ERNET
Encyclopedia
Education and Research Network (ERNET), India is an autonomous scientific society of Ministry of Communication & information technology
(Govt. of India
). ERNET has made a significant contribution to the emergence of networking in the country. It practically brought the Internet
to India
and has built up national capabilities in the area of net-working, especially in protocol software engineering. It has not only succeeded in building a large network that provides various facilities to the intellectual segment of Indian society—the research and education community, it has over the years become a trendsetter in the field of networking.
-IP protocol stacks running over the leased-line portion of the backbone. Since 1995, however, almost all traffic is carried over TCP/IP.
s. The satellite WAN, using VSAT technology. The VSAT network acts as an overlay for the terrestrial WAN by providing backup links between the backbone sites. International connectivity is achieved through gateways at New Delhi
, Mumbai
, Bangalore
and Kolkata
, with a total capacity of 6.64 Mb. Daily traffic over ERNET exceeds 20 GB. ERNET architecture is based on industry standard TCP/IP protocol.
ERNET backbone is being enabled to support IPv6.
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (India)
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is an Indian government ministry. It contains three departments:*Department of Telecommunications*Department of Information Technology*Department of Posts...
(Govt. of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
). ERNET has made a significant contribution to the emergence of networking in the country. It practically brought the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and has built up national capabilities in the area of net-working, especially in protocol software engineering. It has not only succeeded in building a large network that provides various facilities to the intellectual segment of Indian society—the research and education community, it has over the years become a trendsetter in the field of networking.
Focus
ERNET is largest nationwide terrestrial and satellite network with point of presence located at the premiere educational and research institutions in major cities of the country. Focus of ERNET is not limited to just providing connectivity, but to meet the entire needs of the educational and research institutions by hosting and providing relevant information to their users. Research and Development and Training are integral parts of ERNET activities. The activities at ERNET India are organized around five technology focus areas:- National Academic and Research Network
- Research and Development in the area of Data Communication and its Application
- Human Resource Development in the area of High-end Networking
- Educational Content
- Campus-wide High Speed Local Area Network
Beginning
ERNET was initiated in 1986 by the Department of Electronics (DoE), with funding support from the Government of India and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), involving eight premier institutions as participating agencies—NCST (National Centre for Software Technology) Bombay, IISc (Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore, five IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) at Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Madras, and the DoE, New Delhi. ERNET began as a multi protocol network with both the TCP/IP and the OSIOSI model
The Open Systems Interconnection model is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at the International Organization for Standardization. It is a prescription of characterizing and standardizing the functions of a communications system in terms of abstraction layers. Similar...
-IP protocol stacks running over the leased-line portion of the backbone. Since 1995, however, almost all traffic is carried over TCP/IP.
History of ERNET
- ERNET started with Dial-up network in 1986-87.
- Initially UUCP mailUUCPUUCP is an abbreviation for Unix-to-Unix Copy. The term generally refers to a suite of computer programs and protocols allowing remote execution of commands and transfer of files, email and netnews between computers. Specifically, a command named uucp is one of the programs in the suite; it...
was only service started by ERNET. - First leased line of 9.6 kbit/s was installed in Jan’1991 between Delhi and MumbaiMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. - ERNET was alloted Class B IP addressClassful networkA classful network is a network addressing architecture used in the Internet from 1981 until the introduction of Classless Inter-Domain Routing in 1993. The method divides the address space for Internet Protocol Version 4 into five address classes. Each class, coded in the first four bits of the...
144.16.0.0 by InterNICInterNICThe Internet Network Information Center, known as InterNIC, was the Internet governing body primarily responsible for domain name and IP address allocations from 1972 until September 18, 1998 when this role was assumed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers...
in 1990. Subsequently Class C addresses were alloted to ERNET by APNIC. - All IITs, IISc Bangalore, DOE Delhi and NCST Mumbai were connected by 9.6 kbit/s leased line by 1992.
- In 1992, 64 kbit/s Internet gateway link was commissioned from NCST Mumbai to UUNetUUNETUUNET founded in 1987, was one of the largest Internet service providers and one of the nine Tier 1 networks. It was based in Northern Virginia and was the first commercial Internet service provider...
in VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
near Washington DC. - In 1998 ERNET India was registered as Autonomous Society.
- In 1999-2000 new terrestrial high speed backbone was setup.
- In 2000 POP infrastructure was upgraded.
- Satellite WAN was setup in 1993.
- Today, 1100 institutes are ERNET users under different schemes.
ERNET backbone
ERNET backbone is a sophisticated link of terrestrial and satellite-based wide area networkWide area network
A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
s. The satellite WAN, using VSAT technology. The VSAT network acts as an overlay for the terrestrial WAN by providing backup links between the backbone sites. International connectivity is achieved through gateways at New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, with a total capacity of 6.64 Mb. Daily traffic over ERNET exceeds 20 GB. ERNET architecture is based on industry standard TCP/IP protocol.
ERNET backbone is being enabled to support IPv6.
ERNET international gateway and PoP sites
The ERNET is supported by the following backbone sites which enable organizations located at different geographical locations to access various services.- ERNET Head Quarter, New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
- Center for Development of Advance Software Computing, Mumbai
- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai
- Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, PunePunePune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
- Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkatta
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
- Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
- University of HyderabadUniversity of HyderabadThe University of Hyderabad is a post-graduate teaching and research institute in India. It was established by an act of the Parliament in 1974 as a Central University. The university also offers courses under distance learning programs...
- Center for Advance Technology, IndoreIndoreIndore is one of the major city in India, the largest city and commercial center of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Indore is located 190 km west of the state capital Bhopal. According to the 2011 Indian census, Indore city has a population of 1,960,631...
- Orissa Computer Application Centre, BhubaneswarBhubaneswarBhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...
- Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Thiruvananthapuram, KeralaKeralaor Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
- DOEACC Center, GorakhpurGorakhpurGorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...
- Indian Institute of Technology , Guwahati
- ERNET VSAT HUB, Bangalore
- Tezpur UniversityTezpur UniversityTezpur University is an Indian Central University located in Tezpur in the state of Assam, India...