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Annex A

Operational Production Services Provided by UKERNA

1 August 2004 – 31 July 2005

Issued: 31st July 2004

Contents

Annex A

A1 DEFINITIONS

A2 OPERATIONAL SERVICES

A3 INFORMATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES

A4 SECURITY SERVICES

Annex B

Annex C

Annex D

Annex E

Annex F

Annex G

Annex H

Annex I

Annex J

Annex A

Operational Production Services Provided by UKERNA


A1 DEFINITIONS

The definitions of terms in this clause apply to the individual service levels defined in the remainder of this annex.

In addition to the list of eligible institutions identified in clause 2 of this agreement, there are a number of additional sites and special services listed in Annexes F and H. The term “client institution” shall, for the purposes of this annex, include the institutions listed in Annex F and the JISC funded services listed in Annex H, and individual reports of performance shall be made for them wherever reporting on client institutions is specified.

Performance indicators will be calculated monthly or quarterly, depending on the period the individual data items cover, but satisfactory performance will be assessed on the basis of comparison of the service level with a twelve month rolling average of the calculated values.

Note: Where a service has not yet been in operation for twelve months, or where the definition of the service level has been changed within the previous twelve months, the service cannot be said to have failed to meet the SLA. However, analysis of trends may lead to review and negotiation before 12 months have passed in cases where it becomes clear that failure can be foreseen.

All reports shall be delivered in machine readable form in a format defined in the document “Format for performance reports to the JISC Monitoring Unit” (ref. Annex J.4) which is maintained jointly by UKERNA and the JISC Monitoring Unit.

A1.1 Maintenance Time

All the continuously available services shall be scheduled to be available 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, apart from maintenance times which may be scheduled or emergency in nature. Scheduled maintenance periods are those that have been published at least two weeks in advance to all client institutions, whether directly connected by UKERNA or via a sub-contractor. Emergency maintenance is maintenance for an identified purpose that is required to be carried out in cases of extreme urgency where two weeks’ notice is not possible.

As far as possible, maintenance times shall be synchronized and shall fall during the “at risk” period from 0700-0900 on Tuesdays. Service availability shall be calculated on the basis of the service time (which excludes any scheduled maintenance and emergency maintenance events).

A1.2 Staffed Periods

“Staffed Periods” are the periods from 0800-1700 on weekdays, also known as “working days”. However, the following weekdays are not staffed periods:

Christmas Day Good Friday
Boxing Day First Monday in May
New Year’s Day Last Monday in May

Note: Exceptions to Staffed Periods will include the Public Holidays given in lieu when any of the above days fall on a weekend.

A1.3 Extended Service Periods

“Extended Service Periods” are the periods from 0800-2200 on weekdays and from 0900-1800 on Saturdays and Sundays. However, the following Public Holidays are not extended service periods:

Christmas Day Good Friday
Boxing Day First Monday in May
New Year’s Day Last Monday in May

Note: Exceptions to Extended Service Periods will include the Public Holidays given in lieu when any of the above days fall on a weekend.

A1.4 Measurement of Availability

Although availability is defined as a fraction here, monthly reporting shall be made in terms of time lost and number of incidents, from which the availability can be calculated directly.


A1.4.1 Availability of Basic Transmission Service

UKERNA shall record the accessibility of each client institution from an appropriate point within the network. In this context, accessibility means that it is possible successfully to transfer data in both directions between the client institution and some point on JANET defined in the specific SLD. Whilst accessibility is important, as it is likely to closely reflect the reliability of the service perceived by end users, it cannot be equated to network availability for the purposes of this SLA. This is because it includes factors outside UKERNA’s operational control, such as failures at the client institution, or delays in fixing faults due to absence of staff at a client institution.

In particular, investigation of a fault by UKERNA or its agents may be frustrated by their inability to access a client institution. In such circumstances, provided UKERNA have continued to make reasonable efforts (see A2.3.1) to contact the institution and arrange access, the period during which access is denied (the suspended period) may be considered a lack of accessibility, but not of availability.

Network availability shall therefore be determined for each client institution by discounting the following from the observed network accessibility:

a) All periods of inaccessibility that result from the effects of service maintenance;
b) All periods of inaccessibility that result from events local to the client institution, such as site power failures;
c) All periods of inaccessibility which are designated suspended periods.

Network availability shall be calculated for each client institution each calendar month as:

(scheduled service time – total period of unavailability)/(scheduled service time).


A1.4.2 Availability of Other Services

The measurement of availability of services other than the Basic Transmission Service is more straightforward. Availability of the other services is specified as follows:

a) A service is available if it can be accessed via the network and used correctly by at least one client institution that is not involved in the provision of the service. If a service is operated by one or more client institutions acting on behalf of UKERNA, it is not available if it can be accessed only from those institutions;
b) Availability is the time that the service was available (as defined in (a) above) divided by the time when it was scheduled to be available;
c) Availability shall be calculated for each service each calendar month.

Note that the availability of many services as perceived by client institutions will be the combination of the availability defined in (a) – (c) above and the network availability defined in section A1.4.1 above. UKERNA will report these two availabilities separately.


A1.5 Mean Time Between Failures

For certain services, it is useful to define Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) as one of the Service Level parameters. In such cases, a failure is defined as any interruption in the operation of the service which causes a period of unavailability according to the definitions in A1.4.1, A1.4.2 and in the definition of the Service Level parameter itself.

Notes

1. UKERNA may opt to have a number of successive failures considered as a single failure for the complete period, so long as the same aggregation is applied both to availability and mean time between failures.

2. Despite the name, the mean time between failures is manipulated for the purposes of aggregation and averaging as a failure rate, in incidents per hour. Thus a target MTBF for the Basic Transmission Service of more than a thousand hours is a rate of less than 0.001 incidents per hour, and is calculated each month by dividing the number of failures by the number of institutions and the number of hours in the month (e.g. 720). The MTBF figure for a twelve-month period is produced by averaging the rates observed in each of the constituent months of the period.

A1.6 Loss of Information

Several services operated by UKERNA accept data submitted by client institutions and then make it available to the same and to other client institutions. UKERNA takes responsibility for the safe keeping of such data once it has been accepted. All procedures by which client institutions submit new data or update previously submitted data shall include a step in which UKERNA acknowledges receipt. UKERNA’s responsibility for safekeeping starts when this acknowledgement is issued.


A1.7 Non-Monitored Performance Indicators

In general, UKERNA shall routinely monitor the service categories listed in Annex A to ensure that service delivered meets the defined service levels. However in some circumstances such measurements may not be possible on a routine basis, perhaps due to cost or due to the disruptive nature of the measurements required. Where this is the case, the corresponding performance indicators shall be marked as being not monitored. However, where there is prima facie evidence that the service delivered is failing to meet a non-monitored performance indicator, UKERNA shall agree with the JISC Monitoring Unit a set of specific measurements (including the cost of such measurements) intended to determine whether the service is indeed failing to meet the appropriate service levels.

A1.8 Internet Protocol Version

Any reference to IP in this document implies Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), unless explicitly stated otherwise.

A2 OPERATIONAL SERVICES

A2.1 Basic IP Transmission Service

Specification for unicast transmission:
Each client institution connected by UKERNA, and each of the national services listed in Annex H, shall be entitled to a continuous data communication service, subject to the operational limitations for "at risk" time given in clause A1.1. The basic network service currently provided to all client institutions is the transmission of IP data. For the purposes of this SLA, the basic IP transmission service shall be considered to consist of two components for each client institution:

- an access component between the client institution and the JANET national backbone (see Annex I);
- a core component providing transit for client institutions across the JANET national backbone, between the points listed in Annex I.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
For both the core and access components of the basic IP transmission service, a network path shall be considered to be inaccessible if either:

a) It is not possible to both transmit and receive between the two ends of the path for a period in excess of 60 seconds. Or;
b) The performance of the path is severely degraded to an extent that the service is effectively unavailable. Severe degradation occurs where in excess of 60% of all packets transmitted on the path are lost for a period of more than 5 minutes.

