29 Case Study: Library Network in UK (JANET)

Ramesh C Gaur and Parveen Babbar

I.   Objectives

•    To attain knowledge about UK’s one of the finest, unparalleled, high speed, highly consistent network connectivity through JANET.

•    To learn about the history, aims and objectives of JANET.

•    To get acquainted with the various services provided by JANET

II.    Learning Outcomes 

After going through this lesson, learners would attain knowledge about UK’s one of finest, unparalleled, high speed, highly consistent network connectivity through JANET. They would learn history, aims and objectives of JANET. They would also be introduced to the services provided by JANET such as IP Services, Application Services, Videoconferencing, Certificate Service, Janet Txt, Janet 3G, Network Security, Purchasing Agreements, etc.

III.    Module Structure 

1.   Introduction

2.   Mission and Vision of JANET

3.   Structure of JANET

4.   History of JANET

4.1   Chronology of JANET

4.2   Main Aims of JANET 6 Projects

4.3   The Architecture of JANET6

5.   Products and Services of JANET

5.1   JANET for Research

5.2   JANET Futures Services

5.3   JANET Collaborates

5.4   JANET Connect

5.5   JANET Cloud Services

5.6   Additional Services

6.   Summary

7.   References

1.   Introduction 

JANET is a branch of Janet Limited, a JISC company and JISC Collections which administers the operation, growth and development of the JANET Network, on behalf of JISC. JANET is United Kingdom government funded and have the objective to develop and provide a network infrastructure to meet the needs of the research and education communities. JISC was known as Joint Information Systems Committee but over the last decade it has developed as a company and is known as JISC. JISC have been the fore frontier in promoting the implementation and usage of digital technologies within United Kingdom teaching, learning and research community.

Janet connects the UK’s research and education institutions, to the rest of the world. It also includes a separate individual network that is available to the UK community for experimental activities in network research and development. The networks works for shared interest of education and research for the organisations to communicate co-operate and collaborate. It connects UK universities, Further Education (FE) Colleges, Research Councils, Specialist Colleges and Adult and Community Learning providers. The network is serving to 18 million plus end users.

JANET is a network which supports the UK’s research and education through its range of services which includes consistent secure communication, magnificent collection of content, real time working over vast distances and also supports enormous data files transmissions. Its range of activities is making the individuals and institutions reaching beyond the traditional and conventional boundaries of teaching, learning and research methods. The popular activities includes videoconferencing, competence to deliver lectures through video streaming for remote groups of students, linking of huge data storage and high performance computing facilities at a national and international level. The services provided by JANET are fully supporting the educational system of UK and the e-research and GRID computing has helped the UK educational system reached third in the world after the US and China at first and second place.

2.   Mission and Vision of JANET 

The mission of the JANET is to provide outstanding, excellent and distinctive information and communication services to the United Kingdom’s research, education, training and cultural communities. JANET works with a vision to support the activities of one and all working and studying in the UK’s research, education, training and cultural communities. It has the vision to provide the services that enables collaborative and mutual working and supports the acquisition and interchange of information, ideas and knowledge among them.

The JANET with its mission and vision has the service objective to sustain, develop and maintain a world’s leading research and education network. It desires to provide essential services which deliver valued and significant services to its users effectively and efficiently. With these objectives it enables to deliver outstanding services, persuade and effective support policy development in UK.

3.   Structure of JANET 

Fig.1: Structure of JANET

4.   History of JANET

JANET was developed in 1970s from the unification of various local and research networks. University of London Computer Centre (ULCC) London, University  of Manchester Regional  Computer   Centre   (UMRCC) Manchester, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory serving the Science and Engineering Research Council community and many more came into existence by 1980’s in UK and there were also regional networks centred on Bristol, Edinburgh and Newcastle which had pooled and united resources to provide better computing facilities. These networks were each based on manufacturer’s standards, and were mutually mis-matched, incompatible, and had overlapping. But later the standardisation, inter-linking and interconnectivity effort started in 1980s. The efforts were hosted on an expansion of the SERCnet X.25 research network. In April 1983 a first system hosting about 50 sites with line speeds of 9.6 kbit/s was launched which was later enhanced to 2 Mbit/s backbone with 64 kbit/s access links, and a further upgrade in the early 1990s with a backbone to  8 Mbit/s  and  the  access  links  to  2 Mbit/s,  making  JANET   the fastest X.25 network in the world.

The Joint Academic NETwork (JANET) was formally established in 1984 by the Computer Board of Universities and Research Council and was funded by its successor the Information Services Committee (ISC) of the Universities Funding Council.

