EPSCoR Project Summary

C.1 Introduction

C.2 Background

• C.2.1 Participants
• C.2.2 Research Network Needs
• C.2.3 NevadaNet Infrastructure

• C.3.1 Expected Benefits
• C.3.2 Network Engineering Plan
• C.3.3 Quality of Service Issues
• C.3.4 Service Accessibility
• C.3.5 Budget
• C.3.6 Long-term Funding and Support
• C.3.7 Implementation and Oversight
• C.3.8 Reporting

Figures

• Figure 1. Overview of NevadaNet
• Figure 2. Nevada Research Network Overview
• Figure 3. Typical Site Connection
• Figure 4. Potential vBNS Connections to NRN
• Figure 5. Future Optional Sites for NRN

Table

• Table 1. NRN and NSF CISE Project Timeline

Construction of A High-Speed Research Network in Nevada

The University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN), in conjunction with its three major research institutions, requests funding to develop the Nevada Research Network (NRN). This network is required to support a number of scientific research applications that require high bandwidth and quality of service (QoS) features. The NRN is specified as an in-state research-only network based on ATM over OC3 (fiber optic) to serve the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and the Las Vegas and Reno campuses of the Desert Research Institute (DRI). Five facilities and thirteen departments of these three institutions will be connected initially to the NRN.

Nevada researchers are currently faced with increasingly severe bandwidth restrictions and QoS limitations for out-of-state network traffic as well. NSF vBNS connectivity is essential to resolving these problems by providing dependable access to supercomputers, data, and collaborators in other states and countries, as well as allowing researchers outside Nevada to take advantage of meritorious research expertise and resources within the state. The connectivity will also provide the researchers at these three Internet 2 institutions with the opportunity to take full advantage of the NCSA alliance with EPSCoR states. The design of the NRN provides for the cost-effective use of one or more vBNS connections, funding for which is being sought from other sources.

The three institutions, System Computing Services (SCS) of the UCCSN, Nevada state funding, and a pending NSF Internal Connectivity proposal, as well as rate reductions and engineering expertise from corporate partner Brooks Fiber Communications, are supporting the cost of developing the NRN. The NRN consists of star topology network OC3 connections originating at the Reno and Las Vegas offices of SCS. Existing network infrastructures and Internet Protocol (IP) distribution systems of the three institutions and UCCSN supply service to designated departments. An OC3 line between the two SCS offices provides a north-south state backbone.

Purchase and maintenance costs for seven ATM switches and routers are budgeted at $437,418. One-time installation and termination costs are $51,000. Management software for the switches and routers is budgeted at $11,582. Funds requested total $500,000. Cost share of this same amount is provided by means of funding supplied by SCS for an OC3 line between the Reno and Las Vegas SCS offices totaling $400,000 and installation and maintenance assistance at each of the seven sites totaling $100,000.

SCS will be responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining the NRN and the vBNS connection. The NRN Advisory Committee (NRNAC), with representatives from UCCSN, SCS, UNR, UNLV, and DRI, will oversee implementation. The NRNAC is also responsible for developing NRN access and use policies. The NRN and vBNS projects will be fully documented on a Web site for in-state reference and outside review.

Project Description
C.1 Introduction

A high-speed research network is proposed to support research activities by the three major research institutions in Nevada: University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in the north; University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in the south; and Desert Research Institute (DRI), with facilities in both Reno and Las Vegas. This Nevada Research Network (NRN) will be dedicated to research data transfers and collaborative, multi-site computing between thirteen departments at these three institutions at five physical locations. The infrastructure of the NRN is based on ATM technology over OC3 fiber optic connections. The NRN is designed to address serious bandwidth, latency, and general Quality of Service (QoS) issues relating to the existing educational network (NevadaNet) which is based on T1 lines and which provides commodity network services to 7 institutions, 2500 faculty, and 70,000 students.