Latency is closely related to loading and, if a client institution or Funding Body chooses not to upgrade a link that is acknowledged to be overloaded, no guarantee of latency can be given. However, shared components on the access path to the Backbone Access Router might degrade the latency on that access path.

Specification for multicast transmission:
Multicast transmission forms an integral part of the basic transmission service. Multicast traffic is supported over the JANET core network and an interface provided at the edges of the core for its distribution through regional networks. Multicast rendezvous points will be configured in each Backbone Access Router. Each regional network will be able to access the multicast service by providing its own rendezvous point within the regional network that supports the necessary protocols to communicate with the appropriate backbone rendezvous point.

The multicast management interface between JANET and each regional network is positioned at the link between the Backbone Access Router and the regional network router.

Multicast is currently being used across some, but not all, parts of the access network. There are significant challenges in making this a general service due to the issues of an end-to-end service running over multiple management domains.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
For performance purposes, the transmission of individual multicast packets on a correctly functioning multicast group shall be subject to the same success and latency targets as for unicast transmission.

Additional service levels for the establishment and management of multicast groups will be added to the SLA in future, based on experienced gained in extending multicast coverage to all regional networks.


A2.1.1 Basic IP Transmission Service - Access to Backbone

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a basic transmission service supporting the transmission of unicast and multicast IP traffic between each client institutions and the JANET national backbone. The service shall be provided to a designated point from the list in Annex I, via a regional network or a direct link.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Over the full 24 hours of operation (excluding maintenance time), UKERNA shall provide network availability of:


Availability of 99.7% to more than 90% of client institutions;
Availability of 99% to more than 96.5% of client institutions;
Availability of 97% to more than 99% of client institutions;
Availability of 93% to more than 99.7% of client institutions;


each calculated annually from monthly averages over all client institutions sponsored by the JISC (each given equal weighting);
b) Availability of 99% to all client institutions, calculated annually for each client institution;
c) Mean time between failure (period of unavailability) of at least 1000 hours provided to client institutions; (See A1.5)
d) Time to restoration of service (duration of period of unavailability) of less than 10 hours for 90% of failures. This will be calculated as the twelve month rolling average of the percentage of reported failures in each month which are deemed to have taken less then 10 hours to restore;
e) The target for maximum latency for 128 byte packets between a client institution and the nearest point on the JANET national backbone is 15 ms [not monitored] for:

Note: the provision of short-term reports on achieved latency will start on a trial basis by the time this SLA comes into effect, and actual data gathered will be used to produce statistical measures of latency in an effort to produce a revised Performance Indicator before the next revision of this SLA.

Future targets for Performance Indicators:
UKERNA shall endeavour to constantly improve the availability of the Basic IP Transmission Service. The focus for this SLA period and subsequent periods will be to continue to look for opportunities to enhance resilience, at every level of the network, to reduce the number of outages affecting client institutions.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide on a monthly basis:


A2.1.2 Basic IP Transmission Service - Core Network

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a core IP network supporting the transmission of unicast and multicast IP traffic between access points on the boundary of the core. This core network is defined in terms of the core access points listed in Annex I.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The availability of the core IP network from each of the core access points listed in Annex I shall exceed 99.9%.
b) The target maximum latency for 128 byte packets between any two access points to the JANET national backbone is 25 ms, for 95% of transmissions over any 30-minute period.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report the following each calendar month:

A2.2 External Network Access Provision and Transmission

Specification:
UKERNA shall identify other network services of particular significance to the Community (Peer Networks) and shall aim to negotiate cost effective and resilient arrangements for access to these services with the countries or groups concerned. Such agreements shall be established to support the Community's requirements for access by its members from commercial ISP services, for international and domestic communication, and for communication with significant non-academic groupings within the EU in general and the UK in particular. Such external network services shall interwork with those offered nationally by UKERNA. UKERNA shall use its best endeavours to negotiate Service Level Agreements with the organisations with which it shares responsibility for establishing routes to or from the Community. UKERNA shall not use JISC funds to subsidise the groups with which such agreements are concluded.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) If a Service Level Agreement has been established with another service provider, UKERNA shall conform to the terms of the Agreement;
b) Until such a service level can be established, UKERNA shall use its best endeavours to ensure that the availability of each route shall be the same for the equivalent academic community basic transmission service; the levels defined in A2.1.1 apply to those aspects of the service under UKERNA’s control.

Reporting:

UKERNA shall make available information on the distribution of traffic on the external links.

Copies of new or significantly modified Service Level Agreements with other service providers shall be provided to the JISC Executive and the JISC Monitoring Unit.

Note: In cases where there are difficulties distinguishing between flows over shared links to a number of external networks, aggregate traffic is preferable to failure to report altogether.


A2.2.1 Access to the European Research Network

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide cost effective access to higher and further education and research networks and services in the European Union, via the network provided by DANTE or otherwise.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
Service levels (a) and (b) in 2.2 apply.

Reporting:
Monthly reports as defined in A2.2.


A2.2.2 Access to the Global Internet

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide cost-effective access to the parts of the Global Internet not covered elsewhere in this Service Level Agreement. This provision shall be in the form of a flexible managed service delivered by a suitable contractor or contractors at agreed access points within the UK.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
The service offered by the contractor(s) shall be subject to a Service Level Agreement reported to and agreed by the JISC Executive. Once an SLA has been agreed, it effectively becomes part of this SLA and UKERNA is responsible (via its sub-contractor) for its delivery.

The paths from the point of delivery to the JANET core shall be subject to the performance targets given in A2.1.2, considering, for weighting purposes, those paths to form a separate group, independent of the core.

Reporting:
Monthly reports as defined in A2.2.


A2.2.3 Access to North American Research Internets

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide cost-effective access to the North American Research Internets Abilene and ESnet. This provision shall take account of the needs of the research community. It is accepted that satisfying these needs may result in more special configuration, with associated interruption of service, than would normally be the case.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
Service levels (a) and (b) in 2.2 apply.

Reporting:
Monthly reports as defined in A2.2.

A2.3 Fault Handling

A2.3.1 Fault Reporting

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a means by which client institutions may report faults on any of UKERNA’s Operational Services. UKERNA shall publish procedures for fault reporting and shall organize a sufficient set of mechanisms for call out in response to faults and for escalation in response to continuing problems. These procedures shall take account of the need for users of the network to be kept aware of progress and status during periods of disruption.

Where service is provided via a sub-contractor, UKERNA shall make arrangements for fault reporting and provision of progress and status information, via the sub-contractor, or otherwise.

Wherever possible, UKERNA shall use the measurements it makes of the accessibility of each client institution to initiate fault recovery action proactively, without waiting for fault reports to be made.

Where an obligation is placed on UKERNA to contact the client institution within a given period, this obligation is dependent upon the ability of the client institution to receive such reports. If delivery is not possible because the institution is not staffed at the time, the report shall be made within one hour of the institution’s staffed period. If there is no response from the client institution to a call made during a staffed period, UKERNA shall notify the client institution of the apparent inaccessibility by fax.

UKERNA shall attempt to inform the appropriate representative of the client institution within one hour of finding that the client institution is apparently inaccessible.

UKERNA shall keep a record of all communications with client institutions concerning fault reports and return to service indications.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Client institutions shall be able to report faults at any time. (Use by UKERNA of a telephone answering machine is acceptable as long as the other service levels (b) and (c) below continue to be met.);
b) UKERNA shall respond to any fault report with an initial prognosis:


c) Where faults are detected by UKERNA, a summary of the fault and of the action taken shall be provided to the institution affected on the same time-scale.
d) UKERNA shall make a first attempt to inform the appropriate representative of each client institution of a return to service within 60 minutes of the fault being fixed.

