~ August 1992 INTERNET MONTHLY REPORTS ------------------------ The purpose of these reports is to communicate to the Internet Research Group the accomplishments, milestones reached, or problems discovered by the participating organizations. This report is for Internet information purposes only, and is not to be quoted in other publications without permission from the submitter. Each organization is expected to submit a 1/2 page report on the first business day of the month describing the previous month's activities. These reports should be submitted via network mail to: Ann Westine Cooper (Cooper@ISI.EDU) NSF Regional reports - Corinne Carroll (ccarroll@NNSC.NSF.NET) Directory Services reports - Tom Tignor (TPT2@ISI.EDU) Requests to be added or deleted from the Internet Monthly report list should be sent to "imr-request@isi.edu". Details on obtaining the current IMR, or back issues, via FTP or EMAIL may be obtained by sending an EMAIL message to "rfc- info@ISI.EDU" with the message body "help: ways_to_get_imrs". For example: To: rfc-info@ISI.EDU Subject: getting imrs help: ways_to_get_imrs Cooper [Page 1] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERNET ACTIVITIES BOARD IAB MESSAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 INTERNET RESEARCH REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 AUTONOMOUS NETWORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 END-TO-END SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 RESOURCE DISCOVERY AND DIRECTORY SERVICE . . .. . . . page 3 INTERNET ENGINEERING REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3 Internet Projects BOLT BERANEK AND NEWMAN, INC., . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 8 CICNET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 8 CIX (COMMERCIAL INTERNET EXCHANGE). . . . . . . . . . . . page 9 ISI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 10 JVNCNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 11 LOS NETTOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 13 MERIT/MICHNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 13 NEARNET (NEW ENGLAND ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH NETWORK) . . . page 15 NNSC, UCAR/BOLT BERANEK and NEWMAN, INC., . . . . . . . . page 15 NORTHWESTNET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 16 NSFNET/ANSNET BACKBONE ENGINEERING. . . . . . . . . . . . page 17 NSFNET/INFORMATION SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 24 PITTSBURGH SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 25 PREPnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 26 SDSC (SAN DIEGO SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER) . . . . . . . . . . page 27 CALENDAR OF EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 28 Cooper [Page 2] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 IAB MESSAGE No progress to report this month. Bob Braden (Braden@ISI.EDU) INTERNET RESEARCH REPORTS ------------------------- AUTONOMOUS NETWORKS ------------------- No progress to report this month. Deborah Estrin (Estrin@USC.EDU) END-TO-END SERVICES ------------------- No progress to report this month. Bob Braden (Braden@ISI.EDU) RESOURCE DISCOVERY AND DIRECTORY SERVICE ---------------------------------------- No progress to report this month. Mike Schwartz@schwartz@cs.colorado.edu INTERNET ENGINEERING REPORTS ---------------------------- 1. The next IETF is scheduled for November 16-20, 1992 in Washington, DC. Our local host is U.S. Sprint. The Registration Reception will be held on Sunday, November 15th, beginning at 6 PM. There will be some changes in the agenda for the Washington DC IETF meeting. First off, the agenda for Monday morning will be for presentations made by Working Groups on technical proposals for Internet Routing and Addressing. Another change is that there will be no Area reports on Friday morning. Instead, this time slot will be available for individual Working Group meetings. Cooper [Page 3] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 Details for the Washington D.C. IETF meeting will be provided in future Internet Monthly reports and announced to the IETF mailing list. 2. There will be a newcomers orientation held on Sunday afternoon at the Hyatt conducted by members of the Secretariat. Additionally, work has already begun on a document, primarily for the newcomers (though it has been suggested it be required reading :-) to provide basic background and helpful information on IETF meetings. 3. The IESG issued 17 Last Calls to the IETF during the month of August: a. IEEE 802.5 Token Ring MIB b. IEEE 802.4 Token Bus MIB c. Extensions to the Generic-Interface MIB d. Using the OSI Directory to Achieve User Friendly Naming e. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol f. RIP Version 2 Carrying Additional Information g. RIP Version 2 MIB Extension h. SNMP over OSI i. SNMP over AppleTalk j. The PPP DECnet Phase IV Control Protocol (DNCP) k. Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3 Repeater Devices l. DHCP Options m. Interoperation Between DHCP and BOOTP n. SMTP Extensions for Transport of Enhanced Messages o. RIP Version 2 Protocol Analysis p. SNMP MIB extension for LAPB q. SNMP MIB extension for the X.25 Packet Layer Cooper [Page 4] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 4. The IESG made the following recommendations to the IAB during the month of August, 1992: a. Choosing a "Common IGP" for the IP Internet (The IESG's Recommendation to the IAB) be published as an Informational RFC b. ISO Transport Service on top of the TCP Version: 3 (RFC1006) be elevated to Standard. c. IP and ARP on HIPPI be accepted as a Proposed Standard. d. Telnet Remote Flow Control Option be accepted as a Proposed Standard. e. Implementation Notes and Experience for The Internet Ethernet MIB be published as an Informational RFC. f. Definitions of Managed Objects for the Ethernet-like Interface Types be elevated to Draft Standard. g. Naming Guidelines for Directory Pilots be published as an Informational RFC. h. Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3 Repeater Devices be accepted as a Proposed Standard. 