Connectivity Providers Database

From: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <o.crepin-leblond@ic.ac.uk> To: randy@psg.com Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1993 14:24:31 +0000 Date: November 1993 FORTHnet: THE PREMIER COMPUTER NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE OF GREECE =============================================================== ICS-FORTH, with the assistance of ARTT and the University of Crete, has installed and operates "FORTHnet", the first, largest, most advanced, and most central computer network in Greece, which serves and links the Technology Parks and Institutes of FORTH (Crete, Thessaloniki, Patras) among themselves through Athens with the rest of Greece, the rest of Europe, and the rest of the world. The network uses mainly digital and some analog leased lines, public switching voice and data networks, as well as privatly owned fiber optic cabling to provide access to advanced information services. It is part of the Internet, the loosely-organized international collaboration of autonomous, interconnected networks (43.000) reaching 1.700.000 hosts in more than 50 countries (and electronic mail in 127 countries). F O R T H n e t is a large and complex multiprotocol wide-area network, interconnecting LAN's all over Greece and linking them to Internet. All infrastructure is multivendor technology in both dedicated hardware and software, fully interoperational, and provides a reliable network service to its users. FORTHnet provides dynamic routing procedures for IP (RIP, IGRP, EGP, BGP) and the full range of internet services from the common e-mail and file-transfer, to sophisticated information services. Other protocols, like DECnet, LAT, and AppleTalk are also routed throughout the network, providing terminal server connections, AppleShare, and other facilities. A gateway to Internet is currently installed in Heraklio Crete. An International 64Kbps leased line connects FORTHnet to Ebone Paris. Locally routers are connecting a dozen 10 Mbps IEEE-802.3 LAN segments, and a three FDDIs. Analog and digital leased lines, sometimes of quite high speeds (128 kbps to 2 Mbps) connect other FORTH's offices all over the country and UofC campuses in Heraklio, Rethymno, and Chania. Other Greek institutions use network connections over public packet switched data networks (Hellaspack/ Hellascom) or dialup and leased lines in order to establish TCP/IP links with FORTHnet's routers in POPs in all operating in all major cities. In STEP-Crete (Stavrakia campus -- Technology Park), a high-speed network environment is operational. It is based on FDDI rings, interconnected through routers, and digital lines at 2 Mbps. The main LAN in Stavrakia is a star-shaped FDDI backbone. It spans four buildings, interconnecting more than 15 ethernets, providing fast network access to hundreds of workstations, and to large multiprocessor file and computation servers. STEP-Crete buildings are fully monomode fiber wired ready for the transition to even higher speed backbones and WAN national and international connections. Network Operation Centers (NOCs) are organized in every FORTHnet POP (Point-Of-Presence) with full-time personnel working with the latest network monitoring and management tools planning and implemmenting the continuous expantion and evolvement of FORTHnet and ready to handle any customer request and follow the standard ticketing and problem solving procedure. FORTHnet is connected to EARN and operates "GREARN" -- the Greek part of EARN, which is currently in a migration stage of its connections to TCP/IP. The central Greek EARN node responsible for serving all other Greek EARN hosts is a node of FORTHnet. Another node of FORTHnet serves as the backbone for EUnet in Greece, providing UUCP mail and USENET news services. As the EUnet backbone for Greece FORTHnet assings IP network numbers at the C-class level. FORTHnet is also the Internet top level name server for the GR country level domain, and does the official registration of all second level domains. FORTH is also connected to the NRCPS Demokritos, where there is the operation center of ARIADNE-T part of EUROPAnet. ARIADNE-T provides low-speed IP connectivity to most Greek Academic and research institutions as well as login services to individuals. FORTHnet's OSI part is based on the ISO connectionless services (CLNS per ISO-8473), it spans all UofC's and ICS's LANs, and it is connected to the European CLNS backbone network. It operates under the umbrella of a European CLNS project, supported by RARE. It uses serial (HDLC) and IXI links to convey CLNS traffic. It is mostly based on Cisco multiprotocol routers and uses the same equipment as the European IP backbone. Routing of CLNS packets is dynamic, based on Cisco's proprietary IGRP protocol, while an upgrade to the ISO-10589 standard is planned. The ISO compliant addressing scheme is followed, and the ISO applications that have been installed and are used by the FORTHnet users include X.400 Mail Handling System, File Transfer Access and Management (FTAM), Virtual Terminal, and X.500 Directory Services. ICS is following closely the developments of the IP network in Europe (RIPE, Ebone). Among FORTHnet's plans is to provide LAN performance over it's WAN, providing at the same time a testbed for experimentation in audio and video conferencing, two-way video lecturing, and distributed image databases. Other plans include the 34 Mbps links for FDDI-to-FDDI communication, and the metropolitan area prototypes at 100 Mbs to 1 Gbps (Frame Relay, ATM, DQDB), in the framework of our cooperation with the Greek PTT and International telephone companies. FORTHnet is organized is in line with the directions of ECFRN on the structuring of the European R&D computer networking and falls somewhere between the national and the site level where FORTH - ICS today provides all design, development, and management of the largest integrated multiprotocol network in Greece. It handles all operation and services management, does much of the exploitation of the research project results, as well as building pilot projects and designing the expansion of the network by connecting new sites, providing new services, and broadening the links bandwidth. FORTHnet follows the international developments (especially those in Europe), and maintains the best and close relations with all large computer user communities in Greece (both in academia and companies R&D, and in industry). If you need more information on any of the above mentioned activities or you are interested to discuss about our services or any sort of cooperation with FORTHnet please contact : Mr. Stelios Sartzetakis FORTHnet Manager ICS-FORTH, Daedalou 36, P.O.Box 1385, Heraklio, Crete GR71110 Tel. : +30 81 221171, 229302, 229368 Fax : +30 81 229342, 229343 E-mail: stelios@ics.forth.gr