Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/isoc/pub/isoc_news/1-1/n-1-1-012.10.Z/n-1-1-012.10

Text File | 1994-03-26 | 4KB | 61 lines

012.10 Nordic National and International Networks
by Bernhard Stockman <[e-mail]>

NORDUnet was created during 1988 to interconnect the national  academic
networks of the five Nordic countries. The network is star-shaped and centered
around Stockholm, Sweden, based on bridging technology with dedicated routers
for the supported layer three services (TCPIP, DECNET, NJE and X.25).  For
connectivity outside the Nordic area there is connections to Amsterdam and to
the Cornell University in the USA.  The bandwidth was initially 64 Kbps one
most of the NORDUnet lines.

The topology has been kept since then but the bandwidth has been upgraded to
between 128 and 256 Kbps on the NORDUnet internal and external lines.

Today we see a changes on both technical and organizational  levels.  National
Nordic academic networks and the NORDUnet are changing towards different
technologies and higher bandwidths. The reason is that today layer 3 routing
technology is capable of providing most of the offered services which was not
the case when these networks were originally designed.

The commercialization of IP services has been very significant in  the
Scandinavian countries. During the recent two years three commercial companies
have been formed. The finish Datanet together with the two Swedish SWIPnet and
TIPnet, has started to provide IP service on the Nordic market. These efforts
have been possible due to close collaboration with Nordic carriers.

One consequence of this commercialization for the academic networks is an
increased interest in the networking experience and knowhow within the academic
community. What we now see in the Nordic area is the formations of
collaborative agreements between the academic and the commercial networks.
Telecom companies provide bandwidth and technology, the academic networks
provide competence in running the networks.

This is a rather new situation, there are no well established practices around
formation of such agreements and much time is accordingly spent on finding ways
and methods for such collaborations.

From the academic networking point of view such collaboration  could be very
beneficial. Telecommunication tariffs in the Nordic countries, as within most
of Europe, are a significant part of the networking budget.  A collaboration
with the carriers will give possibilities for higher line capacities then else
would have been possible.

This does not just concern the NORDUnet but is a very visible  trend within the
Nordic national networks. For example, the Swedish University Network (SUNET)
is now installing an upgrade from 64 Kbps to 1 Mbps on main connections as a
consequence of collaboration with one of the Swedish telcos. Another initiative
is the planning of a 34 Mbps network interconnecting Swedish super-computer
centers.  In Norway a 34 Mbps network is being installed as a joint effort
between the Norwegian academic network and the telecom company.

This Nordic trend of commercialization has similarities with the situation in
the USA and we will probably experience similar problems within the Nordic
area. A promising Nordic initiative is the discussions around the creation of a
"neutral traffic exchange point". The intention is to provide one single
exchange point where commercial and academic networks may interconnect.
Interest for similar solutions has been expressed from US and Pacific network
representatives. Seen on a broader perspective, the formation of such
interconnections at well chosen points in the world could be the cornerstones
in a general purpose robust Internet core.