#BCNET_HPCS Shared IT Services for Research & Higher Ed

Mike Hrybyk, BCNET CEO discussed the expanding mandate for BCNET.

UBC, SFU, UVic, BCIT, UNBC, & TRU are the core members of BCNET, and these member institutions run the network as a consortium, a unique model in North America. The 24x7 NOC for BCNET is based at UBC.

The transit exchange in each major centre serviced is the interconnect point for public and private sectors to buy into the services of BCNET.

Having provided a background on Internet transit services at BCNET, Mike transitions us to what kinds of shared services BCNET is expanding its mandate to provision. Shared data centres, cloud computing, back up services, & video conferencing.

A proposal is currently with the BC government to run three provincial shared data centres. Storage procurement and data back up services are at $250/TB per year for back up, and the ability to leverage the BCNET deal on storage hardware.

A small test cluster using eucalyptus is currently in play to provision cloud computing infrastructure.

Bluejeans, a cloud based MCU is being leveraged to provide cloud-based VC services. Integrates with Skype, GoogleTalk, and HDLink. Mike indicates his feeling that this is a game changing solution and service offering.

BCNET partnered with the Canadian Access Federation and was the first organisation in Canada to join eduroam, and 36 National campuses, including 11 in BC offer wireless roaming.

BCNET is considering use of ServiceNow as a shared SD solution across all member campuses. This may be a bigger bite than is being presented, given our experience at UBC.

BCNET intends to provision integrated HDVC services, and video storage and streaming for academic and research purposes, to manage the challenges around intellectual property rights in an inter-institutional paradigm.

Shared network management tools, fibre optic asset management, and a unified client portal are on the roadmap for BCNET.

Future service areas summarised are:
Networks
Software
Service management
Video conferencing
Elastic computing
Storage and backup

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver BC