5. Twenty-six (26) Internet Draft actions were taken during the month of August, 1992: (Revised draft (o), New Draft (+) ) WG I-D Title ------ ------------------------------------------------------- (pppext) o The PPP DECnet Phase IV Control Protocol (DNCP) (cat) o Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (pppext) o The PPP AppleTalk Control Protocol (ATCP)) (dhc) o Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (cat) o Generic Security Service API : C-bindings Cooper [Page 5] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 (pem) o Privacy Enhancement for Internet Electronic Mail: Part II: Certificate-Based Key Management (pppext) o The PPP OSI Network Layer Control Protocol (OSINLCP) (iesg) o Choosing a "Common IGP" for the IP Internet (The IESG's Recommendation to the IAB) (pppext) o PPP Authentication Protocols (cipso) o COMMERCIAL IP SECURITY OPTION (CIPSO 2.2) (ripv2) o RIP Version 2 MIB Extension (ident) o Ident MIB (osids) o Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (bgp) o A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4) (osids) o The String Representation of Standard Attribute Syntaxes (none) o Guidelines for IP Address Allocation (ident) o Identification Server (mpsnmp) o SNMP over IPX (dhc) o DHCP Options (dhc) o Interoperation Between DHCP and BOOTP (ethermib) o Definitions of Managed Objects for the Ethernet-like Interface Types (none) + Core Based Trees - Scalable Multicast Routing (none) + TCP/IP: Internet Version 7 (none) + AUDIT INFORMATION TRANSFER PROTOCOL (AITP) (ripv2) + RIP Version 2 Protocol Analysis (822ext) + Japanese Character Encoding for Internet Messages Cooper [Page 6] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 6. Five (5) RFC's were published during the month of August, 1992. RFC St WG Title ------- -- -------- ------------------------------------------- RFC1355 I (nisi) Privacy and Accuracy Issues in Network Information Center Databases RFC1356 PS (iplpdn) Multiprotocol Interconnect on X.25 and ISDN in the Packet Mode RFC1358 I (iab) Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) RFC1359 I (none) Connecting to the Internet; What Connecting Institutions Should Anticipate RFC1361 I (none) Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) St(atus): ( S) Internet Standard (PS) Proposed Standard (DS) Draft Standard ( E) Experimental ( I) Informational Steve Coya (scoya@nri.reston.va.us) Phill Gross (pgross@nis.ans.net) Cooper [Page 7] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 INTERNET PROJECTS ----------------- BOLT BERANEK AND NEWMAN INC. ---------------------------- In August, IDPR was accepted by the IAB as an IETF Proposed Standard. We are anxious to gain some operational experience with the IDPR protocols in the Internet, through our planned pilot installation. During the past month, we have been devoting most of our time to designing a multicast mechanism for IDPR. Jil Westcott CICNET ------- CICNet report for July and August, 1992 On July 1, CICNet made the official cutover to its new NOC services vendor, ANS. The transition had been in the planning for several months and ANS began passive monitoring in mid- June. Special recognition goes to AT&T and Ohio State University Academic Computing Services, our former NOC operators, for their high quality service and assistance in making this transition a smooth one. As part of the restructuring of NOC services CICNet added Tom Easterday to the CICNet staff to handle network engineering responsibilities. Ed Vielmetti of MSEN also joined the CICNet staff under a long term consulting agreement to provide support for WAIS, Gopher, and other information services. July marked the initiation of an SMDS trial with Ameritech. Cisco Systems and Kentrox are also providing support for this trial. Initial SMDS sites include the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Argonne National Laboratory. During July CICNet staff attended a special FARNET meeting to review the draft NSFNET backbone solicitation, the IETF meeting, the annual meeting of the American Library Association, and a meeting sponsored by FARNET and the OERI Regional Educational Laboratories. In August, CICNet was contracted by GTE North, Inc. to GreatLinks, which will provide dial up connectivity, system administration, and information services for the Pioneering Partners Program, an activity jointly sponsored by GTE North and the Council of Great Lakes Governors. GreatLinks will be operational in mid-September. Pioneering Partners provides training and support for K-12 educators and business and community leaders in the eight state Great Lakes region. On August 12-13 CICNet sponsored the Gopher '92 Workshop, a meeting which brought together Gopher Information Service experts from almost all CICNet member sites and numerous academic and networking Cooper [Page 8] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 organizations around the country. The CICNet Guide to Resources, which contains detailed descriptions of contents and access methods for numerous information resources around CICNet and the Internet was published in August. It is available in a plain text version for anonymous ftp from nic.cic.net in the directory pub/resourceguide. Information on accessing the Guide via Gopher and WAIS are also available in this directory. Both the Guide and the Gopher '92 Workshop proceeding are available in hardcopy from CICNet. In late August, CICNet staff participated in a meeting sponsored by the Coalition for Networked Information on NREN legislation, the pending NSFNET backbone solicitation, and access to government documents. by John Hankins (hankins@cic.net) CIX (COMMERCIAL INTERNET EXCHANGE) ---------------------------------- The following report outlines CIX-WEST usage for the month of August, 1992. CIX In Out Member Octets Packets Errors Octets Packets Errors --------- ----------------------------- --------------------------- AlterNet 34155256093 132179058 3128 21134692683 141095357 0 CERFnet 28052446412 136025622 141 23348789417 106230677 0 PSINet 21816013055 133357018 2 39612972699 154783904 0 SprintNet 104540527 827824 8198 118653288 820739 0 Starting: Jul 31 1992 at 23:50 Ending: Sep 1 1992 at 00:05 SNMP Polling Intervals: 3925 SNMP Polling Frequency: 15 minutes In - traffic entering the CIX from the CIX member network Out - traffic exiting the CIX into the CIX member network ----- At the present time, approximately 1000 networks within the CIX membership are using the CIX-WEST. SprintLink integration has been completed. EUNet, PIPEX (UK), and NORDFRAME have been integrated into the CIX via the Alternet CIX connection. Cooper [Page 9] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 Work on the link to ANSNet is progressing. This link will facilitate CIX access to regional networks who wish to join the CIX and are connected to ANSNet. Send mail to info@cix.org for information regarding the CIX. Mark Fedor (fedor@uu.psi.com) ISI --- GIGABIT NETWORKING Five RFCs were published this month. RFC 1355: Curran, J. (NNSC), and A. Marine (SRI) "Privacy and Accuracy Issues in Network Information Center Databases", August 1992. RFC 1356: