Access to UK academic networks

摘要

Computer networks are assuming an increasingly important role in the transmission and manipulation of information. The implementation of the Joint Academic Network (JANET) provides for the first time a truly integrated, private academic network linking all UK universities. Based on a set of standard communication protocols, JANET has largely superseded earlier regional networks, and their associated interconnection procedures which were complex and unwieldy. An in-depth survey of six UK universities and two polytechnic institutions was undertaken with the objective of examining the principal issues to emerge in the field of academic networking in Great Britain. The survey also considered the implications of current network developments for new categories of services and users that are likely to emerge (by contrast with existing network traffic which is primarily associated with data processing and computation).