E B O N E 9 2 I N I T I A T I V E
Memorandum of Understanding
30th December 1991
1. WHEREAS one of the most urgent requirements for the European
Research Networking community is to progress the establishment of well
managed pan-European multi-protocol backbone network services
2. WHEREAS the recognition of this requirement was expressed by the
RARE CoA in its May 1990 meeting in Killarney, and documented in the
EEPG report tabled to the CoA in May 1991 in Blois, and was reviewed
by a task force initiated by SURFnet in September 1990
3. WHEREAS the IXI network addresses the immediate requirements for
pan-European X.25 backbone network services and whereas the
requirements for pan-European Internet IP and ISO-CLNS backbone
network services are not currently adequately addressed
4. WHEREAS it is expected that the requirement for well managed
pan-European multi-protocol backbone network services will be
addressed by the proposed Operational Unit at some future date
5. WHEREAS the SURFnet initiated task force recommended that the
immediate Internet IP and ISO-CLNS services requirements be addressed
by the creation and growth during 1992 of a kernel backbone by
combining and enhancing existing facilities and providing managed
services
6. SEEING THAT an initiative - Ebone 92 - has been taken by
interested parties to carry out this creation and growth of a kernel
backbone, by an approach described in this Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) and to be executed by the parties hereto
7. SEEING THAT this Ebone 92 initiative is intended to complement and
be consistent with existing pan-European backbone network services, to
address the need for better managed Internet IP and ISO-CLNS network
services, and to be an interim activity pending the establishment of
the proposed Operational Unit
8. SEEING THAT this initiative is not intended to inhibit in any way
the development of other pan-European network services
9. SEEING THAT the RARE CoA has welcomed the Ebone 92 initiative and
endorsed the approach; RARE recognises that the Ebone 92 proposals are
complementary to the existing IXI services and to the 2 Mbit pilot and
are consistent with the plans for the establishment of a
multi-protocol network and the Operational Unit
10. WHEREAS the envisaged benefits include savings in
telecommunications costs through more cost effective use of high
speeds, and improved service through the provision of a resilient
backbone network linking both European and USA networks
11. SEEING THAT the services and envisaged benefits are to be enjoyed
by the national and international networks and international research
institutions who participate in this Ebone 92 initiative
12. WHEREAS an ad hoc consortium approach has been proposed to carry
through the initiative whereby the infrastructure, the services, and
the management thereof will be provided by temporary no-charge
contributions from the interested parties, herein referred to as
Contributing Organisations and listed in Annex 1
13. SEEING THAT such contributions represent re-deployment of
resources of the Contributing Organisations to shared use, for the
originally intended purpose, and with shared benefits of scale
14. RECOGNISING THAT various equipment suppliers have made and
continue to make substantial contributions to the funding and
management of research networking resources in Europe
15. WHEREAS the backbone network will have a defined boundary for
purposes of technical interfacing and managing the network services,
and such boundary will in no way constrain the use of
telecommunications capacity and equipment by the Contributing
Organisations, other than their voluntary provision for the purpose of
this agreement
16. THEREBY contributions of telecommunications capacity and
equipment may be provided by Contributing Organisations within the
terms of sharing agreements as is current practice within the network
community and thereby service levels will be as "best efforts" of the
Contributing Organisations
17. WHEREAS the network service specifications will be those in
common usage in the research community, i.e. Internet IP as per
Internet standard for IP in RFC 791 et seq, and ISO-CLNS as per the
specifications used by the RARE/COSINE CLNS Pilot Project
18. WHEREAS the network infrastructure is to be formed with minimal
upgrading of existing available telecommunications capacity and node
equipment
THEN
the undersigned Contributing Organisations having intent to establish
a common managed interim European Backbone Network providing
value-added open networking services for production Internet IP and
pilot ISO-CLNS to the Academia and Research community
AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING:
1. Objective and Use Policy
Ebone 92 is intended to be an interim backbone infrastructure
providing value-added open networking services for Internet IP and
pilot ISO-CLNS created by combining and enhancing existing facilities.
Subsequently in 1993, it is expected that Ebone 92 services will be
integrated into full multi-protocol services and the operational
responsibilities passed on to the RARE proposed Operational Unit, on
the assumption that the Operational Unit has been successfully created
by that time. If that is not the case, operational support will be
obtained elsewhere.
The target group for Ebone 92 services will be all the national and
international networks and international research institutions
providing networks services for users at higher education and research
sites, including those involved in industrial research.