Malis, A. (BBN), D. Robinson (Computervision Systems Integration), and R. Ullman (Process Software Corp.) "Multiprotocol Interconnect on X.25 and ISDN in the Packet Mode", August 1992. RFC 1358: Chapin, L., Chair (IAB), "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)", August 1992. RFC 1359: ACM SIGUCCS Networking Taskforce, "Connecting to the Internet What Connecting Institutions Should Anticipate", August 1992. RFC 1361: Mills, D., "Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP)", August 1992. Ann Westine Cooper (Cooper@ISI.EDU) MULTIMEDIA CONFERENCING No progress to report. Steve Casner (casner@isi.edu) Cooper [Page 10] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 JVNCNET ------- Global Enterprise Services, Inc. I. General information A. How to reach us: 1-800-35-TIGER (from anywhere in the United States) local: 609-258-2400 by e-mail NOC: noc@jvnc.net General information: info@jvnc.net by mail: U.S. mail address: B6 von Neumann Hall Princeton, NJ 08544 (President, GES: Sergio Heker) B. Hours NOC: 24 hours/day, seven days a week Office hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm EST, M-F (except holidays) C. Other info available on-line from NICOL Telnet to nicol.jvnc.net. Login ID is nicol and no password. D. RFCs on-line To obtain RFCs from the official JvNCnet repository (two methods) 1) ftp jvnc.net; username: anonymous; password: 2) RFC automailer Send email to sendrfc@jvnc.net. Subject line is RFCxxxx. xxxx represents the RFC number. RFCs with three digits only need three digits in the request. E. JvNCnet Symposium Series For information about planned JvNCnet symposiums, please send email to "symposium@jvnc.net" or call 1-800-35-TIGER. F. JvNCnet K-12 Dial-up Connectivity Program For information about the JvNCnet K-12 activities, send email to "K-12-request@jvnc.net" or contact Rochelle Hammer at 1-800-35-TIGER, option 0 (zero). Cooper [Page 11] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 G. The next Megabytes is expected in September. To subscribe to the electronic distribution of Megabytes, send email to "megabytes-request@jvnc.net". H. Enhanced Dialin'Tiger Service Four low cost, enhanced Dialin'Tiger choices are immediately available. Users can obtain a software interface for the PC and Macintosh (automatic dial-up, email, news, ftp, and telnet) and optional 800 number makes Dialin'Tiger suitable for diverse network access needs. Please contact Allison Pihl at market@jvnc.net or 1-800-35-TIGER to obtain complete description of Dialin'Tiger options. I. NETLOG, the JvNCnet Trouble Ticket System "Netlog v2.0", a UNIX-based trouble-ticketing system, is now in the public domain and available from anonymous ftp: (Username: your email address and no password). ftp.jvnc.net under "pub/netlog-tt.tar.Z' All bug reports to "netlog-bugs@jvnc.net". Send email to "netlog-users-request@jvnc.net" if you use this software and want to receive software update notification. J. NOCOL, JvNCnet's Network Operation Center On-Line NOCOL v2.0 is available in the public domain via anonymous ftp from: ftp.jvnc.net (128.121.50.7) under pub/nocol.tar.Z. For addition to the updates and bug fixes mailing list, please send email to "nocol-users-request@jvnc.net". Send comments to "nocol-info@jvnc.net" and bugs to "nocol-bugs@jvnc.net". II. New Information A. New on-line members (fully operational August 1992) Aerochem Research Laboratories, Inc., Princeton, NJ (since 6/30) Wistar Institute, Phila., PA Answer Software, Columbus, OH AKC Consulting, Roselle Park, NJ All-Source Processing, Inc., Parsippany, NJ Spectra Physics, Eugene, OR Timex Corp., Middlebury, CT Dow Lohnes & Albertson, Washington, DC IBM/EduQuest, Atlanta, GA Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc., Arlington, VA Rochelle Hammer (hammer@jvnc.net) Cooper [Page 12] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 LOS NETTOS ---------- PacBell did a poor job of the flash cut for the JPL move. JPL was down for 22 hours instead of 45 minutes. Our pre-testing of the new local loop didn't reveal the data pattern sensitivity problem with the T1 once we were cut over. PacBells comprehensive 2 hour end-to-end testing didn't either. During the JPL move it was revealed that JPL is a second large organization that is duplicating the Los Nettos remote console access system which permits access to console ports for CSU/DSU's and routers, and the ability to power cycle the network equipment. Both JPL and TRW are installing many copies of the Los Nettos remote console access system in their own networks. Walt Prue (Prue@ISI.EDU) MERIT/MICHNET ------------- Merit Network, Inc., has been awarded $475 thousand by the NSF to help fund a series of planned enhancements to MichNet. Proceeds of the two-year grant will be used for new high-speed Cisco routers and data circuits. Data transfer capacity on seven MichNet links is now being upgraded from speeds of 56 Kbps to T1. The network upgrade will provide multiple T1 connections between backbone nodes in Ann Arbor, Detroit, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Rochester, and Saginaw. The NSF grant will also help fund a new 56Kbps link between Mt. Pleasant and Saginaw providing users in central Michigan with a second link to the network backbone as backup. In addition, a new 56Kbps link to Houghton will be put into service, and Houghton's current link to Ann Arbor will be doubled in capacity from 56Kbps to 112Kbps MichNet's SMDS trial with Ameritech and Michigan Bell is well underway. The test links MichNet sites at the University of Michigan in Flint, Wayne State University, Oakland University, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. During the test period, the use of SMDS will provide a T1 link to MichNet's Flint node. The Oakland node, previously two hops away from the Internet gateway in Ann Arbor, will be only one hop away. Cooper [Page 13] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 The trial will last approximately six months. MichNet and its affiliates have made many upgrades and changes to its over the summer. Some of those changes include: The Benton Harbor/St. Joseph MichNet node has been moved from Lake Michigan Community College to St. Joseph High School. New 1200-9600 bits per second modems have been installed at the site. At the end of July, Western Michigan University installed 9600 bits per second MichNet dialup modems at the Muskegon Regional Center. Western Michigan University also recently upgraded the MichNet modems to 9600 bits per second at the following sites: Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Grand Rapids. The new modems will support 1200, 2400, and 