EARN BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting 20

issued by

The secretariat

May 2, 1989

——————————————————————–

 

EARN BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

_______________________________

 

 

Minutes of the Meeting Held October 24 and 25, 1988

___________________________________________________

 

 

PLACE:           Hotel Dan Panorama, Tel Aviv, Israel

 

EARN DIRECTORS:  Jean-Marie Akeboue, Ivory Coast

Pedro Amorim, Portugal

Kurt Bauknecht, Switzerland

Paul Bryant, U.K., EARN Technical Director

Miguel Angel Campos, Spain

Avi Cohen, Israel

Andreas Eleftheriades, Cyprus

Frode Greisen, Denmark

Michael Hebgen, Germany, EARN General Secretary

Juha Heinanen, Finland

Jean-Claude Ippolito, France, EARN Treasurer

Dennis Jennings, Ireland, EARN President

Arne Laukholm, Norway

David Lord, CERN, EARN Vice-President

Oguz Manas, Turkey

Wilfried Maschtera, Austria

Kees Neggers, Netherlands

Jean Nuyens, Belgium

Stelios Orphanoudakis, Greece

Arne Sundstrom, Sweden

Stefano Trumpy, Italy

 

EARN STAFF:      Alain Auroux, Manager, Paris Office

Joe Chester, Executive Assistant, Dublin Office

Ann Hovenden, Secretary, Dublin Office

 

OBSERVERS:       Athanase Adou, Ivory Coast

Jose Barbera, IRIS, Spain

Mats Brunell, NORDUNET

Herb Budd, IBM (Europe)

Harry Clasper, IBM (Europe)

Bob Cooper, JANET

Rene Florizoone, Belgium

Peter Flynn, Ireland

Eugenia Graca, Portugal

Odd Jorgensen, Digital (Europe)

Arne Moi, Norway

Boudewijn Nederkoorn, Netherlands

Henry Nussbacher, Israel

Harri Salminen, FUNET

Michael Walsh, HEANET

Martin Wilhelm, DFN

 

ABSENT:          Algeria, Egypt, Iceland, Luxembourg, Morocco,

Tunisia, Yugoslavia.

 

 

Items are numbered  according to the running order  of the agenda

and in a unique way to ease later references.

 

 

88.26  WELCOME

______________

 

Dennis Jennings, EARN President,  opened the meeting and welcomed

all participants.

 

 

88.27  AGENDA

_____________

 

The agenda for the meeting was approved.  It was decided that the

election of officers would be held in a closed session, with only

Board members and deputy directors attending.  It was also decid-

ed that the finance session would  be open,  with the possibility

of declaring a closed session, if necessary.   The draft election

procedures with the change “directors and deputies” were ratified

by the Board.

 

 

88.28  MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING AND MATTERS ARISING

______________________________________________________

 

The  minutes were  presented  by  Michael Hebgen  and   approved.

Michael Hebgen stated  that he wishes to speed up  the process of

approving the Minutes  of Board Meetings by  electronic distribu-

tion or faxed hardcopies to get approval within 4 weeks.

 

 

88.29  ACTION LIST

__________________

 

The Action List from the April Board Meeting was reviewed.

 

 

88.30  FINANCE

______________

 

88.30.1 Accounts 1988:   Alain Auroux  presented the Statement of

Accounts to  end of  September 1988  with an  increase of  travel

expenses (Executive meeting every month,  new activities like OSI

team)  and a decrease of the french TAL expense (no VAT in France

and a decrease of nominal cost).  It was agreed

 

o   that any  attempt must  be made to  minimise the  over-run on

expenditure and to keep it within  the overall budget for the

year.    Alain  Auroux  and Jean-Claude  Ippolito  will  take

actions to bring expenditure in line with the budget.

o   that more timely  information on accounts is  required by the

Board –  regular statement on accounts  on a 3  monthly basis

and immediately on budget overrun.

 

By mid-November  Jean-Claude Ippolito will provide  an up-to-date

projection  of  expenditure to  end  of  the year,   including  a

detailed break-down of travel expenses by category.

 

88.30.2 Transatlantic Line (TAL) non-payments:  Alain Auroux pre-

sented a report on TAL  payments.   Jean-Claude Ippolito reminded

Board Members of the importance of paying next years contribution

early in 1989 as,  unlike this year,  there will be no money car-

ried over.