Network constraints pose a real threat to maintaining competitive and effective research enterprises at UCCSN Reno and Las Vegas facilities. Given the graphical-, data-, and computational-intensive nature of the research undertaken by these UCCSN institutions and the individual institutions' growing collaborative relationships with other national and global research centers and laboratories, timely, reliable, high-volume data transfers are essential. In addition, all three campuses frequently collaborate with each other, and the large geographical distance (400 miles) between Reno and Las Vegas poses a major obstacle to physical collaborations within UCCSN. The NRN is intended to provide the infrastructure to remedy these concerns in providing a high-speed network for in-state traffic and allowing a single vBNS connection for all research campuses. The details of this project, including costs, engineering issues, QoS, and administrative issues, are discussed in this proposal.

Overcoming existing statewide network constraints to high-quality research will help maximize future investments of research dollars by such funding agencies as DOE, DoD, NSF, and EPSCoR. The NRN and its subsequent connection to vBNS will enable Nevada to play a role in furthering the federal government's Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative to develop "network-based science, health, education, and environmental applications" (NGI Mission Statement, July, 1997). These are all areas in which Nevada researchers enjoy national and international prestige and represent the work of federal agencies with which UNR, UNLV, and DRI already work closely (e.g., DOE, NASA, NSF, NIST, and NIH).

C.2 Background
C.2.1 Participants

Of the seven campuses which comprise the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN), UNR, UNLV, and DRI are the three that are heavily involved in research activities which drive the need for high-performance computing and networking resources.

Founded in 1874 as Nevada's land-grant university, UNR is the state's oldest institution. UNR offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral and professional studies, to a student body of 12,400. An accredited medical school offers M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs as well. The University is home to 500 full-time and 200 part-time instructors. Faculty research has gained national acclaim in many areas of endeavor. The American Association of University Professors ranked UNR as a "Class 1" research institution. This recognition is supported by the dramatic growth in sponsored project support, which has increased by nearly 76% since 1990. Total project awards for FY 1997 reached nearly $67 million. The increasing number of Ph.D.s granted, along with increased federal government awards to UNR, has placed the University in a position to be classified as a Research University I under the Carnegie classification.

UNLV is the state's largest comprehensive, doctoral degree granting institution with 20,000 students and more than 700 full-time faculty. UNLV has 46 academic department and schools and currently offers 148 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs. The university also has 14 research centers and in 1996 had 115 federal awards amounting to $13.6 million, 70 federal pass-through awards totaling $2.5 million, 31 state awards of $1.1 million, and a number of other awards totaling 1.4 million for a total of $20 million in research activities. The 1996 funding levels represent a 117% increase since 1990.

DRI is a non-profit division of UCCSN which conducts full-time basic and applied environmental research for Nevada, the nation, and the world. In the last ten years, DRI has conducted research in all but three of the 50 states and on every continent. The Institute's 400 scientists, technicians, and staff conduct over 100 research projects every year from science facilities at Reno, Las Vegas, Stead, Laughlin, and Boulder City. DRI is the world's largest multidisciplinary organization conducting environmental research in arid lands. It is organized into five research centers which focus on atmospheric physics, air quality, plants and animals in arid environments, past climates, human adjustments to environmental changes, and water quality and quantity. DRI has a yearly research budget of $23.4 million, representing a 70% increase in research funding since 1990.

System Computing Services (SCS) provides intercampus wide area network (WAN) services for the UCCSN, as well as to participating state and federal agencies and K-12 schools in Nevada. SCS has been awarded a number of network development grants in developing NevadaNet and has extensive experience in engineering and expanding network capabilities. Previous funding includes:

• NSF Grant NCR-8822241, 1989: three year program for connection of senior and research institutions to NSFNet via San Diego

• NSF Grant NCR-9021052, 1990: "Northern Nevada Community College Connection to NevadaNet" to extend NevadaNet connectivity to Elko.

• NSF Grant NCR-9118427, 1992: "NevadaNet Phase II" for continued support of NevadaNet and user outreach program.

• NSF Cooperative Agreement NCR-9321083: SCS to operate as regional network provider during the transition period while NSFNet was retired in favor of the commercial Internet.

• NSF Grant NCR-9503532, 1995: "NevadaNet Phase III" to extend NevadaNet to six remote community college instructional sites.

The Reno office of Brooks Fiber Communications, a nationwide provider of local telecommunications services and a preferred service provider for MCI, will work with SCS as a utility/business partner in this project. Brooks is committed to provide engineering services for the proposed network, to provide SONET fiber technology to DRI's Reno facility without construction charges, and to develop special discounted rates for the bandwidth specified for higher education within Nevada.