9600 bits per second service. As a part of these improvements, and to help provide a standardized modem configuration across MichNet, 300 bps service was eliminated at a number of sites. The 56K link between Flint and Saginaw was upgraded to 1.5Mbps (T1) in mid-June. This provides T1 to CIESIN and Saginaw Valley State University. This summer, the University of Michigan upgraded the 19.2 Kbps dial-in service in Ann Arbor to include v.42 capability. Six more lines were added to the service. In addition, twelve more lines were added to the 9600 bps dial-in service. Merit Network, Inc. has signed an agreement with ANS which will allow its business users throughout Michigan to pass commercial data traffic over ANS's nationwide high-speed computer network backbone. Access to the national high-performance computer network infrastructure will be provided through MichNet, Merit's statewide data network. During the last year, Merit has been engaged in outreach activities to the Michigan K-12 community. The primary focus has been to spread the word about the Internet. These outreach activities have resulted in Project Connect, which brings together a team of organizations to connect the first Michigan schools to the Internet. Merit is pleased to announce Novell's participation in this project. Novell has provided over $150,000 worth of Novell software products. MichNet will also be relying on the resources of its members and affiliates as the project proceeds. Cooper [Page 14] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 During the summer, four of the five Project Connect schools connected to MichNet. When the showcase network is complete, the participating schools will be: Mumford High School, Detroit, MI; Lamphere Schools, Madison Heights, MI; Northville Schools, Northville, MI; Model High School, Bloomfield Hills, MI; and Oakland Technology Center, Southwest Campus, Wixom, MI. Pat McGregor NEARNET ------- NEARnet Membership: As of August 31, NEARnet has grown to 153 members. The fourth seminar of the NEARnet Mini-Seminar Series is scheduled for September 18, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc, Newman Auditorium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The upcoming seminar will focus on value-added services offered by NEARnet, such as: Domain Name Service (DNS), Network News (NNTP), and Network Time Protocol (NTP). The July and August issues of the electronic bulletin "NEARnet This Month" have been distributed. Past issues of the bulletin are available via anonymous FTP at nic.near.net, in the directory newsletters/nearnet-this-month. Corinne Carroll NNSC, UCAR/BOLT BERANEK and NEWMAN, INC. ---------------------------------------- Cyndi Mills participated in the American Veterinary Computer Society panel during the American Veterinary Medicine Society meeting in Boston. John Curran and Charlotte Mooers have written a privacy and accuracy statement for the Internet Resource Guide. The statement is available via anonymous ftp at nnsc.nsf.net in the pathname: /resource-guide/privacy-accuracy. The NNSC Staff is collecting policies for a new directory on the nnsc.nsf.net machine. If you would like to place a copy of your network policy in this directory, please send mail to: nnsc@nnsc.nsf.net. The NNSC began the mailing of the second distribution of updates to the Internet Resource Guide. The staff has sent reminder notices Cooper [Page 15] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 to the authors of all entries asking for updates. Twenty-six entries have been updated and distributed through mailing lists for Plain Text and Postscript versions of the Resource Guide entries. We are also actively seeking new entries for the Resource Guide. If you know of a resource that should be included, please send a message to "resource-guide@nnsc.nsf.net" and we will be happy to send instructions and a template to the address you suggest. Corinne Carroll NORTHWESTNET ------------ NorthWestNet Annual Meeting '92: "Bridging Distances and Disciplines" Preparations are well under way for the NorthWestNet Annual Meeting, scheduled for October 15-17, 1992 at the Portland Oregon Hilton. In addition to demos, talks, and birds-of-a-feather interest groups, there will be several keynote speakers including Dave Staudt, program officer for networking and communications at the DNCRI of the National Science Foundation; Dr. Richard Mandelbaum, Director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Communications at Polytechnic University; Ken Kay, Executive Director of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP); and Dr. Robert Heterick, Vice President of Information Systems at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. To complement the standard technical and user services sessions, presentations devoted to K-12, health sciences, and library services will also be highlighted. If you would like more information, please contact Jan Eveleth at eveleth@nwnet.net or (206) 562-3000. ----------------- NorthWestNet 15400 SE 30th Place, Suite 202 Phone: (206) 562-3000 Bellevue, WA 98007 Fax: (206) 562-4822 Dr. Eric S. Hood, Executive Director Jan Eveleth, Director of User Services Schele Gislason, Administrative Assistant Dan L. Jordt, Director of Technical Services Anthony Naughtin, Director of Client Services NorthWestNet serves the six state region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, and Washington. Schele Gislason Cooper [Page 16] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 NSFNET/ANSNET BACKBONE ENGINEERING ---------------------------------- T3 Backbone Status ================== The system software and routing software for the T3 routers has stabilized. The new RS/960 FDDI card has completed testing and deployment schedules are in progress. A new system software build with support for 10,000 routes maintained locally on the smart-card interfaces is being tested on the T3 Research Network. Planning is now underway for dismantling of the T1 backbone which is targeted for November. Several steps to be completed prior to dismantling the T1 backbone include support for OSI CLNP transport over the T3 backbone, and the deployment of the redundant backup circuit plan for the T3 ENSS gateways at each regional network. Further activities in support of the Phase IV upgrade to the T3 backbone are in progress. Backbone Traffic and Routing Statistics ======================================= The total inbound packet count for the T1 network during August was 3,903,906,145, down 17.9% from July. 298,961,253 of these packets entered from the T3 network. The total inbound packet count for the T3 network was 