NORDUnet is an international collaboration between the national research and education networks in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

Members

The members of NORDUnet are: * SUNET of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

* UNINETT of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

FUNET FUNET is the Finnish University and Research Network, a backbone network providing Internet connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities. It is governed by the state-owned CSC – IT Center for S ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

* Forskningsnettet of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

* RHnet of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

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 The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. NORDUnet provides its services by a combination of leased lines 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 Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

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 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...

activities - an area where NORDUnet has been active for years. NORDUnet is one of the members, alongside Internet2, ESnet, SURFnet, CANARIE and GÉANT, to pilot a 100G intercontinental connection between Europe and North America.

History

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

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

technology and to connect to the

National Science Foundation Network The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1985 to 1995 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States. The ...

in the United States providing open access for university students in member countries. Along with other early adopters of TCP/IP, particularly

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, it encouraged the adoption of TCP/IP in 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