Reporting:
For fault reports referring to the basic transmission (as defined in A2.1 – A2.2), UKERNA shall report the following information on a monthly basis:


A2.3.2 Network Status Information

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide online web-based information on the status and performance of the basic IP transmission service on network status servers. This information shall include details of the operational status of the core IP network and the external network access provision, presented in a form suitable for end users of the JANET network. Each client institution shall have access to more detailed information for its own connection. This restricted information shall include the accessibility of the access path between the client institution and the JANET core network, and current and historical traffic figures for the access link to the client institution. This restricted information shall be made available to the JISC Monitoring Unit.

In future, the performance of the multicast service will be monitored by sending multicast traffic over the JANET core network and displaying the results as an additional data item.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Availability of each network status server of 99.5%;
b) Mean time between failure of 1000 hours;
c) UKERNA will update the configuration of the network status system to reflect new, modified, removed or otherwise amended nominated network access connections within five working days of each change.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide on a monthly basis:

UKERNA shall provide on a quarterly basis:

A2.4 Managed Router Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a managed router service, on request, to eligible institutions connected to JANET. This service will have limited scope, covering initial set-up, hardware and software maintenance, minor changes to configuration and remote analysis of faults.

Where the fault is determined to be with the router, alerts will be raised to the router maintenance provider; UKERNA will monitor progress and ensure that the institution is informed once the router fault has been rectified.

The router shall be deemed to be part of the access path to the JANET national backbone. Availability of the router shall be measured as part of the availability of the Basic IP Transmission Service defined in A2.1.1.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA will make arrangements for the service to be provided within 2 working days of receipt of request for service and will provide the service within a further 20 working days;
b) UKERNA will ensure that the maintenance provider is aware of a fault within one hour of a router fault being detected.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide on a quarterly basis:



A2.5 Naming and Addressing

A2.5.1 Naming domain administration

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide co-ordination and administration for the naming domain “ac.uk”. Within this domain, name allocations shall be made in the DNS.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Name registration request forms for new client institutions shall be either approved or rejected within 10 working days.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall provide:


A2.5.2 Domain Name Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a name service for the DNS domain “ac.uk” (the target domain), including the operation of the primary name server and the provision of a secondary name server function. UKERNA shall also carry out such management activities as are necessary to support the Community within this domain and to coordinate the service with appropriate national and international bodies.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA shall provide by replication a service that is effectively available on a continuous basis at all times;
b) An initial response within 5 working days to a request for delegation in the target domain from a client institution connecting to JANET;
c) Implementation of a request for new and modified delegations in the target domain from a client institution connecting to JANET within 10 working days from the receipt of the necessary information and payment when applicable.

Note: Performance Indicator c) to be subject to review for the SLA year 2005/2006

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.5.3 Primary Nameservers for Institutions

Note: Whilst UKERNA is firmly of the view that the primary DNS server for a client institution ought to be on that institution’s campus network, nevertheless UKERNA accepts that this service may be required to provide a last-resort service for a small number of client institutions.

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a primary nameserver service, on request, to those JANET client institutions with a primary connection that are unable to make provision for such a service themselves. The service will provide a full representation of the client institution’s domain.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.95% to clients;
b) UKERNA will allocate a primary nameserver for a client institution within 5 working days of receipt of the necessary information from the client institution;
c) UKERNA will inform the client institution of the name and IP address of the allocated primary nameserver within 2 working days of the initial set up of the name server;
d) UKERNA will action any requests for modification to the entries in the primary server within 5 working days.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report, by exception:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.5.4 Secondary Nameservers for Institutions

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide an off-site secondary nameserver service, on request, to those JANET client institutions with a primary connection. The service will provide for only the top level of a client institution’s domain.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Secondary DNS service availability of 99.5% to all clients;
b) UKERNA will allocate a secondary nameserver for a client institution within 5 working days of receipt of the necessary information from the client institution;
c) UKERNA will inform the client institution of the names and IP addresses of the allocated secondary nameservers within 2 working days of set up of the name server.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report, by exception:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.5.5 Domain Name Service 'whois' service

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a 'whois' service giving additional information relating to allocations of names in the ac.uk naming domain.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5%;
b) Changes to the ac.uk domain shall be reflected in the 'whois' database within 24 hours of their publication in the DNS.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report, by exception:


A2.5.6 IP Address Assignment

Specification:
UKERNA shall administer procedures for the assignment and approval of IP address allocations, allowing existing and new client institutions to apply for appropriate addresses required for their connectivity to the JANET Network.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Once all information has been assembled, new and existing client institutions shall have their request for IP addresses processed within 10 working days of the receipt of the request.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report, for each request received and processed:



A2.5.7 Off-site Resolver for Institutions

Note: Whilst UKERNA is firmly of the view that the resolving nameserver (Resolver) for a client institution should be on that institution’s campus network, UKERNA accepts that this service may be required to provide a last-resort service for a small number of client institutions.

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide an off-site Resolver service, on request, to those client institutions that are unable to make provision for such a service themselves. The service provides three dedicated Resolvers located in the core of JANET to answer requests for domain name resolution that come from a client institution. Each client institution approved to use the service will be asked to configure their systems to use one JANET Resolver as first choice, another as second choice and so on.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 100%;
b) MTBF of each Resolver in the service of 1000 hours;
c) UKERNA will enable access to the Resolvers for a client institution within 5 working days of receipt of all the necessary information from the client institution;
d) UKERNA will inform the client institution of the Resolver IP addresses in the order of preference with which their systems should be configured when the initial set up of the Resolver is complete.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:

A2.6 Supporting Infrastructure Services

A2.6.1 NTP Time Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall operate a time reference on behalf of client institutions, in accordance to RFC 1305. This service is intended for use by institutions in constructing their own distributed time services, not for access by end users.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
 a) UKERNA shall provide by replication a service that is effectively available on a continuous basis at all times.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.6.2 E-mail Advice and Testing Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide assistance, advice and guidance to client institutions on the use of Internet mail, and on the configuration and operation of mail systems.

As part of the service, UKERNA operates the Spam-relay Tester and Notification system. It tests a client institution’s mail server, and reports any vulnerability to unauthorised relaying it finds. It is available on client institution request, and UKERNA systematically scans certain client institutions’ mail systems from time to time.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) System availability of 99.95% during Staffed Periods.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall provide:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall provide:

A2.6.3 Mail Abuse Prevention System

Specification
UKERNA shall provide certain services of the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) on behalf of all the JANET community to assist mail managers in determining if their mail systems should refuse connections from certain addresses. It is based on DNS style resolution, using rbl-plus.mail-abuse.ja.net.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA shall provide by replication a service that is effectively available on a continuous basis at all times.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.6.4 JANET Mailer Shield

Specification:
UKERNA shall operate a service to help manage the mail facilities of a client institution making them more secure and robust, particularly where the client institution is small or its resources for managing e-mail are limited.

The service provides a front end to client institutions’ mail servers, therefore protecting them from being misused to relay messages between two other parties. Mail messages sent to a client institution’s network from the outside will first pass through a relay of the Mailer Shield service. As well as identifying the immediate source of each message, the JANET relays can add further header lines indicating whether the source is listed in any of the parts of RBL+, which the client institution or end users might choose to treat as Unsolicited Bulk E-mail (UBE).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) 99.5% availability for each server in the service;
b) Except for delay caused by failures in a client institution’s mail system, the time between a message being transferred to a service relay and the first attempt to transfer it to the client institution mail server is to be no more than 10 minutes for 99.9% of messages transferred.
c) The mean time between failures for each server, calculated over any period of twelve calendar months, is to be no less than 1000 hours.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report:

A2.7 Usenet News Service

Introduction:
UKERNA shall make arrangements for client institutions to be able to both read and submit Usenet News articles. The service will be managed so as to ensure:

A2.7.1 Linking JANET to the Usenet News Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall operate a system of News Servers exchanging News articles with organisations outside JANET and will make arrangements for the exclusion of illegal material from the JANET news backbone, although it is recognized that it is impracticable to make any guarantee of such exclusion.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5% to each client institution. Each server is to be available to exchange articles with external organisations and client institutions for no less than 99% of the time measured over any calendar month.
b) The Mean Time Between Failures for each server, calculated over any period of twelve calendar months, is to be no less than 1000 hours.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report monthly:


A2.7.2 News Feed Service

Specification:
UKERNA will operate a continuous News feed with designated client institutions in which they are able to exchange articles and incoming articles are offered to the client institution’s system as soon as they are available in the JANET News backbone.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5% to each client institution. Each server is to be available to exchange articles with client institutions for no less than 99% of the time measured over any calendar month. [This is reported under Performance Indicator a) for section A2.7.1]

b) The delay between arrival of a news article in the JANET News backbone and its delivery to a client institution shall, on 90% of occasions, be less than 24 hours [not monitored].


