GÉANT IP

Description

The GÉANT IP service provides high-bandwidth, international Internet connectivity for over 50 million users through GÉANT, the pan-European research and education network that interconnects Europe's National Research and Education Networks (NRENs).

The service has been designed to provide general-purpose, IP transit services between participating NRENs and other approved research and education partners and providers. Its core function is to provide a private service for IP traffic, separated from general-use Internet access.

Offering a neutral IP routing facility, without constraints imposed on access control, protocol or inter-domain routing, the award-winning network natively supports both IPv4 and IPv6 to offer NRENs maximum flexibility.

A wide range of connectivity up to 100Gbps per port and resiliency options to support NREN data connections across Europe is on offer. With interconnectivity between GÉANT and all the major R&E networks, GÉANT IP breaks down geographical boundaries and supports advanced research worldwide.

The service available to members of the GÉANT community, and is co-funded by the NRENs and the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme. Access is available to non - GÉANT NRENs only by special agreement

Access Description

 The GÉANT IP service can be provided at capacities up to 100Gbps over a single interface. The capacity available to each NREN will depend on the capacity at the nearest GÉANT IP PoP or, if the GÉANT PoP is not co-located with suitable NREN access equipment, the available capacity of dedicated circuits from the NREN access equipment and the GÉANT IP PoP.  An NREN can connect to the GÉANT IP service following one of the three scenarios highlighted below:

NREN on dark fibre: Where dark fibre is available in Location A and B, an NREN is connected to GÉANT in Location B through the Juniper MX for its primary connection. The backup connection is delivered through its Juniper MX in location A via the Infinera optical platform (DTN-X). This configuration is the most resilient setup, with service availability of 99.999%, and the capability to deliver capacity up to 100Gbps per port.
Multi-homed NRENs: If an NREN is collocated in Location A and wants to connect to a location where dark fibre is not available,the back-up is provided through another Juniper MX in the same location. This configuration is a highly resilient setup, with 99.99% service availability and delivered capacity up to 100Gbps per port.
Single homed NRENs If an NREN wants to connect to a location where dark fibre is not present but they are collocated with the GÉANT PoP and require long-haul connectivity provided by a sub contracted provider. This scenario can be implemented with or without backup, depending on the requirements. This configuration can be as resilient as required but availability figures will depend on the exact setup and the selected provider. Capacity up to 100Gbps per port is available on GÉANT equipment.

Load Sharing


When an NREN connects to more than one PoP, it is possible to request for the load to be shared across the number of accesses available, as seen below in Figure 4.

KPIs