The NET+ AWS Advisory Board, DLT, and Internet2 have worked over the last few months to update the subscriber Enterprise Customer Agreement (ECA). The ECA was last updated in 2017 to include a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) in the program.
With this now available update, subscribers can now access professional services from any participating Partner in the AWS Partner Network. To minimize the hurdles of engaging a Partner, these services can be accessed directly via Statements of Work delivered by DLT under this Agreement. Additionally, the BAA now includes a direct link to all HIPAA eligible services and no longer restricts HIPAA workloads to dedicated instances. To make use of these new features, subscribers will need to execute a new ECA. Please email cloud@dlt.com to get that process started.
We want to provide you another update on the NET+ Zoom program, Zoom-Internet2 network peering and remind you about some community resources that are available.
As a reminder, you can view previous updates related to the NET+ Zoom offering and Internet2-Zoom network peering on our wiki.
Community Resources
The NET+ Zoom Service Advisory board has set up a Slack channel for higher education collaboration and discussion related to Zoom. We’d encourage you to join via this link and interact with other colleagues.
Working with the Service Advisory Board, we’ve also set up a community survey to ensure we are working with Zoom on the most important issues for higher education as a way of determining next steps to support the community. Please consider taking the survey today. We are also working to set up a town hall in the coming weeks for the community to discuss key issues and share best practices and lessons learned.
Network Peering
Over the past week, we’ve increased our capacity to Zoom by almost tenfold and are actively working with home broadband providers to assure VPN traffic has a high-performance path from the home to the campus as it continues to grow. Network utilization of Zoom peerings is actually down as Zoom appears to have moved many of its compute operations to AWS and other cloud compute resources. You can read more about how R&E Networks are supporting the academic enterprise in unprecedented times here.
Additional NET+ Zoom Updates and Reminders
Due to the increase in demand, Zoom will take about 48hrs to provision services to your account, once they’ve received a signed Order form. To help expedite the processing, please:
- Consolidate your orders, as much as possible. Quotes and order forms are processed in the order it was received. Grouping your orders together will help lessen any confusions or errors.
- Provide the following information when asking for a quote:
- Item Name (i.e. Webinar 500 Participants)
- Quantity of item
- Effective Date
- Contact Information - Name and Email of who needs to sign the quote/order form
Please ensure upgrade and new orders are being sent to your Zoom account manager and netplus@internet2.edu.
We understand this is a challenging time for everyone and we’re so appreciative of the community partnering with us as we navigate through this historic time. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do further to help.
We welcome you to join us on biweekly community calls. Our Wednesday morning call focuses on the Technology and tactics of running AWS as scale. Our Thursday call deep dives on the technical particulars of Organizations and Control Tower.
Reach out to sjeanes@internet2.edu to be added to the invites.
The following topics are planned for the Wednesday Technology and Tactics call:
- 3/25 - A review of IPv6 on AWS
- 4/8 - A facilitate a conversation on AWS Educate
Hope you can join us!
Due to the increase in demand, Zoom will take about 48hrs to provision services to your account, once they’ve received a signed Order form. To help expedite the processing, please:
- Consolidate your orders, as much as possible. Quotes and order forms are processed in the order it was received. Grouping your orders together will help lessen any confusions or errors.
- Provide the following information when asking for a quote:
- Item Name (i.e. Webinar 500 Participants)
- Quantity of item
- Effective Date
- Contact Information - Name and Email of who needs to sign the quote/order form
Please ensure upgrade and new orders are being sent to your Zoom account manager and netplus@internet2.edu.
We understand this is a challenging time for everyone and we’re so appreciative of the community partnering with us as we navigate through this historic time. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do further to help. You can view previous updates related to the NET+ Zoom offering and Internet2-Zoom network peering on our wiki.
Interest in and utilization of Zoom continues to grow as many higher education institutions move teaching, learning and administrative functions online. Internet2 is maintaining updates on this webpage as it relates to overall operations.
As detailed in our earlier update, we are focusing on:
- Ensuring connectivity to Zoom over research and education networks
- Supporting the acquisition or expansion of NET+ Zoom licensing through transparent and predictable community negotiated pricing and contract terms
Network utilization of Zoom grew this week and we are seeing usage peaks presumably as classes or meetings kickoff at the top of the hour. Internet2 is working to get additional peering turned up in the Bay Area and New York, and is working with Zoom to evaluate turning up additional peering in Denver. Internet2 remains in close contact with Zoom and other major cloud vendors and service provider partners regarding any potential impact to both operations and ongoing programs.
While providers, including Internet2 and the major cloud companies, are continuing to monitor utilization and increase capacity, we also must recognize that we are heading into uncharted territory in a complicated ecosystem of interdependent providers. Many users attempting to access and utilize online collaboration tools simultaneously will stress the service-delivery systems in new ways. This may present challenges to the user experience and institutions should also consider how to make asynchronous tools available for teaching and learning as well. Patience may also be important as providers tweak their systems to accommodate new workflows.