Bechtel Nevada and UCCSN (primarily faculty at UNR, UNLV, and DRI) are developing a variety of Technical Collaboration Teams in technical areas ranging from earthquake engineering studies to high energy physics. Bechtel is keenly interested in connecting its network to NevadaNet and NRN to increase opportunities for professional collaboration with UCCSN personnel. It is supportive as an industry partner of the proposed high- speed networking connectivity project.

C.2.2 Research Network Needs

This section describes some of the research projects and facilities that either currently require or would benefit from a high-speed state network infrastructure and a subsequent vBNS connection.

• The National Supercomputing Center for Energy and Environment (NSCEE) is located on the UNLV campus. Application areas include meteorology, astronomy, computational chemistry and physics, virology, remote sensing, nonlinear optics and laser-material interaction, virtual environments, molecular dynamics, and telemedicine. Transferring data between NSCEE and other National Laboratories (LANL, LBNL, LLNL, Sandia, NASA, DOE, EPA, NIH, and DoD), as well as universities around the world, is critical to the continuing success of this Center.

• Theoretical research in the UNR Department of Physics focuses on atomic and molecular physics, dense plasma physics, and modeling of x-ray spectra. All of these areas are computationally intensive and require vectorization and use of vector machines, such as the supercomputer at UNLV. Massively parallel computers through the use of Parallel Virtual Machine software in a distributed computing environment is required for continued research in these areas. Access to such computing facilities will allow the development of new parallel algorithms for the computational implementation of physics models and will make possible calculations which are presently too resource-intensive to complete.

• UNLV physicists, along with graduate students, undergraduate students, postdoctoral research associates, and other US collaborators, are performing simulations of new materials, structures, and nanostructures such as quantum dots, small clusters, interfaces, and polymer systems. Research goals include studying the electronic and spectral properties to understand the roles of electron-electron correlation effects in nanomaterials. This work is currently being conducted on an in-house 10 gigaflop parallel/distributed facility funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation. Access to the vBNS will allow the project teams to combine their local resources with those at the San Diego Supercomputing Center, the Cornell Theory Center, and the Maui Supercomputing Center. Full-scale simulations will be performed at the national supercomputing sites, and local resources will be used to analyze the resultant data. Expected project results include new numerical techniques for simulating and modeling new electronic materials. Simultaneous use of these resources over a high-speed network will allow simulations not currently possible at any individual site.

• The Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC), located in DRI's Reno facility, manages and operates a Unidata LDM feed, which is the primary source of weather and climate information for Oregon State University, New Mexico State, University of Wyoming, California State University at Chico, and the Naval Postgraduate School. In addition, WRCC is a secondary feed for the University of Utah, the University of Colorado, CIRES, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Saskatchewan. Upstream sites are the University of Washington and Unidata in Boulder, Colorado. High-speed, reliable networking is necessary to ensure timely flow of satellite maps, forecasts, observational data, climate data, lightning data, and radar data through WRCC to many other research programs.

• WRCC is also a partner with the five other U.S. Regional Climate Centers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Unified Climate Access Network (UCAN). This network will enable climatic data to be shared seamlessly among DRI, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the University of Illinois at Champaign, Louisiana State University, the Department of Natural Resources in Columbia, South Carolina, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and NWCC in Portland, Oregon. Since most of the Regional Climate Centers are already collocated at universities with vBNS connections, the benefits of a connection to the WRCC is clear, particularly given the large volumes of data involved.

• The Subsurface Flow and Contaminant Transport Group at DRI is working on advanced modeling techniques for contaminant transport in groundwater, with applications to DOE underground nuclear test areas in Nevada. Because computations are conducted by researchers located at north and south DRI facilities, high-speed connectivity is necessary for large simulations that may involve as much as 12.5 GB of data. In addition, supercomputing resources at the San Diego Supercomputing Center for computation and visualization efforts are necessary for projected increases in modeling efforts. Collaborative investigations of nuclear testing effects with Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos Laboratories would benefit from vBNS connectivity.

