Elsevier

Computer Communications

Volume 26, Issue 5, 20 March 2003, Pages 444-450
Computer Communications

Academic and research network of Slovenia

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-3664(02)00165-2Get rights and content

Abstract

The Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) was founded by the Government of Slovenia in 1992 as an agency to develop, operate and manage a computer network for education and research. This article describes the development of the network, the national backbone, and ways to connect to the network, as well as services available to the user. Sufficient international bandwidth capacity is essential for research and educational institutions. ARNES is part of TEN-155, which is a EU project for high speed pan-European interconnection between national research networks. ARNES also participates in a number of international projects dealing with advanced networking, some of which are briefly described in this article.

Introduction

Easy access to a variety of different types of information, and cooperation with related organizations are of crucial importance to the success of research institutes, universities and other organizations involved in development, education and culture. This can be facilitated with computer networks. As there is a great difference between the general purpose commodity Internet on the one hand and the high performance network that satisfies the needs of researchers and teachers on the other, so-called National Research and Educational Networks (NRENs) can be found in all countries. These networks provide ‘production’ level services to educational, research and cultural institutions and serve as a test bed environment for the demonstration and validation of advanced networking applications in research and education. Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES) [1], [2] is the NREN of Slovenia.

ARNES was established as an independent public institution in 1992. It is funded primarily by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Its services are free for the majority of users. The exception is development departments in industry—they have to cover the costs of the services they use, calculated on the basis of their incoming network traffic. The main expense for ARNES is international connectivity, representing about 60% of all costs. The next largest sum is used for national connectivity, accounting for 20%. Purchasing new equipment takes an additional 11%. All other costs (salaries, maintenance of equipment, etc.) amount to 9%.

Section snippets

Services

In order to facilitate cooperation between education and research organizations, ARNES provides a set of services grouped into three main areas: network connectivity, network services and user support.

International cooperation

ARNES is a full national member of TERENA [5], a shareholder in DANTE [6], a member of CEENet [7] and a member of RIPE [8].

Trans-European Research and Educational Networking Association (TERENA) was established in 1994 through a merger of the former RARE and EARN associations. The mission of TERENA is the promotion and development of a high quality international information and telecommunication infrastructure to support European research and education. TERENA is an association and its members

TERENA research activities

The major network development activities of TERENA are conducted through its Task Forces. These are small groups of volunteers who undertake specific activities on behalf of the TERENA Technical Committee. ARNES staff is involved in the work of most of them. The following Task Forces are currently active:

  • TF-CACHE: The Caching Task Force aims to promote and disseminate information on network caching. Analysis of network traffic on the Internet has shown that significant savings can be made if

Conclusion

The main task of ARNES is the development, operation and management of the communication and information network for education and research. TERENA has produced a comparison of all NRENs in Europe [10]. The study highlights some differences in organization and the scope of supported user communities, however, the services provided for research and education are similar. With the development efforts of all NRENs such as ARNES, the community leads the way in Internet development and innovation.

References (10)

  • ARNES,...
  • M. Bonač

    Proceedings of the NATO, Advanced Networking Workshop, Visionary Ideas for a Visionary Future, Tartu, Estonia, May 29–31

    (1997)
  • M. Bonač et al.

    International Symposium on Internet and Information Systems, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 4–6

    (1999)
  • M. Bonač

    International Conference Education for Global Information Society, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, June 11–13

    (1998)
  • TERENA,...
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (2)

1

Tel.: +386-1-477-3900; fax: +386-1-251-9385.

View full text