The technical centre provides the technical details of how to connect to and tune for KAREN. The section is written for a technical audience and includes a user support guide, standards, specifications and protocols, technical FAQs, and technical documents.

Not a member yet? Then contact us to discuss getting connected.

KAREN snapshot

Visit the Weathermap to view a near real time representation of data traffic flows over KAREN at http://weathermap.karen.net.nz/

Network services KAREN offers

• A high speed network linking the New Zealand Research, education and innovation network and overseas research and education networks
• Jumbo (9000 byte) Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU)
• IP version 4
• IP version 6
• Multicast (both IPv4 and IPv6) which utilises Protocol Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP) and Multicast Border Gateway Protocol (MBGP)
• Private VLAN option

Key architectural principles

• KAREN provides very high-speed connectivity between research and education users wishing to collaborate with others in their national and international communities
• The connectivity is facilitated through open and accessible Points of Presence (PoPs)
  
• The PoPs are linked together to facilitate connectivity between users and resources, both national and international, with sufficient capacity to suit any research and education application, and in a manner able to support the ready inclusion of additional research and education resources (separable where incompatible with the production network)
• KAREN will peer, where appropriate, with local and regional networks to extend its reach and to minimise duplication of infrastructure
• KAREN is continually evolving, with emphasis on flexibility of functionality, supply, scalability and reach, subject only to the needs of its connected users