• UNR conducts extensive research in areas related to ground water hydrology, particularly solute transport. The research is currently limited in terms of the scale of problems that can be solved due to the lack of scalability of the models on even the most sophisticated on-campus scientific workstations. For example, the UNR Hydrology Laboratory has constructed a porous medium model which requires 10 million nodes or elements to simulate solute transport properly. Specialized supercomputer access, available via the vBNS, is required to resolve these problems.

• The UNR Physics Department recently acquired a Z-Pinch apparatus from Los Alamos that is being installed at UNR's Stead Facility and will be operational by the first quarter of 1998. This device is the cornerstone of the Nevada Terawatt Facility (NTF) and is used in research concerning long-term stability of nuclear weapons without the need for underground testing. The resulting data are to be shared with UNR's Physics Department on its main campus, the UNLV Physics Department, DOE, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, as well as other National Labs. A number of private companies that worked with the Z-Pinch at Los Alamos are being encouraged to continue their work with UNR. In addition, DRI researchers have plans to use the Z-Pinch device's ability to generate artificial lightning for atmospheric physics work. High-speed network connections are necessary to disseminate large amounts of data resulting from Z-Pinch experiments to all participants.

• The Center for High Energy Density Science and Technology, a statewide entity involving faculty at UNLV, UNR, DRI, and several national laboratories (e.g., Livermore, Sandia, Los Alamos) coordinates research using laser technology. Current projects include Laser Spectroscopy of Molecular Ions, Lasers for Ultra-sensitive Environmental Analysis, Laser Diagnostics of Z-Pinch Plasmas, Lasers for Down-Hole Monitoring at the Nevada Test Site, and Laser Diagnostics of Highly Charged Ions at Livermore. High-speed network connections are essential to these collaborative efforts. Remote collaboration tools allowing researchers physically removed from the experimental apparatus to participate in the research projects ("col-laboratories" or "virtual laboratories") are being developed for this work. A high-speed network connection is essential to real-time access to these experiments for researchers within Nevada as well as those at the cooperating national laboratories. High-speed network capabilities are also critical for effective use of high-resolution data visualization graphics in support of this work.

• DRI conducts research in high-resolution mesoscale and regional scale atmospheric and dispersion modeling. This research includes assimilating large numbers of observations from meteorological networks, satellite data, remote sensing measurements, and data from special field projects. In addition, model output visualization allows real-time weather forecasting given a specific terrain and atmospheric conditions. Currently this research group depends on access to a supercomputer at NCAR, but such access has been plagued with frequent Internet outages and slow connections. An offer of free computing time at NCSA has been made to all EPSCoR researchers, but without a reliable, high-speed connection, the offer cannot be realized.

• Using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), investigators in the UNLV Physics Department and their colleagues across the country are studying star formation in galaxies, the nature of galaxies in voids, and the nature of active galactic nuclei. Work with the HST requires investigators to remotely run programs at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore and the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. Large image files must also be downloaded from both STScI and GSFC. Both of these activities require reliable, high-speed network access not currently available in Nevada. Funding for these projects extends until October, 2001, with funding for future associated projects expected. Connection to a high-speed network will greatly enhance the success of the current projects and help ensure the success of future funding efforts.

• The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the UNLV Transportation Research Center are collaborating with the City of Las Vegas and Clark County officials to develop effective strategies to reduce traffic congestion and resulting collisions and air pollution. An Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) initiative that builds on the existing infrastructure in the valley and current enhancements to the Las Vegas Area Computerized Traffic Control System (LVACTS) is already being developed. ITS components include Traveler Demand Management Systems (TDMS) and Traveler Information Systems (TIS) to allow effective use of existing transportation capacity. ITS also includes the Incident Detection and Management System, the Public Transportation Management System, and the Commercial Vehicles Operations System to provide spatial and temporal data for long-range planning. High-speed connections to federal repositories of traffic flow, crash data, and weather information will allow the investigative teams to collect, store, and analyze the large data sets used in the traffic flow simulations.