4.1   Chronology of JANET 

JANET1- 1991 – The Janet IP  Service  was  set  up  as  a  pilot  project  to host IP based traffic on the active network.

Super Janet2- 1995 – SuperJanet2 came on metropolitan area networks and added 155 Mbit/s ATM backbones and a 10 Mbit/s Switched Multi-megabit Data Service (SMDS) network surrounding some of the original Janet nodes.

SuperJanet3 -1999- 155 Mbit/s ATM nodes were created to fully connect all of the major sites with 34 Mbit/s links to smaller sites around the country.

SuperJanet4 – 2001 –Super Janet4 came with 2.5 Gbit/s core backbone from which connections to regional network points were made at speeds ranging between 155 Mbit/s to 2.5 Gbit/s. The core SuperJanet4 backbone was upgraded in year 2002 to 10 Gbit/s.

SuperJanet5 – 2006 – The SuperJanet5 project provided 10Gbit/s backbone, with upgrade path to 40Gbit/s. The hybrid network provided the high speed IP transit service. It also provided the private bandwidth channel services over a dedicated fibre network. Super Janet5 network fully supports the requirements of the conventional user base of JANET. It supports all the research institutes, universities and further education and simultaneously also the new user base in the UK’s primary and secondary schools. In April 2011, four central locations were further upgraded to 100Gbit/s bringing it to a national research and education network performance in equivalence and parity with Internet2.

Janet6 – 2013 – Janet6 has been started with an initial capacity of 2Tbit/s. It will provide the modern fibre infrastructure with the core network with additional capacity for scaling to meet future needs. The network supports 88 channels with a total initial operating capacity of 2Tbit/s.

4.2   Main Aims of JANET 6 Project 

The main key aims of the Janet6 project started in 2013 are

a.     Specialist Network- It will deliver and design the Janet infrastructure to fulfil the needs and requirements of research and education providers in the UK.

b.     Reliable and Secure Network – The network will support improved levels of service availability and examine all elements of the delivery chain to address appropriate levels of resilience.

c.      Flexible for Future Demand-  The network  is designed to have the capacity to handle, analyse and transfer the vast amounts of data anticipated for future. Its agile design will allow the capacity of the network to be expanded, tuned or trimmed to match that demand.

d.     Agile to Change – The network will meet the requirements of faster and more effectively, whether for operational or development purposes.

e.      Increased Range of Partnerships and Collaboration- Janet6  will provide access to the latest technology and enable its users to undertake research and support the skills development for the economy needs.

4.3   The Architecture of JANET6 

Janet6 computer network is the most advanced academic educational computer network of United Kingdom vigorously addressing the growing network and connectivity demands of British research and academic institutions.

Fig.2: JANET Background Overview

Available at: https://www.ja.net/sites/default/files/J5524%20Janet6%20Backbone%20Overvi ew%20Diagram-nocropsLR_0.pdf

The Janet network is continuously growing and improving to connect United kingdom Universities, FE Colleges, Research Councils, Specialist Colleges and Adult and Community Learning providers. It also provide association and connections between the Regional Broadband Consortia to facilitate the Department for Education initiative for a national network.

5.   Products and Services of JANET 

The JANET product and services are divided into six major categories. These include JANET for Research, Cloud Services, Collaborate, Connect, Futures and Additional Services.

5.1 JANET for Research -The first is JANET for Research which includes two major services.

i.  Lightpath – It is a centrally managed service providing dedicated point- to-point network connections between Janet-connected organisations with high data rates. It is a layer 2 service delivering Ethernet traffic between the endpoints.

ii.  Aurora – It is a dedicated dark-fibre infrastructure to support photonics and optical systems research and development. It connects to across UK’s four universities research groups namely Cambridge, Essex, Southampton and UCL.

5.2 JANET Futures Services – The JANET Futures Services include long ongoing previous projects, technical projects, service development projects and collaborative projects:

i.   Long Ongoing Previous Projects

a. International collaboration for Super Hi-Vision with BBC and NHK– The project showcase the capabilities of Super Hi-Vision (SHV) technology  across  Janet  with  BBC.   SHV content  provides  the  high capacity, safe, secure, stable, established high speed networks to transmit images, pictures and sound. Janet is working with partners in the participating countries (NTT – Japan, GEANT European network, Internet2 in America, SURFnet in the Netherlands and the BBC).