13,051,979,670, up 1.3% from July. 129,835,094 of these packets entered from the T1 network. The combined total inbound packet count for the T1 and T3 networks (less cross network traffic) was 16,527,089,468 down 3.1% from July. Reports on T3 backbone byte counts for June, July and August were incorrect due to SNMP reporting problems. These will be corrected soon in reports available on the nis.nsf.net machine. The totals for June, July, and August are 2.279, 2.546, and 2.548 trillion, respectively. As of August 31, the number of networks configured in the NSFNET Policy Routing Database was 6360 for the T1 backbone, and 5594 for the T3 backbone. Of these, 1233 networks were never announced to the T1 backbone and 1102 were never announced to the T3 backbone. For the T1, the maximum number of networks announced to the backbone during the month (from samples collected every 15 minutes) was 4866; on the T3 the maximum number of announced networks was 4206. Average announced networks on 8/31 were 4817 to T1, and 4161 Cooper [Page 17] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 to T3. New FDDI Interface Adapter for ENSS Nodes ========================================= We have a new RS960 FDDI adapter for the RS/6000 router that provides much improved reliability and performance. It was our hope that the new RS960 FDDI interface adapter targeted to upgrade the older be ready for deployment in early August. However several serious bugs were encountered during testing in late July, and the upgrade has been delayed by more than a month. Fortunately we have corrected or worked around all of these known remaining bugs. We are re-running our full suite of regression tests, and a full set of stress tests on the T3 test network during the labor day weekend. Pending the successful completion of our tests, we expect that the first set of FDDI adapter upgrades on the production T3 ENSS nodes could begining during the week of 9/7. We would like to begin planning for the installation of these new interface adapters at ENSS128 (Palo Alto), ENSS135 (San Diego), ENSS129 (Champaign), and ENSS132 (Pittsburgh). We will develop plans for any further FDDI deployments after these first 4 installations have been successfully completed. Dismantling the T1 Backbone =========================== The current target for dismantling the T1 backbone is November '92. This can be accomplished once the remaining networks using the T1 backbone have been cut over to the T3 backbone (these are: ESnet, EASInet, Mexican Networks at Boulder, and CA*net); an OSI CLNP transport capability over the T3 backbone is in place; the T3 ENSS nodes are backed up by additional T1 circuits terminating at alternate backbone POPs; and the network-to-network source/destination pair statistics matrix is available on the T3 backbone. These activities are described below. Since the RCP nodes on the T1 backbone are experiencing further congestion and performance problems due to the growth in networks, we are planning to reduce the number of networks announced to the T1 nodes by the T3 interconnect gateways. This will eliminate the use of the T3 to back up the T1 for those networks yet to cut over, in the event of a failure in the T1 network. Remaining Network Cutovers -------------------------- The ESnet cutover is waiting for a new version of software to be configured for the ESnet router peers at FIX-West and FIX-East. Cooper [Page 18] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 The Mexican autonomous system will be cut over soon, pending communication with the folks in Mexico. We are developing a plan that will allow EASInet to peer directly with the T3 network. The plan for CA*net is to remove the RT from the token ring on the NSS nodes at Seattle, Princeton and Ithaca, configure them to run the CA*net kernel and gated, and peer directly across the ethernet to the T3 ENSS at these sites. OSI Support Plan ---------------- In order to dismantle the T1 backbone, we need to support the transport of OSI (CLNP) packets across the T3 network. Because we would like to target dismantling of the T1 backbone for sometime in late 1992 and the T3 backbone software for support of OSI is still in test, we would like to proceed with a phased (multi-step) migration for support of OSI switching over the T3 network in order to ensure network stability as we introduce OSI software support. The migration plan involves several steps: 1. Convert RT/PC EPSP routers that reside on the shared ENSS LAN into OSI packet encapsulators. This would be done at the 8 or so sites where there are regionals that currently support OSI switching services. OSI traffic is encapsulated in an IP packet on the RT router and forwarded as an IP packet across the T3 network to a destination RT de-encapsulator. This software already exists and can support the migration of OSI traffic off of the T1 backbone, with no software changes required to the T3 backbone. This software is entering test now and could be running in production by early October. 2. Introduce new RS/6000 OSI encapsulator systems that are the running AIX 3.2 operating system with native CLNP support. These machines will replace the RT OSI encapsulators on the shared ENSS LAN. As the CLNP software gets more stable, the RS/6000 system can begin to support non-encapsulated dynamic OSI routing. There are still no changes required to the production T3 network software in this step. This step could occur sometime in the mid-fall. 3. Deploy the AIX 3.2 operating system and native CLNP switching software on the T3 routers across the backbone. The experience gained in step#2 above will facilitate this migration. This step is expected sometime in January 1993. Cooper [Page 19] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 T1 ENSS Backup Circuits ----------------------- The T1 backbone is currently providing backup connectivity in the event of a problem with the T3 backbone. Since the T3 ENSS nodes are currently singly-connected to a CNSS at an MCI POP, the single T3 circuit and CNSS node represent a single point of failure. As a backup plan, each T3 ENSS will be connected to a new T1 circuit which terminates at a different backbone POP CNSS. This will allow bypass recovery in the event of circuit or CNSS failure. We are executing a test plan on the test network to measure internal routing convergence times and end-user observations during a backup transition. These circuits are being ordered now and are expected to be in place by late October. Network Source/Destination Statistics ------------------------------------- During the migration to the smart card forwarding technology (RS960/T960) we