• The Nevada Gap Analysis Program (GAP), a joint cooperative remote sensing mapping project between the Biological Resources Center at UNR and DRI, is part of the National GAP Analysis Program designed to map and identify vegetation types from satellite images. Coordinated by the National Biological Service, this national program involves all 50 states and over 200 collaborating agencies, private businesses, special interest groups, universities, and state, local, and federal governments. To reach the goal of a seamless tiled database of land cover classifications for the entire nation, Nevada researchers must match its image database with those of California, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and Idaho. Given individual scenes which are 400-600 MB in size, coupled with ancillary data such as elevations, soil data bases, hydrography, and Digital Line Graph data, a vBNS connection is essential to transmit and receive the large volumes of data to complete the National GAP Program in a timely manner.

C.2.3 NevadaNet Infrastructure

UCCSN campuses are currently networked together via connections to SCS offices located in Reno and Las Vegas (Figure 1). UNR's FDDI backbone is directly connected to the Reno SCS facility, which resides on the UNR campus. UNLV is connected via fiber to the SCS office on its campus. The DRI facility in Reno and the UNR Physics facility in Stead (12 miles north of Reno) are connected to SCS via T1 lines leased from the local phone company. The DRI facility in Las Vegas, which is located adjacent to the UNLV campus, transfers 10BaseFX data across fiber extended across the intervening street. NevadaNet's data connection between Reno and Las Vegas is a T1 line (1.5 Mbps). Internet connections are two multiplexed T1 lines from each of the two SCS offices. This network, including connections to the four UCCSN community colleges, is known as NevadaNet and carries general purpose ("commodity") Internet traffic such as e-mail and Web information. NevadaNet also encompasses an extensive in-state video conferencing network used for collaboration between researchers at all three campuses and for distance education purposes.

UNR is currently planning to upgrade portions of its FDDI backbone with Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) segments. DRI is already upgrading its Reno and Las Vegas infrastructures to an ATM-over-OC3 backbone, with 10BaseT and 100BaseT service to individual computers and servers. UNLV, with its extensive fiber optic infrastructure, is taking advantage of that flexibility to provide high speed network connections throughout its campus. SCS is heavily engaged in upgrading its main north-south backbone from 10BaseT services over a single T1 leased line to ATM over OC3. All four entities work closely together in analyzing and planning computer and networking needs and have several standing committees and a long-range state-wide plan (Campus and Statewide Network Plan, 1995).

Figure 1. Overview of NevadaNet

Not unexpectedly, NevadaNet is proving to be inadequate for intensive research activities. The situation is particularly acute for DRI, which maintains modeling teams split between its Reno and Las Vegas facilities, affecting even its in-house research efforts. In addition to DRI's five research centers, the Western Regional Climate Center, UNR's engineering, chemistry, and physics departments, UNLV's physics, engineering, and chemistry departments, and the National Supercomputing Center for Energy and Environment have immediate and long-term needs for high-speed, dependable networking capabilities.

C.3 Project Specifics
C.3.1 Expected Benefits

The NRN initiative is designed to build a high-speed research network with QoS capabilities within Nevada. This will greatly aid in-state research data transfer and collaboration needs throughout the state, including needs of Nevada researchers to reach supercomputers, distributed computing pools, large archived databases, and other network-accessible tools required for competitive research. Real-time planning, on-line experimental control, remote data collection, and access to large databases would become possible. Distributed computing paradigms such as Condor and Symbio will allow more efficient use of existing Nevada computing power, as well as providing opportunities for UNR and UNLV's Computer Science Departments to pursue projects in high-speed network and distributed computing. DRI's expertise in mesoscale modeling and ground water transport modeling can be more easily incorporated into collaborative multi-site visualization projects, with potential benefits to all researchers in those fields. The NRN effectively negates Nevada's large geographical size as a barrier to collaboration between Reno and Las Vegas facilities.

The NRN will alleviate existing problems with bandwidth and dependability within the state and in existing Internet connections. Research network traffic will move from the existing NevadaNet T1 backbone (1.5 Mbps) to the NRN ATM backbone (155 Mbps), a hundred-fold increase in capacity and speed. An indirect benefit is that with the removal of existing research traffic NevadaNet will effectively gain more capacity to handle routine network traffic such as e-mail without additional investment in equipment or expensive T1 lines.

Finally, UNR, UNLV, and DRI are members of the Internet2 consortium, and a high-speed backbone is necessary to make full use of Internet2 services.

