Internet Info 1994 March/Internet Info CD-ROM (Walnut Creek) (March 1994).iso/inet/maps/bitnet/bitmaps.readme

Text File | 1993-01-14 | 9KB | 171 lines

BITMAPS.README - Last updated: Jan. 11, 1993

The BITNET maps are intended to reflect the general connectivity of the
BITNET network around the world. It does not show connections to every
node on the network. This paper is intended to give some background
information on BITNET.

BITNET was started in 1981 by Ira Fuchs, then at the City University of New York.
It has been an academic and research network since then providing NJE
networking services to hundreds of research and educational sites around
the world. NJE, "Network Job Entry", is a IBM protocol for the transfer of files
and interactive messages over a communications medium connecting computer
systems. Traditionally, this was the method of communication between IBM
mainframe systems. The medium for communication was using the BSC protocol over
leased lines, typically at a speed of 9600 bps. As the network grew,
NJE emulation packages were developed for Unix/VMS/CDC and other platforms.
Today, IBM systems are in the minority on the BITNET network around the world.

Around 1987 and 1988 the network was undergoing some serious growth spurts
and changes. More and more there was a dependence upon the network for
communication and mailing lists were booming due to the popularity of LISTSERV.
However, in 1986, work had begun by Ira Fuchs, Larry Landweber and David Farber
to obtain a National Science Foundation grant for the development of a NJE over
IP implementation to allow for use of of a TCP/IP network as the transport
medium of the NJE network. The BITNETII pilot project was implemented
using VMNET, a IBM implementation of the BITNETII protocol for allowing a
NJE network to communicate using TCP/IP services. VMNET and the BITNETII
protocol were developed at Princeton University. There are now BITNETII
implementations for Unix and VMS systems. The BITNETII protocol communicates
on port number 175.

At the end of 1989, considering that the BITNETII pilot project was a
success and the network was still experiencing growth problems, a proposal
was drafted to regionalize the BITNET network into a set of 7 regions
comprised of 14 nodes in the USA. There are 2 core nodes per region
allowing for redundant connections and all the core nodes are connected
using BITNETII and the underlying national IP infrastructure. The core nodes
were defined as the major institutional forces on BITNET and they have
significant TCP/IP expertise and a dedication towards educational networking.
For operational reasons, it was necessary that these core nodes be co-located
with NSS nodes of the NSFnet backbone or enjoy a very good working
relationship with their respective regional IP service suppliers.

The BITNETII core in the USA was implemented as a full mesh in July of 1990.
Each core node moves approximately 80,000 files per day totaling an average
of 1 Gigabyte of data per day. Network growth continues. BITNETII traffic
steadily comprises about 5% of the total NSFnet packet count.

In November of 1990, the EARN network (European Academic and Research Network),
which is the European counterpart of BITNET in the USA, began work to
regionalize the European NJE network similar in fashion to the USA network.
The Europeans have had some additional problems in reaching a full mesh
with their core since a strong Europe IP infrastructure does not yet exist as it
does in the USA. It appears that the decision of EARN to utilize BITNETII
to form a new core was a driving force towards the rapid popularity and
growth of IP services in Europe in the 1990-1991 years. The EARN II core
was completed during the summer months of 1992. The European IP Backbone, E-Bone,
has greatly increased the reliability and stability of the NJE over IP
network in Europe.

BITNET and EARN shared a single 56Kb SNA connection between City University
of New York (CUNY) and Montpellier, France (MOP). This connection was the
sole link between the USA and European NJE networks. Since December of 1990,
there have been 7 BITNETII connections between the USA and Europe over at least
5 separate physical connections. The Canadian network (NetNorth) has already
moved to having most, if not all, of its NJE network to using BITNETII
connections and there are now 3 separate physical and logical paths
between the USA and Canada for the NJE network using BITNETII. During
1992 the 56KB SNA connection between MOP and CUNY was removed from service
as the redundant connections higher speeds obviated the need for this line.
The MOP connection was moved to Princeton University.

The BITNETII core has expanded from the 14 core sites in the USA to an
additional 9 in Europe, 3 in Canada and 2 in the Far East. We hope to expand
the core connections to South America soon.

