Middleware Announcements

["Lee Perlis" <>]

***Internet2(R) Members Update***
       December 2002

<> SC2002 Summary
<> Virtual Briefings
<> Applications Update
<> International Update
<> Middleware Update
<> End-to-End Performance Initiative (E2Epi)
<> Internet2 K20 Initiative Update
<> Member-to-Member Announcements
<> Future Internet2 Events
<> New Members
<> Internet2 Days
<> Showcase Opportunities
<> Internet2 Related Events

Member updates are now archived at:
http://members.internet2.edu/memberupdates/index.html

<> SC2002 Summary
At the recent SC2002 Conference, the Internet2 booth featured live demos
including University of Tennessee's Video IBPster--High Bandwidth Video Over
the Internet Backplane Protocol and two demos from the Internet2 End-to-End
Performance Initiative: H.323 Beacon and Abilene Active Measurements: OWAMP
1-WAY PING. http://oldwww.internet2.edu/apps/html/sc2002-demos.html

SCinet, the high-performance network built to support the annual SC
Conferences, provided direct wide area connectivity to Abilene and many
national and world wide networks during the conference. Internet2 assisted
with measurement and performance monitoring of the network and contributed
wireless access points used on the show floor.

<> Virtual Briefings
+ Upcoming Virtual Briefings
The Tuesday, December 10 Virtual Briefing will be a simulcast of
Megaconference IV, the world's largest videoconference.
http://events.internet2.edu/briefings/index.html

More details about “Distance Learning and Far Away Places”, the theme of
Megaconference IV, are at:
http://www.mega-net.net/megaconference/

<> Applications Update
+ Joint Internet2/NLM Tutorials and Demos at RSNA
Internet2, the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the Metropolitan
Research and Education Network  (MREN) are collaborating to present a series
of tutorials and demos on “Next Generation Internet, Internet2, and the
Future of Medical Practice and Education” at RSNA 2002 (Radiological Society
of North America), taking place in Chicago 1-6 December. The tutorials and
demos are part of the infoRAD exhibit, which is designed to showcase the
most innovative technology solutions in an interactive, educational
environment for over 60,000 RSNA attendees.
http://apps.internet2.edu/html/rsna2002-demos.html

+ Megaconference IV
Megaconference IV -- the world's largest video conference -- will be held
December 10, 2002. Over 150 sites from around the world have registered! The
agenda includes educational sessions, virtual cafe breaks, a
scavenger hunt game, and exceptional prizes, including several
videoconferencing units. Find out more at:
http://www.mega-net.net/megaconference

<> International Update
+ Chinese Research and Education Networks Upgrade Connection to STAR TAP
CERNET (the network connecting higher education institutions in China),
CSTNET (the network connecting Chinese Academy of Sciences sites) and
NSFCNET (a high-performance network connecting together several institutions
in Beijing) are now connected at 45 Mbps to Internet2 networks and other
research and education networks around the world at the STAR TAP
international exchange point in Chicago.  The Chinese networks  previously
had a 10 Mbps connection to STAR TAP.  CERNET, CSTNET and NSFCNET are
reachable via the International Transit Network (ITN) service provided
jointly by CANARIE's CA*net, STAR TAP and Internet2's Abilene network.  The
Chinese networks also have a 10 Mbps connection to APAN in Tokyo.

CERNET: http://www.edu.cn/HomePage/english/index.shtml
CSTNET: http://www.cstnet.net.cn/
NSFCNET: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/
STAR TAP: http://www.startap.net/

<> Middleware Update
+ Shibboleth
The Internet2 Shibboleth team is pleased to announce the availability of
release 0.7 of its Shibboleth implementation.  This new release contains
many improvements and enhancements, including:  a rewrite of the target side
implementation, a new C/C++ based implementation of OpenSAML, improved
support of using an LDAP directory as an Attribute Repository, new
extkeytool utility for private key import/export, more extensive logging
throughout the code, an improved, simpler install process, and numerous
fixes and improvements, including fixes to utility script and a tool for
managing ARPs.  Shibboleth and OpenSAML can now optionally be installed by
building from source.  The release has been tested on Ret Hat Linux versions
7.2 and 7.3, and on Solaris 2.8. Distribution packages and documentation for
deployment are available at: http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/

Deployment and testing of Shibboleth by an increasing number of pilot
institutions and corporations, such as; WebCT, WebAssign, and several
content providers, continue to move forward on schedule.

The first public Liberty Alliance Newsletter features an interview with Ken
Klingenstein, Director, Internet2 Middleware, describing the shared
objectives between Internet2 and the Liberty Alliance, particularly with
regard to interoperability and federated identity management. The newsletter
can be found at: http://www.projectliberty.org

+ National Science Foundation Middleware Initiative (NMI)
The NMI PIs will be gathering at a Strategic Planning Meeting in Chicago
December 12 to discuss measures of success, support, documentation,
authentication, and inclusion of components from other sources.
Submissions from those interested in contributing components for Release 3,
due out in April 2003, are welcome.  Interested parties should contact Ken
Klingenstein at 
<>

Registration for the Base CAMP (Campus Architectural Middleware Planning) to
be held in Tempe, Arizona, February 5th - 7th, 2003, is now open.  For more
information go to: http://www.educause.edu/conference/nmi/camp031/

For more information on the NMI Project and Release 2 components, see:
http://www.nmi-edit.org
http://www.grids-center.org
http://www.nsf-middleware.org

+ Directories
The MACE-Dir working group is developing a directory roadmap/process chart
to assist novice campuses with their deployments.  The group is also
pursuing alignment of the attributes in eduPerson with those needed for
Shibboleth and reviewing new attributes being submitted by the European
community.  For more information, see: http://middleware.internet2.edu/dir/

Metamerge, the directory integration toolkit company, was purchased by IBM
last summer.  All Internet2 higher education member institutions have until
December 31, 2002 to guarantee eligibility to receive a free, perpetual
license for version 4.7 of the Metamerge Integrator (MI) product (not
eligible for support through IBM). To exercise this option, please send
email containing a contact name, email address, postal address and
institution name to:  
<>.
 If you are a
current Metamerge license holder, it is essential that you send this email
to get a new license.

