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Interconnection between GARR and the Apulian regional network

Pubblicato il 05 March 2021

The interconnection between the broadband network of the Puglia Region and the GARR network dedicated to the research community is fully operational.

"We are proud to have contributed to accelerating the path towards the integration of the facilities and public administrations in Puglia and the broadband and ultra-broadband networks used by the University of Bari, INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics), and the public research system. This important milestone allows us today to facilitate scientific collaborations, as in the case of the Apulian health facilities, and places our region at the forefront in the development of innovative projects that require relevant computing power and extensive national and international collaborations. "

With these words, councillor for economic development Alessandro Delli Noci announced the entry into operation, since last Thursday 11 February, of the new direct peering between the Regional Broadband Network (LBR) of the Puglia Region and the GARR network, the national ultra-broadband network dedicated to the community of Research, education, and culture.

The direct peering will facilitate the exchange of scientific data in collaborations and research projects between the Apulian health structures and their national and European partners, and will allow them to access and use resources available in Italy through the GARR network, and in Europe through the GÉANT network.

This will offer Apulian Healthcare and Research Facilities an easy access to state-of-the-art infrastructures for the analysis of big data and to cloud computing.

The seamless interconnection of network resources is a fundamental substrate on which interdisciplinary projects and collaborations can be built. Each actor will be able to transparently share their skills, and reach the levels of excellence needed nowadays to compete in the world of research and business.
This is a key step for the Apulian territory to become more and more cohesive and advanced.

The regional broadband interconnects with high capacity (about 1 Gbps) the local public administrations served by the Regional Data Center, managed by InnovaPuglia, which provides them Cloud Computing services. It consists of two fiber rings (North and South), operating at 10 Gbps, and is equipped with 22 access points distributed throughout the region.

Through additional fiber circuits, interconnected with two secondary rings (Garganico and Salentino) and with the Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) in the cities of Foggia, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto, the network also interconnects 69 Apulian Healthcare Structures all around the Region.

The GARR Network is the national high-capacity infrastructure dedicated to the Italian research, education and culture community, offering ultra-broadband connectivity and added-value services on the entire national territory, thanks to widespread distribution of its points of presence and the use of the most advanced optical technologies.

It interconnects with other research networks in Europe and worldwide, via a double 100 Gbps link with the pan-European GÉANT ultrabroadband backbone, as well as with the rest of the Internet. The direct peering is an important goal, made possible by an agreement between the Puglia Region and GARR (which counts among its members the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the University of Bari Aldo Moro (UNIBA)).

The initiative was promoted by the ReCaS-Bari data center, an Apulian research infrastructure with a high scientific and technological level, owned by UNIBA and INFN, and InnovaPuglia, the in-house company for regional strategic planning in support of Digital Innovation.
The achievement of this important objective was also possible thanks to the precious contribution Prof: Giorgio Pietro Maggi, Coordinator of the ReCaS-Bari data center, Prof. Roberto Bellotti, Director of the Interuniversity Department of Physics, dr. Federico Ruggieri, director of GARR, of Dr. Pasquale Marino executive of the Puglia Region and of Dr. Francesca Amelia Cavicchia P.O. of the Energy and Digital Infrastructures Section, who patiently took care of the delicate agreement approval process by the relevant bodies, by Dr. Vincenzo Lagioia of InnovaPuglia S.p.A. and of all the GARR staff who worked hard to rapidly implement the agreement.