The NET+ Zoom program provides community negotiated contract terms and pricing to Internet2 members and other qualified higher education institutions. We can make pricing and contract terms available upon request by emailing netplus@internet2.edu.
To support the growing number of adoption requests related to Zoom we have additional staff members monitoring and responding to our service management email address (netplus@internet2.edu) and we are ensuring coverage though expanded hours from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and providing additional after hours support on an as available basis. This will stay in place until further notice.
As of Thursday afternoon, March 12, 2020, our operations team has received 96 messages from 20 different institutions related to Zoom. This number represents more than double the number of requests received in February and almost triple the number of requests received in January. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we deal with an unprecedented number of requests.
If you need to subscribe to the NET+ Zoom offering or add additional licensing as an existing subscriber, here is a reminder of how to do so:
- If you are new to the NET+ Zoom program, you will need to obtain a quote directly from a Zoom Account Executive. Note: You will need to specifically ask for the NET+ Zoom Agreement to ensure that you are getting the NET+ terms and pricing. If you have any questions about the program, pricing or don’t know who your Zoom Account Manager is, contact Quyen Vaillant at netplus@internet2.edu.
- For existing NET+ Zoom participants, your Zoom Account Manager can help you with any changes to your existing subscriptions, including upgrades or expanding licenses.
A number of resources for current and prospective NET+ Zoom subscribers are also available on our cloud wiki.
If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Quyen Vaillant at netplus@internet2.edu.
As the spread of COVID-19 continues to progress, Internet2 is working closely with Zoom to continue providing services and products to our community. Across the portfolio of Internet2 services, we are actively monitoring the situation and will provide updates periodically on our website. Updates are available at: https://www.internet2.edu/about-us/internet2-update/
We recognize the challenges campuses are facing and the urgent need to deploy Zoom to allow remote classrooms while continuing to support staff and faculty working, collaborating and communicating.
We want to take a few minutes to answer some frequently asked questions related to the NET+ Zoom program and delivery of Zoom over the Internet2 network.
Will network peering with Zoom be able to handle additional capacity if higher education institutions move online?
Internet2 will maintain network connectivity and work hand-in-hand with regional network partners, the Indiana Global NOC and key suppliers to maintain resources and adjust to circumstances as needs emerge in the community. We have verified headroom in our connections to collaboration tools (e.g. Zoom, Webex, course management services) to assure communications are fully functional, are increasing threshold alarming and have reviewed plans to address capacity if there are unexpected usage swings between our network, campuses and the commercial internet.
For Zoom specifically, Internet2 has multiple points of presence with Zoom and we work to monitor capacity on an ongoing basis. Those connections currently have adequate headroom and we have contacted Zoom to discuss augmenting.
Please note that home user traffic, connections outside of campus networks, will depend on the use of VPNs and the VPN split tunneling configuration. If users are using VPNs that direct all of their traffic through a campus, then we will potentially see that Zoom traffic on the Internet2 network. If the home users are not using a VPN or the VPN is configured with split tunneling (only traffic with campus directed through VPN), then the Zoom traffic will take the user over commodity Internet paths from the home to Zoom.
How do I sign up for NET+ Zoom program or expand my service as an existing subscriber?
The NET+ Zoom Program is available to all Internet2 members and qualified higher education institutions (Not-for-profit higher education institutions whose main campuses are located in the United States).
- If you are new to the NET+ Zoom program, you will need to obtain a quote directly from a Zoom Account Executive. Note: You will need to specifically ask for the NET+ Zoom Agreement to ensure that you are getting the NET+ terms and pricing. If you have any questions about the program, pricing or don’t know who your Zoom Account Manager is, contact Quyen Vaillant at netplus@internet2.edu.
- For existing NET+ Zoom participants, your Zoom Account Manager can help you with any changes to your existing subscriptions, including upgrades or expanding licenses. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact Quyen Vaillant at netplus@internet2.edu.
Can I get a copy of the NET+ Zoom Agreement and Pricing for review?
Yes. Please reach out to netplus@internet2.edu with your request.
The NET+ Canvas Service Advisory Board met face to face for an annual meeting at Instructure headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. This all day event was the fourth of its kind held annually where the Service Advisory Board was able to meet with key leadership positions within Instructure and have productive and collaborative discussions. At the top of the list were discussions around usage data (AKA aggregate data or behavioral data) and open source standards with the CEO and other key senior leaders within Instructure. And finally, NET+ Canvas goals for the Service Advisory Board were reviewed and finalized as well. A full agenda can be found at https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/y4LVCQ for your review as well as the main program page.