Reporting:
UKERNA shall report monthly:

It is an objective for the future to report on achieved values of article delay when it is feasible to measure them.


A2.7.3 News Reader Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide servers from which a client institution can transfer newsgroup details and individual articles on its own initiative.

This shall be available to client institutions that do not operate a News Reader Service themselves and where the volume of News Reading is expected to be modest. The News Reader servers shall be updated by the News Feed Service (see A2.7.2).

Each client institution may specify a list of network addresses (netblocks or DNS subtrees) from which its users may gain access. Each client institution may also specify for each address a range of access control attributes including whether news may be posted, and access limitations for particular news groups.

Each client institution shall be provided with access to its own usage statistics.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5% to each client institution. Each News reader server is to be available for authorised systems at client institutions to read and post articles for no less than 99% of the time measured over any calendar month;
b) The Mean Time Between Failures for each reader server, calculated over any period of twelve calendar months, is to be no less than 1000 hours;
c) Each Newsreader server will respond within 5 seconds to a request for any plain text article for 90% of such requests.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report monthly:
· a list of outages, showing the start and finish, date and time for each reader server;
· the volume of data delivered to each client institution;
· client institutions that experienced a loss of service (client institution name, date, time and duration of each event);
· average response time per Newsreader server for a request from a monitoring client within JANET for a plain text article (measured from start of request to end of transfer).

A2.8 Video Conferencing Services

A2.8.1 Video Conferencing Services

Specification:
UKERNA shall offer a bookable JANET videoconferencing switching service (JVCS). This service shall offer both IP (JVCS-IP) and ISDN (JVCS-ISDN) as transport technologies. JVCS-ISDN will be provided at a range of access classes including 128kbit/s and 384kbit/s. Access to the ISDN switching service is provided over the multivendor ISDN service. JVCS-IP will be provided at a range of access classes between 128kbit/s and 2Mbit/s. Access to the IP switching service will be provided over JANET.

UKERNA shall provide a common videoconferencing booking system for both ISDN and IP based services.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels
For both services as defined above:
a) Availability of each Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) 99%;
b) Availability of the booking system 99%;
c) For requests made before noon on a working day, a booking shall be made before the end of the staffed period on that day;
d) For requests made after noon on a working day, a booking shall be made before noon on the next working day;
e) Availability of Central JANET Gatekeeper 99%;
f) Availability of Gatekeeper hierarchy to support the Global Dialling Scheme over JANET 99.5%.

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report:


A2.8.2 Video Technology Advisory Services (VTAS)

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide assistance, advice and guidance to the users and operators of video services and video technologies at individual client institutions, with the aim of obtaining a consistent, well-managed service from the operators of those services.

The focus of the Advisory Services will be a Helpdesk which shall be available through the JANET Customer Service described at A3.2.

The Advisory Service shall undertake product evaluations and conduct studies into aspects of emergent and existing video technologies. During the year, UKERNA will select a number of products for evaluation and topics for study.

The Advisory Service will maintain a repository of web based information which will contain information on the use of JANET video services (ref. Annex J.5).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The Helpdesk shall be staffed throughout the staffed periods defined in A1.2, except that it will not be available:

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report as part of the reporting of the UKERNA operational plan (see Annex D):

A2.9 Administrative Services

A2.9.1 Connection Services Administration

Specification:
UKERNA shall administer procedures for approval and commissioning of connection services, allowing new client institutions to join the JANET network; upgrades to existing connections, including a-end or b-end shifts; mergers and cancellations.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) New client institutions shall receive the connection service within 90 working days of UKERNA’s receipt of all necessary information unless delivery of service is prevented by reasons beyond UKERNA's control;
b) Existing client institutions shall receive an upgrade to their connection service within 80 working days of UKERNA’s receipt of all necessary information unless delivery of service is prevented by reasons beyond UKERNA's control;
c) Mergers between existing client institutions will result in one connection being cancelled within the timeframes below and once the official merger date has been agreed with UKERNA, unless cancellation is prevented by reasons beyond UKERNA's control.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide the following information each quarter, for each request received:


A2.9.2 Peer Networking Agreement Administration

Specification:
UKERNA shall administer the set of peer networking agreements made as a result of the JISC’s peer networking policy.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Any additional information required to process a peer networking request shall be notified to the requester within 10 working days of receipt of the initial request;
b) Peer-networking requests shall be either accepted or rejected within 20 working days of UKERNA receiving all necessary information.

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:

A2.9.3 Licence Administration

Specification:
UKERNA shall administer the sponsored and proxy-licensing scheme defined by the JISC as part of its connection policy.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) licence requests shall either be accepted and issued or rejected within 20 working days.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report, on a quarterly basis:

A2.10 Management of Maintenance Activities

Specification:
UKERNA shall ensure that client institutions are given advance notice of service changes that affect them and shall also publish warnings of unavoidable losses of service that are planned beforehand according to the timing specified in A1.1. Warnings of changes shall be disseminated by means of electronic mail distribution lists and other appropriate media.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
Notes:
1 As specified in A1.1 maintenance time comprises scheduled maintenance and emergency maintenance.
2 The services listed in Performance Indicator b) have no allowance for service affecting emergency maintenance.

a) The total service affecting maintenance time for each client institution shall not be more than 0.5% of service time over the SLA period of which not more than 0.1% of service time over the SLA period may be emergency maintenance;
b) The total service affecting scheduled maintenance time for access to each of the following services shall not be more than 0.5% of service time over the SLA period:

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report, on a quarterly basis:

A2.11 Bandwidth Management Advisory Services (BMAS)

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide advice and guidance to client institutions on issues relating to the management of bandwidth.

The focus of the Advisory Service will be on the provision of generic advice on a range of relevant issues including technical solutions. Users will access this advice via the service’s web site and at events organised by the service.

In addition to this, a Helpdesk will be available to answer questions on the advice given. This helpdesk shall deal with enquiries made by telephone, fax and electronic mail.

The Advisory Service will maintain a web server which will provide access to generic advice available (ref. Annex J.11).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The Helpdesk shall be staffed throughout the Staffed Periods defined in A1.2, except that it will not be available:

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide a 12-month plan for BMAS events as part of the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex B)

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:

UKERNA shall report quarterly, as part of the reporting on the operational plan (ref. Annex D):


Any BMAS activity involved in UKERNA development projects will be reported quarterly in the Developments section of the report on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D).

A2.12 Multi-site Connectivity Advisory Service (MCAS)

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide advice and guidance to client institutions, particularly FE colleges, on multi-site connectivity issues. The advice and guidance for FE colleges shall normally be provided through the JISC Regional Support Centres.

The focus of the Advisory Service shall be the MCAS Helpdesk, which shall be available through the JANET Customer Service described at A3.2.

The Advisory Service shall provide preliminary advice and guidance on wide area communications and shall maintain information about suppliers of specialist expertise to whom enquirers will be directed for more detailed consultancy and services.

In addition, the Advisory Service shall commission and publish documents of interest to client institutions’ IT managers such as case studies and technology reviews.