+ Video Middleware
The VidMid working group is working with standards groups to create
middleware-enabled open source videoconferencing software.  Using some
concepts from VidMid efforts, Jon Peterson, Neustar, developed two
documents, "Enhancements for Authenticated Identity Management in the
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)" and "SIP Authenticated Identity Body
(AIB) Format".  These documents further describe RFC 3261, “SIP: Session
Initiation Protocol”, which Jon co-submitted to IETF in June.  Federated and
enterprise-mediated videoconferencing is clearly now emerging.

<> End-to-End Performance Initiative (E2Epi)
+ Performance Measurement Workshop
A Performance Measurement Workshop, similar to the workshop held in Tempe
last January, will be held immediately after the Joint Techs in Miami.  The
workshop is targeted at all those doing work in the performance measurement
area. There will be presentations on work in progress and discussion groups
to help define coordination, direction, and goals for future work.  The
workshop will run from noon on Wednesday, February 5 to noon on Thursday,
February 6, 2003.  Workshop information and registration is available
through the Internet2 events web page.  For further information, contact
Russ Hobby 
<>

<> Internet2 K20 Initiative Update
+ North Dakota Named SEGP of the Month
On September 24-26, 2002 North Dakota State University hosted The Second
Virtual Conference on Genomics & Bioinformatics. This is the first large
scientific world conference that uses the Access Grid and Real Player to
reach speakers and participants worldwide. Real Player sites could ask the
speakers questions through the web and have their answers as part of the
question and answer portion of each talk. Threaded discussion forums were
setup to provide an ongoing place to discuss topics and share information
and ideas. For the full article on this project, please visit the Internet2
K20 website: http://k20.internet2.edu/segp/index.html

<> Member-to-Member Announcements
+ Information Sharing Guidelines
Periodically members are interested in sharing information about special
activities or opportunities with the Internet2 community such as technology
symposiums, workshops, donation programs, product offerings and or grant
opportunities. In an effort to facilitate information sharing we are adding
a Member-to-Member section to this monthly update. Members interested in
contributing notices should review the guidelines at:
http://members.internet2.edu/InformationSharing.html or email
<>
 with proposed announcements.

<> Future Internet2 Events
+ Future Internet2 Member Meetings
  - Spring 2003 Internet2 Member Meeting, Arlington, Virginia, April 9-11
  - Fall 2003 Internet2 Member Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana, October 13-16
  - Spring 2004 Internet2 Member Meeting, Arlington, Virginia, April 19-22

+ Joint Techs Workshop Winter 2003
The next Joint Techs Workshop, hosted by Florida International University
and jointly sponsor by the ESnet Coordinating Committee & Internet2, will be
held in Miami, FL 2-5 February 2003.  The focus areas for the workshop will
be security, optical networking, and IPv6.  Registration and additional
information can be found at:
http://www.ncne.org/training/techs/2003/0202/jt-miami.html

Attendees are responsible for making their own room reservations. To
schedule a BoF, contact one of the co-chairs, Janet Brown 
<>,
Paul Love 
<>,
 or Bill Wing 
<>

+ Joint Techs Workshop Winter 2004
January 26 - February 1, 2004  Honolulu, HI

<> New Members
+ Corporate Members
  - Procket Networks

<> Internet2 Days
Hold an Internet2 Day for your Internet2 member organization. Technical
support for live demonstrations and informational materials are available.
For more information contact Marianne Smith 
<>or
 see:
http://apps.internet2.edu/Internet2-Days.html

<> Showcase Opportunities - Projects and People
Internet2 would like to showcase our members' efforts on our homepage. We
encourage Internet2 members to share advanced networking milestones, as well
events, collaborations and efforts in the advanced networking community.
Members are also encouraged to submit a profile of a person in the Internet2
community whose efforts in advanced networking merit a showcase on the
website.  Include a brief description (less than 100 words), all appropriate
links and images, and contact information. If you have suggestions about
projects, people or news that might be featured, please contact Adam
Csillag<>.

<> Internet2 Related Events
+ Online Calendar
For a complete listing of events for and of interest to the Internet2
community, see the online Internet2 Calendar. Be sure the Internet2-related
event you are holding or know about is listed at:
http://events.internet2.edu/calendar/main.php

RSNA 2002 Annual Meeting
1-6 December 2002
Chicago, IL
http://www.rsna.org/rsna/index.html

ACUTA
12-15 January 2003
Tempe, AZ
http://www.acuta.org

globusWORLD
13-17 January 2003
San Diego, CA
http://www.globusworld.org

NANOG 27
9-11 February 2003
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.nanog.org

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do you have a news item or event you'd like the Internet2 community to
know about? Send a brief description and pointers to any information on
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<>

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