 

Alain Auroux will send out  the invoices for countries’ contribu-

tion to the EARN budget, including the TAL,  as early as possible

and in  any case before  January 1st  1989.   It was  agreed that

either the  total contribution should  be invoiced by  January 1,

1989 to be paid  by January 31,  1989 or half  be paid by January

31, 1989 and the remainder by July 1, 1989.

 

It was  agreed that a  country must  pay this invoice  within six

months.  The Executive Committee will work on a paper for distri-

bution and consideration  by the Board Members on  the subject of

TAL payments,  and the legal basis for disconnection/other penal-

ties resulting from non-payment.

 

88.30.3 International  Line Payments:   Alain Auroux  reported on

these payments.  No problems are anticipated for 1989. He remind-

ed  the  Board on  a  questionnaire  on  how these  payments  are

achieved.

 

88.30.4 Budget 1989:  Jean-Claude Ippolito presented the proposed

budget for 1989, which includes salary for 4 technical staff,  an

increased budget  for travel and  more accurate costings  for the

Trans-Atlantic line as requested during the last Board meeting in

Cesme.

 

Michael Hebgen  stated that the  overall budget is  acceptable to

Germany but  NOT the budget distribution  because it is  based on

 

GNP and results in an unacceptable level of increase in payments.

A share of  about 50 KECU computed with the  “old” EARN/RARE keys

is secured, the remainder is open.   For the UK,  Bob Cooper also

stated that  the increase is unacceptably  high for a  service on

which the  UK is not totally  dependant.   Both,  Bob  Cooper and

Michael Hebgen,   requested that the  service should be  based on

usage or access capacitiy, not on GNP.

 

Frode Greisen noted that the proposal  was the mean value between

the previous EARN/RARE keys and the  GNP.  The GNP was considered

the best  estimate of usage  as long  as this cannot  be measured

directly.

 

In an  attempt to solve  this problem,   it was proposed  that no

country should pay more than ten percent of the total 1989 figure

for central contributions.    This would give a  reduction in the

amount payable to France,  Germany,  Italy and the UK,  while all

other countries contributions would remain the same.  To accommo-

date this  change,  overall expenditure would  have to be  cut by

about ten percent.  This proposal  was scheduled for further dis-

cussion on day two of the Board Meeting.

 

88.30.5.1 Ideas  for new financing  model for EARN:    David Lord

presented a possible new funding model  for EARN,  as an informa-

tion item.   This was scheduled for discussion later in the meet-

ing or via electronic mail.

 

Actions:

_______

 

o   Jean-Claude Ippolito and Alain Auroux to:

–   take action to lessen expenditure

–   provide more timely information on accounts

–   provide up-to-date  projection of  expenditure to  end of

year, including details of travel by category

–   send out  invoices for central  EARN cost  before January

1st 1989

o   The Executive Committee to work on  a paper on the subject of

central cost payments

 

 

88.31  MEMBERSHIP

_________________

 

88.31.1 Country Membership:   Joe Chester  and Frode Greisen pre-

sented the membership report.  The electronic votes on membership

applications from Morocco and Egypt  were unanimously ratified by

the Board.   India’s application for Associate Country Membership

was passed by sixteen votes.    Kurt Bauknecht abstained from the

vote as the  question of the contribution by India  to the inter-

continental line has  not been resolved.   Kees  Neggers reminded

Board Members  that EARN  currently bears the  total cost  of the

trans-Atlantic line to BITNET.   Dennis Jennings has already been

informed by BITNET that there was no possibility of sharing these

costs in 1988,   but he will check again  the situation regarding

the future.

 

GULFNET was ratified as an Associate Network on BITNET,  with two

abstentions.   Avi Cohen  and Arne Laukholm both  abstained until

the question of free access by all countries to GULFNET is clari-

fied.  Frode Greisen will circulate the BITNET Charter for infor-

mation.

 

Joe  Chester reported  on  the  situation regarding  Eastern-bloc

countries.  It was agreed that no action will be taken until EARN

is certain that Eastern-bloc countries can legally connect to the

network.  Dennis Jennings will:

 

o   write  to COCOM  requesting information  on  the position  of

Eastern-bloc countries;

o   write to the COSINE Policy Group;

o   write to the  applicant countries informing them  of the cur-

rent position.