temporarily lost the ability to collect network source/destination pair traffic statistics. This is because packets were no longer passing through the RS/6000 system processor where the statistics collection application software ran. We are now testing new software for near-term deployment that will allow us to continue to collect statistics for each network source/destination pair. These statistics include packets_in, packets_out, bytes_in, and bytes_out. The statistics will be cached on the RS960 and T960 interfaces and uploaded to the RS/6000 system for processing and transmission to a central collection machine. Increase Routing Table Sizes on T3 Network ========================================== We continue to experience an increase in ANSNET/NSFNET advertised networks, (see Backbone Traffic and Routing Statistics, above) The current on-card routing table size on the T3 router RS960 card (T3/FDDI) and T960 card (T1/ethernet) supports 6,000 destination networks with up to 4 alternate routes per destination. The current on-card routing tables are managing on the order of 12K routes (including alternate routes to the same destination). We are now testing new software for the RS960 and T960 interfaces that will be deployed shortly that supports up to 10,000 destination networks with up to 4 alternate routes per destination. This software will be deployed on the T3 network in the near future. Cooper [Page 20] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 We also continue to work on support for on-card route caching which will significantly increase the upper limit on the number of routes to unique destination networks that may be supported. This software will be available with the AIX 3.2 operating system release of the router software in early 1Q93. Phase-IV T3 Network Upgrade Status ================================== The scheduled upgrades to the T3 backbone discussed in the July report are continuing on schedule and will allow the dismantling of the T1 backbone. The major features of this plan include: 1) T3 ENSS FDDI interface upgrades to new RS/960 card. This is currently being scheduled at 4 regional sites. 2) T3 ENSS backup connections are being installed. A T1 circuit will be installed at each T3 ENSS to allow a backup connection to a different CNSS. This will provide some redundancy in the case of T3 circuit or primary CNSS failure. These circuits are scheduled for cutin in October. 3) T3 DSU PROM upgrades. A problem was uncovered in testing the new DSU firmware. The new firmware supports additional SNMP function and fixes a few non-critical bugs. Since this problem was uncovered, a fix has been provided. However the testnet has been occupied with FDDI and other system testing since then. Therefore the upgrades to the DSUs that were scheduled to begin on 9/14 will be postponed until early October. 4) The existing set of CNSS routers in the Washington D.C. area will be moved to an MCI POP in downtown Washington D.C. on 9/12 for closer proximity to several ENSS locations. The tail circuits of the existing network attachments to this POP will be reduced to local access circuits only. 5) The installation of a new CNSS in Atlanta is scheduled for 9/26 to reduce the GA Tech T3 tail to local access only, and provide expansion capability in the southeast. T3 Network Performance Enhancements =================================== The general approach to engineering the T3 network has been to prioritze enhancements that improve stability rather than performance. Since the T3 network RS960 upgrade in May '92, the stability of the network has become very good, and we have been Cooper [Page 21] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 able to spend more resources focusing on the performance of the network, which has also improved significantly. With the upcoming deployment of the new RS960 FDDI adapter, we expect to observe higher peak bandwidth utilization across the T3 network, and higher aggregate packet traffic rates. In anticipation of this, we have conducted some baseline performance measurements on the T3 network that serve as a basis for continued tuning and improvement over time. T3 Network Delay ---------------- In order to analyze the delay across the T3 ANSNET, we start by measuring the delay incurred by each T3 router hop, and then measure the circuit propagation delay across all backbone circuits. We have MCI T3 circuit route mileage figures which can be calibrated with PING measurements to determine how much each hop through a T3 router adds to the round trip time. A set of round trip delay measurements was made using a special version of PING that records timestamps using the AIX system clock with microsecond precision. The technical details of the measurements may be described in a future report on the subject. The end result is that the round trip transit delay across a T3 router was measured to be about 0.33 ms (0.165ms one way delay), with a maximum variance between all samples on the same router of 0.03 ms. The T3 routers currently experience very little variance in delay at the current load on the T3 network. The T3 router transit hop delay is therefore negligible compared to the T3 circuit mileage propagation delay. It turns out that the round trip delay between the Washington POP and the San Franciso POP can be 77ms for packets traversing the southern route (Washington->Greensboro->Houston->Los Angeles->San Francisco) or 67ms for packets traversing the northern route (Washington- >New York->Cleveland->Chicago->San Francisco). During the timeframe of "Hawthorne" technology routers, it was appropriate to choose internal routing metrics that balanced load across redundant T3 paths, and minimized transit traffic on the routers. However now with RS960 technology, the requirement for load-balancing, minimizing transit traffic and hop count, and maintaining equal cost paths is no longer justified. With the introduction of the new Atlanta CNSS, we will explore adjustment of the internal T3 link metrics to minmize round-trip latency ENSS<- >ENSS. This will improve overall network performance as perceived by end users. The summary on T3 network latency is: Cooper [Page 22] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 (1) Delays due to multiple hops in the T3 network are measurable, but not large enough to matter a whole lot. The observed T3 ANSNET one way delay associated with a single T3 router hop is 0.165mS per router (1.35mS cross country one way delay due to 8 router hops). This is negligable compared with the cross-country propogation delays (e.g. 35ms one way). It would require the addition of 30 T3 routers to