b.  Janet6 – Janet6 is a project to build the next generation of the Janet infrastructure universally available across the whole of research and education  –  from  high  end  research  to  Higher  Education, Further Education and Schools. It ensures the capacity, resilience and flexibility for research and education, across the UK, for the next 5 to 10 years. It also exploits the efficiencies of new technologies (such as Cloud) which enable new ways of working, and respond to policy changes.

c.  Bringing Theatre into the Classroom – This project aims to bring theatre online and give students aged 11 to 16 the chance to take part in a real-time nationwide project. It enables the live stream and broadcast of the performance, using a network of streaming servers in HD (high definition), with teachers able to access content through computer, tablet device, or also can play it to their class via a Whiteboard.

ii.   Technical Projects of JANET under Futures Services 

a.  Moonshot– Moonshot enables to effectively manage user identities and control access to a wide range of web based and non-web services and applications. It is a single unifying technology with simplified sign-on for managing multiple credentials. It also used cloud infrastructures, High Performance Computing, Grid Computing and commonly deployed services such as email, file store, remote access  and  instant messaging. The technology is build on eduroam and Shibboleth.

b. Telephony -JANET works with the commercial providers to develop a simple way of purchasing Telephony services which helps the users to have reduce costs by moving all or some of voice traffic from traditional, expensive, telephone connections (ISDN) onto IP network, making costs for communication from fixed line telephones to mobile telephones which is much more affordable.

c.  4G – The Janet 4G project has been launched to use the potential use of 4G technology across Janet mobile services.

d.  Automated Provisioning – The main focus of this activity is on high end research users requiring access to Janet Lightpaths  for  specific collaborative projects demanding guaranteed bandwidth.

e.  End to End Performance – A tool for monitoring end-to-end network performance and providing support to transfer high capacity data by providing information and advice for configuring local infrastructure.

f.  Ethernet OAM (Operations, Administration and Maintenance) – Janet is participating in a multi-NREN wide-area which enable to provide featured service and network performance monitoring whilst reducing network operating costs.

g.  IPv6 – Janet’s network backbone is fully enabled for IPv6 which enables users to access IPv6 enabled services, example Mobile IP. IPv6 features simplify the processes and avoid complex administration.

h.  MPLS-TP (Multi-Protocol Label Switching Transport Profile) – MPLS-TP is a new technology with a set of MPLS protocols that are being defined in the International Telecommunication Union- Telecommunications and the Internet Engineering Task Force for improving, provisioning, monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities of MPLS transport services.

i.   Service Assurance – It is a JANET project which aims to develop new capabilities for Ethernet/ Lightpath services such as service status updates, performance details and verification.

j.   Software-Defined Network (SDN) – It is JANET project for creation of a small-scale national software-defined network (SDN) based on Open Flow switches and controllers and enables network virtualisation, new communications protocols and architectures, stimulating new innovative approaches to Internet services.

iii.   Service Development Projects under Futures Service 

a.  Video Futures – This project is to review the current Janet Videoconferencing service to ensure that it meets the future requirements of the users.

b.  eduroam Apps Development – This project involves the integration of the existing ‘eduroam companion’ applications for Apple and Android operating systems. It further provides users with a environment across operating systems and a access to range of robust applications.

c.  eduroam Public Transport – The project provide ‘Internet for passenger transport’ coaches that have been fitted with wireless equipment which supports eduroam as well as a free open Wi-Fi.

iv.   Collaborative Projects under the JANET 

a.   Arts and Humanities – JANET provides streaming technologies and mechanisms for delivering content to the Arts and Humanities sector.

b.   Sending Content to Broadcasters – A number of collaborations have been established between UK universities and broadcasters – to provide live news content across the Janet network.

c.   Streaming to Universities –NaSTA- The project explores an effective solution for streaming content  to  universities  across  the  UK  with the National Student Television Association (NaSTA).

d.   Ultra High Definition Showcase – This project showcase a wider Ultra High Definition (UHD) which explores the capabilities of ultra high bandwidth video, graphics  and audio over  a high capacity Lightpath infrastructure.

5.3     JANET Collaborates – The JANET Collaborates offers access to services that make communicating with staff, patrons, students, institutions and its partners easier.

i.       Janet videoconferencing – This service brings colleagues and collaborators closer through sharing resources with another institution, bringing content in from remote locations or just convening a meeting.

ii.    Value Advisory Services – It provides the advice and guidance on voice technologies, focusing on Voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony.

iii.      Video Telephony Advisory Service (VTAS) – It provides with unbiased technical advice on equipment and issues relating to video technology.

iv.    Janet Telephony Purchasing Service- Janet network for telephony allows telephony service onto the Janet network and provide the cost saving benefits.

v.   Janet txt – Janet Txt provides SMS messaging service which enables to manage and distribute messages to specific individuals or groups via their mobiles, landlines, email or pagers.