The Advisory Service shall maintain a repository of web based information which will include case studies and technology reviews (ref. Annex J.12).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The MCAS Helpdesk shall be staffed throughout the Staffed Periods defined in A1.2, except that it will not be available:

Reporting:
On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report:

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall report as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (see Annex D):

A2.13 Core Network Development Programme

Specification:
UKERNA shall execute a programme of development activities ('the core network development programme') to ensure that the demands placed on JANET by current and future network applications are met.

The core network development programme will focus on development of network-level technologies and services to provide support to network applications and ensure that major applications developed elsewhere for delivery over JANET receive appropriate support from the network infrastructure when rolled out.

UKERNA will specify the core network development programme work plan based on its analysis of future requirements gathered through consultation with key stakeholders, including the JCN Development Group.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Within the context of UKERNA's ISO 9001:2000 accredited Management framework, a review of the core network development programme will be undertaken annually by UKERNA. The review will assess whether the objectives of each of the development activities are being met.

Reporting:
On an annual basis, UKERNA shall provide as part of the UKERNA Operational Plan (ref. Annex B):

On a quarterly basis, UKERNA shall provide as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D):

A2.14 JISCMail

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide an electronic mailing list service for the education and research community. The service will use the world-wide-web and e-mail to enable list-members to talk to each other and to share information.

The focus of the service will be:

The service will also:

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5%;
b) Message Turnaround time (reported through regular hourly samples of test traffic) of 30 seconds for 95% of messages accepted for distribution;
c) Routine updates to virus checking software will be validated and applied within 1 working day of notification from software provider;
d) The Helpdesk shall be staffed throughout the Staffed Periods defined in A1.2, except that it will not be available:

Reporting:
On a monthly basis, UKERNA shall report:

A3 INFORMATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES

A3.1 Network Information Services

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a Web-based information service, including a user interface suitable for end users who are inexperienced or who access the service infrequently, and shall maintain documentation and operational information of interest to network users (ref. Annex J.7).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Service availability of 99.5%;
b) Mean time between failures of 1000 hours;
c) The service shall support an access rate of 15,000 queries per day.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide reports monthly on the following:


A3.2 JANET Customer Service

Specification:
UKERNA shall operate a Service Desk to act as the primary point of contact for all reports, enquiries and requests for action and information from the user community concerning UKERNA services. The Service Desk shall deal with reports and enquiries made by telephone, fax, post or electronic mail (ref. Annex J.8). The Service Desk shall operate procedures to route complex queries to the appropriate service provider for resolution.

An "escalation procedure" shall be in place, and published to the Community, to ensure that unresolved queries are progressively brought to the attention of senior management (ref. Annex J.8).

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The Service Desk shall be staffed for the full duration of the Staffed Periods (see A1.2).
b) Client institutions shall be able to lodge telephone and email enquiries at all times when the Service Desk is not staffed.
c) An initial response to any enquiry shall be given within four working hours, where ‘working hours’ is defined as the period specified in a)
d) Enquiries shall be completed as follows:
90% within 5 working days.
98% within 20 working days.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide reports monthly on the following:
· number of enquiries by primary connected institutions broken down by category type;
· average, minimum and maximum time for initial response to and final resolution of queries by category type;
· number of queries outstanding >5 working days, >20 working days, >40 working days;
· details of invocation of the escalation procedure.

By exception, UKERNA shall provide details of enquiries outstanding after 60 working days. More detailed information on the source, subject and complexity of queries shall be available in annual reports or when requested by the JISC Monitoring Unit.
Note: The SLD for DNS queries is under A2.5.1 and the SLD for connection requests is under A2.9.1.

A3.3 Documentation

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide comprehensive paper and electronic documentation including appropriate Web pages (ref. Annex J.7) describing the use of the Operational Services (ref. Section A2), the Support and Information Services (ref. Section A3) and the Security Services (ref. Section A4).

This documentation shall be of three types:

All documentation should encourage feedback on its own quality and helpfulness.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Technical information needed by a client institution to connect its equipment to a new service to be made available one month before the start of service.
b) Technical information relating to a major change in an existing service to be made available one month before the change takes effect.
c) Material intended for issue to end-users to be made available to client institutions one month before the start of a new service or a major change in an existing service.
d) Regular publications for dissemination of news and information to be produced and issued according to an annually agreed and published schedule.
e) New and updated technical publications to be produced and issued according to an annually agreed and published schedule.
f) Quality and range of publications satisfactory, measured by formal user feedback.
Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide a 12-month plan for documentation preparation and publication as part of the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D). This plan will include technical documents, regular news and information documents.

UKERNA shall report quarterly, as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D) on:

In the case of documents that are only available on paper, a copy will be provided to the JISC Monitoring Unit.


A3.4 Technical Updating for the UKERNA Community

A3.4.1 Workshops and Conferences

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide regular technical and other information to the Community by organising workshops and conferences, as agreed with JISC, and by participating in events organised by other relevant organisations. UKERNA shall take note of feedback from these activities in identifying requirements for specific technical initiatives.

UKERNA shall propose, in its operational plan, a programme of events for the coming year. This will include:

Normally, workshops and conferences will be organised on a cost recovery basis. In some cases, where it has been agreed between JISC and UKERNA, workshops and conferences will be subsidised in order to meet community requirements.

Regional briefing days will be funded by UKERNA. UKERNA may also undertake other events on the basis of full cost recovery.

Performance Indicators:
a) Value of events as perceived by users;
b) Value for money of events.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall provide a 12-month plan for workshops and conferences and other events as part of the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D).

UKERNA shall report quarterly, as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D):

Annually, UKERNA shall provide a financial statement of income and expenditure per event.

Copies of feedback sheets from delegates for events shall be provided to the JISC Monitoring Unit when requested.


A3.4.2 Training Courses

Specification:
UKERNA shall provide a regular programme of training courses within its area of competence, to reflect the needs of the community.

UKERNA shall propose, in its operational plan, a programme of training courses for the coming year. Normally, training courses will be organised on a cost recovery basis.

UKERNA may also undertake training courses for individual eligible institutions on a full cost recovery basis.

Performance Indicators:
a) Value of events as perceived by users;
b) Value for money of events.

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report quarterly, as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D):

Annually, UKERNA shall provide a financial statement of income and expenditure per training course, including training courses for individual institutions.

Copies of feedback sheets from delegates for training courses shall be provided to the JISC Monitoring Unit when requested.

A3.5 Liaison with the Community

Specification:
UKERNA shall attend meetings of the UCISA Network Group, Regional Network Operators User Groups and other FE meetings (where appropriate), in order to provide information on new or changed services as required, and to allow users to give feedback on the Service Levels achieved and provide general input to UKERNA on all matters.

Performance Indicators:

Note:
Performance is measured through information received in the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex B) and reporting on the operational plan (ref. Annex D).

Reporting:
UKERNA shall report quarterly, as part of the reporting on the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex D):

A4 SECURITY SERVICES

A4.1 CERT Services

Introduction:
UKERNA will apply best current practice in relation to the security of JANET and the networks of JANET client institutions. UKERNA will regularly review the JANET security policy and will from time to time seek the agreement of the JISC, to implement changes.

The JANET Computer Emergency Response Team (JANET-CERT) is the unit responsible for IT related security on JANET. Their role is protecting the network from internal and external, deliberate or accidental attacks. The team primarily provides Incident response assistance and coordination to its constituents who suffer an IT security breach or event. They are also responsible for providing an up to date knowledge base for computer security related incidents and technical solutions to those enquiries. The team publishes advice to raise awareness and improve the security of computers and networks. It delivers training and workshops; speaks at other events related to computer security; liaises with world wide, European and UK CERTs; liaises with law enforcement organisations and provides a security information base for its constituents.

Definitions:

JANET-CERT service periods:
JANET-CERT full service periods are the periods from 0800-1800 on weekdays, apart from the Public Holidays as set out in A1.2.

JANET-CERT reduced service periods are unstaffed; call-out only periods from 1800-0000 on weekdays and from 0900-1700 on Saturdays and Sundays, apart from the Public Holidays as set out in A1.2.


