Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Merit Dial-in Futures

MJTS

April 26, 2005

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Quick History Merit has offered dial-in access since 1970s Began new era with “shared” service featuring

Merit-built RADIUS extensions and distributed authentication, summer 1995

A collaborative effort of Member and Affiliate organizations to accomplish a groundbreaking networking goal

Dial-in industry is now commoditized, but Merit’s service maintains unique aspects that suit usage by educational organizations

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Recent History Reached peak usage and size in

approximately spring 2002 Significant drop in number of lines and

usage from that time to now Extensive consolidation accomplished

over past 3-4 years to greatly reduce physical dial-in sites, lower costs

Usage pattern and consolidation path match industry trends

•Peak line count: 14,333 in August 2002

•As of April 2005: 7262 lines

MichNet Dial-in Lines

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

Dec-95Apr-96Aug-

Dec-96Apr-97Aug-

Dec-97Apr-98Aug-

Dec-98Apr-99Aug-

Dec-99Apr-00Aug-

Dec-00Apr-01Aug-

Dec-01Apr-02Aug-

Dec-02Apr-03Aug-

Dec-03Apr-04Aug-

Dec-04

Number of dial-in lines, 12/95-3/05

•Peak session count: 7,470,987 in Oct. 1999

•December 2004: 2,615,633 sessions

MichNet Dial-in Sessions

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

Dec-95Apr-96Aug-

Dec-96Apr-97Aug-

Dec-97Apr-98Aug-

Dec-98Apr-99Aug-

Dec-99Apr-00Aug-

Dec-00Apr-01Aug-

Dec-01Apr-02Aug-

Dec-02Apr-03Aug-

Dec-03Apr-04Aug-

Dec-04

Sessions/month, 12/95-3/05

•Peak hour count: 4,265,733 in March 2001

•March 2005: 2,011,428 hours

MichNet Dial-in Connect Hours

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

4,500,000

Dec-95Apr-96Aug-

Dec-96Apr-97Aug-

Dec-97Apr-98Aug-

Dec-98Apr-99Aug-

Dec-99Apr-00Aug-

Dec-00Apr-01Aug-

Dec-01Apr-02Aug-

Dec-02Apr-03Aug-

Dec-03Apr-04Aug-

Dec-04

Hours/month, 12/95-3/05

•Average session length has consistently grown

•Those who use it, use it (about 55,000/month)

MichNet Dial-in Minutes Per Session

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

45.00

50.00

Dec-95Apr-96Aug-

Dec-96Apr-97Aug-

Dec-97Apr-98Aug-

Dec-98Apr-99Aug-

Dec-99Apr-00Aug-

Dec-00Apr-01Aug-

Dec-01Apr-02Aug-

Dec-02Apr-03Aug-

Dec-03Apr-04Aug-

Dec-04

Minutes per session, 12/95-3/05

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Factors Underlying Declines Availability of broadband options for

users (affects both in-state dial-in and roaming services)

Tightening of higher education budgets Loss of commercial ISP customers due

to their consolidation of service provision (WebTV, CoreComm, others)

End of three-year Teacher Technology Initiative project

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Actions in Response to Declines

Instituted annual commitment to bring predictability to budget

Pursuing every opportunity to consolidate sites and lower variable costs

Greatly reduced staffing tied to remote access projects (from ~17 in 2001 to ~6 today)

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

But what about the future?

In January, Merit Board discussed various factors:

– Financial: Revenues are declining but still significant part of budget

– Staffing: “Dial-in” staff also part of many other projects

– Customers: Dial-in still important to many Members and Affiliates

– Mission: Does dial-in fit with Merit’s mission in high-performance networking?

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Feedback from Board Most Member institutions intend to continue

supporting dial-in for the near future But: all see usage declining and all intend to

reduce services as quickly as possible Most see dial-in as competing with other

resources, and as a service that could be dropped in favor of others

Some feel a responsibility to lower-income constituents for whom dial-in is beneficial

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Conclusions

Board’s general advice was to anticipate a finite lifetime for dial-in service– End date not specified; Merit staff will

recommend and implement– Many different ways to approach end-of-

life; some factors still developing– No end of service is planned or imminent

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

For FY 2006

Standard approach:– No changes in dial-in structure– Customers will be asked for standard

commitment for period through June 2006 Preparation for changes in following

year

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

For Beyond June 2006 Key: explore simplifying authentication

– Move from customized solution to a more industry standard approach

– Reduces a major cost/complexity of the product Implications:

– End of customized sharing system with priority lines and tokens

– Likely change to current charging model (Lines and Tokens)

Forming working group– Discuss needs, features, timing

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

Changing authentication Keys?

– Continue to support distributed authentication– Allow suitable charging models

Advantages:– Customer can select RADIUS server best suited to

organization (OS, authentication type)– Greater flexibility for future changes

Disadvantages– Merit doesn’t supply/support RADIUS server– May need to develop means to limit use to provide

cost stability for customers

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

A new option: AccessMerit Full-service dial-in plan offered by Merit

through “sponsoring” organizations Way for organization to present a dial-in

solution without paying for it (or all of it) Fully Web-based service with online payment User proves association with sponsoring

organization before making purchase Standard base price of $8.95, including 200

hours of monthly access and helpdesk via toll-free call

Merit Network: Connecting People and Organizations Since 1966

AccessMerit transitions

Service is available to any organization Current dial-in customer organizations

may wish to transition from traditional model to AccessMerit– Preferable plan provides some months of

service free for users who transition– Organizations can continue to subsidize

access, either fully or partially– More details to come