C.3.2 Network Engineering Plan

SCS, in its role as an intercampus service provider, will supply the network design and implementation expertise for the NRN backbone connections and equipment. SCS personnel, under the leadership of Davan Weddle, currently maintain NevadaNet. Networking personnel at each of the campuses bring expertise and knowledge of their respective facilities and campus infrastructures. Brooks Fiber, a service provider related to MCI operating in the Reno area, is also providing information on available fiber service and equipment for this project and has offered additional engineering support as well.

The NRN deals with building the in-state infrastructure necessary to handle high-speed and high-bandwidth research applications. The NRN design is depicted in Figures 2 and 3. SCS offices in Reno and Las Vegas will be joined with a single OC3 backbone running ATM. Sites in Reno (DRI's Northern Nevada Science Center, UNR, and UNR's Stead facility) and in Las Vegas (DRI's Southern Nevada Science Center and UNLV) will be connected to SCS offices in a star topology.

Despite the higher initial cost, OC3 communications lines and equipment interfaces are preferred over other alternatives such as DS3. Given that NSF is pushing existing vBNS sites to upgrade to OC3 (NSF FAQ, WWW 1997), initially specifying OC3 equipment is the most cost-effective plan in the long term. In addition, scalability and QoS features are more easily implemented with ATM over OC3.

Figure 2. Nevada Research Network Overview

Figure 3. Typical Site Connection

Switches and routers compatible with other out-of-state vBNS sites will provide the necessary interfaces between the ATM backbone and IP-based networks at each of the user sites. The manufacturer and specific models of this equipment will be based on the best available technology at the time funds are available. Each departmental site is responsible for providing network service from the routers to appropriate departmental servers or workstations. Such connections would be IP over full duplex 100BaseT (100 Mbps) using copper or fiber connections or native ATM over OC1 (54 Mbps). SCS will manage the backbone equipment using commercially available network and switch management software.

Connections between SCS-South, UNLV, and DRI's SNSC will be over existing campus fiber and will incur no connectivity costs other than fiber terminations. Connections between SCS-North and UNR's campus will also use existing campus fiber. Connections to DRI's NNSC and UNR's Stead facility will require that fiber be leased from a local commercial provider.

The NRN project is scheduled for installation over a two-year timeframe starting in July, 1998. In conjunction with the NRN project, a proposal was submitted in January, 1998, to the NSF Internet Connectivity Program for vBNS connections costs. The proposed vBNS connection would originate from the SCS office in either Reno or Las Vegas. Potential gigaPOP sites include Rialto, California; Hayward, California; and San Diego, California (Figure 4). Present quotes by MCI and Sprint indicate that a slight cost advantage would be recognized in originating the connection at Las Vegas and terminating in Rialto. Brooks Fiber, a strategic partner in the NRN project, is also interested in providing vBNS service between Reno and California. However, the selection of the route and the carrier would be made after a formal bid process establishes which carrier provides both the best cost and the most acceptable QoS guarantees, both important issues because of limited fiber capacity within Nevada.

Although vBNS connectivity depends on the NRN infrastructure, the reverse is not true; the NRN has significant benefits to in-state research needs by itself. If NSF funding is not approved, alternate funding will be sought from UCCSN and state sources. If full funds are not awarded for the NRN infrastructure, priority will be given to equipping the SCS offices, followed in order by DRI's SNSC, UNR, UNLV, DRI's NNSC, and UNR's Stead facility.

C.3.3 Quality of Service Issues

QoS issues can be considered at two levels. The first deals with large amounts of data that need to be moved in a reliable, timely manner. Acceptable levels of both measures are somewhat arbitrary and depend on a number of network attributes (redundant links, self-healing meshes, raw bandwidth, competing traffic, et al.). While some degradation in data transfer speeds can usually be tolerated, consistent slowness, particularly with frequently moved large data files such as satellite images (sustained traffic), can adversely affect research efforts. The second level of QoS is time-critical data. While this is most often associated with voice or video information, it can also be an issue with remotely controlled experiments and real-time data streams from a remote experiment.

