A Videoconferencing Service for the German Network for

A Videoconferencing Service for the German Network for Research and Education “DFN” Internet 2 - Member Meeting Spring 2004 Renate Schroeder - DFN Germany 1

Contents • DFN Association • DFNVideo. Conference (DFNVC) – Service Architecture – Service Model and Operational Model – Service Provision Components – Service Features and Advanced Features – Statistics – Further Plannings 2

DFN: Objectives Target Community: Higher Education and Research (universities, research institutions, industry, government agencies, schools) • Provision of national and international connectivity by means of a leading edge infrastructure (G-Wi. N) • Bundling of community requirements • Set up of testbeds for next generation network technologies and promotion of new applications • Taking part in international collaborations • Not-for-profit organisation => operational costs must be fully covered by institutions 3

G-Wi. N Topology Rostock Global Upstream Oldenburg Braunschweig Hannover Essen St. Augustin GEANT Berlin Magdeburg Bielefeld Aachen Core node Kiel Hamburg Göttingen Dresden Ilmenau Würzburg Heidelberg Erlangen Karlsruhe Kaiserslautern as of December 2003 Leipzig Marburg Frankfurt 10 Gbit/s 2, 4 Gbit/s 622 Mbit/s Stuttgart Augsburg Regensburg Garching 4

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DFNVC: Managed Video Conference Service • Increasing need for audio and video transfer with acceptable quality • Deployment of a videoconferencing service under ITU standard H. 323 started in 2001 • Pilot service from Q 1 2002 to Q 1 2003 • Managed and charged DFN service since April 2003 6

DFNVC: Service Architecture Organisation with own zone (scenario 1) Organisation without own zone (scenario 3) User VC system GK VC Portal Organisation without own zone (scenario 2) ISDN User VC system MCU (s) DCS GW to ISDN users World GK Country GK DFN zone 7

DFNVC: Service Model • Who may use the service? – Users in DFN member organisations and users in national/international partner organisations (guests) • How to use the service – Member organisations contract DFN and pay a flat charge to DFN according to the bandwidth of the DFNInternet connection 8

DFNVC: Operational Model • DFN - responsible for – Management of service components (MCU, Gateway, DCS, DFN-GK, Country-GK) – Setting up of a dial plan for the GK structure – Provision of the VC portal – Training courses for local administrators – Hotline, mailing lists • Participating Organisations - responsible for – – Establishment of a technical administrator Attendance in training courses Choice of VC systems & operation of a gatekeeper Training & First level support for their users 9

DFNVC: Service Provision Components (I) • Same equipment in two locations (Berlin and Stuttgart) • MCUs: – Premium Equipment: • per location 2 Radvision MCU-60/G. 722 with TCM 30 Audio Transcoder Board -> 240 Ports • per location 2 Radvision MVP 30 Video Boards – Standard Equipment: • per location 1 Radvision MCU-100 -> 200 Ports • Gatekeeper, Gateways and DCS – – per per location 1 1 Gatekeeper Radvision ECS 2. 0 Gatekeeper GNU-GK 2. 0. 2 Radvision Gateway gw-P 20 Radvision Data Collaboration System 10

DFNVC: Service Features • The service : – > allows ad hoc conferences – > offers Dial-In for ISDN-based VC systems – > takes part in the Global Dialing Scheme – > supports preparation, initiation and management of conferences – provides test results and descriptions for VC systems – offers training courses for administrators and hotline 11

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DFNVC: Service Features • The service : – allows ad hoc conferences – offers Dial-In for ISDN-based VC systems – takes part in the Global Dialing Scheme – supports preparation, initiation and management of conferences – > provides test results and descriptions for VC systems – offers training courses for administrators and hotline 15

DFNVC: Video Competence Center • VCC TU Dresden (Video Competence Center) – responsible for VC systems – ongoing tests of VC systems (new releases) – descriptions and instructions for installation and configuration for the most common VC systems – interoperability matrix of VC systems and other VC components 16

Compatibility of VC Systems Quality: Good, reliable good, unreliable no function sufficient, reliable sufficient, unreliable unsufficient, unreliable 17

DFNVC: Service Features • The service : – allows ad hoc conferences – offers Dial-In for ISDN-based VC systems – takes part in the Global Dialing Scheme – provides a VC portal – supports preparation, initiation and management of conferences – provides test results and descriptions for VC systems – > offers training courses for administrators and hotline 18

DFNVC: Advanced Services • Observing the quality of network (LAN and access lines): – Performance measurement on IP connection: • packet loss, one way delay, jitter • tests with a measurement system of the University of Erlangen – H. 323 Beacon • tests with some organisations – Prioritisation of IP-adresses • tests with special organisations 19

Statistics • Participants in the production service – contracts signed with 159 organisations and institutes – ongoing negotiations with further organisations – nearly 50% with own gatekeeper • 17 training courses since April 2003 with -15 participants per course 10 • Several hundreds of conferences per month 20

DFNVC: Further Plannings • • Migration to E. 164 / DNS / ENUM Service administration via LDAP (H. 350) Locking VC portal against unauthorized users Integration of new functions (e. g. SIP based signalisation, Vo. IP-structure) • Reservation system 21

Thank You ! 22

DFNVC: Links for interested parties – Introduction into the topic • Videoconference Cookbook http: //vcc. urz. tu -dresden. de • VC portal http: //www. vc. dfn. de – Procurement of VC systems and gatekeeper • VCC Dresden (Video Conference Center) http: //vcc. urz. tu-dresden. de/vc-systeme/ 23