RMDCN

RMDCN Logo The Regional Meteorological Data Communication Network (RMDCN) provides a computer network infrastructure for the meteorological community in WMO Region VI, and beyond in its capacity as the WMO community's WIS Core Network.

The RMDCN website provides the participating Centres with up-to-date information:

RMCDN Community Website (Login required)

Some history

In 1998 WMO RA (Regional Association) VI and the ECMWF council agreed to establish a common Managed Data Network, the Regional Meteorological Data Communication Network (RMDCN), as a cost-effective solution to replace the existing point-to-point links. They further agreed that ECMWF would lead and co-ordinate the procurement, implementation and operational monitoring of such a network for all RA VI Members. In December 1998 Equant was selected as the provider for the RMDCN. After the delivery and installation of the equipment at each NMC (National Meteorological Centre) and RTH (Regional Telecommunications Hub), connectivity and performance tests started for each PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuit) established between sites. On 15 March 2000 the RMDCN became operational. On 27 June 2002 the RMDCN contract was amended to allow countries outside RA VI to join the network.

The 2004 bi-annual contract review resulted in an offer from EQUANT to migrate to an MPLS based network. This proposal was approved by ECMWF council in December 2004. The other WMO members connected to the RMDCN also accepted the proposal for the migration. An amendment of the RMDCN contract, specifying the new service levels and the migration plan, was signed in May 2006. Immediately afterwards the implementation of the migration of the RMDCN to an IPVPN MPLS technology started. The new network was being rolled out in parallel to the existing network and on 16 April 2007 the acceptance phase started. After two months of extensive testing the new network was finally accepted on 18 June 2007.

In 2008 the ECMWF Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) considered the provision of the RMDCN service beyond 2010. It concluded that an invitation to tender for the RMDCN be delayed for three to four years. ECMWF subsequently presented a plan to the TAC in October 2010 to initiate the procurement process for a new RMDCN. The definition of requirements was carried out during 2011 and also discussed by the WMO Task Team on the RMDCN. In December 2011 ECMWF Council authorised an invitation to tender for the replacement of the RMDCN. By the closing date of 23 April 2012, several bids had been received.

ECMWF made the decision to select Interoute Communications Ltd as the supplier for the next generation of the RMDCN. This decision was subsequently supported by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) at its meeting in October 2012 and approved by ECMWF Council at its meeting in December 2012. During 2013 the RMDCN Next Generation network was built and tested, with migration from Orange Business Services (formerly Equant) having completed on 6th February 2014.

In May 2018 GTT Communications, Inc. completed the acquisition of Interoute.

RMDCN configuration

The network is based on the MPLS backbone infrastructure of Interoute. This technology allows Interoute to implement an IP Virtual Private Network (IPVPN) for the RMDCN community. The main characteristics for the network are:

It provides any-to-any connectivity between the RMDCN members
Several technical configurations covering diversity and separacy to meet the budget capacity of members
Several Service Levels to meet the budget capability of members

The network currently connects 58 sites as listed in the following table.

Country/Site	City	WMO GTS	WMO WIS	Bandwidth (Mbps)	Site Type
ECMWF Member States
Austria	Vienna	RTH		20	Platinum
Belgium	Brussels	NMC		20	Platinum
Croatia	Zagreb	NMC		20	Platinum
Denmark	Copenhagen	NMC		100	Platinum
Estonia	Tallin	NMC		10	Silver
Finland	Helsinki	NMC		100	Platinum
France	Toulouse	RTH	GISC	200	Platinum
Germany	Offenbach	RTH	GISC	50	Platinum
Germany-DR	Berlin			25	Iron-B
Greece	Athens	NMC		20	Platinum
Iceland	Rejkjavik	NMC		20	Platinum
Ireland	Dublin	NMC		100	Platinum
Italy	Rome	RTH		30	Gold
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	NMC		20	Platinum
Netherlands	De Bilt	NMC		20	Platinum
Netherlands-DR	Woensdrecht			20	Copper
Norway	Oslo	NMC		50	Platinum
Portugal	Lisbon	NMC		20	Platinum
Serbia	Belgrade	NMC		20	Gold
Slovenia	Ljubljana	NMC		20	Platinum
Spain	Madrid	NMC		20	Platinum
Sweden	Norrköping	RTH		20	Platinum
Switzerland	Zurich	NMC		100	Platinum
Switzerland-CSCS	Lugano			100	Platinum
Türkiye	Ankara	NMC		100	Platinum
United Kingdom	Exeter	WMC	GISC	100	Platinum
ECMWF	Reading	WMC		500	Platinum
ECMWF	Bologna	WMC		1000	Platinum
ECMWF Co-operating States
Bulgaria	Sofia	RTH		20	Silver
Czech Republic	Prague	RTH		20	Gold
EUMETSAT	Darmstadt			20	Platinum
Hungary	Budapest	NMC		20	Platinum
Israel	Bet Dagan	NMC		30	Platinum
Latvia	Riga	NMC		2	Silver
Lithuania	Vilnius	NMC		1	Silver
North Macedonia	Skopje	NMC		N/A	Iron B
Morocco	Casablanca	NMC	GISC	10	Bronze
Romania	Bucharest	NMC		30	Platinum
Slovakia	Bratislava	NMC		1	Gold
Other RMDCN Members
Algeria	Alger	NMC		1	Iron B
Australia	Melbourne	WMC	GISC	10	Platinum
Canada	Dorval	WMC		4	Copper
China	Beijing	WMC	GISC	30	Platinum
China-DR	Beijing			30	Copper
India	New Delhi	RTH	GISC	6	Platinum
Japan	Tokyo	WMC	GISC	20	Platinum
Japan-DR	Osaka			20	Copper
Jordan	Amman	NMC		1	Iron A
Kazakhstan	Nur-Sultan	NMC		1	Iron-A
New Caledonia	Noumea	NMC		N/A	Iron B
Poland	Warsaw	NMC		2	Silver
Russian Federation	Moscow	WMC	GISC	10	Platinum
South Africa	Pretoria	RTH	GISC	4	Bronze
South Korea	Seoul	NMC	GISC	20	Platinum
Tunisia	Tunis	NMC		N/A	Iron B
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	NMC		10	Iron B