To maintain a high-performance infrastructure capable of serving demanding research projects, Luxembourg's national research and education network, or RESTENA network, is regularly being modernised. Such an evolution is made possible at the international level thanks to collaborations within GÉANT, a pan-European association of national research and education networks on the Old Continent, in which Restena has been active from the outset. It is within this very association; supported by a whole series of eponymous projects; that Restena is stepping up its involvement on the security side for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027.
A more efficient connection
Since the beginning of 2025, the RESTENA network has been connected to the pan-European GÉANT network via the international interconnection nodes set up in Frankfurt (Germany) and Brussels (Belgium). Thanks to this new configuration jointly implemented with the GÉANT teams, the link via Brussels is now replacing the existing link via Paris (France), and all the international lines are ready to meet future needs. Luxembourg is now fully connected to the GÉANT European network via a WDM spectrum, combining Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology with part of the dark fibre.
Additionally, a direct connection is now active between the Point of Presence (PoP) in Bettembourg and the PoP in Bissen. This development in the national network infrastructure means that the Bissen PoP is directly connected to the two international interconnection points of the RESTENA network, Bettembourg and Luxembourg-Kirchberg. The Bissen PoP is crucial to MeluXina, the Luxembourg supercomputer operated by LuxProvide and one of the supercomputers deployed in Europe as part of EuroHPC, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. MeluXina connects to the RESTENA network from the LuxConnect data centre.
Thanks to these developments, Luxembourg is technically ready to meet the future network performance requirements of MeluXina and the possible deployment of secure communications enhanced by Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).
Investing in security
Alongside these technical developments, 2025 marks the strengthening of Restena's role in the succession of GÉANT projects over the last 25 years. With GN5-2, a European project financed by the European Union via its Horizon Europe framework programme for research and innovation, and covering the 2025-2027 period, Restena is playing a direct role in the Work Package dedicated to security. More specifically, it participates in the sub-task dealing with security management, reference system, standards and best practices for compliance.
It is so up to Restena, on the one hand, to help NRENs establish a security culture and put in place security mechanisms and, on the other hand, to bring together and guide NRENs towards, in particular, the implementation of new legislative requirements, the improvement of security (and privacy) control, or the use of international standards.
This new task is in addition to Restena active participation in the international R&D team for eduroam, a service offering secure, automatic WiFi connections in universities and research institutions worldwide. This service, which is coordinated in Luxembourg by Restena, has recently been extended nationwide with the gradual activation of new access points via WiFi terminals in stations, railway stops and CFL buses, the latest eduroam service provider.
