Incoterms (Acuerdo Comercial con la otra parte)

The ISC awarded BT an £18m four-year contract during 1992. The first stage of the project was to establish the pilot network.86 This network would need to support a range of applications and services, some of which would involve the transmission of

81

P. Fisher, “Linking the LEARNED,” Computer Weekly, 14 May 1992, p. 36.

82

See J. Kobielus, “NREN Fiscal and Political Prospects,” Network World, 26 August 1991, p. 45 and J.T. Johnson, “NREN: Turning the Clock Ahead on Tomorrow’s Networks,” Data Communications, September 1992, pp. 43-44, 46, 48-49, 52, 54-58, and 60-61.

83

During 1992, the Department of Education and Science became the Department for Education (DfE). Three years later the government renamed the DfE as the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE). In 2001, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) replaced the DfEE.

84

R. Cooper, “The SuperJANET Project,” Future Generation Computer Systems, vol. 10, no. 2 and 3, 1994, pp. 233-240.

85

R. Cooper, E-mail to D. Rutter, 3 May 2004 and C. Cooper, E-mail to D. Rutter, 29 April 2004.

86

M. Ward, “Janet Link-Up Outstrips Local Nets for Speed,” Computer Weekly, 19 November 1992, p. 10.

multimedia data. As quality of service is vital in networks that transmit real-time sensitive information, the choice of the underlying network technology would therefore be crucial. During the early to mid 1990s, a new technology emerged that had the potential to satisfy these demands. Known as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), it attracted the interest and commitment of many companies.87 Telecommunication companies, the JNT, and other organisations viewed ATM as the next generation of network technology, as it could transmit several types of information including data, voice, and multimedia data, at speeds such as 155 Mbps. Because of this interest, 370 companies had joined the international ATM Forum, which aimed to diffuse the technology throughout the world.88 In addition, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began to set up ATM networks, and 15 Public Network Operators (PNOs) in Europe planned to trial ATM. Because of the potential of this technology, the project team set up to establish SuperJANET adopted this technology for the new network. It therefore set up an ATM Technical Advisory Group to explore the issues involved in using this new technology.89

To support the development and deployment of ATM across the network, the JNT needed to choose an appropriate underlying high-speed technology. To interconnect the new FDDI campus LANs and upgrade the JANET backbone to support the continued increase in traffic, the network team chose a fibre-optic solution. Known as Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), this emerging standard would be compatible with ATM and support both existing and new bandwidth-intensive applications.90 However, during the early to mid 1990s, SDH services were not available. The Joint Network Team therefore decided to use a compatible technology, while they waited for SDH to become available. The JNT chose Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) for this purpose. BT proposed to complement this technology with a new service called Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS).91 British Telecom

87

See C. Kalmanek, “A Retrospective View of ATM,” Computer Communication Review, vol. 32, no. 5, 2002, pp. 13-19 and Appendix F.

88

G.P. Parr, “SuperJANET: Architectural Considerations for the UK’s Super-Highway - A Northern Ireland Viewpoint,” Axis, vol. 1, no. 2, 1994, pp. 26-33.

89

S. Weston, ATM Technical Advisory Group, Joint Network Team, 1991, Available from: http://www.ja.net/documents/NetworkNews/Issue34/news34.txt, Accessed on: 30 July 2004.

90

See Appendix F.

91

See B. Cooper, An Introduction to SMDS, Joint Network Team, 1993, Available from:

wanted to pilot its new SMDS service and it was looking for a network that it could use for this trial. JANET seemed suitable, especially as the funding bodies wanted to upgrade the performance of the network. The ISC’s successor, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), agreed with the suggestion, and this meant that the SuperJANET pilot phase would involve three networks which BT and the JNT would develop (see Figure 3.4 and Figure 3.5 for details about the JISC). The first two would be pilot PDH networks linking a small number of sites. One would provide an operational data network and the other an ATM research network. Both would enable people to develop and test new applications. To support these initiatives, the networks would provide 140 Mbps links to the institutions taking part, divided into four 34 Mbps channels on-site.92 The third network would upgrade the links from universities and other organisations to JANET and use BT’s SMDS. The intention was to combine these network developments into a single ATM network, during the mid to late 1990s. With the plans for the SuperJANET pilot phase prepared, work began on establishing the networks. The pilot PDH network would interconnect six sites in the south, centre, and north of England, including Imperial College, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Edinburgh. The JNT chose these sites because they could develop a range of applications that would demonstrate the feasibility of the network. The research network would link a subset of these sites, and support experimental audio and visual applications.

By March 1993, BT and the JNT had connected eight sites to the PDH network (see Figure 3.6).93 They had also established the pilot ATM network (see Figure 3.7). In addition to these developments, BT and the network team had set up the SMDS network. This network upgraded access links from the 2 Mbps provided by JANET MK II to 10 Mbps.

2004, R. Dorey and R. Hnyk, “UK Learning on the Information Superhighway,” Telecom Report International, vol. 17, no. 3, 1994, pp. 12-13., and Appendix F.

92

See Appendix F.

93

R. Cooper, “Implementing SuperJANET,” Proceedings of Networkshop 21, University of

Figure 3.4. Hierarchy of funding bodies in 1995.94

The aim was to connect over 30 institutions by the end of 1993, starting with the universities connected to the PDH operational network. SMDS would only use the Internet Protocol suite and institutions would have to use the circuits provided by SMDS.95 As each site replaced its MK II connections with SMDS, the JNT would cancel the old 64 Kbps and 2 Mbps leased lines. This process therefore continued to reduce the number of X.25 circuits in use, while still providing access to the XoT service for institutions that required this facility.

