The National LambdaRail Network Operations Center

The NOC providing service for the NLR Layer 1 Transport Center is operated as a partnership between CENIC and Indiana University. The IU Global NOC and CENIC networking organizations have significant experience and worldwide reputation for excellence in the area of advanced network management and operations. The partners bring their service experience and expertise to bear in serving the NLR Layer 1 Transport Center – L1 Operations and NLR Service Desk.

The NLR L1 Operations and Service Desk provide oversight of the physical, optical, and operational aspects of the NLR. The NLR L1 Operations and Service Desk support the unique dual nature of the NLR – as a network that serves production and experimental purposes. The services incorporate new methods and adaptations specifically to support the requirements of experimental use and the distributed Virtual NOC.

The NLR L1 Operations provides continuous, 24x365 monitoring of the state of the optical network, and coordinates restoration and repair of any failure of the fiber infrastructure or the optical multiplexing equipment. It also provides rapid and flexible response to wavelength provisioning orders, and reports on wave and fiber availability and performance.

The NOC service desk provides focus for coordination, communications, and control between and among network service providers and users. The services of the NOC include problem, change, security and performance management, monitoring, communications, coordination, and reporting. These traditionally centralized services have been adapted to a distributed model, and new services are being developed to provide optical resource allocation and management, and to support the experimental component of the NLR.