Academic dsNet

Overview

The Academic dsNet initiative and associated Dispersed Storage℠ service,  will provide a foundation capability for creating a local (Phase 1), then national (Phase 2), then worldwide (Phase 3) Dispersed Storage network which will be operated by partners with the intent to:

• Provide select academic institutions with working knowledge of Dispersed Storage networks and Information Dispersal

• Provide the infrastructure for development, testing, and implementation of Dispersed Storage technologies, as well as new technologies that build on top of Dispersed Storage networks

• Develop the operational and management processes for operating a multi-site, multi-organization Dispersed Storage network in an academic setting

• Ultimately provide the beginning of a global ecosystem for the storage and distribution of the world’s data by adding storage capability to the Internet to create a Storage Internet

Phase 1 is to deploy a single site dsNet system at a single University.  In Phase 2, the Academic dsNet initiative expands to 4 sites across the United States.  In Phase 3, the Academic dsNet initiative would extend to 8 to 16 sites worldwide.

For Phase 1 and Phase 2, Cleversafe will provide, at no cost, the dsNet-specific equipment along with technical support for this equipment.  In these phases, the Academic partners will provide the hosting facility, electrical power, bandwidth, and system management resources.

A portion of the capacity of the Academic dsNet system (at least 50%) will be available for public academic projects, and a portion will be reserved for selected private academic projects.  The Academic Partners will be responsible for identifying, selecting, and managing the projects using the Academic dsNet system.  These academic projects will be selected based on their relevance to Dispersed Storage technology and potential to creating highly impactful results.

Cleversafe and the Academic Partners will work together to promote and communicate the benefits of the Academic dsNet system.  Each party will provide attribution to the other related to the Academic dsNet system and will serve as a reference for the other in this respect.

Cleversafe Responsibilities and Benefits

Cleversafe will provide, at no cost, the dsNet-specific equipment – Slicestor appliances, Accesser appliances, Managers and related software – for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this program.  Cleversafe will also provide technical support for these products, including customer care, warranty replacement, and software updates.

Cleversafe is responsible for running the Dispersed Storage service by monitoring and operating the dsNet system. For Phase 1, Cleversafe will be responsible for housing and managing the Manager appliance.

Cleversafe will actively promote this program with press, industry analysts, and its partners.  Cleversafe will also receive attribution associated with the usage and promotion of the Academic dsNet.

Cleversafe will receive demonstration & test accounts on the Academic dsNet which provides 5% of the system capacity.

Academic dsNet Partners Responsibilities and Benefits

As an Academic dsNet partner, you will receive 95% of the capacity of the Academic dsNet system for projects selected by Academic Partner(s).  You will also receive no cost training in Dispersed Storage technology, as well as external visibility for this project

You will provide physical resources (space, power, bandwidth) and dedicate time to deploy and manage your portion of the Academic dsNet system to ensure that the dsNet system remains generally updated and available.  All Academic dsNet partners will be expected to engage on a regular basis with the Cleversafe team, to exercise the product hardware and software, report defects, and provide input for requested enhancements.  You will also provide Cleversafe general usage reporting information for your portion of the dsNet system, including project descriptions and monthly usage reports with amount of storage, amount of throughput, and similar summary information.

Infrastructure Requirements

As an Academic dsNet partner, you provide space, power, and sufficient bandwidth necessary to facilitate operation your portion of the Academic dsNet system. You will need to provide the following space, power, and bandwidth:

The bandwidth should be from a Tier 1 upstream provider and should be guaranteed 100Mbps to the cabinet.  Cleversafe personnel may require physical access to the cabinet and expect you as the partner to provide onsite support to include initial hardware installation, network troubleshooting and additional installation services.

 

System Infrastructure

The Phase 1 implementation will be deployed in a single location:

Phase 2 will be deployed in 4 locations across the United States:

The Phase 3 implementation is expected to include 8 to 16 sites worldwide.

Implementation Plan

As an Academic dsNet partner, you are expected to promptly implement the required components and to host your portion of the dsNet system.  The instructions for implementation are included in the packaging of the components that you will receive. Implementation will require physical installation of the hardware, and configuration of the Slicestor, Accesser, and Manager appliances and any source computer system that will participate in using the system. In addition, the security, logging, and authentication mechanisms for secured access to and troubleshooting of the dsNet system must be implemented. As part of the implementation plan, you will be expected to supply IP addresses for all servers participating in the dsNet system and work with Cleversafe to define firewall rules for the dsNet system. 

Training

Cleversafe will provide training on the operation and maintenance of dsNet system as well as dsNet-specific equipment and software to the dsNet Academic Partners at no cost.  This training may occur at Cleversafe, at the Partner’s location, or over the Internet.

Schedule and Duration

The Academic dsNet initiative Phase 1 is expected to begin on February 1^st, 2010 with the identification of an additional 3 partners to start Phase 2 on April 1^st, 2010.  Phase 2 is expected to last for at least 1 year.  During that year, Cleversafe and the Academic dsNet Partners will jointly develop a plan for Phase 3, worldwide deployment with additional Academic Partners.

Legal Agreements

Commercially available software provided by Cleversafe as a part of this program will be covered by the corresponding commercial licenses.  It is also expected that the Academic dsNet inititive will test pre-release software and products which will require a separate Confidentiality and Evaluation agreement.

Interested Parties

Interested parties should contact Cleversafe via e-mail at marketing@cleversafe.com

or by calling the company’s main office at 312-423-6640.  A representative from the Product Marketing team will contact you and will answer any specific questions you may have regarding the program.