94

During 1993, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, replaced the University Funding Council and the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council. The JISC reported to these councils. During 1994, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) replaced the Science and Engineering Research Council.

95

See Appendix F.

Government

Cabinet Office Department for Education and Employment

Welsh Office Scottish Office Department of Education for Northern Ireland Research Councils Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) SSRC MRC NERC ARC Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC)

Figure 3.5. Organisational hierarchy in 1999.96

To test this new infrastructure and demonstrate that SuperJANET was viable, the funding bodies needed pilot applications. SuperJANET was similar to any network, as it was unclear as to which applications users would adopt. This situation occurred on the ARPANET, where e-mail became a success, and it had occurred on JANET.97 People originally assumed that remote job submission would become the principal service accessed by users.

96

UKERNA’s five divisions managed tasks such as connection to JANET, security, and e-Science initiatives.

97

J. Abbate, Inventing the Internet (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999), pp. 106-107.

Government

Cabinet Office DfEE, Welsh Office, and Scottish Office

Research Councils HEFCE, HEFCW, and SHEFC Joint Information Systems Committee

UKERNA JISC Committee

for Networking JANET National User Group Regional User Groups Affiliated Groups Particle Physics Network Co- ordinating Group

JANET User Group for Libraries Network

Development

Production Services

Customer Support Administration

8 8 1 2 6 7 4 3 5

Figure 3.6. The pilot SuperJANET PDH network in 1993.

However, the funding bodies and the Joint Network Team had decided to let the community decide which services they wanted, and by the mid 1990s, the number of people using e-mail and the Web had surpassed all other types of application.

Key 1. RAL 2. Hammersmith Hospital 3. ULCC 4. Imperial College 5. UCL 6. Cambridge 7. Manchester 8. Edinburgh 34 Mbps PDH leased line Connection to JANET

8

4

2 3

1

Figure 3.7. The pilot SuperJANET ATM network in 1993.

As Rosner remembers, it is important “to learn from history that ‘killer’ applications have a habit of appearing only when an adequate infrastructure is well and truly established.”98

98

While the ‘killer application’ hypothesis is interesting, it does not mean that if people had not invented applications such as e-mail and the Web, that computer networks would not have diffused throughout the world. People would have adopted networks whether e-mail, the Web, and other applications existed or not. See R. Rosner, “In the Beginning: An Affectionate Memoir,” Axis, vol. 3, no. 4, 1996, pp. 25-27 and M. Campbell-Kelly, From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003), pp. 7 and 212-213.

Key 1. ULCC 2. Cambridge 3. Manchester 4. Edinburgh 34 Mbps PDH leased line

With the development of the SuperJANET pilot applications, these programs would not only demonstrate the feasibility of the network, but also perhaps indicate possible future services which people may later adopt. During the previous year, six institutions had been developing these applications which would exploit the extra bandwidth provided by the new network developments. This initiative had resulted in several trial services, examples of which included chemical, medical, and electronic journal projects.99 Imperial College investigated ways in which SuperJANET could support applications which would assist chemists. These included 3D representations of chemical structures and group communication using videophone software. Several sites, including the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, explored the possible medical applications that might be able to run over the new network. Possibilities included using SuperJANET to transmit PET scans and 3D ultrasound images and using video to teach students about surgery. Another pilot application provided access to electronic journals. Known as the SuperJournal project, it was the latest initiative to explore the potential of electronic journals.100 Involving several organisations, such as the British Library and Oxford University Press (OUP), it demonstrated that providing access to journals over the network was practical. The Joint Network Team chose applications such as these to demonstrate the feasibility of SuperJANET. Representatives from the funding bodies and BT witnessed transmission of audiovisual information, at a time when people generally only used networks to send textual information and sometimes still images. Seeing video on the network was something that had therefore never happened before, and the ability to transmit this demanding type of data therefore helped to convince those present about the viability of the network.

99

See H. Rzepa, “Chemical Applications of Networks,” Proceedings of Networkshop 21, University of Birmingham, 23-25 March 1993 (Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 1993), pp. 73 and 75-81 and R. Wootton, “Medical Applications of SuperJANET,” Proceedings of Networkshop 21, University of Birmingham, 23-25 March 1993 (Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 1993), pp. 83 and 85-93.

100

One of the earliest examples of an electronic journal project in the UK was the BLEND system launched by the Universities’ of Birmingham and Loughborough in 1981. The SuperJournal project followed this venture in 1994. The JANET User Group for Libraries also investigated this topic in 1997. In addition, during the 1990s, science publishers established electronic journals on the Internet and the idea of Web-only journals followed this development. See B. Shackel, “The BLEND System: Programme for the Study of Some ‘Electronic Journals’,” The Computer Journal, vol. 25, no. 2, 1982, pp. 161-168, D.J. Pullinger, The SuperJournal project: Electronic Journals on SuperJANET (Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1994), pp. 1-47, R. Campbell ed., Networked Periodicals: Novelty, Nuisance or Necessity? (Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University, 1997), pp. 1-33, and J. Porteous, “Plugging Into Electronic Journals,” Nature, 11 September 1997, pp. 137-138.