A4.1.1 Incident Report Summary

Specification:
UKERNA will maintain and provide records, which will allow the formulation of a summary of Incoming Messages, Incident Reports, Incident Related Reports and Investigations from JANET-CERT.


Performance Indicators and Service Levels:

Note:
Performance is measured through information received in the UKERNA operational plan (ref. Annex B) and reporting on the operational plan (ref. Annex D).


Reporting:
UKERNA will provide monthly:


A4.1.2 Security Incident Response and Coordination

Specification:
UKERNA will operate processes to counteract any use of JANET which is unauthorised, unacceptable or both.

UKERNA will maintain a list of contact points and service hours for other network operators, law enforcement agencies and similar bodies.

UKERNA will provide mechanisms and publish procedures to enable client institutions to report Security Incidents, at all times and seek assistance during JANET-CERT service periods.

UKERNA will operate a mechanism to facilitate correspondence with JANET client institutions and other parties and to monitor progress in resolving each Security Incident. Initial response to a Security Incident will normally include a unique Security Incident number.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA will ensure the adequacy of mechanisms and published procedures for Security Incident reporting, as perceived by users at JANET client institutions (ref. Annex J.9);
b) UKERNA will allocate an Incident type to each Security Incident Related Report and respond to that report within:

c) UKERNA will store Security Incident Related Reports received at other times and will respond to them within two hours of the start of the next JANET-CERT full service period.


Reporting:
UKERNA will provide monthly:
the definition of each Security Incident Related Report seen in the period;
number and type of all new Security Incidents;
number and type of new Security Incident Related Reports;
number and type of new Security Investigations;
number of Security Incident Related Reports resolved;
number of Security Incident Related Reports outstanding at the end of the month;
number of Security Incident Related Reports not responded to within the SLA timeframes.

Note: Events affecting a number of client institutions may be counted either as a single Security Incident or as a number of separate ones.

UKERNA will also provide quarterly:
The JANET-CERT assessment on reported Security Incidents;
Actions taken to resolve major Security Incidents.


A4.1.3 Abuse Handling

Specification:
UKERNA will operate processes to enable the Internet community to report misuse allegedly or apparently originating from or involving JANET or JANET client institution networks.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA will ensure the adequacy of mechanisms and published procedures for Abuse reporting, as perceived by users at JANET client institutions (ref. Annex J.9) and other Internet users;
b) UKERNA will contact any JANET client institution implicated in Abuse in a timely manner and ensure appropriate action, as perceived by other network operators, law enforcement agencies and similar bodies;
c) UKERNA will allocate an Incident type to each Abuse Incident Related Report and respond to that report within:


d) UKERNA will store Abuse Incident Related Reports received at other times and will respond to them within two hours of the start of the next JANET-CERT full service period.

Reporting:
UKERNA will provide monthly:

Note: Events affecting a number of client institutions may be counted either as a single Abuse Incident or as a number of separate ones.

UKERNA will also provide quarterly:

A4.1.4 Network Monitoring

Specification:
UKERNA will operate processes to detect attempts to use JANET in ways which are unauthorised, unacceptable or both. All attempts will be classified by type.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The adequacy of the monitoring mechanism as perceived by users at JANET client institutions.

Reporting:
UKERNA will provide monthly:


A4.1.5 Intelligence analysis

Specification:
UKERNA will regularly monitor public and private sources of information with a bearing on computer and network security. They will then relay significant changes to JANET client institutions to enable them to keep the security of their networks up to date.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) Value and relevance of the forums and information sources used, as perceived by JANET client institutions (ref. Annex J.9) and other parties known to UKERNA.

Reporting:
The list of public information sources will be published and maintained as part of the Network Information Service (ref. Annex J.9).

UKERNA will provide quarterly:


A4.1.6 Distribution of advice to client institutions

Specification:
UKERNA will provide JANET client institutions with regular information on general levels of threat and on countermeasures available.

UKERNA will maintain information about current threats to the security of computers and networks and countermeasures to those threats, and will make it publicly available as part of the Network Information Service (ref. Annex J.9).

UKERNA will advise approved contacts at all JANET client institutions of current threats whose impact on JANET is likely to be severe or widespread.

UKERNA will advise contacts at individual JANET client institutions on action to be taken in respect of any apparent or actual security weakness specific to that institution.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) UKERNA will validate and update the list of contacts at intervals of no longer than a year, in addition to interim maintenance;
b) UKERNA will issue advisory notices about new general threats or countermeasures to the approved contacts at all JANET client institutions within one working day of the information being confirmed and available for release;
c) UKERNA will review and update each item of advice and information provided through the Network Information Service at intervals of no longer than six months;
d) UKERNA will operate a mailing list based on the list of contacts, for informing client institutions of current threat;
e) UKERNA will operate a discussion mailing list for security issues, for approved client institution security contacts and other relevant customers.

Reporting:
UKERNA will provide quarterly:


A4.1.7 Client Institution Education

Specification:
UKERNA will develop and provide presentations and training on computer and network security as part of the programme of Technical Updating for the JANET Community (ref. Section A3.4), and at other community events as required.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The value of courses and presentations as perceived by the user community.

Reporting:

UKERNA will provide quarterly:


A4.1.8 Representing JANET within security related forums

Specification:
UKERNA will arrange for staff with the appropriate experience and knowledge in computer and network security to attend the meetings of, and to take part in the deliberations of, formal and informal forums where such matters are discussed, and to influence decisions in such a way that the interests of JANET and its client institutions are protected and promoted.

UKERNA will participate in national and international collaborations among computer security and incident response teams for the exchange of information and to improve its response to international incidents.

UKERNA will identify and promote the use of internationally agreed standards in the field of incident response, and take part in the development and deployment of those standards.

Performance Indicators and Service Levels:
a) The value of UKERNA’s part, as perceived by the JANET user community, in promoting the exchange of information between the JANET Community, external bodies concerned with computer security and professional bodies.

Reporting:
UKERNA will provide quarterly:

A4.2 Other security services

Specification:
UKERNA will provide information and advice in the area of computer security policy to:
a) Gather information and advise on legal issues to assist the JISC in making its policy in this area;
b) Promote awareness within the senior management of the JANET community on issues of policy related to security; and
c) Commission and manage studies and reports relating to the above from time to time as agreed with the JISC.

Reporting:

Annex B

Preparation of the Annual Budget and Operational Plan

B.1 Objective of the documents

The budget and the operational plan, taken together, should present a complete picture of the intended development of the services over the planning period.

B.2 The budget cycle

The process for setting budget to fund services defined by the SLA between the JISC and UKERNA is as follows:

June/July
Initial meeting between JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services and UKERNA Finance Director to discuss budget recommendations to be submitted to JCN for the next academic year but one

July/Aug
UKERNA Finance Director produces 1st draft of budget recommendation in discussion with UKERNA colleagues. This provides broad overview of budget required and analysis or reasons for change (increase and decreases) over the current budget
Aug
1st draft budget submitted to and discussed with JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services
September
1st draft budget submitted to JCN for discussion and agreement
October
1st draft budget considered by JISC at October meeting who either agree or refer budget back to JISC Executive
Oct/Nov
JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services discusses any changes that are required with UKERNA Finance Director, who produces 2nd draft if required
November
2nd draft budget agreed by JCN
December
2nd draft budget agreed by the JISC
January
JISC Budget recommendations considered by funding bodies
February
JISC Executive notified by assessors of the overall JISC budget that has been agreed
March
JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services advises UKERNA Finance Director of the budget to be allocated to UKERNA
April
SLA discussions completed
May
If SLA discussions result in the need for increase in overall budget, proposals submitted to JCN

June/July
UKERNA Finance Director provides detailed budget (broken down by all SLA lines and operating plan) to JISC Executive (Note: this may involve some changes to spread of expenditure across SLA lines but cannot change overall budget approved by funding bodies
July
This budget is used by JCN Secretary and JISC Finance Officer to set network SLA budget for forthcoming academic year and to monitor expenditure against

B.3 The operational plan cycle

The operational plan shall be prepared by UKERNA after the end of the SLA negotiations so that any changes to the SLA and changes and developments approved by the JCN during the current operational year can be taken into account in the new operational plan. The operational plan shall then be submitted to the JISC Head of Services Management and the JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services after the SLA has been agreed and before the end of the current financial year.

