10 Gbps SANReN network live
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) have announced that work on the national backbone network of the South African National Research Network (SANReN) has been completed ahead of schedule. SANReN forms a crucial part of the national cyberinfrastructure initiative funded by the DST.
The CSIR’s Meraka Institute is responsible for the implementation of the DST’s cyberinfrastructure initiative which, in addition to SANReN, comprises the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) and the proposed Very Large Datasets data-storage initiative.
The CSIR contracted Telkom for the installation of the national backbone network in July 2009. Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) carries the SEACOM bandwidth from the landing station in Mtunzini to Durban after which the national Telkom network distributes the bandwidth countrywide.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor says, “The completion of the national backbone network is an important milestone. The network will greatly reduce the cost of bandwidth for all research and higher education institutions in the country.”
“For the first time, South African researchers will have world-class networking enabling them to collaborate nationally and with their international peers. This positions South Africa internationally as a player in global science efforts. It also makes it possible to harness South Africa’s full research and development capacity to address national priority issues, including health, food security and understanding and mitigating the effect of climate change.”
The Director-General of the DST, Dr Phil Mjwara, says, “The broadband connectivity provided by SANReN will allow reciprocal participation between South Africa and international research institutions. It will give the global research community access to facilities such as the Southern African Large Telescope and the Karoo Array Telescope (also known as MeerKAT), and allow South Africa to participate in international projects with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, among others. This milestone will further demonstrate South Africa’s readiness to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, for which the country is currently bidding.”
Says Godfrey Ntoele, Telkom’s Managing Executive for Medium and Large Business Services, “Telkom, the CSIR and the Meraka Institute are satisfied with the pace at which we are jointly proceeding with the SANReN project. We are happy that all elements are on track and Telkom remains committed to delivering on all aspects of this initiative so that the national agenda of attaining high-technology connectivity at our academic institutions is realised in order to promote skills development in our country.”
The national backbone now interconnects the metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg, Mangaung, Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay and eThekwini on a 10 gigabits-per-second fibre-optic ring network. The Tertiary Education Network (TENET) has acquired 10 Gbps of international bandwidth from SEACOM which can now be distributed via the SANReN national backbone network.
The first phase of SANReN will connect 50 higher education and research institutions to the network and in the longer term SANReN aims to connect all research and higher education institutions in the country.
Most universities, including WITS, The University of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town, have direct access to the new 10 Gbps SANReN network while smaller educational institutions will have 1 Gbps links into the network which will be upgraded if there is a demand for more bandwidth.
SANReN national backbone live – comments and views
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