NORDUnet is an international collaboration between the

National research and education network A national research and education network (NREN) is a specialised internet service provider dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within a country. It is usually distinguished by support for a high-speed backb ...

s in the Nordic countries.

Members

The members of NORDUnet are: *

SUNET SUNET is the Swedish University Computer Network. SUNET provides high-speed Internet access to academic institutions in Sweden. The current incarnation of the network, Sunet C, provides 100 Gbit/s links between the cities hosting universities. It r ...

of Sweden * UNINETT of Norway * FUNET of Finland * Forskningsnettet of Denmark *

RHnet RHnet is the Icelandic Educational and Research Network. Its objective is to link together Icelandic universities and research institutions by means of a high capacity computer network, and supply services in the field of computer communications, ...

of Iceland

Network

NORDUnet interconnects the Nordic national research and education networks and connects them to the worldwide network for research and education and to the general purpose Internet. NORDUnet provides its services by a combination of

leased line A leased line is a private telecommunications circuit between two or more locations provided according to a commercial contract. It is sometimes also known as a private circuit, and as a data line in the UK. Typically, leased lines are used by ...

s and Internet services provided by other international operators. NORDUnet has peering in multiple important internet exchange sites outside the Nordics, such as Amsterdam, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Miami and New York. In addition to the basic Internet service NORDUnet operates information services and provides USENET NetNews and Multicast connectivity to the Nordic national networks. NORDUnet also coordinates the national networks' Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) activities and the Nordic national networks' IPv6 activities - an area where NORDUnet has been active for years. NORDUnet is one of the members, alongside Internet2,

ESnet The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is a high-speed computer network serving United States Department of Energy (DOE) scientists and their collaborators worldwide. It is managed by staff at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. More than ...

SURFnet SURF is an organization that develops, implements and maintains the national research and education network (NREN) of the Netherlands, It operates the national research network formally called SURFnet. SURF as a network is a backbone computer netw ...

CANARIE CANARIE (formerly the Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education) is the not-for-profit organisation which operates the national backbone network of Canada's national research and education network (NREN). The orga ...

and GÉANT, to pilot a 100G intercontinental connection between Europe and North America.

History

NORDUnet is the result of the NORDUNET programme (1986 to 1992) financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, officially beginning operations 1989. It was the first European network to embrace the

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...

technology and to connect to the National Science Foundation Network in the United States providing open access for university students in member countries. NORDUnet has been called the driving force of bringing the TCP/IP based backbone technology to Europe (see Protocol Wars). NORDUnet has only few permanent employees. Most of the work is contracted to appropriate organisations in the Nordic area.

Distinction

The web site for NORDUNet, nordu.net, is the ''oldest active domain name''. It was registered on January 1, 1985.

References

External links