B.4 Content of the budget

B.4.1

The 1st draft budget shall consist of:

a) Background information. This will set out the environmental and other contextual framework in which the budget projections have been prepared, together with any other information required to inform the JCN in their consideration of the budget;
b) Financial summary. This will set out estimated spend (in £M to one decimal place), classified into:

c) Forecast net income. This is deducted from the total of these costs to derive the net programme costs;
d) Detail of the proposals, distinguishing between the maintenance of the existing core programme and any new initiatives or extensions proposed, for each of the headings set out in B.4.1.b above. New initiatives should be presented, as far as possible, as self-contained options, including any dependencies, to facilitate prioritisation. Financial details of new proposals should be presented as incremental costs or savings against the baseline budget;
e) UKERNA’s internal running costs are included in the total costs as presented. To facilitate a separate review of these, UKERNA shall also provide a breakdown of internal costs included in the budget, together with comparison against the actual budget for the previous year;
f) UKERNA shall also provide a summary of staffing and details of proposed replacement and new posts in the following format:

Summary of staff costs
JISC Budget Non JISC Budget Total Total Budget
FTE Cost £K FTE Cost £K FTE Cost £K
Existing staff complement
Network Development
Production Services
Customer Support
Business
Administration
TOTAL
Current vacancies
Network Development
Production Services
Customer Support
Business
Administration
TOTAL
New posts
Network Development
Production Services
Customer Support
Business
Administration
TOTAL
Proposed staff complement
Network Development
Production Services
Customer Support
Business
Administration
TOTAL
Overtime
Promotions
Payroll cost

Replacement and new posts
REPLACEMENT POSTS
JISC Non JISC
Network Development Detail of post Detail of post
Production Services Detail of post Detail of post
Customer Support Detail of post Detail of post
Business Detail Detail of post Detail of post
Administration Detail of post Detail of post

NEW POSTS

JISC

 Non JISC
Network Development Detail of post Detail of post
Production Services Detail of post Detail of post
Customer Support Detail of post Detail of post
Business Detail Detail of post Detail of post
Administration Detail of post Detail of post

B.4.2

The 1st draft budget will be considered at the next following meeting of the JCN, normally around September. If the JCN raise substantive issues surrounding the indicative budget, UKERNA finance and operational management and the JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services will consider these and a 2nd draft budget shall be submitted to the November meeting of JCN.
This revised budget submission shall consist of:

a) A financial summary, in the same format as used in B.4.1.b in respect of the indicative budget.

b) Commentary on the reason for the changes from the indicative budget, for each of the headings set out in B.4.1.b above.

B.4.3

This budget submission forms part of the total budget submission made by the JCN to the JISC, and subsequently the partner Funding Councils. The approval process for the JCN budget takes place during the first quarter of the calendar year immediately preceding the operational year to which the budget pertains. The UKERNA budget is normally endorsed at the JCN meeting in May. UKERNA shall produce the detailed budget by early July immediately preceding the operational year to which the budget pertains. Although the total budget amount must remain as reported to the JCN in B.4.1 and B.4.2 above, virement between budget heads may be made at this stage, with the approval of JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services, who will report any such virement to the JCN at its first meeting in the academic year to which the budget pertains.

B.4.4

The JISC shall release funds to UKERNA on the basis of the final budget. If necessary, UKERNA may submit proposals for changes to the final budget. The JISC or its advisory committees shall be consulted, as appropriate, to obtain support for more significant changes.

B.5 Content of the operational plan

B.5.1

The operational plan shall contain:

a) The work programme for the next financial year. This shall detail the specific areas of UKERNA’s planned activity. It will also include, if appropriate, details of any specific programmes of work to be carried forward from the current operational plan.

b) Details of each area of activity shall be provided, together with performance or value for money objectives to be achieved and milestones and target dates in support of these objectives.

Annex C

Reporting on the Budget

C.1 Objective

The objectives of the reporting cycle are to inform the JISC of spend against budget, on a monthly and cumulative year to date basis, to provide HEFCE with an estimate of the UKERNA cash requirement for the subsequent month and the total year, to assist HEFCE to monitor UKERNA’s cash balances and to ensure that HEFCE is in a position to meet the profiled cash calls.

C.2 Timing of reports

A detailed report shall be provided monthly to the JISC Finance Officer. At less frequent intervals, a summary report shall be provided to the JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services. The frequency shall normally be approximately quarterly, although the exact timing of submission will vary depending on operational requirements.

a) The monthly report shall be submitted to the JISC Finance Officer, to a timetable which shall be produced by the JISC Finance Officer annually in advance, and provided to UKERNA in July of each year in respect of the subsequent UKERNA financial year.
b) The summary report shall be provided to the JISC Head of Policy and Corporate Services on his request.

C.3 Content of the reports

a) The monthly report shall be presented as follows:

mm/yy
SLA Month Month Total Total Total Annual Budget Next
Actual Commitment Month YTD YTD Budget Remaining Month
(ex VAT) (ex VAT) (ex VAT) (ex VAT) (inc VAT) (inc VAT) (incVAT) Req(incVAT)



Ax.x( 1 row per service level definition specified in Annex A)

Total programme spend

Income received excluding grant
Collections for bandwidth
Interest received
Total income
Total funding
Total funding received in month
Total funding received Y T D

CASH BOOK BALANCE

Total funding claimed this period


b) The quarterly report shall be presented as follows:

Period mm/yy YTD YTD estimated
Actual cost cost Remaining
(ex vat) vat (incl VAT) (incl VAT) Budget (incl VAT)
£K £K £K £K £K
Basic transmission
International connections
Security services
Other infrastructure
Support and information
Total Cost

Annex D

Reporting on the Operational Plan

D.1 Objective

The objective of the report is to inform the JISC of progress against target dates and milestones for the achievement of the objectives set out in the operational plan.

D.2 Timing of the report

Reports shall be submitted on a quarterly basis, within one calendar month of the quarter end.

D.3 Content of the report

The report shall address the objectives in the operational plan, setting out:
a) Objectives that have been achieved by the due date.
b) Objectives that have been achieved by later than the due date. The report shall include details of the reason for the slippage and an assessment of the impact of the slippage on the JANET service.
c) Objectives which have not been met in full. The report shall include the extent to which the original objectives have been met, the reasons for the slippage, aspects which remain outstanding and when these are now scheduled to be implemented and an assessment of the impact of the slippage on the JANET service.
d) Objectives for which the work programme has not yet commenced. If the target date for commencement has slipped, the report shall include details of the reason for the slippage, an assessment of the impact of the slippage on the JANET service and the revised target dates for implementation and completion.

Annex E

Change Control Procedures

E.1 Principles


Note: Client institution name changes will not be dealt with through the Change Control Procedures. The changes will be dealt with by an exchange of e-mail between the JANET Customer Services Manager and the JISC Monitoring Unit.

E1.1
Where the JISC or UKERNA see a need to change the Services the JISC may at any time request, and UKERNA may at any time recommend, such a change only in accordance with the Change Control Procedures as set out at section 2 of this annex.

E1.2
Neither the JISC nor UKERNA shall unreasonably withhold its agreement to any change.

E1.3
Until such time as a change is made in accordance with the Change Control Procedure, UKERNA shall, unless otherwise agreed in writing, continue to supply the Services as if the request or recommendation had not been made.

E1.4
Any discussions which may take place between the JISC and UKERNA in connection with a request or recommendation before the authorisation of a resultant change to the Services shall be without prejudice to the rights of either party.