 

Eastern Bloc countries  will not appear on  meeting agendas until

there is some progress to report.  Odd Jorgensen requested formal

checking of all connected DEC machines in case of a connection.

 

Frode Greisen raised  the question of payments  by new countries.

The Board accepted a proposal that  new countries do not make any

payments to  EARN until they have  been connected to  the network

for six months.

 

Actions:

_______

 

o   Dennis Jennings to check with BITNET re cost of TAL line

o   Frode Greisen to circulate BITNET charter

o   Dennis Jennings to  take actions (as above)   on Eastern-bloc

countries

 

88.31.2 Associate  Membership:   The electronic  vote on  six new

Associate Members  was ratified.   Harwell Laboratories  was also

unanimously accepted as an Associate Member.

 

Following  comments by  Board Members  on the  present method  of

acceptance  of Associate  Members,  the  Membership Committee  is

asked to  review the method of  admission and report back  to the

Board.

 

Action:

______

 

o   Membership  Committee to review admission  of Associate

Members.

 

 

88.32  LIAISON

______________

 

88.32.1 NORDUNET:  Frode Greisen gave a short overview. The Board

approved to  proceed along these  lines and requested  a detailed

proposal an the steps for the next BOD meeting.

 

88.32.2 CEPT:  Stefano Trumpy reported on a meeting with the main

result of  a permission to run  the network on  the international

circuits in 1988.

 

88.32.3 EUNET:  Frode Greisen gave a short report on the status.

 

88.32.4 COSINE/RARE/CEC and  MDNS:   Joe Chester reported  on the

objectives  of the  organizations  and  the common  statement  of

direction which includes

 

o   ISO/OSI standards

o   shared european X.25 infrstrucuture (JWPA)

o   resolving of naming problems

o   gateways to US (JWPB)

 

JWPA is unable to agree how to  proceed with the 2 solutions MDNS

and “user managed networks” like EARN or EUNET.

 

After a  lengthy discussion and  exchange of information  on MDNS

the Board agreed with 1 abstention  to participate in the defini-

tion,  planning and testing of the  MDNS pilot and authorized the

EARN president to negotiate the details.

 

88.32.5 CCIRN:    Dennis Jennings reported  on the  activities of

this committee.  Bob Cooper reported on the recent meeting of the

committee held in Washington, D.C, where a statement of permitted

usage is requested  from each network and a list  of all gateways

is to be produced.

 

88.32.6 SPAN:   Joe  Chester reported that the  only contact with

SPAN has been  by telephone.   EARN has been invited  to the SPAN

meeting in Frascati,  Italy in  mid-November.   Joe Chester asked

Board Members interested in attending  this meeting to make them-

selves known to him.

 

88.32.7 EARN Policy on European Networks:   Paul Bryant presented

a paper to clarify the EARN policy.  It has been discussed in the

Executive Committee and will be circulated electronically.

 

Actions:

_______

 

o   Frode Greisen e.a.  to produce a detailed proposal on liaison

with NORDUNET

 

 

88.33  OSI TRANSITION PROGRAMME

_______________________________

 

Joe Chester  presented a  status report  (foils attached)   and a

description of the implementation plan for transition.

 

Answering the question if EARN is in line with the published doc-

umentation of  COSINE and  RARE,  Paul  Bryant assured  that EARN

wants to be  technically as close as possible.  EARN  is ready to

readjust/modify the plans to take into account the MDNS pilot.

 

The Board of Directors endorsed the actions of the Executive Com-

mitte to date to implement this  plan and agreed to continue with

Pilot Phase  1.  The  Board instructs  the Executive  Committe to

reply to the letter of COSINE  with all information requested and

to work  out a detailed plan  for pilot phase 2  considering MDNS

and OSI applications.

 

Action:

______

 

o  Joe Chester to prepare a more detailed plan for Phase 2.

 

DAY 2 OF THE MEETING

____________________

 

Kurt Bauknecht  is disappointed  that at 8.30  am only  5 persons

were present and most of the EXEC members were not present and he

asked the question how the Executive Committee can run an associ-

ation not being able to run a meeting in time.

 

 

88.34  ELECTION OF OFFICERS

___________________________

 

This  was a  closed session  for  Board Members  or their  deputy

directors only.

