The NORDUnet Network

The NORDUnet Network 25 Years of Nordic Research Networking, Hørsholm, Tuesday the 24th of May 2005 Markus Sadeniemi Markus.Sadeniemi@iki.fi NORDUnet 24 May 2005 1

NORDUnet 24 May 2005 2

New 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… NORDUnet 24 May 2005 3

From 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! NORDUnet 24 May 2005 4

European 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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 5

Technology • 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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 6

PTTs 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." NORDUnet 24 May 2005 7

PTT 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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 8

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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 9

Working 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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 10

Eastern 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! NORDUnet 24 May 2005 11

Cost 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 24 May 2005 12

Datacom 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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 15

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 … NORDUnet 24 May 2005 16

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 NORDUnet 24 May 2005 17

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 18

The NORDUnet Network