SURFnet

SURFnet is an organisation that develops, implements and maintains the national research and education network (NREN) of the Netherlands, and is also the name of the network it operates. It was one of the first networks outside the USA linked to the Internet. SURFnet's executives have been founders of or occupied board positions in organisations including Ebone, CENTR, SIDN, AMS-IX, TERENA, DANTE, RIPE NCC, ISOC, IETF, IESG and IAB.

The company is a subsidiary of a not-for-profit foundation, SURF (Samenwerkende Universitaire Reken Faciliteiten; English: Co-operative University Computing Facilities).

SURFnet as a network is a backbone computer network reserved for higher education and research in the Netherlands. Staff and students of connected organizations can communicate through SURFnet with other internet users.

History

The organisation was established in 1986 and in 1989, and started supplying IP connectivity services, deploying the TCP/IP suite. SURFnet has deployed a series of network generations in an overbuilt manner. The initial SURFnet network was based on 9.6 kbit/s and 64 kbit/s X.25 connections, providing DECNET protocol. SURFnet2 was established in 1989 and delivered TCP/IP over an X.25 network. The SURFnet3 network delivered native TCP/IP via leased lines and became operational in 1991, mainly consisting of 64 kbit/s and 2 Mbit/s lines. In 1994 SURFnet4 was developed based on ATM and, later on SDH, links. SURFnet5 was developed from 1999 onwards on a 10 Gbit/s DWDM infrastructure, with access links of 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s.