NSFNET TO BOOST NETWORK ACCESS AS IT ENTERS NEW REALM

July 26, 1993 -- The NSFNET, an agent of pervasive changes in American
academia over the last five years, is due for major change itself.

The NSFNET provides the backbone computer network that links more than
1,000 universities and other research and education institutions to the
Internet and thus to each other.

With transmission capability of 45 million bits of data per second, the
backbone makes the connections over commercially leased lines by linking
19 sites called nodes throughout the U.S. At these sites, mid-level or
regional networks are attached and thus interconnected. These regional
networks, in turn, reach out to and from thousands of local networks at
schools, universities, libraries, research laboratories, government
facilities, and supporting commercial organizations. This web of computer
conduits allows its users to exchange electronic mail, avail themselves of
massive computers, and search libraries and databases all at distant sites
almost instantaneously. Developed by the National Science Foundation in
1985, the NSFNET program long ago outgrew its initial vision: to provide
broadband access to NSF's five supercomputing centers for researchers with
data- or algorithm-intensive projects. The program now supports not only
the expanding backbone services, but also directory and information
services, operations for regional networks, and connections for
universities.

The changes facing the network and its support services are mapped out in
NSF's recently released program solicitation (NSF 93-52) for continued
development of NSFNET and "support for the goals" of the National Research
and Education Network program.

According to Stephen Wolff, director of NSF's Division of Networking and
Communications Research and Infrastructure, "There is a difference between
the old NSFNET and the new NSFNET; but critical elements of the program
will be continuing, elements for which our support will remain steadfast
or increase."

For example, with a $12 million, five-year award last December the NSFNET
program established the InterNIC, a group of network information services
available to the entire Internet. (Through InterNIC cooperative agreements
with NSF, AT&T is developing information directors both "white pages" and
"yellow pages," a "Directory of Directories" and other database services;
General Atomics is establishing a "reference desk," training classes,
coordination services and the "InfoScout," someone to uncover new
resources and innovative uses of the network for inclusion in a
comprehensive database: and Network Solutions is coordinating registration
services.)

The InterNIC funding will remain steady, and funding for the connections
program which links up to 200 new institutions to the Internet each year
is likely to increase, Wolff said.

NSFNET currently supports the regional networks two ways: by providing
funds to support their information services, the connection of
institutions, and other "intra-regional" operations; and by allowing
regionals use of the NSFNET backbone for "inter-regional" connectivity at
no charge.

Under the new solicitation, the level of "intra-regional" support would
remain steady; meanwhile, NSF would change the way it provides
"inter-regional" support.

NSF expects to spend about $18 million a year over the next five years to
support NSFNET's next generation. The plan will foster a new architecture
(with "network access points" and a "routing arbiter") to facilitate the
connection between the regional networks, other private network providers,
and the academic community.  The new structure shifts government support
for inter-regional connectivity from a "top-down" to a "bottom-up"
approach, said Wolff. The change, he said, recognizes "the changing nature
of the networking marketplace."

"In 1987 you couldn't buy high-bandwidth Internet services," said Wolff.
"There were neither suppliers nor market.  So we commissioned a
high-bandwidth backbone; and, in the six and a half years since, a number
of comparable commercial services have arisen catalysed in part by the
market generated by the NSFNET backbone. So now we can give backbone
funding to the regionals and let them buy that connectivity from the
suppliers of their choice."

Under the terms of the current solicitation, NSF's funding of backbone
services will be channeled through the regional networks, on a declining
schedule: 100 percent of current levels the first year, 75 percent the
second, and so on, to zero in the fifth year.  This worries some network
users who believe it may lead to drastically increased connectivity
costs.

"This is a misconception that simply isn't supported by the numbers," Wolff
said. "The NSF currently spends about $600,000 or less per regional
network per year to provide backbone services. Since an average regional
has about 150 or more attached client sites, that's an average of less
than $4,000 per site per year."

A typical college or university now pays the regional network of which it
is a client between $10,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on locale and
grade of service. Under NSF's plan to reduce funding to the regionals for
backbone services, a typical institution would, after an initial year of
no change, see these annual charges rise by less than $1,000 per year over
the next four years.

"Moreover," said Wolff, "as usage increases, the commercial providers' cost
of transmission capacity on fiber optics and switches will continue to
drop as it has in the past. Thus, in what is becoming a very competitive
market, the price will keep going down."

NSF, he said, will continue its connections program, which has increasingly
fostered access to the Internet for thousands of colleges, universities,
high schools, libraries, and other public institutions. "We will also
provide support to the regionals where needs are identified," he said.

Agency officials also expect the NSFNET plan to set the stage for a major
leap forward toward the National Research and Education Network (NREN)
program envisioned by the U.S. government. With its deployment of the
first very high-speed backbone network (vBNS), the NSFNET program will
pursue as it did originally a cutting-edge experimental network to
interconnect supercomputers and other intensive research applications at a
level of service not available commercially.

"This vBNS will be a physically separate network," said Wolff, "one to push
the parameters of high-speed networking without affecting general network
services."

According to Melvyn Ciment, deputy assistant director for NSF's computer
and information science directorate, "The NSFNET enterprise has delivered
us, responsibly and quickly, to a point where the Internet is supporting a
volume and array of research, educational, and commercial services few
would have considered possible in such a short time.  We progressed from a
proof-of-concept, experimental network to a production network with
commercial access."

Ciment said the NSF plan is to duplicate this success at the next level and
to encourage its adoption in the private sector. He said the next NSFNET
five-year phase, while supporting wide academic and public-agency access
to the Internet, will advance experimentation that is likely to foster
another evolutionary surge in networking capabilities.

The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the federal
government established in 1950 to promote and advance scientific progress
in the United States.  NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by
competitively awarding grants to educational institutions for research and
education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

This and other information is available electronically on STIS, NSF's
Science and Technology Information System.  For more information about
STIS contact the Publications Section at (202) 357-7861 and request the
"STIS Flyer," NSF Publication #91-10, or send an E-mail message to
stisinfo@nsf.gov (INTERNET) or stisinfo@NSF (BITNET).

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