Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network

The Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) is a high capacity, ultra high-speed connectivity between New Zealand’s tertiary institutions, research organisations, libraries, schools and museums, and the rest of the world. KAREN is owned and operated by REANNZ. [http://reannz.co.nz]

It was commissioned in late 2006 and is linked to other established regional and national research and education networks (NRENs), notably JANET in the UK, and to the Pacific Northwest Gigapop, Seattle.

New Zealand researchers and educators need KAREN to participate in e-research:
*exchange large volumes of data quickly
*gain access to large scale national and international infrastructure, and
*collaborate better on research and education projects at a distance

KAREN's objectives are:
*To enable leading edge e-research
*To facilitate universal connectivity throughout the New Zealand and international research and education community
*To encourage broad participation by the research and education sector in New Zealand through accessible technology and reasonable pricing
*To connect the research and education sector to the broader innovation community for pre-commercial research and development based collaboration
*To facilitate participation by multiple telecommunications sector partners to ensure the greatest possible flexibility for ongoing evolution

KAREN consists of a highspeed optical network connecting Points of Presence (PoPs) throughout New Zealand. A PoP is an interconnection point between member sites around the network. Members may connect at one or more POPs. KAREN links Universities and Crown Research Institutes within New Zealand via TelstraClear fibre-optic cable, at speeds of 10 gigabits per second.

International links to Sydney and Seattle (Pacific Northwest Gigapop) via the Southern Cross Cable connect KAREN to other National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Australia and the United States, and through them to Asia and Europe. The speeds are 155 megabits per second to Australia and 620 megabits per second to Seattle [ Dominion Post 18 August 2008 page C8 ] .

A distinguishing feature of any NREN is its flexibility to meet the diverse needs of all its users. The numbers involved, coupled with increasing sophistication of personal applications, mean that managing demand and maintaining performance require the use of a hybrid Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) network architecture.

The research community, driven by the development of various e-science GRIDs, has developed large-scale applications that will individually use high amounts of bandwidth and can in some cases also have strict demands on the network that may require defined resources allocated temporarily to meet performance demands.

KAREN will need to continually evolve so the range of production and development demands can co-exist. This means taking into account the collaborative nature of the development, and research processes, and therefore the need to deliver both advanced network services and associated development facilities to participating organisations.

A New Zealand commercial company Endace in Auckland will join KAREN in September 2008. A Wellington secondary school (St Mary's College) is to join, possibly followed by other schools on the "Wellington Loop" [ Dominion Post 18 August 2008 page C8 ] .

ee also

* Internet2
* JANET
* National research and education network

References

"Introducing KAREN" by Claire Le Couteur: e.nz magazine Volume 8/4, July/August 2007

External links

* [http://www.apan.net/meetings/newzealand2008/ APAN 26 "Asia Pacific Advanced Network" August 4-8 2008]
* [http://www.karen.net.nz KAREN website]
* [http://www.reannz.co.nz/home/ KAREN "Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network"]
* [http://www.bestgrid.org/index.php/Main_Page Bestgrid "Broadband Enabled Science and Technology"]
* [http://www.nznees.auckland.ac.nz/ NZNEES Earthquake Simulation, University of Auckland]