5.4    JANET Connect – It provides high-speed internet connections with a range of value added services to the UK community.

i.    Authentication & Authorisation – Provide secure roaming internet access through eduroam.

ii.   Security – JANET Security services include computer security and incident response team; email advice and testing; DNS Services; Certificate Authority Services; Mailer Shield; Web Filtering and Education Shared Information Security Services.

iii. Internet Service Provider (ISP) – It comprises Primary/ Secondary Nameserver service holds and maintains the primary source of domain name information for Janet customers; provides Domain Name and Off- Site Resolver Service for name resolution; Web mail service and Network Time Service which delivers a stable time reference, using the Network Time Protocol (NTP). It also includes two services IP Address Assignment and Web Hosting Services.

iv. Connectivity – The Connectivity includes Janet 3G which provides a high capacity data service for network access on the move. It also includes Multi site connectivity Advisory Services for guidance on WAN and LAN links on JANET connections. The connectivity also take care of services like wireless technology advisory services, Netsight, Janet Colocation and Managed Router Services.

5.5 JANET Cloud Services – JANET is also helping institutions by facilitating them to move to cloud and provide the assistance for data centre services, collaborative purchasing power, and due diligence. JANET is also providing a suite of services to help for the move towards cloud. The services include:

i.   Dropbox for Business – It does negotiations for Dropox which protects work and share manage the teams for the UK research and education sector..

ii.   Data Archiving Service- It provides a highly secure, easy-to-use and cost-effective data archiving service for research and education.

iii.  Amazon- JANET provides Amazon Web Services to improve connectivity and reduce your bandwidth charges.

iv.    Advice – JANET support to institutions moving to cloud computing and data centre services through whitepapers, online briefings, events, tweets, blogs and more.

v.   Cloud and Data Centre Framework – JANET works as an impartial advisor to the sector, and helps in determining the most suitable plan for individual institution.

vi.   Financial X-ray – The Financial X-ray service helps cost IT services in research and education institutions, enhancing the work carried out by others in the sector.

vii.    Cloud Services for Education Agreements- It provides exclusive amendments and  due diligence on  contractual documents for  Google Apps for Education and for Microsoft Office 365.

5.6   Additional Services – JANET provide frameworks, 3rd party agreements and procurement processes and provide cost effective services in acquiring technologies at reasonable, inexpensive and affordable price.

i.   Frameworks – It provides competitive prices with agreements in place between Janet and suppliers.

ii.   Procurement – An e-tendering system solution which allows suppliers to deal with JANET known as ProContract.

iii.   Supplier- Third Party Agreements- Third party agreements provide tangible benefits to the JANET User Community.

iv.    EU Procurement Award Notices- It provides the list of Janet’s EU Procurement contract award notices over the past 5 years.

6.     Summary 

JANET is one of finest unparalleled, high speed, highly consistent network connectivity, along with access to an extensive portfolio of computing services which manages the operation and development of the UK’s education and research network. The Janet network provides connectivity to over 18 million end users in universities, colleges of higher and further education, research councils, schools and museums that collectively form the Janet community in United Kingdom. It is supporting innovations by providing world-class infrastructure with the economies of scale. The use of cloud computing, virtualisation and data centre services are some of the new services exploited by JANET to provide a highly cost-effective services. The other important services include IP Services, Application Services, Videoconferencing, Certificate Service, Janet Txt, Brokerage, Janet 3G, Network Security, Purchasing Agreements and a range of other services.

7.   References

1. JANET (2010).   JANET   Corporate  Plan   210-2012.  Available   at https://www.ja.net/sites/default/files/corporate-plan-2010.pdf
2. Clegg, R. G.; Withall, M. S.; Moore, A. W.; Phillips, I. W.; Parish, D. J.; Rio, M.; Landa, R.; Haddadi, H.; Kyriakopoulos, K.; Augé, J.; Clayton, R.; Salmon, D. Challenges in the capture and dissemination of measurements from high-speed networks. IET Communications. Jun2009, Vol. 3 Issue 6, p957-966. 10p
3. WELLS, MICHAEL. JANET: the United Kingdom Joint Academic Network.Serials, 1(3), 1988: pp.28-36.
4. JANET (2014). Wikipedia. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JANET