By selecting ATM technology as the basis for the NRN infrastructure, provisions for QoS scheduling are possible through cell prioritization and switched virtual circuits. For both bandwidth and QoS reasons, DRI is already converting both of its facilities to an ATM-based backbone, a process which is scheduled to be completed by September, 1998. In addition to providing a fully meshed network for reliability, DRI's equipment has the ability to quickly add OC3 pairs to its backbone for more capacity. SCS is also investigating ATM technology for its two facilities.

Alternative QoS protocols which are not yet fully developed include RSVP (Zhang, et al., 1995; Berson and Berger, 1997). When such protocols are finalized and available from vendors as software or firmware updates, SCS will obtain and install such features.

One method to prevent QoS problems is to restrict use of the high-speed in-state infrastructure and the vBNS connection to approved research projects and activities. Routers in the individual departments that have NRN connections will maintain separation between commodity network traffic and research traffic. Because the vBNS has strict use policies, the NRN Advisory Committee (Section C.3.7) and SCS will monitor and control usage of the NRN to insure only known and approved traffic is reaching both the NRN and the vBNS network.

Figure 4. Potential vBNS Connections to NRN

Figure 5. Future Optional Sites for NRN

C.3.4 Service Accessibility

Initially, thirteen departments are scheduled for connection to the NRN and therefore would have access to the NRN. Those include the five research centers at DRI (Water Resources, Biological Sciences, Quaternary Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, and Energy and Environmental Engineering), the Western Regional Climate Center housed at DRI, the Physics, Engineering, and Chemistry departments at both UNR and UNLV, and the National Supercomputing Center for Energy and Environment (NSCEE) located at UNLV. Those connections are made via OC3 connections carrying ATM cells to routers at UNR campus, UNR Stead Facility, UNLV campus, DRI's NNSC in Reno, and DRI's SNSC in Las Vegas. Service to individual workstations or computers would be provided by direct connection to a dedicated 10BaseT or fiber hub connected in turn to the router. Physical separation between the facilities' normal network infrastructure and the high-speed connections will be maintained. Additional users can be easily added by allowing access to currently connected computers or by connecting new computers. However, such access would need to be approved by the NRN Advisory Committee (Section C.3.7) and the appropriate campus network management.

Similarly, the star topology from each SCS office allows additional sites to be added easily. Three likely such candidates are the DRI's Dandini Research Park in Reno, the Las Vegas Technology Center in Las Vegas, and the Desert Rock Sky Park in Mercury, Nevada (Figure 5). Bechtel Nevada has expressed an interest in the Desert Rock Sky Park, as much of its current collaboration with UNR, UNLV, and DRI is conducted at Mercury. If bandwidth needs justify the expense, a second vBNS connection can be added between Reno and Hayward, California, to reduce cross-state traffic load across the NRN backbone.

C.3.5 Budget

The equipment proposed for the NRN project includes an ATM switch and a router to be installed at SCS's Reno and Las Vegas SCS offices, plus ATM switches and routers at each of the five campus sites. Equipment costs total $406,548. However, purchased equipment will be based on the best available technology at the time of purchase using the funds available. First year maintenance will be included in the manufacturer's standard warranty. Subsequent maintenance on the equipment totals $30,870 annually. One-time termination and installations costs are budgeted at $51,000. Costs of equipment in the attached budget already include estimated educational discounts.

Three of the five facilities planned for initial connection to the NRN are connected to SCS offices via on-campus fiber optic cables. The two facilities which are physically removed from SCS offices are DRI Northern Nevada Science Center (NNSC) in Reno and the UNR Physics Department in Stead (12 miles north of Reno). These two sites face additional costs associated with OC3 service to the Reno SCS office. Funds for connecting these two sites are being sought in the NSF Internet Connectivity proposal submitted in January, 1998, as part of vBNS connections costs. Both facilities have critical needs for NRN bandwidth and QoS features (Section C.2.2). That local service would likely be provided by Brooks Fiber, which has committed to providing service at discounted prices and without construction costs to DRI NNSC. If NSF funding is not available, connections costs for these two sites will be sought from other sources, including the Nevada State Legislature.

