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n-1-2-100.12a
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N-1-2-100.12 IPNETWORKING92--United Kingdom Internet Consortium Workshop
Farnborough, Hampshire, U.K., 11-12 February 1992, by Steven N.
Goldstein*, <sgoldste@cise.cise.nsf.gov>
This was a two-day conference-expo, complete with INTEROP-like
multi-vendor floor network demonstrating IP interoperability among
several router and bridge products. Ron Caterall, networking director
for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (U.K.) and founder of
IPNETWORKING92, billed the floor-net as a prototype to demonstrate
interoperability for Europe's forthcoming E1 Backbone, Ebone. Among
the nearly 100 attendees were commercial organizations which already
employ IP networking: a large multinational consulting company and a
newspaper. Also, other firms, including a large bank, attended to
assess the applicability of IP networking to their business needs.
Two independent network service providers, UKnet (the U.K. branch of
EUnet) and P.I.P.E.X, were also represented.
The consultant had explored end-user requirements, and had specified
Microsoft Windows-based PC with vendor-supplied TCP and/or Macintosh
environment(s) for its own staff and/or clients whom it wished to
connect to its data resources. The newspaper used IP networking to
connect its offices, and to transfer images in PostScript format. The
firm's representative claimed that this permitted the paper to go to
press an hour (or more) earlier, a savings which can be significant in
a competitive news-serving environment.
The Joint Network Team representatives noted that the U.K.'s JANET IP
Service (JIPS) was growing at a fast pace, with several hundred
colleges and universities targeted for connection by year's end. The
growth of JIPS use was corroborated by traffic exchange statistics
with NSFNET. These showed that the UK (largely JIPS) traffic had
risen in January, 1992 to fourth place (packet count, after CA, AU,
SE) and sixth place (byte count, after CA, AU, FI, SE and DE) among
non-U.S. networks connected to the NSFNET. JIPS is being cautious in
making new connections, taking care that adequately trained operating
staff are available at the end-sites before connecting them.
The conference also drew applications developers anxious to assess the
commercial market for specialized end-user services. Dan Lynch, the
founder of INTEROP, recounted the history of his endeavor and remarked
that IPNETWORKING92 was more ambitious than his early floor-net shows.
He wished Ron Caterall and conference organizer, Jacqui
Holland-Bradley well for next year's IPNETWORKING show at the National
Exposition Center. It would appear that Internet-style networking is
taking hold in a significant way in both academic and commercial
sectors in the United Kingdom.
* Program Director, Interagency & International Networking
Coordination - Div. of Networking and Communications Research &
Infrastructure - National Science Foundation