Welcome to Community Update, Summer 2016

Welcome to the Internet2 Community Update newsletter for Summer 2016. In this issue: read the latest from our Board on Internet2's future direction, exciting news from our never-on-vacation community, and find details on upcoming webinars and events you won't want to miss.

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Internet2 News

August Board Meeting Sharpens Focus To Meet Community Challenges

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At the August 3 meeting of the Internet2 Board of Trustees in Washington, DC, key themes centered around higher education community pressures to meet increasing security and expanding technology needs as budgets remain flat or are in decline. Internet2 is responding to these member challenges through a serious commitment to two Internet2-wide priorities recommended by the Program and Priorities Committee for the coming year:

  • Enhance Internet2 global leadership in advanced secure networking, improving production support and adding end-to-end deterministic services.
  • Enable higher level digital trust, identity and security of member interactions, expanding on the foundation of InCommon and TIER programs.

This new focus will preempt any new initiatives or programs. Existing programs will continue to be fulfilled as planned through a rigorous management and alignment of resources. The 2017 budget reflects these new priorities, and was approved by the Board at the meeting.

The Board also approved the new, community-developed, scale-based membership fee approach, marking a transition away from the current Carnegie classification basis. Implementation will begin in the fourth quarter as invoices are generated. More information on the rationale and consequences of the decision has been available for some time, and members are encouraged to read the details for themselves.

Other topics discussed included updates on current TIER, NET+ and Network Services initiatives, described elsewhere in this newsletter.


Trust & Identity Summer Update

With all the activity in the Trust and Identity area, someone must have forgotten to post the "It's Summertime" memo. InCommon has issued a new 18-month report, two of its working groups have recently completed their work and have also issued reports, and InCommon participant rolls reached 869. A brand new TIER video has been released, and the July edition of the TIER Newsletter was published, including working group updates, blog highlights and contributor spotlight. Get all the details and the links. Read the Trust and Identity Summer Update.


NET+ Program Review and GEN2 Webinar Recordings

Internet2 NET+ logoSince 2012, the peer-driven Internet2 NET+ initiative has been focused on identification, development, and stewardship of secure, reliable, and cost-effective cloud solutions for higher education. Last year, the program completed a full community review, which provided outstanding guidance on how to tune the initiative to meet the fast growing and evolving landscape of cloud offerings. Hosted by members of the NET+ Program Advisory Group, access the recorded webinars to learn more about these changes that will provide new benefits and resources in adopting Cloud Solutions.


Blogs

CIO Viewpoint:

What Does Internet2 Mean for a Liberal Arts College?

What advantages does Internet2 membership bring to a small liberal arts college? A 10-fold increase in data transfer capacity, research resources to attract the highest caliber students and faculty, the chance to participate in global arts-related initiatives, among other things. So says Carrie Rampp, Associate Vice President and CIO, Franklin & Marshall College, in a recent blog post. F&M became a full member of the Internet2 community this spring, with initial support from the National Science Foundation. To mark the occasion, Carrie—already serving as a member of the Community Engagement Program Advisory Group—sent a message to the F&M trustee technology committee and senior college leadership, and she shares an excerpt of her message in this post.


NAOPpag Update

The Network Architecture Operations and Policy Program Advisory Group (NAOPpag) held a combined June/July meeting in late June. The group reviewed the closed and open NAOPpag meetings held during the Internet2 Global Summit. The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing how to organize the NAOPpag for the rest of 2016 and into 2017. Read the post for all the details.


All For One, One for All: Security Musketeers

Nick Lewis's blog post is chock-full of updates from a busy security summer. Highlighting the coordinated efforts of EDUCAUSE, Internet2, and REN-ISAC, Lewis talks about a new joint working group, recent conferences, the upcoming Technology Exchange, ransomware and more. Read the post for the info security scoop.


5 Key Considerations for Adopting Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services logoRead this new blog post to learn about some helpful things to consider in adopting NET+ Amazon Web Services by DLT—things learned from a NET+ service with a full year of availability under its belt and nearly 50 campuses subscribing.


CINO Summer Update

Read the latest report from our Chief Innovation Officer, including community discussions, recent conference keynote addresses and working group collaborations.


Community News

From Campus Technology

Tapping into Research and Education Networks

Image from Tapping Into RENs articleAdvanced research and education (R&E) networks can be a tremendous resource for colleges and universities both large and small. So why doesn't every school take part?

The August 11 article from Campus Technology highlights perspectives from leaders at Internet2, NJEDge, MCNC, GPN and the Quilt on the challenges of, and various approaches to marketing R&E network services to higher education. Read the article!


100-gigabit Internet2 Connection Complete at KU

KU Info Technology imageIn recent weeks KU has completed its 100-gigabit network to support big data research and transmit data to partners in other states and other countries. KU joins peer institutions in Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska who've also deployed 100-gigabit Internet2 connections.


perfSONAR: New Video Series Marks Over 10 Years of Development at ESnet

ESnet - 30 years of networking logoperfSONAR, currently a joint effort between ESnet, Indiana University, Internet2, and GÉANT, the pan-European research network, has become an important thread in the global R&E network fabric. It is now deployed at over 1,700 public sites around the world, as well as many private sites. ESnet has been a major driver of perfSONAR development for over 10 years—since the first toolkit was deployed in 2005. ESnet's contributions to global networking are being highlighted in a series of articles marking its 30th anniversary. The first in the series focuses on its perfSONAR development efforts.

ESnet has also partnered with the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC) at the University of Oregon to create an extensive video training library to help organizations improve the performance of their networks by deploying the perfSONAR network measurement tools and the Science DMZ network architecture. The library of short videos, organized by content area, can be found at http://www2.internet2.edu/l/66332/2016-08-15/8fzv51. Read the press release for more details.


From eCampus News

5 Things You May Not Know About Being a CIO

Research from thousands of tech leaders and CIOs say becoming a CIO in 2016 requires specific steps, and knowing how to use new technologies to benefit their institutions is a major qualification. Read the article for details.


New Group Takes On Massive Computing Needs of Big Data

Alternate chip design imageOriginally appearing on the website of Columbia University Data Science Institute, this article from the Earth Institute explores how the big data required by today's global science has outpaced the ability of most computers to process it.

The Data Science Institute’s newest working group—Frontiers in Computing Systems—will address some of the bottlenecks facing scientists working with massive data sets at Columbia and beyond. These and other initiatives are part of the race to develop a next-generation exascale machine. Read the article.


From FreshNews.com

Partnership Between U Maryland and US Army Research Lab Harnesses the Power of Defense Supercomputing to Create Opportunities for Scientific Discovery

University of Maryland logoOn July 29, the University of Maryland (UMD) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL, the central lab responsible for providing world-class research for the Army) announced a strategic partnership—formed under ARL’s “Open Campus” initiative—to provide high-performance computing resources for use in higher education and research communities. As a result, UMD students, professors, engineers and researchers will have unprecedented access to technologies that enable scientific discovery and innovation. Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) will connect ARL’s high-performance computer “Harold” to this new science and technology ecosystem with its 100-Gbps optical network.


R&E Connectivity Project in Central Asia Rebooted

Over 500,000 researchers, academics and students across Central Asia stand to benefit from the launch of the third phase of the EU-funded Central Asia Research and Education Network (CAREN) project. Read the details.