nordunet 24 may 2005 1 the nordunet network 25 years of nordic research networking, hørsholm,...

NORDUnet 24 May 2005 1

The NORDUnet NetworkThe NORDUnet Network

25 Years of Nordic Research Networking,Hørsholm, Tuesday the 24th of May 2005

Markus [email protected]


New world of possibilities: NordunetNew world of possibilities: Nordunet

• Nordunet network operations started towards the end of year 1988

– initial capacity 64 kbps (56 kbps to US)– before that a 9.6 kbps EARN line– (Funet-lines inside Finland 64k, 19.2k or 14.4k)

• 64 kbps was enough, the next upgrade to 128 kbps was made in January 1991

• start of the Internet connection to US was not without problems

– political problems: is Finland allowed to join?– security problems: Lawrence Livermore

laboratories were cracked before the network was inaugurated

– crackers were traced to Finland…


From a loose consortium to a companyFrom a loose consortium to a company

• Nordunet Programme was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and hosted by SICS, the Swedish Institute for Computer Science

• Nordunet network activity started as a loose consortium

• UNI-C kindly offered to host it– it was viewed as temporary solution, though

• various organizational models were discussed– a limited company– foundation– consortium

• decision: a limited company• required government decisions

– legal documents ready in July 1991– Norwegian government approval November 1991, but– NORDUnet A/S formed on the 14th of December 1993!


European contactsEuropean contacts

• Europe had recognized the need for a R&E backbone network

• a 64 kbps network was planned using ISO OSI standards, X.25 et. al.

• EC funded to a large extent both planning and running the network

– planning took a long time– call for tender took a long time– negotiations with the Commission took a long time

• The Nordunet plug and IP was considered bad manners (or worse), X.25 was the right thing to do

• "EC can support only ISO standards, supporting IP is legally impossible."

• Things changed in a few years and EC became a positive element in European networking


TechnologyTechnology

• Nordunet has always been pragmatic: use what is available and affordable

• EARN protocols, DECNET, IP and X.25• LAN technology in long-distance environment

– that's how Nordunet started, now emerging in a new form in lambda networks

• land based lines, satellite connections, radio links and now only fibres

• US connection started as a satellite connection– long latency: 4*30,000 km, a long way to go even for

light– from satellite to transatlantic fibre when upgraded to

34 Mbps

• Frame Relay, ATM fashionable for a while• IPv6 endorsed by the Commission


PTTs for better for worsePTTs for better for worse

• National PTTs still had monopoly, when Nordunet started

• Sometimes a monopoly-PTT was a good partner– supported research activities– had good resources– had spare line capacity

• Sometimes less good– FI-PTT: "Measure your traffic, so we can volume

charge you."– FI-PTT: "You may only run ISO traffic on leased

lines."– France Telecom of European backbone: "You

don't need 34 bps."


PTT monopolies brakePTT monopolies brake

• After deregulation it takes a few years for competition to gain momentum

– at first there are no competitors– in the beginning they are weak– (exception: national market in Finland)– Initially competitors' prices only slightly below

PTT monopoly prices (of course)• Nordunet line SE-DK in 1997

– Danish deregulation in summer 1996– 34 Mbps line Stockholm- Copenhagen

excessively pricey– universities of Lund and Copenhagen wanted a

connection, so did Nordunet– Zone Systems made a n*155 Mbps radio link

over Öresund for us


Basic question: what for?Basic question: what for?

• For the users, of course!• For research and education• Universities are the core customers

– both for staff and students– fairly liberal rules for student usage (usually a

university internal decision)– internet-minded students pouring out of

universities since 1990

• research organisations, lower level schools etc. served by national network organisations to a varying degree

• applications (mainly) invented by users, not by Nordunet


Working among friendsWorking among friends

• The five partners have always had the common goal: serving our R&E community

• Nordunet has always been pragmatic– use the technology that serves our community now– not religious wars on protocols

• During the years the five have sometimes had different policies

– what technology to use nationally– how to cooperate with the rest of Europe

• Totally reliable partners– agreements always respected– payments always in time

• Fair decisions based on objective needs, not national interests


Eastern EuropeEastern Europe

• When the eastern countries regained their freedom, Nordic countries were quick to react

• National networks helped to build connections to the research communities in

– Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania– Russia– Poland– Ukraine

• Nordunet started projects to help and gave connection on favourable terms.

• Nordic Council of Ministers was of great help.• Often the countries' research communities were not

well organized, which sometimes meant long negotiations with competing parties.

• Help is not really needed any more, we only cooperate for mutual benefit!


Cost crisisCost crisis

• Nordunet costs are essentially paid by the five national networks

• Some money from the Commission for the European backbone

• US contribution in the 90s– Nordunet got a big share of NSF international

budget, small share of NDN-US costs

• Basic problem in the 90s– traffic volume increased 150% per year– line costs decreased by 40% per year– so we get 2.5*0.6 = 1.5– Nordunet costs increased by about 50% every

year (almost all of Nordunet costs were line costs)


Nordunet Net Budget

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

year

1 M

€ Net Budget M €

50% per year


Nordunet Net Budget

0

5

10

15

20

25

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

year

1 M

€ Net Budget M €

50% per year


Datacom marketDatacom market

• Datacom market was opened for competition in our countries mainly during 1992-1996

• Nordunet experienced a yearly 40% drop in transmission prices

• Writing off a transatlantic connection– formerly in decades– now in a few years, because of advances in

technology

• IT bubble burst, too much fibre, too much line capacity

• In 2000-2002 prices dropped radically• Major providers filed bankruptcy• Nordunet service in grave danger but survived


Networks for what?Networks for what?

• Nordunet was a leading network in Europe for many years (we still are, but others have been catching up)

• But did we know, what we were building networks for? Maybe not

– we wanted connection to remote central computers – we got a mail and network news network

– we built a network for mail exchange – we got a network for file transfer and ftp services

– we built a network for ftp – and got World Wide Web!

– we built a network for distance education and other video applications around 1997 – it's done, but the traffic volumes have always been only a few percent!

– now we build networks for grids and special applications …


So what has happened?So what has happened?

• Line capacity from 64 kbps to 10 Gbps– increase by a factor of over 150,000– or 17 doublings in 16 years

• Internet was an exotic development project and is now a part of everyday life (not only in universities)

• It's so natural part of the environment, that we don't think of it any more

– mail exchange with colleagues around the world– access to scientific articles– finding all kinds of information easily

• 20 years ago these could not be done at a click of a mouse


Do we need R&E networks?Do we need R&E networks?

• Up to (about) 1996 there were no commercial Internet services worth mentioning

– we had to provide our own services• since then people (including me) started to say:

"Within 4 years commercial Internet services become stable, standardized and economical, we don't need separate R&E networks any more."

• NSF tried that and it did not work• Practically every country has a national research

and education network• NRENs are still in the forefront of network

development• Commercial services are used, but they don't

fulfil all the needs of the R&E community

nordunet 24 may 2005 1 the nordunet network 25 years of nordic research networking, hørsholm,...

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