 

o   Frode Greisen was voted unopposed as new President of EARN.

o   Michael Hebgen was voted as new Vice-President.

o   Paul Bryant was voted unopposed as new Secretary-General.

o   Jean-Claude Ippolito was voted as Treasurer.

o   Avi Cohen,  Dennis Jennings and  Stefano Trumpy were voted as

Executive Committee members.

 

 

88.35  EARN89

_____________

 

Stelios Orphanoudakis  presented the current planning  for EARN89

and surrounding EARN meetings which was agreed  by the Board with

1 abstention:

 

o   May  25-26: EARNTECH

o   May  27   : EARN EXEC

o   May  29-31: EARN89

o   June 1-2  : EARN BOD

 

The proposed programme for EARN89 is to have tutorials on the 1st

day and plenary sessions on EARN  and other networks in the morn-

ing and parallel  sessions on technical aspects  and user support

in the afternoon  of the 2nd and 3rd  day.  Stelios Orphanoudakis

asked the  Board members to  participate in the  EARN89 Programme

Committee.

 

 

88.36  EARN NETWORK OPERATIONS

______________________________

 

88.36.1 Report of  the EARN-NOG:   Alain Auroux gave  a report of

the meeting of the EARN NOG (network operations group) which con-

sists of all NCCs (network country coordinator) and Ullrich Giese

(BITEARN  NODES),    Berthold  Pasch   (NETSERV),   Eric   Thomas

(LISTSERV), Udo Meyer (Traffic statistics)  and Paul Bryant – see

minutes of the EARN-NOG meeting already distributed.

 

88.36.2 Topology:

________________

 

88.36.2.1  New Topology:    The  topology  decided in  Paris  and

assured in Cesme is running.  Budget items for increased capacity

and a 2nd TAL are included in 1989.

 

88.36.2.2 Connection of new countries:   Alain Auroux presented a

paper on the current status and planning.  Dennis Jennings stated

that there should only be 1 international node in a country.

 

88.36.2.3 Montpellier:    Alain Auroux reported  on a  meeting to

improve the quality of service of  the most critical node of EARN

with many international lines.

 

 

88.37  TECHNICAL ITEMS

______________________

 

88.37.1 Report of Israel Technical Group meeting:  Hank Nussbach-

er gave  a short  report –  see minutes  of the  EARNTECH meeting

already distributed – and focused on the key points:

 

o   The security paper  will be forwarded to the  Executive to be

discussed with IBM as a top concern.

o   A subcommittee  will deal further with  a paper on  SNA which

exists and must be coordinated.

o   Clear scope and terms of  reference for EARNTECH are request-

ed.

 

88.37.2 “Improving the Quality of EARN Services”:  Hank Nussbach-

er described the discussion in  EARNTECH including the invitation

for 2 members of EARN-NOG to  participate in the recent Executive

meeting. A small majority of EARNTECH is happy with the Executive

proposal to adopt 2 non-voting members of EARNTECH.

 

The Board decided

 

o   that the  normal channel  for communication  between EARNTECH

and the  EARN Board of  Directors/Executive Committee  is via

the country Board member.

o   that the Executive should prepare  clear statements of refer-

ence for EARNTECH.

o   that 2 members of EARNTECH  should not be permanently coopted

to Executive meetings,  but invited  when technical items are

to be discussed (vote for permanent cooption: 4 yes, 13 no, 4

abstention).

o   that the Executive  should do all necessary  steps to improve

the communication with EARNTECH.

 

Hank Nussbacher,  asked for his  impression,  answered that he is

disappointed and  during the  next Board  meeting in  6 months  a

check for real improvement should be done.

 

88.37.3 NAD proposal:  – deferred to next meeting –

 

88.37.4 Technical  Staff proposal:    Alain Auroux  presented the

proposal for one  EARN office with a manager,  a  secretary and 4

people technical staffing ( 2  fulltime people and the equivalent

of 2  for project people –  see appendix).   He also  pointed out

that all the people do not need  to be at the same physical loca-

tion, to some extent the office can be decentralized.

 

Odd Jorgensen  re-stated the  DEC offer  for 3  full time  people

under the  direction of EARN  which is conditional  on equivalent

EARN committment.

 

Martin Wilhelm,  seconded by Michael  Hebgen,  requested that the

projects are to maintain and improve  current service and to work

towards the OSI direction.

