NANOG
Encyclopedia
The North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG) is an educational and operational forum for the coordination and dissemination of technical information related to backbone/enterprise networking technologies and operational practices. It runs meetings, talks, surveys, and an influential mailing list
for Internet service provider
s. The main method of communication is the NANOG mailing list (known informally as nanog-l), a free mailing list to which anyone may subscribe or post.
in February 2011. Meetings are hosted by NewNOG and other organizations from the U.S. and Canada. Overall leadership is provided by the NANOG Steering Committee, established in 2005, and a Program Committee.
"Regional-Techs" meetings, where technical staff from the regional networks met to discuss operational issues of common concern with each other and with the Merit engineering staff. At the February 1994 regional techs meeting in San Diego, the group revised its charter to include a broader base of network service providers, and subsequently adopted NANOG as its new name.
NANOG was organized by Merit Network
, a non-profit Michigan organization, from 1994 through 2011 when it was transferred to NewNOG.
Backbone Service and the Routing Arbiter project. All NANOG funds now come from conference registration fees and donations from vendors, and starting in 2011, membertship dues.
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
for Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s. The main method of communication is the NANOG mailing list (known informally as nanog-l), a free mailing list to which anyone may subscribe or post.
Meetings
NANOG meetings are held three times each year, and include presentations, tutorials, and BOFs (Birds of a Feather meetings). There are also 'lightning talks', where speakers can submit brief presentations (no longer than 10 minutes), on a very short term. The meetings are informal, and membership is open. Conference participants typically include senior engineering staff from tier 1 and tier 2 ISPs. Participating researchers present short summaries of their work for operator feedback.Organization
NANOG meetings are organized by NewNOG, Inc., a Delaware non-profit organization, which took over responsibility for NANOG from the Merit NetworkMerit Network
Merit Network, Inc., is a nonprofit member-governed organization providing high-performance computer networking and related services to educational, government, health care, and nonprofit organizations, primarily in Michigan...
in February 2011. Meetings are hosted by NewNOG and other organizations from the U.S. and Canada. Overall leadership is provided by the NANOG Steering Committee, established in 2005, and a Program Committee.
History
NANOG evolved from the NSFNETNSFNet
The National Science Foundation Network was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States...
"Regional-Techs" meetings, where technical staff from the regional networks met to discuss operational issues of common concern with each other and with the Merit engineering staff. At the February 1994 regional techs meeting in San Diego, the group revised its charter to include a broader base of network service providers, and subsequently adopted NANOG as its new name.
NANOG was organized by Merit Network
Merit Network
Merit Network, Inc., is a nonprofit member-governed organization providing high-performance computer networking and related services to educational, government, health care, and nonprofit organizations, primarily in Michigan...
, a non-profit Michigan organization, from 1994 through 2011 when it was transferred to NewNOG.
Funding
Funding for NANOG originally came from the National Science Foundation, as part of two projects Merit undertook in partnership with NSF and other organizations: the NSFNETNSFNet
The National Science Foundation Network was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States...
Backbone Service and the Routing Arbiter project. All NANOG funds now come from conference registration fees and donations from vendors, and starting in 2011, membertship dues.