Cost sharing on the behalf of the connected sites includes $400,000 of the cost of the fiber optic connection between Reno and Las Vegas. SCS will also provide the server for the management software. Each institution will assist with the initial installation of the equipment and for ongoing maintenance, repair, and upgrades of the equipment and connections to on-site networks. This contribution is estimated at $10,000 for each of the five campus sites and $15,000 for each of the two SCS hubs, totaling $100,000. Additionally, each institution is engaged in ongoing upgrades to campus networks that will enable users to connect to the high-speed network. Brooks Fibers, as an NRN business partner, is committed to providing special fiber rates for the off-campus fiber links.

C.3.6 Long-term Funding and Support

The continuing needs of the NRN are on-going line and maintenance costs after the end of the second year. Once in place, the NRN is easily sustainable, with costs to be covered by UCCSN. Line costs will be included in SCS's 1999-2001 biennium budget request (the Nevada legislature meets every two years). Historically, continuing line costs have been covered by state appropriations. The costs of equipment for additional NRN sites will be sought from other sources, including project awards where appropriate.

C.3.7 Implementation and Oversight

NRN development tasks will be completed within a two-year period, commencing from an anticipated start date of July, 1998. Activities include purchasing, installation, configuration, and testing of the switches and routers. An overall schedule is presented in the following table, including a parallel timetable for the vBNS connectivity project.

Table 1. NRN and NSF CISE Project Timeline

Deadline	Project Activity	vBNS Activity
Winter 1998	EPSCoR equipment proposal submitted	NSF Connectivity Proposal submitted
Spring 1998	Establish NRN Web site and oversight committee
Summer 1998	Receive funds Prepare final equipment specifications Commence negotiations with local service providers DRI NNSC network completed <	Receive funds Prepare final equipment specifications Commence negotiations with long distance service providers
Fall 1998	Purchase switches and routers	Purchase switch and router
Winter 1999	Finalize service provider contracts Install & test SCS backbone, north & south	Finalize service provider contract Install fiber to NNSC, Stead Facilities
Summer 1999	Connect UNR, UNLV, and DRI sites	Activate vBNS connection
Fall 1999	Install and test applications
Spring 2000	Conclude project Analyze results, final report	Conclude project Analyze results, final report

The NRN Advisory Committee (NRNAC), a technical planning and advisory committee consisting of the PI and co-PIs specified in this proposal, will oversee the NRN project and establish network usage policies. This group includes one representative each from UCCSN, UNR, UNLV, DRI, and SCS. In addition, Ken Bishop, a researcher with the University of Kansas and a participant in the Great Plains Network, has agreed to serve on the NRNAC. This committee will be responsible for developing policies for identifying qualified research projects and users for access to the NRN as well as access to the vBNS. These policies will be consistent with existing vBNS use policies.

SCS will be responsible for purchasing, installing, and maintaining the NRN and vBNS equipment. The NRNAC will work directly and closely with the Executive Director of SCS and his Director of Telecommunications. New NRN connections will be reviewed for immediate and ongoing meritorious research needs, and participants will be required to agree to research-only use of the NRN. After connection of NRN to the vBNS, NSF guidelines for determining which sites may use the vBNS on a site-by-site basis will be applied.

C.3.8 Reporting

Project status and NRNAC activities and policies will be available as Web documents at a SCS Web site. Documentation of network equipment, network topology, usage data, QoS and performance measures, and contact information will be provided on the Web site for access by the Internet community. Annual and final reports will be posted on the Web site as well.

The final project report will be filed within 90 days of the end of the EPSCoR award period. This report will be prepared following the Grant Proposal Guide requirements and will include a summary of project goals and success in meeting those goals.

References Cited

Campus and Statewide Network Plan, University and Community College System of Nevada, ad hoc Networking Needs Assessment Committees, revised April 17, 1995.

"NSF vBNS Frequently Asked Questions", Internet (http://www.cise.nsf.gov/ncri/connect96-faq.html), September, 1997.

Berson, S., and Berger, L. "IP Integrated Services with RSVP over ATM", Internet Draft (http://www.isi.edu/~berson/draft-ietf-issll-atm-support-03.txt), March, 1997.

Zhang, L., Deering, S., Estrin, D., Shenker, S., Zappala, D. "RSVP: A New Resource ReSerVation Protocol", IEEE Network, September, 1993.

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