Community-Lab introduction

#+title: Community-Lab: Exploring the Future Internet on Community Networks

* Introduction
Hello, I'm (Speaker) from (organization), I work at the CONFINE project and
I'm going to talk you about Community-Lab, a community networking testbed for
the future Internet. *##*

** Community networks
- Infrastructure deployed by organized groups of people for self-provision of
  broadband networking that works and grows according to their own interests.
- Like some Free software projects: based on open participation, open and
  transparent management, distributed ownership (a big step beyond private and
  state-owned infrastructures).
- These also translate into open, free (as in freedom) and neutral networks,
  values akin to the Free software movement.  Some have mutual agreement texts
  similar to Free software liceses.
- The EU in its Digital Agenda regards CNs as fundamental for the
  universalization of broadband networking. *##*

** The CONFINE project
- EU-financed project with several partners: CNs, research institutions and
  supporting NGOs.
- Mission: support the sustainable growth of CNs by providing the means to
  conduct experimentally driven research.
- Supports other projects advancing or extending CNs via financed Open Calls
  (now closed).
- Provides a testbed and associated tools and knowledge for researchers to
  experiment on real CNs. *##*

** Community-Lab
- CONFINE's testbed: an environment built with real hardware taking part in
  real community networks to allow realistic experimental research on network
  technologies and services.
- Mostly like PlanetLab: global scale, with experiments sharing resources on a
  best effort basis, and as few hardwired management mechanisms as possible.
- Supporting the peculiarities of CNs: distributed ownership, fairness between
  users, diversity but also instability.
- All Community-Lab's software and documentation is “free as in freedom” so
  you can use it to setup your own CONFINE testbed. *##*

** Community-Lab as community infrastructure

- CONFINE can help physically extend CNs with new Community-Lab nodes.
- Nodes can also host services like web servers, video broadcast
  stations, etc.
- Nodes can also be used as infrastructure for cloud infrastructure provided
  and managed by the community for the community: Clommunity project. *##*

* Architecture and technologies
** Testbed architecture
- Community-Lab consists of a set of nodes (managed by CN members) that follow
  the configuration in a set of servers (managed by testbed operators).
- All components in the testbed become reachable via a management network,
  implemented as a VPN IPv6 overlay.
- Researchers define experiments (so called slices) in a server.
- Nodes use a REST API to get those definitions from servers and run several
  of them simultaneously as VMs (so called slivers). *##*

** Technologies
- Nodes are connected via Ethernet to normal community devices.
- Nodes are moderately powerful computers running OpenWrt with a daemon
  written in Lua.  Slivers are implemented as Linux containers.  We are
  working on safe node upgrade using kexec.
- The GUI and REST API in servers are implemented as Django applications.
- The management network overlay is a tinc mesh VPN.
- We use Git, Redmine, Jenkins and our Virtual CONFINE Tesbed (VCT) package
  for development and testing.

# Local Variables:
# mode: org
# End:

% Community-Lab: Exploring the Future Internet on Community Networks
% Ivan Vilata-i-Balaguer <ivan@pangea.org> (Pangea/CONFINE project)
% FOSDEM 2014

# Community networks (CNs)

- Broadband self-provision
- Similar to Free software:
    - Open participation & management,  
      distributed ownership
      <!--- private / public / community --->
    - Open, Free, neutral networks  
    - Mutual agreement texts
- Key for EU Digital Agenda

# The CONFINE project

- Partners:
    - CNs: guifi.net, Funkfeuer, AWMN
    - Research: UPC, FKIE, iMinds
    - NGOs: Pangea, OPLAN
<!--- logos --->
- Support sustainable growth of CNs via research  
  (technologies & services)
- Help other projects boost CNs (Open Calls)
<!--- OC1 & OC2 project listing --->
- Provide a testbed for CNs: Community-Lab

# Community-Lab

- A testbed built on community networks
- Like PlanetLab:
    - Global scale
    - Experiments sharing resources
    - Best effort
    - Unbundled management
- Heavily customized for CNs:
    - Some decentralization
    - Fair to other users  
      (no spying, no low-level, routing & above)
    - Simple, tolerant to network failures
- Free software: build your own testbed!

# Community-Lab as community infrastructure

- Extend CNs with Community-Lab nodes
<!--- Figure from IS4CWN slide #15 --->
- Community-Lab for hosting services
- [Clommunity](http://clommunity-project.eu/): community clouds

# Architecture and technologies

<!--- testbed architecture diagram --->
- Testbed
    - Nodes, servers, management network
    - Researchers, slices and slivers
<!--- overlay logos on top of diagram --->
- Nodes: OpenWrt, Lua, LXC, kexec
- Servers: Django
- Management network: tinc
- Software development: Git, Redmine, Jenkins, VCT

# Collaborations

- [OpenWrt](https://openwrt.org/)
- [BMX6](http://bmx6.net/)
- [OLSR](http://olsr.org/)
- [DLEP](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-manet-dlep/)
- [NodeDB](https://github.com/FFM/FFM)
- [Wibed](http://wiki.confine-project.eu/wibed:start)
- quick mesh project ([qMp](http://qmp.cat/))
- Wireless Battle of the Mesh ([BattleMesh](http://battlemesh.org/))
- International Summit for Community Wireless Networks
  ([IS4CWN](http://wirelesssummit.org/))

# Future

- Stabilization, maintainability, usability
- Federation with other testbeds
    - PlanetLab & others (SFA)
    - CONFINE / CONFINE
- Open Community-Lab to external users
    - Community members
    - Networking developers
    - Internship students…

# Thank you!

Meet us at the CONFINE stand in the K building!

More info:

- <http://community-lab.net/>
- <http://confine-project.eu/>

© 2014 Associació Pangea  
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