E1.5
Any work undertaken by UKERNA, its sub-contractors or agents, which has not been authorised in advance by a change to the Services and which has not been otherwise agreed in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1.3 of this Schedule shall be undertaken entirely at the expense and liability of UKERNA.

E1.6
In general, the JISC Monitoring Unit will act on behalf of the JISC in the conduct of the Procedures.

E2. Procedures

E2.1
Within the JISC, the JISC Monitoring Unit shall create and follow suitable procedures for the administration of Change Control for the SLA.

E2.2
Within UKERNA, the process for the administration of Change Control for the SLA shall be defined in the current version of Flow Chart QS-SLA-101.

E2.3
Usually, proposals for Change Control will be discussed informally between the JISC Services Group, or the JISC Monitoring Unit, and UKERNA before proceeding with the formal procedure. In the event that agreement cannot readily be reached, then the parties involved will undertake to seek wider consultation and reconvene within a reasonable period, aiming to achieve a negotiated outcome.

E2.4
The originator of a request for Change Control, whether acting on behalf of the JISC or UKERNA, shall arrange for completion of Parts 1 and 2 of the form shown at E3 of this Annex E.

E2.5
The originator of the form shall obtain a reference number for the proposal from the Change Control Administrator at UKERNA.

E2.6
The originator will then forward the completed form to the JISC Monitoring Unit, who will endeavour to obtain formal acceptance of the proposal from both the JISC and UKERNA.

E2.7
When formal acceptance has been obtained from both parties, the JISC Monitoring Unit will update the register of changes agreed by Change Control and will make any necessary amendments to the published SLA.

E3 Change Control Request

JISC/UKERNA SLA Change Control Request

Sequential number (to be inserted by the UKERNA Change Control Administrator)
FI/SLA/Amend/04/0

Part 1 - to be completed by the JISC or UKERNA

Title of Change
Originator
Date of this Request or Recommendation
Reason for Change
Full Details of Change (detail on separate sheet if necessary)
Timetable for implementation and, if appropriate, criteria for acceptance(detail on separate sheet if necessary)

Part 2(a) - to be completed by UKERNA if request is to be rejected

Reason for rejection of request for change (detail on separate sheet if necessary)

Part 2(b) - to be completed by UKERNA if request is to be pursued

Costs (ex VAT), in current financial year, of completing the change
Anticipated costs (ex VAT), in subsequent financial years, of maintaining the change
Schedule of payments, if appropriate
Proposed effective date for the change, if accepted
Impact, if any, on other aspects of the services
Date of expiry of validity of this information

Name of Implementing Division:
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Implementation advertised via UKERNA News and JISC Assist if applicable:

YES: o NO: o

Part 3 - Signatures

APPROVED on behalf of JISC Services
Signed

 Position
Date

ACCEPTED on behalf of UKERNA
Signed

 Position
Date

ACCEPTED on behalf of the JISC
Signed

 Position
Date

Annex F

Additional site reporting requirements

In addition to the client institution listed in standing document “Institutions sponsored by the JISC” (ref. Annex J.1), the following sites shall be included for reporting purposes, if they are connected to JANET. Inclusion of these sites is on the basis of their importance for the operation of the network, or as information providers to the academic community; the addition of sites to this list is subject to the change control procedures, but does not have implications for the operational budget.
Arts and Humanities Research Board
British Library (St Pancras)
British Library (Boston Spa)
BUFVC
Cancer Research UK
DANTE
DEL – Department of Employment and Learning
ELWA
Greenmount College of Agriculture and Horticulture
HEFCE
HEFCW
HESA
Learndirect
Learning Skills Council
Macaulay Institute (Shotts)
NIBSC
Scottish Further Education Unit
Scottish UFI Ltd
SHEFC
UCAS
UKAEA Culham Divison for the JET facility
UKe-University
UKERNA

Annex G

External Connections

In addition to the SLA items A2.2.1 and A2.2.2, UKERNA shall provide details on key external connections to JANET. These major external connections are detailed in the table below; other external connections (private peers) are detailed in a web page maintained by UKERNA at the URL:

http://www.ja.net/peering.html

For private peers not included in the table below, the web page shall provide an historical listing of peers with peering start and (if applicable) end dates.

UKERNA shall notify the JISC Monitoring Unit of any changes to its list of private peers in a timely manner, prior to inclusion of availability and traffic data in monthly reports.

For connections to public peering exchanges and private peers, UKERNA shall provide traffic reports via the Network Status Information System (see A2.3.2) and basic availability and traffic reports monthly.

UKERNA shall provide the JISC Monitoring Unit with access to the detailed traffic data collected by the Network Status Information System for all connections once equipment and procedures are established to do so.

Major external connections:

Connection Type
LINX Public peering exchange
MaNAP Public peering exchange
CERNET Private peering
HEANET Private peering

Annex H

Additional Service Reporting Requirements

The following National Services have dedicated connections not covered in A2.1 against the site responsible. UKERNA will, where technically feasible, provide traffic reports on all these connections.

Note: it is expected that all JISC funded services will either appear in this list or form part of the traffic reported for the site at which they are located.

Internet Resources Mirroring Service (at MCI Bristol)
JISCPAS plagiarism detection servers (at the Reading C-PoP)

The following National Services have been identified for separate traffic reports. At present traffic reports form part of the traffic reported for the site at which they are located. UKERNA will undertake reasonable endeavours to provide separate reports.

JISCmail (at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
EDINA (at University of Edinburgh)
MIMAS (at Manchester Computing, University of Manchester)

Annex I

Nodes on the JANET Core IP Network

The basic IP transmission service (A2.1) is provided by a core IP network and a variety of access arrangements. The boundary between the core and access components is associated with one of a set of Backbone Access Routers, and is defined to be at those interfaces of the Backbone Access Routers which carry traffic of the Basic IP Transmission Service and which fall between core and the access mechanisms (i.e. the Backbone Access Routers form part of the core for the purposes of A2.1)

The following table lists the sites at which the boundary is located:
University of Aberdeen
Queen's University of Belfast
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
Cardiff University
University of Dundee
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Greenwich, Medway Campus
Inverness College
University of Lancaster
University of Leeds
University of Manchester
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
North East Wales Institute of Higher Education
University of Nottingham
University of Oxford
SSE premises, Portsmouth
University of Reading
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
ULCC

At each location, UKERNA shall assess network availability from a point close to the UKERNA core equipment and circuits at the location. The same measurement point shall be used when assessing both A2.1.1 and A2.1.2.

Annex J


The following documents are referenced in the text. The current web address or where the document may be obtained from is indicated below.

Ref Document title or description Source
Current version of this document See http://www.mu.jisc.ac.uk/slas/
1 List of eligible institutions See http://www.mu.jisc.ac.uk/jisc-sites/
2 Terms for the Provision of the JANET Service See http://www.ja.net/service_terms/
3 JANET Acceptable Use Policy See http://www.ja.net/documents/use-policy03.html
4 Formats for performance reports to the JISC Monitoring Unit held by the JISC Monitoring Unit
5 Video Technology Advisory Services Seehttp://www.video.ja.net/
6 Video Products Evaluation Reports See http://www.video.ja.net/evaluation
7 UKERNA documentation of JANET Services See http://www.ja.net/services/
8 JANET Customer Service Contact Details and Escalation Procedure See http://www.ja.net/customer_service/index.html
9 CERT Information See http://www.ja.net/CERT/
10 JISC Executive contacts See http://www.jisc.ac.uk/general/index.cfm?name=people_alphabetical
11 Bandwidth Management Advisory Service See http://www.bmas.ja.net/
12 Multi-site Connectivity Advisory Service See http://www.ja.net/mcas/index.html
13 JISCMail See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/
ACCEPTED on behalf of UKERNA by: ACCEPTED on behalf of the JISC by:
________________________________ _______________________________
Position:_________________________ Position:________________________
Date____________________________ Date:___________________________