INDUSTRY

Indiana University 's Global Research Network Operations Center (Global NOC) will provide support for National LambdaRail's (NLR) FrameNet and PacketNet services. Indiana University partnered with Cisco Systems, Inc. on the nationwide installation of Cisco's next-generation CRS-1 Carrier Routing Systems, which provides the foundation for the NLR PacketNet services. NLR is a major initiative of US research universities and private sector technology companies to provide a national scale optical network infrastructure. The NLR PacketNet is a nationwide IP infrastructure that uses eight Cisco CRS-1s; the NLR FrameNet is a nationwide Ethernet infrastructure that uses eighteen Cisco Catalyst 6509 Switching platforms. A demonstration of NLR services using the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing Systems took place during SC|05, the premier international conference on high performance computing, networking and storage, held November 12-18 in Seattle . Indiana University 's Global NOC is providing installation, operations and project management support across the country for NLR's PacketNet and FrameNet services. The IU Global NOC is also providing the Service Desk and network operations and engineering services for NLR. NLR has deployed a CRS-1 in the Global NOC for test and development. This unit enables the Global NOC service engineers and staff a platform for configuration testing of features and software of mutual interest to Cisco and to NLR. "Being a participant with the NLR is extremely valuable for the Global NOC to establish and maintain the highest level of skills that enable us to assist the community in its ongoing evolution in next-generation discoveries and experimentations," said Michael McRobbie, vice president for Research and Information Technology at Indiana University . "We also anticipate good development to come from our staff testing the CRS-1 and look forward to our partnership with NLR and Cisco." "Network stability and reliability are critical to the success of the NLR," said Joe Pinto, senior vice president, Technical Support, Cisco Systems. "NLR and the Global NOC have the support of a dedicated team of Cisco expert engineers to ensure the highest availability." The Service Desk operated within the IU Global NOC provides focus for coordination, communications, and control between and among network service providers and users on the NLR. The services include problem, change, security, and performance management; monitoring; communications; coordination; and reporting. These traditionally centralized services have been adapted to a distributed model, and new services are being developed to provide optical resource allocation and management, and to support the experimental component of the NLR. The NLR FrameNet and PacketNet Service Center at Indiana University will support necessary network operations as well as experimentation requirements. Support and operation services include engineering, configuration, troubleshooting, monitoring, and measurement. These services are critical in providing a stable platform for the NLR community.