Network Policy and Description

Description of the Network
CAAREN is a regional research and educational network operated in support of the missions of our members. 

CAAREN connects member intuitions to each other and to Internet2, the national high performance network serving research and education institutions in the US. It may also connect to and peer directly with other research networks. CAAREN does not currently offer full Internet routing services, and it is expected that each institution will maintain at least one commercial/commodity internet connection for general access.

Member Responsibilities
A member institution must meet the following technical requirements to participate:

  • Be a member of Internet2 or a sponsored entity under the United Staes Unified Community Anchor Network (USUCAN) program.
  • Operate an IP network and associated equipment able to establish a Border Gateway Routing Protocol (BGP) session for the purposes for exchanging route information.
  • Have publicly routable IP addresses, either provider independent (PI) addresses assigned by the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), or a letter of authorization from the assigning provider allowing such addresses to be advertised to and by another provider
  • Maintain compliance with CAAREN and Internet2’s acceptable use policies (AUPs)
  • Procure a local loop, private circuit, dark fiber or other means of transport to connect at an established CAAREN point of presence

Member institutions are responsible for the operation and security of networks and devices under its control. CAAREN does not filter traffic or provide security services, though may do so on an as-needed and best-effort basis to ensure the integrity of CAAREN’s network.

CAAREN will provide assistance to establish connections and troubleshoot problems with the service between itself and the member institutions, but is not responsible for operation or troubleshooting within member networks. Advice and assistance may be provided on a best-effort basis.

CAAREN is an active member of the Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS).  This is an important effort run by the Internet Society to improve global routing security.  We encourage our members to participate.

One of the MANRS actions is Source Address Validation. CAAREN is a BCP38 network and encourages its members to be the same. As such, members:

  • Will only advertise networks that it is allowed, either through assignment, allocation, or Letter of Authorization (LOA), to advertise
  • Will not spoof source addresses, or originate traffic sourced from addresses not assigned or allocated to it