Other notable connections which are BITNETII based: Singapore to Penn State
University and Japan to Princeton University. Hungary and other Eastern
countries are connected via Austria. Poland is connected via NorduNet in Sweden.
A connection between Russia and Denmark was established in November of 1991.
Romania was connected to Vienna, Austria in December of 1992. Iran was
also connected to Vienna in January of 1993.

A country which is not found in the maps is Ecuador. Because of technical
problems in the mapping software, it was not possible to display the
Ecuador connection, sorry. Ecuador is connected to a USA site in Florida.

BITNET around the world is now made up of about 3500 nodes in 53 countries.

MAPS:

americas.ps - Shows connectivity of North America, Central and South America.
bitnsf.ps - Tries to show BITNET core node placement with respect to the NSS
        nodes of the NSFnet backbone. The NSS nodes are T3 NSS nodes.
        The thick lines show NSS connections. The dotted lines are the
        logical BITNETII connections which ride on the NSFnet. This map
        is not an exact mapping of the NSS nodes or the real T3 nodes.
        This map is skewed to a BITNET view of the topology of BITNET
        on top of the NSF T3 network. It's strange. See the nsfnet.ps
        map at nis.nsf.net in maps directory (via anonymous ftp).
eubone.ps - shows just the EARN backbone connectivity.
        EARN is logically divided into 9 regions. Each of the EARN countries
        belongs to one (and only one) region as follows:
        1- FRMOP11   FR, TN, EG, TR, GR, CY, ES, PT, BE
        2- DEARN     DE
        3- CEARN     CH, IN
        4- AEARN     AT, HU, CS, YU, BG, RO, IR
            5- HEARN     NL, LU, IE
        6- ICNUCEVM  IT
        7- UKACRL    GB
        8- TAUNIVM   IL
        9- SEARN     SE, FI, NO, DK, PL, IS, RU

eulinks.ps - shows the EARN backbone with all the other links in EARN.
europelall.ps - Another view of eulinks.ps
fareast.ps - shows BITNET connectivity in the far east. Japan, Korea and
        Taiwan make up a cooperating network called CAREN.
nabone.ps - shows the BITNET mesh in the USA
nalinks.ps - shows the BITNET mesh as well as all the other links.
usabone.ring.ps - tries to show the BITNET core nodes and their relationship
        to one another. There are 7 regions with 2 core nodes per region.
        Region 1:    MITVMA    - MIT
             YALEVM    - Yale University
        Region 2:    CUNYVMV2  - City University of New York
             CORNELLC  - Cornell University
        Region 3:    PUNFSV2   - Princeton University
             PSUVM     - Penn State University
        Region 4:    UMDD2     - University of Maryland
             VTBIT     - Virginia Polytech & State University
        Region 5:    UGA       - University of Georgia
             UICVM     - University of Illinois Chicago
        Region 6:    RICEVM1   - Rice University
             UIUCVMD   - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
        Region 7:    UCBCMSA   - University of California at Berkeley
             USCVM     - University of Southern California
usalinks.ring.ps - same as usabone.ring.ps and shows all other links
worldbone.ps - shows the world-wide set of networks which make up what is
        commonly known as BITNET. BITNET is actually made up of cooperating
        networks. These are BITNET(usa), EARN(europe), NetNorth(canada),
        CAREN(japan,korea,taiwan), RUNCOL(columbia), ECUANET(ecuador),
        GULFNET(saudi arabia), ANSP(south america), SCARNET(south america),
        HARNET(hong kong). This map shows the backbone sites which make
        up the world-wide NJE network.
worldlinks.ps - shows all connections. A mess/mesh.

The following files are available by sending electronic mail to
[e-mail] and placing the following commands in the
body of the mail: (do not include the descriptions to the right)

GET BITNET CNTRYCNT       -- Distribution of nodes in each country
GET BITNET SITES          -- Node names and short description of each node
GET BIT2PLAN PROPOSAL     -- Princeton Regionalization plan for BITNET

The BITNET CNTRYCNT and BITNET SITES files are updated monthly, automatically.

Additional information can be obtained by sending electronic mail to
[e-mail] or by contacting the BITNET Network Information
Center in the USA at 202-872-4200.

Note: The maintainer of this file and the BITNET maps is not employed by
the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking or the BITNET
Network Information Center.

BITNET in the USA is a service of CREN, the Corporation for Research
and Educational Networking.

            Michael R. Gettes
            Princeton University, Network Systems Group
            [e-mail]