 

The Board decided  to accept this proposal subject  to the budget

decision (with 1 abstention).  The  Board instructs the Executive

to  develop a  proper  staff management  plan  and  to bring  the

projects (see appendix) to the Board for decision.

 

88.37.5 Traffic  Statistics:   Alain  Auroux distributed  a first

result of September 1988 and stated that for the next Board meet-

ing good data on the past 6 months will be available.

 

Actions:

_______

 

o   The Executive to discuss the EARNTECH security paper with IBM

as a top concern

o   The Executive  to prepare clear  statements of  reference for

EARNTECH

o   The Executive to improve the communication with EARNTECH

o   The Executive to produce an EARN staff management plan

o   The Executive to prepare project proposals

 

88.30  FINANCE – CONTINUED

__________________________

 

88.30.4 Budget 1989 – continued:   In  the discussion on the EARN

office Kurt Bauknecht mentioned that the proposed 150 KECU may be

not enough  for the 4  technical staff people.    Dennis Jennings

clarified the location question,  either the exisitng EARN office

in Paris or the DEC offer for Amsterdam.

 

After a lengthy discussion on  the items “Manufacturers contribu-

tion” and “Funding  required” Dennis Jennings presented  the fol-

lowing details for clarification:

 

Expenditure (KECU)    | Income (KECU)

—————————————

Development (1)   300 | EARN       300

OSI Transition    300 | DEC/OSI    150

| N.N. (2)   150

—              —

600              600

 

(1) Maintenance and improvement of existing service,

additional US link and line upgrade

(2) not yet identified, not to be spent before

funding available

 

Harry Clasper  stated,  that the IBM  ESINET is an  initiative to

interconnect IBM  supercomputers and  is a  separate but  related

network and  usage of  these lines  for EARN  traffic (which  may

result in cost saving – see note (2) above) needs discussion with

IBM.  Jan Nuyens informed the Board that the IBM ESINET contribu-

tion has  resulted in  less funding for  the normal  belgian EARN

link because of bypassing the EARN  country director and he asked

IBM to negotiate link funding very carefully.

 

The Board accepted.the proposed budget  for 1989 with the changes

mentioned  above with  1 vote  against  from Austria.    Wilfried

Maschtera explained the  austrian vote:  The uncovered  amount of

150  KECU is  most likely  to be  spent  which may  result in  an

increase of the members contribution  and Austria does not accept

such a possible increase.

 

During the discussion of the EARNTECH meeting (item 88.37.1) Den-

nis Jennings  has asked the question  “Do we devote  resources to

SNA or OSI” which resulted in  some confusion and discussion over

lunch.  The result of the discussion within the Board meeting was

the following statement with a vote of  18 in favor and 1 absten-

tion:

 

+—————————————————————+

|                                                               |

|  o   EARN is  committed to OSI  and to migrate  existing NJE  |

|      services to OSI services.                                |

|  o   The new X.25 EARN backbone will  be used for OSI servi-  |

|      ces (X.400, X.500 etc. and also NJE/OSI/X.25).           |

|  o   Existing  services will  continue  on the  NJE/RSCS/BSC  |

|      links.                                                   |

|  o   Further development  of existing links will  be subject  |

|      to a separate project plan.                              |

|                                                               |

+—————————————————————+

 

Coming back to the budget issue Paul Bryant gave the UK position:

UK can  not commit  to the  requested 1989  contribution at  this

meeting but can commit to funding at the 1988 level.  UK wants to

see economics  from rationalization  of UK/Europe  connections in

1989 that becomes possible from the EARN OSI transition. UK needs

more information on the funding  requirements (case,  plans etc.)

to make stron bid to funding bodies. UK needs a realistic forward

look for  1990 and follwoing years  including any new  scheme for

calculation  of the  national  contribution if  a  new scheme  is

anticipated.

 

Michael Hebgen repeated that like UK,   Germany can not commit to

the requested  1989 contribution but  can commit to  funding with

the 1988 distribution  model applied,  i.e.  the  “old” EARN/RARE

keys.  He proposed to limit to contribution to ten percent of the

total 1989  figure for  central contributions  and to  accept the

budget with  the direction to the  EXEC to run the  budget within

the limits which  may have to be  reduced due to a  reduced share

from Germany and UK.