There will be no restrictions on the content of traffic on the Ebone
92 network. It will be up to the networks and institutions connected
to Ebone 92 to restrict traffic according to their own norms and legal
requirements. Ebone 92 is a not-for-profit service provider. The
Ebone 92 infrastructure will be composed of links (as defined below)
and Ebone switching equipment providing value-added open networking
services targetted for academic and research purposes.
2. Technical principles
The Ebone 92 infrastructure complies in principle to the general model
of an open networking multi-protocol backbone. This model identifies:
- the Ebone Boundary Systems (EBSs), interconnected by links, forming
the resilient backbone;
and:
- the Regional Boundary Systems (RBSs), providing backbone access for
networks via a link to an EBS.
EBSs are physically installed on the premises of designated
Contributing Organizations. These sites have at least two
international links connecting to other EBSs. Sites hosting an EBS
are called Backbone Sites. An RBS may be co-located at a Backbone
Site or may be connected to an EBS via a "tail" link.
The infrastructure will be shared with other organisations supporting
other services, such as X.25 and proprietary protocols. In the case
that a link is in practice implemented in the form of a sub-channel of
a higher capacity line, the multiplexing equipment used to divide the
bandwidth is not part of the Ebone 92 infrastructure.
3. Management principles
The management and operation of the Ebone 92 infrastructure comprises
three aspects:
1 - Operation of the EBS systems and Ebone links;
2 - General operational functions including incident reporting and
support;
3 - Coordination of activities for the execution of the Memorandum of
Understanding, external liaison, and resolution of disputes.
Aspect 1 may, as appropriate, be delegated to operational staff of the
Backbone Sites. Annex 2 defines, for each EBS, the actual operational
organisations. Each RBS and its associated link to an EBS is to be
operated according to Ebone 92 policy, but they do not come under the
domain of Ebone 92 infrastructure operation and management.
Aspect 2 will be performed by the Ebone Operations Team (EOT) composed
of operational staff funded or otherwise provided by Contributing
Organizations.
Aspect 3 will be performed by a Management Committee consisting of
five members appointed by and responsible to the Contributing
Organisations.
Any disputes between the signatories to this MoU concerning execution
of this MoU which cannot be resolved by mutual consent shall be
referred to the Management Committee for mediation. If one of the
members of the Management Committee or a member's organisation is
involved in a dispute, then that member shall not participate in the
Management Committee for that issue.
4. Services
Ebone 92 will offer two services:
- Internet IP (level 3) production service;
- ISO-CLNS (level 3) pilot service.
Contributing Organisations will have full access to these services for
the purpose of their own provision of networking services as described
above in "Objective and Use Policy", provided the commitments to
contribute (as specified in Annex 3) are honoured.
5. Provision of Ebone 92 Infrastructure
Telecommunications capacity
Telecommunications capacity (as specified in Annex 2) will be
contracted by the Contributing Organisations and made available at no
charge for use by Ebone 92 as part of a managed value-added service
for the term of this agreement. These links may be provided by PTT's
or PTO's directly, or by other networks, and may be based on leased
lines, multiplexed channels, X.25 serv ices, or other appropriate
technologies.
Equipment
Equipment forming an Ebone Backbone System is to be provided on a loan
basis by Contributing Organisations who will also provide maintenance
cover. On termination of this agreement, no obligation exists on the
Contributing Organisations to continue to provide or maintain the
equipment.
6. Financial agreement
The cost of providing the Ebone 92 services, including cost of
telecommunications capacity, equipment, maintenance and operation,
will be paid by the Contributing Organisations.
The total costs have been estimated and contributions from individual
organisations have been determined. The contributions are listed in
Annex 3. Ebone 92 shall make neither profit nor loss. Any necessary
financial transfers will be realized by RARE who will keep records of
the Ebone 92 financial situation as a separate project. Reporting and
auditing will comply with RARE norms and legal requirements.
7. Additional organisations becoming Ebone 92 Contributing Organisations
Additional organisations may subsequently become Contributing
Organisations with the mutual consent of the initial Contributing
Organisations, which will not unreasonably be withheld, by:
- providing resources for connection to / integration with the
Backbone;
- provision of funds to cover the incremental operating costs;
- signing this MoU.
8. Term of Agreement
This agreement is valid until the end of 1992.
All parties elect to contribute for the full term. Any extension is
to be agreed by all interested parties in writing not later than three
months before the end of 1992 or any subsequently agreed termination
date.
SIGNED FOR AGREEMENT BY THE CONTRIBUTING ORGANISATIONS
Contributing Organisation
................................
RARE (for Ebone 92 registration)
................................
Marieke Dekker
Annexes
Annex 1: List of Contributing Organisations
Annex 2: Initial Kernel Backbone Network and Conected Networks
Annex 3: List of Contributions