CalREN

CalREN
Name	CalREN
Established	1997
Type	Regional research and education network
Headquarters	California
Region served	California
Parent organization	Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California

CalREN CalREN is a high-performance research and education network serving institutions across California. It provides advanced networking, cloud peering, and cybersecurity services to universities, community colleges, libraries, research labs, and public media organizations. CalREN supports collaborations among institutions such as the University of California, California State University, Stanford University, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to enable data-intensive science, digital learning, and statewide resource sharing.

Overview

CalREN connects a wide variety of institutions including the University of California, California State University, Stanford University, University of Southern California, California Community Colleges, California State Library, and numerous K–12 school districts. The network interconnects research facilities like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and supports cultural institutions such as the Library of Congress-affiliated repositories and the Getty Research Institute. CalREN interoperates with national and international backbones such as Internet2, ESnet, National LambdaRail (historically), and PacificWave, and partners with commercial providers including AT&T, Verizon, and Zayo to extend reach to metropolitan area networks like CENIC, CANARIE, GÉANT, and SURFnet-connected campuses.

History

CalREN was developed by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California in the late 1990s to aggregate research and education traffic across the state. Early deployments aligned with initiatives at the University of California system, California State University system, and community college consortia, and paralleled national projects such as Internet2 and the National Science Foundation's networking programs. Major milestones involved upgrades to DWDM infrastructure, adoption of MPLS and Ethernet services influenced by vendors like Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, and peering arrangements with international research networks supporting collaborations with CERN, Max Planck Society, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The network evolved alongside broadband policy developments in the California Public Utilities Commission and engagement with federal programs at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.

Network Architecture and Services

CalREN operates a multi-tiered architecture with core, distribution, and access layers connecting research campuses, medical centers, and public institutions. Its core employs technologies from Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Nokia, and Ciena using DWDM, OTN, and MPLS-TE to deliver high-bandwidth circuits, VLAN segmentation, and dedicated lambdas for projects with partners like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Services include IP transit, IPv6 routing, multicast, dedicated circuit provisioning for projects with the Advanced Light Source, high-performance computing centers, and science DMZ implementations influenced by the Energy Sciences Network. CalREN provides identity federation and authentication via protocols deployed by InCommon and Shibboleth, federated access to cloud services from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and research platforms such as XSEDE and Globus. Peering and exchange points include Equinix datacenters, Pacific Wave, and regional Internet exchanges used by content delivery networks like Akamai and Fastly.

Governance and Partnerships

CalREN is governed by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California board, which includes representatives from the University of California, California State University, community college districts, the California State Library, and independent institutions like Stanford University and the University of Southern California. Strategic partnerships include collaborations with Internet2, ESnet, the Energy Sciences Network, PacificWave, the Association of Research Libraries, the American Library Association, national labs such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and international research organizations including CERN and Max Planck Society. Vendor and carrier relationships with Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Ciena, Zayo, AT&T, and Verizon support deployment, while cooperative agreements with municipal networks, regional optical consortia, and the California Department of Justice for law enforcement liaison facilitate statewide reach.

Security and Privacy Practices

CalREN implements security measures aligned with federal and academic standards employed at institutions such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy laboratories, and university cybersecurity centers. Practices include intrusion detection and prevention systems, a statewide CERT-like incident response capability modeled after REN-ISAC and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, DDoS mitigation services, blackholing, and traffic scrubbing offered in partnership with commercial scrubbing centers and Internet exchange operators. Privacy protections reflect policies at the California State Library, Office of the Attorney General (California), and university privacy offices, employing access controls, logging, and data minimization consistent with HIPAA for medical research affiliates and FERPA for student data. Identity and access management use federated SAML assertions through InCommon and consent frameworks informed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy.

Research and Education Applications

CalREN supports large-scale research projects in high-energy physics collaborations with CERN, astrophysics through the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Keck Observatory, genomics at the Broad Institute and UC San Francisco, climate science with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA-affiliated programs, and earthquake research with the U.S. Geological Survey. Educational applications include distance learning platforms used by the California State University system and the University of California, digital library initiatives with the California Digital Library, open educational resources partnerships with the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and data-sharing consortia with the Association of Research Libraries. The network enables collaborations with supercomputing centers such as the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Texas Advanced Computing Center via Science DMZ architectures and dedicated high-throughput data transfers using Globus.

Funding and Economics

Funding sources for CalREN include subscription fees paid by member institutions, grants from the National Science Foundation and federal research agencies, capital appropriations influenced by the California State Legislature, and contracts with commercial carriers. Economic models combine cost-sharing among the University of California, California State University, and community college systems, competitive procurement processes with vendors like Cisco Systems and Ciena, and service-level agreements with research centers such as Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and academic medical centers. Financial oversight involves institutional budget offices, auditor reviews, and alignment with state technology initiatives and grant reporting requirements from agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Category:Communications in California Category:Research and education networks Category:Internet infrastructure