council
-
- RA
- Routing Arbiter, entity that will be selected under new NSF
- Backbone cooperative agreements to stabilize the network
-
- R&E
- Research and Education
-
- RFCs
- Requests for Comments
-
- RWG
- Research Working Group of the Federal Networking Council
-
- SMDS
- Switched Multimegabit Data Service, a new networking
- technology being deployed by the telephone companies
-
- 55
-
- SWG
- Security Working Group of the Federal Networking Council
-
- T1
- network transmission of a DS1 formatted digital signal at a
- rate of 1.5 Mb/s
-
- T3
- network transmission of a DS3 formatted digital signal at a
- rate of 45 Mb/s
-
- TCP/IP
- Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the
- communications protocols currently being used on the Internet
-
- ToS
- Type of Service
-
- TWBnet
- DARPA's Terrestrial Wideband Network
-
- vBNS
- very high speed Backbone Network Services
-
- VPNs
- Virtual Private Networks
-
- WAIS
- Wide Area Information Service
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 56
-
-
- List of References
-
-
- 1. The summary of findings identified network technology as
- essential to support scientific collaboration and access to
- scientific resources. Executive Office of the President (U.S),
- Office of Science and Technology Policy. "A Research and
- Development Strategy for High Performance Computing."
- Washington: 1987 Nov 20, p. 1.
-
- 2. Executive Office of the President (U.S.), Office of Science
- and Technology Policy. "The Federal High Performance Computing
- Program." Washington: 1989 Sep 8, p. 32.
-
- 3. A brief discussion of gigabit network research problems is
- provided on pp. 102-103. Harmanis, Juris, and Herbert Lin,
- editors. "Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer
- Science and Engineering." Washington: National Academy Press;
- 1992.
-
- 4. Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering and
- Technology (U.S.). "A Report to the Congress on Computer
- Networks to Support Research in the United States: A Study of
- Critical Problems and Future Options." Vol. 2, "Reports from the
- Workshop on Computer Networks; 1987 Feb 17-19; San Diego, CA."
- Los Alamos (NM): Los Alamos National Laboratory, Computing and
- Communications Division; 1987 Jun, p. 34.
-
- 5. EDUCOM; IEEE. "Proceedings of the NREN Workshop; 1992 Sep 16-
- 18; Monterey, CA." Washington: EDUCOM; 1992, Tab 9, p. 3.
-
- 6. Computer Systems Policy Project. "Expanding the Vision of
- High Performance Computing and Communications: Linking America
- for the Future." Washington: 1991 Dec 3, p. 12.
-
- 7. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
- (U.S.) "High Performance Computing and Communications Panel
- Report." Washington: 1992, p. 2.
-
- 8. "Federal Register," 1992 Jun 15; 57 (15): 26692. "Request
- for Public Comment: Solicitation Concept. National Science
- Foundation (U.S.), Division of Networking and Communications
- Research and Infrastructure." "Responses to NSF's Request for
- Public Comment on the Draft Solicitation Network Access Point
- Manager/Routing Authority and Very High Speed Backbone Network
- Services Provider for NSFnet and the NREN Program." Washington:
- 1992.
-
- 9. Computer Systems Policy Project. "The Federal HPCCI Budget
- for FY '92: Achieving Better Balance." Washington: 1991 Dec 3,
- p. 12.
-
- 57
-
- 10. Congress of the United States, Office of Technology
- Assessment, Congressional Board of the 102d Congress. "Finding a
- Balance: Computer Software, Intellectual Property, and the
- Challenge of Technological Change." Washington: 1992 May. OTA-
- TCT-527, p. 4. Available from U.S. Government Printing Office,
- Washington, D.C.
-
- 11. Congress of the United States, Office of Technology
- Assessment. "Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of
- Electronics and Information." Washington: 1986 Apr. OTA-CIT-
- 302, p. 3. Available from U.S. Government Printing Office,
- Washington, D.C.
-
- 12. Congress of the United States, Office of Technology
- Assessment. "Copyright and Home Copying: Technology Challenges
- the Law." Washington: 1989 Oct. OTA-CIT-422, p. 5. Available
- from U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
-
- 13. National Research Council (U.S.), Panel on the Mathematical
- Sciences in High-Performance Computing and Communications, Board
- on Mathematical Sciences, Commission on Physical Sciences,
- Mathematics, and Applications. "Mathematical Foundations of High
- Performance Computing and Communications." Washington: National
- Academy Press; 1991, p. 13.
-
- 14. EDUCOM; IEEE. "Proceedings of the NREN Workshop; 1992 Sep 16-
- 18; Monterey, CA." Washington: EDUCOM; 1992, p. A-69.
-
- 15. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
- (U.S.). "Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy
- on Library and Information Services' Roles in the National
- Research and Education Network." Washington: 1992, pp. 13, 15.
-
- 16. Ibid., p. A-207
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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- 58
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