Kansas Research and Education Network
KANREN
Doug Heacock, Executive Director
Net@EDU Gathering of State Networks, April 2000
KANREN history
• 1992--35 Kansas colleges and universities form the KANREN consortium to seek NSF funding for a statewide education network
• 1993--First NSF award: $680K to build backbone and connect "charter" member sites
KANREN history
• 1996--KANREN becomes self-supported– Member sites pay membership and
connection fees
• Most member sites are connected at 56K
KANREN history
• KANREN backbone network, circa 1996:
KSUKU
KUMC
WSU
Global Internet
T1
T1
T1
T1
T1
T1T1 T1
KANREN history
• 1996: First K-12 district connections– Other non-profit organizations are also
connected
• Several sites upgrade to fractional T1
• KU, KSU upgrade to dual T1
KANREN history
• 1997-98--Bandwidth upgrades continue
• Consortium growth continues
• KU, KSU join Internet 2; KANREN affiliates with Great Plains Network for access to Abilene and I2
KANREN history
• April 2000--69 member sites:– Six Board of Regents universities, plus KU
Medical Center in Kansas City– 12 community colleges– 12 private colleges and universities– 17 public school districts– 16 public libraries– 5 other non-profit organizations
KANREN history
Internet 1
KSU
KU
KUMC
Verio
WSU
Internet 2
Internet 1
KANREN ATM
GPN
T1
DS3
OC-3
• KANREN backbone, April 2000
KANREN organization
• A "service unit" of the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (CRINC)
• Independent, non-profit membership consortium
• No official state affiliation– Frame relay circuits are provisioned through
the state information systems division
KANREN organization
• Not incorporated– We operate under CRINC's non-profit
status
• Governed by 11-member executive committee– Elected by the membership
• Membership votes on rates, budget, policy matters at annual meeting
KANREN staff
• Executive Director (full-time)
• Director of Network Services (half-time)
• System Administrator (full-time)
• Student Networking Internet (half-time)
KANREN organization
• Funding is solely through membership and connection fees paid by member institutions– No state appropriations– No grant funding
• FY 2000 budget: $860K
• Four major backbone network nodes:
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
KUMC, Kansas City
• Four major backbone network nodes:
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
WSU, Wichita
KUMC, Kansas City
• Backbone connections
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
WSU, Wichita
KUMC, Kansas City
T1T1
• Backbone connections
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
WSU, Wichita
KUMC, Kansas City
T1T1
ATM
DS-3DS-3
DS-3
VerioI1
• External connections:
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
WSU, Wichita
KUMC, Kansas City
T1T1
ATM
DS-3DS-3
DS-3
GPNI1,I2
VerioI1
• External connections:
The KANREN network
KU, Lawrence
KSU, Manhattan
WSU, Wichita
KUMC, Kansas City
T1T1
ATM
DS-3DS-3
DS-3
OC-3
KANREN services
• Internet connectivity, 64K to multiple T1• Internet 2 access for qualifying members• Training and consulting• Annual representatives' conference• DNS, Usenet News, Web caching servers,
virtual Web hosting, etc.• Network monitoring services• Online network stats graphs
Current projects
• May-June 2000: upgrade Internet connectivity at WSU POP– Replace discrete T1s with fractional DS-3
service
• The Kan-Ed project– Legislation to connect all K-12 districts and
public libraries– Joint effort of KANREN, DISC, Dept. of Ed.,
and State Library
Kan-Ed
• Currently under consideration in the legislature
• Requests $4.5M startup, $13M annual recurring
• KANREN's roles:– Network design– KANREN/KanWIN backbone interconnection– Training, staff development, consulting
Challenges
• Funding– Competitive pressure from local ISPs– Staffing
• Increasing bandwidth demands
• Kan-Ed uncertainties