Optical network project - Kent Ridge Advanced Network (KRAN)

Introduction

The Kent Ridge Advanced Network (KRAN) project is an 18-month project beginning 1 March 2002, funded by A*STAR and managed under SingAREN. The main objective of the KRAN project is to allow testing and evaluating of emerging technologies such as Grid computing and optical networking, hereby contributing the know-how to the national projects. It is also hoped that the proposed testbed will become a primer for future production Research and Education (R&E) advanced network infrastructure in Singapore.

In order to facilitate the goals of KRAN, an optical network backbone testbed is to be implemented within the Kent Ridge area so that institutions and research buildings can be linked up where research and experiments can be conducted. A tender was called for the setup and installation of this production optical network on 12 April 2002 and a decision was made to implement the solution on 13 May 2002.

KRAN network technologies

The main focuses of KRAN, in terms of networking technologies, include IP over Gigabit Ethernet (IP/GE), IP over Packet over SONET (IP/PoS) and IP over Resilient Packet Ring (IP/RPR). All three technologies are trialed on the KRAN testbed at 2.5Gbps.

KRAN participants

The key participants of KRAN are institutions and research departments that are located within the Kent Ridge area with research interests in KRAN. They are:

SingAREN, Computer Center (CC), NUS
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), NUS
Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)
BioInformatics Institute (BII)
School of Computing (SoC), NUS
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB)

CC and ECE will share a node at CC, I2R and BII will share a node at I2R and SoC and IMCB will share a node at SoC.

KRAN Partners and Sponsors

During the implementation of KRAN, partnerships with vendors that possess good technological involvement and leadership in optical networking technologies are formed at the same time. The purpose of such collaboration is to perform mutually benefiting research work on the KRAN testbed, so that a better understanding of the trialed technologies can be derived. The KRAN partners and sponsors are:

Cisco Systems (USA) Pte Ltd
SCS Networks Pte Ltd

KRAN network architecture

IP/GE network setup

The IP/GE network setup for the three nodes follow a hub & spoke topology which can be linked up further to yield a ring topology when necessary. GE links connect the core while devices attach to the core via GE or FE links. The SN5420 is a storage network device and the AP is for wireless access.

 

IP/PoS network setup

The IP/PoS network setup for the three nodes follow a hub & spoke topology which can be linked up further to yield a ring topology when necessary. OC-48 links connect the core while devices attach to the core via GE or FE links. The SN5420 is a storage network device and the AP is for wireless access.

 

IP/RPR network setup

The IP/RPR network setup for the three nodes follow a hub & spoke and ring topology through the use of the Cisco ONS15194. The ring architecture allows resilient features of RPR to be tested. Devices attach to the core ring via GE or FE links. The SN5420 is a storage network device and the AP is for wireless access.

KRAN projects and approximate time schedule

KRAN is an 18-month project commencing 1 Mar 2002. The first 3 months of the project involves network design planning, acquisition and implementation. Following this is a one-month period for network testing. Projects from the various KRAN participants and partners will run for the next 13 months or so. Documentation of results obtained for related approved agencies consumption would conclude KRAN by 31 Aug 2003.

More information on the various projects can be found at here.