 

Frode  Greisen disagreed  and requested  voting  on the  proposed

budget and distribution model as on page 26 of the briefing book.

The result of the voting was 14 in favor, 1 against (Germany),  2

abstentions and 1 no-vote (CERN).

 

88.30.5 Budget 1990-1992:  Alain Auroux explained the budget pro-

posal based on the following assumptions:

 

o   plain extrapolation

o   5 percent global increase

o   10 percent  increase for the  telecommunication lines  due to

new lines  and more capacitiy and  maybe a reduction  of tar-

rifs.

 

Arne Moi suggested to reflect  the policy decision on cooperation

with MDNS to be shown by reduced line costs.

 

Actions:

_______

 

o   The Executive to produce the EARN staff management plan with-

in the limit of 150 KECU for technical staff people

o   The Executive to name each project in future budget proposals

o   The Executive to distribute  financial requirements much ear-

lier

o   The Executive to handle the  normal budgeting procedures over

the network (information, re-adjustment etc.)

o   The Executive to negotiate with Germany and UK their share of

the 1989 budget

 

 

88.31  EARN ASSOCIATION

_______________________

 

Alain Auroux  informed the  Board that due  to legal  reasons the

registered office (in French:  siege) of the association has been

returned to the lawyer’s office.

 

 

88.32  OPERATING PROCEDURES

___________________________

 

Frode Greisen asked for voting on  several items where a decision

is needed during this Board meeting:

 

o   Clarification of connection:  A new country will receive vot-

ing rights when connected to the EARN network and participate

in the central and operating costs 6 months later. Voting: 14

in favor, 2 abstentions, 1 no-vote.

o   Change of the charter:   Include “organisations with substan-

tial links to academic institutions”  in the chapter on asso-

ciate members.  Vote: 17 in favor, 1 no-vote.

o   Electronic voting:  The quorum for electronic voting is taken

only for Board members with electronic mail address. Vote: 17

in favor, 1 no-vote.

o   The paper “Management  of changes” proposed by  the Executive

Committee was unanimously ratified – see appendix.

 

Michael Hebgen

November 30, 1988

 

 

Appendix A

 

LIST OF DECISIONS

_________________

 

 

 

This is  a summary of  the decisions taken  by the EARN  Board of

Directors at their meeting.  For the reference of the exact word-

ing the related  chapter of the minutes is  included in parenthe-

ses.

 

o   Election of officers in a closed session (88.27)

o   Finance discussion in an open session (88.27)

o   Ratification of the election procedures (88.27)

o   Regular statement on accounts on a 3 monthly basis (88.30.1)

o   Immediate statement on accounts on budget overrun (88.30.1)

o   A country  must pay  the invoice  for central  cost within  6

month (88.30.2)

o   Ratification  of country  membership  for  Morocco and  Egypt

(88.31.1)

o   Ratification  of  associate  country   membership  for  India

(88.31.1)

o   Ratification of  GULFNET as  an associate  network to  BITNET

(88.31.1)

o   Deferring agenda  item on connection  of Eastern  Block coun-

tries (88.31.1)

o   New countries do not have to pay for 6 month after connection

(88.31.1)

o   Acceptance of 7 new associate members (88.31.2)

o   Participation in the definition,  planning and testing of the

MDNS pilot (88.32.4)

o   Continuation of pilot phase 1 of the EARN OSI transition pro-

gramme (88.33)

o   Election of officers (88.34)

–   President: Frode Greisen

–   Vice-President: Michael Hebgen

–   Secretary General: Paul Bryant

–   Treasurer: Jean-Claude Ippolito

–   Members of  the Executive Committee:  Avi  Cohen,  Dennis

Jennings, Stefano Trumpy

o   Running EARN89 end of May in Crete (88.35)

o   Relation to EARNTECH (88.37.2)

–   The normal communication channel is via the country Board

member

–   To produce clear statements of reference for EARNTECH

–   To invite 2 members of  EARNTECH when technical items are

to be discussed

–   To improve the communication with EARNTECH.

o   Acceptance of the technical staff proposal (88.37.4)

o   Statement on OSI committment (88.30.4 – continued)

o   Acceptance of the EARN budget 1989 and the distribution model

as on page 26 of the briefing book (88.30.4 – continued)

o   A new country  will receive voting rights  when connected and

participate in costs 6 months later (88.32)

o   Include  “organisations with  substantial  links to  academic

institutions” in the EARN charter (88.32)

o   The quorum for electronic voting is taken only for Board mem-

bers with electronic mail address (88.32)

o   Ratification of the paper on “Management of changes” (88.32)