a path to add 10 ms to the unloaded round trip time, given constant circuit mileage. Delays introduced by extra router hops are negligible compared to circuit mileage delays. (2) For small packets, like the default for ping and traceroute, the round trip delay is mostly dependent on circuit mileage, and is relatively independent of bandwidth (for T1 and beyond, at least). (3) All T3 links within the network are maintained at equal cost link metrics regardless of physical mileage. This was designed during the timeframe when RS/6000 routers were switching packets through the system processor, and hop count, and transit traffic through the router were important quantities to minimize. With the introduction of pure adapter level switching (e.g. no RS/6000 system processor involved involved in switching user datagrams), minimizing hop count and router transit traffic become less important. Minimizing overall ENSS<->ENSS delay becomes more important. (4) The T3 ANSNET maintains two different physical circuit routes between Washington D.C. and Palo Alto. Each of these routes represent equal cost paths, and therefore will split the traffic load between them. However one of these physical routes is about 600 miles longer than the other. This can introduce problems involving asymmetric routes internal to the T3 network, and sub-optimal latency. The T3 ANSNET circuits are physically diverse to avoid large scale network failures in the event of a fiber cut. Compromising physical route diversity is not planned. However some reduction of real T3 circuit mileage (and therefore about 5mS of delay) might be possible on the ANSNET with the installation of the Atlanta POP CNSS in September. ANS is conducting a review with MCI to determine whether the Washington->Greensboro->Houston->Los Angeles->Hayward physical route can be reduced in total circuit miles without compromising route network diversity. This might be possible as part of the plan to co-locate equipment within Atlanta. Cooper [Page 23] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 T3 Network Throughput --------------------- The RS960 adapter technology will support up to five T3 interfaces per router, with an individual T3 interface operating at switching rates in excess of 10K packets per second in each direction. The unit and system tests performed prior to the April '92 network upgrade required the CNSS routers to operate at 50KPPS+ aggregate switching rates, and 22Mbps+ in each direction with an average packet size of 270 bytes on a particular RS960 interface. The router has also been configured and tested in the lab to saturate a full 45Mbps T3 link. The performance that is currently observed by individual end users on the T3 network is largely determined by their access to the network. Access may be via an ethernet or an FDDI local area network. Many users have reported peak throughput observations up to 10Mbps across the T3 network using ethernet access. Several of the T3 network attachments support an FDDI local area network interface which, unfortunately, does not result in more than 14Mbps peak throughput across the T3 backbone right now. With the new RS960 FDDI adapter to be introduced in September, end-to-end network throughput may exceed 22Mbps in each direction (limited by the T3 adapter). The initial RS960 FDDI card software will support a 4000 byte MTU that will be increased later on with subsequent performance tuning. Further performance enhancements will be administered to the T3 backbone in the fall and winter to further approach peak 45Mbps switching rates for end-user applications. Mark Knopper (mak@merit.edu) NSFNET/INFORMATION SERVICES --------------------------- The number of networks announced to the NSFNET infrastructures at the end of August totaled 6,385. Of this total, 5,676 nets have announcement to the T3 backbone, and 2,273 nets are international sites. Visitors to the Merit Network Operations Center included a delegation from several African nations and representatives from Japan. Kristen Lofquist, Merit/NSFNET Information Services, joined NOC and Internet Engineering staff to present an overview of NSFNET activities and Internet resources to these groups. The Honorable George M. White, Architect of the Capitol, and Mr. Dan Hanlon, Assistant to the Architect of the Capitol, were guests at the NOC and the University of Michigan on 25 August. Eric Aupperle, President of Merit Network, Inc., gave an overview of the NSFNET Cooper [Page 24] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 project as part of a discussion on current and future directions in local, wide-area and national networking including technology, operations and policy. The proceedings also included demonstrations of WAIS and Gopher by Laura Kelleher, Merit/NSFNET Information Services. Jim Williams, Merit Associate Director for National Networking, and Ellen Hoffman, Merit Information Services manager, attended FARNET which convened in Stowe, VT. Elise Gerich represented Merit Internet Engineering at a routing meeting with ESnet, as well as the FEPG meeting held in San Francisco, CA. John Scudder, Merit Internet Engineering, attended SIGCOMM '92 in Baltimore, MD. The Merit/NSFNET Technical Seminar will be held on September 21 and 22 in Ann Arbor, MI. This meeting, with its primary audience the technical staff of regional networks, will include discussions of the Merit/ANS organizational restructuring and the dismantling of the T1 backbone. Vint Cerf of CNRI will address criteria for future Internet protocol architecture. Agenda details and additional information may be obtained from nsf-seminar@merit.edu or by calling (313) 936-3335. "Technology, Tools, and Resources" are the focus of the Merit/NSFNET Networking Seminar to be held on October 19-20 in Ann Arbor, MI. This seminar brings together nationally known experts in their fields to talk to attendees about subjects such as network resources, getting connected, and how the network is being used today by universities, research organizations, libraries, and public schools. The registration fee is $295 until October 5, after which the cost will be $345. An optional three-hour hands-on tutorial will be offered immediately following the seminar from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20 for an additional fee. During this tutorial, participants will be introduced to such Internet tools as telnet, electronic mail, file transfer, and the latest in user friendly interfaces such as Gopher, archie, and WAIS. For more information, including a complete agenda, send e- mail inquiries to seminar@merit.edu or call (313) 936-3000. Jo Ann Ward (jward@merit.edu) PITTSBURGH SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER ------------------------------- The PSC was able to successfully transfer data between our Thinking Machines CM-5 and our Cray YMP utilizing HiPPI. We hope to soon offer distributed applications for use with the two machines. Eventually we will incorporate our Cray C-90, scheduled to arrive in November. Cooper [Page 25] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 Jamshid and Gene Hastings attended a FARNET meeting in Stowe, Vermont this month. Jamshid gave a talk on Distributed High Speed Computing and future network requirements to support it. Recent additions to and requests for Internet connectivity through the PREPnet regionals include: Metalworking Technology Inc., Marywood College, Inforum Inc., Semcor Inc., Elizabethtown College, Magee-Womens Hospital, Soft*Switch Inc., Villanova University, Computational Diagnostics Inc., IBM Industrial Technology Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Bell Atlantic Information Services. by Steve Cunningham Cooper [Page 27] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 CALENDAR -------- Readers are requested to send in dates of events that are appropriate for this calendar section. Please send your submissions to (cooper@isi.edu). 1992 CALENDAR Aug 2 T1S1, Call Control and Signaling (ISDN, Frame Relay, Broadband ATM) Aug 3-7 T1S1, Eatontown, NJ Aug 4-6 4th Workshop on Computer Sec. Incident Handling Denver, CO Aug 16 T1S1, Call Control and Signaling (ISDN, Frame Relay, Broadband ATM) Aug 17-21 ACM SIGCOMM '92, UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland Aug 23 T1X1, Seattle, WA Aug 25 RARE Executive Committee, Amsterdam Aug 24-27 CONCUR '92 -- Third Int'l Conference on Concurrency Theory (Paper deadline March 1, 1992) Rance Cleaveland (rance@csc.ncsu.edu) Scott Smolka (sas@sunysb.edu) Stony Brook Sep 1-2 EWOS Tech. Assembly, Brussels Sep 1-2 T1AG, San Francisco, CA Sep 7-11 12th IFIP World Computer Congress Madrid, Spain; Contact: IFIP92@dit.upm.es Sep 8-10 ANSI X3S3.3, Minneapolis, MN Sep 8-11 AUUG, Melbourne, AU Sep 9-10 European Electronic Mail Assoc., (EEMA), Prague Sep 14-18 ANSI X3T5 Sep 21-25 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Sep 22-24 ANSI X3S3.3, Boston, MA Sep 24-25 RARE Council of Administration, Bratislava Sep 28-30 5th IFIP International Workshop on Protocol Test Systems (IWPTS), Montreal, Canada iwpts@iro.umontreal.ca Sep 28-Oct 2 Int'l. Conf. on Computer Comm., Genova, Italy Oct 5-9 EWOS Workshops, Brussels Oct 6 WG15 Oct 6-9 CCITT WP/SG V Oct 7-9 ETSF Technical Assembly, Nice, France Oct 12-16 FORTE'92, Lannion, France Roland Groz (groz@lannion.cnet.fr) Michel Diaz (diaz@droopy.laas.fr) Oct 12-16 CCITT WP/SG1 Cooper [Page 28] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 Oct 18 T1AG, T1 Oct 20-23 CCITT WP/SG VI Oct 25 T1P1 Oct 26-30 CCITT WP/SG VII Oct 26-30 INTEROP92, San Francisco Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com) Oct 28-29 NETWORKS '92, Trivandrum, India S.V. Raghavan (raghavan@shiva.ernet.in) Nov 2-6 T1S1 Nov 3-5 The Network Services Conference 1992 Organized by EARN, in cooperation with EUNET/ EurOpen, Nordunet, RIPE and RARE, Pisa, Italy Nov 4-5 European Electronic Mail Assoc. (EEMA), London Nov 5-6 EARN, TBC Nov 9-11 COSINE Policy Group, Rome Nov 9-12 OPEN Networking '92 First Conference for german Internet User Marriott Hotel, Munich, Bavaria, Germany DIGI: konferenz@digi.de Nov 9-13 ANSI X3T5 Nov 10-11 EWOS Technical Assembly, Brussels Nov 10-12 ANSI X3S3.3, Mountain View, CA Nov 11 Member Meeting DIGI German Internet User Group Marriott Hotel, Munich, Bavaria, Germany DIGI: vorstand@digi.de Nov 16-20 IETF, Wash. D.C. Nov 25-26 ETSI General Assembly, Nice, France Nov 25-29 EurOpen/Uniform, Amsterdam Nov 29 T1E1, Anaheim, CA Dec 1-3 ANSI X3S3.3, Boulder, CO Dec 6-9 GLOBECOM '92, Orlando, Florida (See IEEE Publications) Dec 7-11 DECUS '92, Las Vegas, NV Dec 13 T1AG Dec 14-18 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Dec 18 ECTUA General Assembly, 1993 CALENDAR Jan RARE Council of Administration, TBC Jan 4-7 Intl Workshop on Intelligent, User Interfaces, Orlando, FL Jan 11-15 TCOS WG, New Orleans Jan 25-27 RIPE, Prague Jan 25-29 USENIX, San Diego Cooper [Page 29] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 Feb 11-12 PSRG Workshop on network and Distributed System Security, San Diego, Ca Feb 28-Mar 3 Modeling & Analysis of Telecommunication Systems, Nashville, TN Mar 8-12 INTEROP93, Wasington, D.C. Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com) Mar 8-12 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Mar 15-18 Uniform, San Francisco Mar 24-31 CEBIT 93, Hannover, Germany Apr 5-19 TCOS WG, Boston (tentative) Apr 14-16 National Net'93, Washington, D.C. (net93@educom.edu) Apr 18-23 IFIP WG 6.6 Third International Symposium on Integrated Network Management, Sheraton Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA (kzm@hls.com) May 10-13 4th Joint European Networking COnf., JENC93 Trondheim, Norway May 13-14 RARE Council of Administration, Trondheim May 23-26 ICC'93, Geneva, Switzerland May-Jun PSTV-XIII, University of Liege. Contact: Andre Danthine, Jun 7-11 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Jun 21-25 USENIX, Cincinnati Jun 30 RARE Technical Committee, Amsterdam Jul 12-16 TCOS WG, Hawaii (tentative) Aug 17-20 INET'93, San Francisco, CA (inet93@educom.edu) Aug 18-21 INET93, San Francisco Bay Area Aug 23-27 INTEROP93, San Francisco Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com Sep ?? 6th SDL Forum, Darmstadt Ove Faergemand (ove@tfl.dk) Sep 13-17 SIGCOMM 93, San Francisco Sep 13-17 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Sep 20-31 ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6, Seoul, Korea. Sep 28-29 September RIPE Technical Days, TBC Sep 30-Oct 2 Paris Oct INTEROP93, Paris, France Oct 12-14 Conference on Network Information Processing, Sofia, Bulgaria; Contact: IFIP-TC6 Oct 18-22 TCOS WG, Atlanta, GA (tentative) Nov 9-13 IEEE802 Plenary, LaJolla, CA Nov 15-19 Supercomputing 93, Portland, OR Dec 6-10 OIW, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD Cooper [Page 30] Internet Monthly Report August 1992 1994 CALENDAR Apr 18-22 INTEROP94, Washington, D.C. Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com) Aug 29-Sep 2 IFIP World Congress Hamburg, Germany; Contact: IFIP Sep 12-16 INTEROP94, San Francisco Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com) 1995 CALENDAR Sep 18-22 INTEROP95, San Francisco, CA Dan Lynch (dlynch@interop.com) ======================================================================== Cooper [Page 31]