Connectivity Providers Database

From: suhaib@ccse.kfupm.edu.sa (Suhaib Khan) To: sghuter@psg.com (Steven Huter) CC: suhaib@khuzama.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa (Suhaib Khan) Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 11:37:18 +0300 (GMT+0300) Steven: Hi! > We received your message in March about the 9600 X.25 connection to Portal. Please convey my regards to Randy. We are still on the 9600 X.25 connection, but are actively working towards getting a faster and more economic link. It is difficult to predict when we shall be able to upgrade - I will let you or Randy know once we make the transition. Due to the speed of the link and the fact that we have to pay for the X.25 link on a per-byte basis, we are currently restricting incoming services to email only. However we do not wish to wait for a better link to get started on setting up our own internet services. Hence we have set up servers for ftp, gopher and www. The network at KFUPM is expanding exponentially - what started at the College of Computer Science and Engineering is now being replicated by the rest of the University. There is a fiber optic backbone which connects the various buildings on campus. Since obtaining the internet connection, most of our BITNET users on campus (saupm00.bitnet) have migrated to using Internet email (kfupm.edu.sa). This is because the internet link is more reliable and they do not experience the delays that had become common on BITNET. > You also mentioned in your message that you set up a gopher server? Please > let us know the access to it, and whether you have also set up a Web site. The URLs are: ftp://ftp.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa gopher://gopher.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa http://www.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa However access to these is not allowed from outside KFUPM at present - see above. In general, there is a lot of interest for accessing Internet services in Saudi Arabia. This is fueled by all the media attention that the Internet has been getting recently and the fact that several people who got their education in the US/Europe return with the internet bug :-) The networking infrastructure in Saudi Arabia is still in its infancy. Several companies, universities and organizations have their own networks, but connectivity within the country is hampered by the existing telecommunications facilities. Wide area connectivity within the country is mainly via low speed modems (<=14.4 Kbps) and via X.25 services provided by the local PTT. Date: Aug 21, 1995 Organization: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Address: Dhahran 31261 Country: Saudi Arabia Code: SA Contact Person: Suhaib Khan Voice: (966)-3-860-4148 Fax: (966)-3-860-2366 E-mail: suhaib@ccse.kfupm.edu.sa Host/Node Name: (I am not sure what this means - we have several hosts our domain is ccse.kfupm.edu.sa) URLs: (** See Notes below **) ftp://ftp.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa gopher://gopher.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa http://www.ccse.kfupm.edu.sa Notes: Low speed connectivity at present (9600 X.25 link) does not permit us to allow incoming internet services other than email. We are trying to get a better connection that would allow users to access our ftp/gopher/www servers. regards, Suhaib Khan