 

 

Appendix B

 

88.33  EARN OSI TRANSITION PROGRAMME (FOILS)

____________________________________________

 

 

 

Draft Implementation Plan

 

 

Overview

 

 

Phase 1: pilot X.25 service

 

complete software development

(NJE/OSI) and implement software in

 

pilot sites

 

begin switch interoperation project

 

develop management procedures

 

 

Phase 2: extend X.25 to complete square backbone

 

introduce X.400 and gateways

 

begin country connections

 

 

Phase 3: hand over X.25 square to Operations Group

 

introduce FTAM

 

complete country connections

 

 

Appendix C

 

88.37.4 TECHNICAL STAFF PROPOSAL

________________________________

 

 

 

This proposal has  been presented during the EARN  BoD meeting in

April 1988 and  adopted by the Board subject to  the budget deci-

sion.

 

TECHNICAL STAFF PROPOSAL

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The Technical  Group propose  that two  fulltime staff  should be

provide to manage the network. The Group do not believe that vol-

unteer staff should be expected to provide the service. Volunteer

staff cannot dedicate their time to the tasks and it is unreason-

able to expect their sites to provide the effort free of charge.

 

The tasks to be carried out by the staff are:

 

o   Node management including the  master co-ordination for EARN.

Requires one week per month.

o   The control of  NETSERV and LISTSERV.  Requires  one week per

month.

o   Maintenance  of existing  programs.   Requires  one week  per

month.

o   Liaison with sites and others. Requires one week per month.

o   Support for  National Country Co-ordinators.  Requires  a few

days per month.

o   Writing  and updating  documents.  Requires  a  few days  per

month.

o   Overheads  including  holidays,   education,   and  meetings.

Requires one week per month.

 

2 full  time staff  are needed  to carry  out these  tasks.   The

attributes for the posts are:-

 

o   Applicants must be familiar with the EARN network or be will-

ing to learn quickly.

o   Some  programming  experience  in  high  level  languages  is

required.

 

In addition,  funding should be provided for work of 2 people for

projects/tasks forces.   These people should be familiar with the

network, and have substantial network experience.   Possible task

forces – subgroups:

 

o   Gateways

o   User interfaces

o   Domain names

o   Modelling and statistics

o    …

 

 

Appendix D

 

88.32 MANAGEMENT OF CHANGES PROPOSED BY EARN BACKBONE

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SITES

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OBJECTIVE:  the purpose of this proposal is to define a procedure

to be adopted by EARN for  the management of changes which effect

the services to users of the international infrastructure.

 

PREAMBLE: It is assumed:

 

(1) that the management of the hardware and software installed at

international nodes  is the responsibility  of the  management of

the site housing the node;

 

(2)  that  management at the site  of an international  node will

operate and  manage their system to  ensure delivery of  the most

effective service possible to the users of the EARN international

infrastructure,  within the performance  ability of the installed

hardware and software;

 

(3)  that it is the intention  of any managed changes in hardware

or software,  to further improve the delivered quality of service

and cost effectiveness of the EARN international infrastructure.

 

PROCEDURE:  given the above assumptions,   it is agreed that pro-

posed changes,  significant  to the network,  in  the hardware or

software used at  an international node will be  notified in good

time to the Executive Committee by  the Board Member of the Coun-

try concerned.

 

All aspects of  such proposals will be reviewed  by the Executive

Committee at its next meeting, as a matter of urgency.  If neces-

sary, further technical evaluation will be requested by the Exec-

utive Committee to achieve concensus.

 

It is agreed that pending the  agreement of the Executive Commit-

tee to the proposed changes:

 

(1) planning for the changes may proceed;

 

(2)  all reasonable steps be taken  by the management of the site

to assist the Executive Committee in its evaluation of the impli-

cations of the  planned changes on the  international infrastruc-

ture;

 

(3)  the results of the evaluation  by the Executive Committee of

the notified  changes be completed in  a period of not  more than

three months from  the notification of the planned  change to the

Executive Committee,  and will be communicated immediately to the

relevant Country Director.