History of ACOnet
40 Jahre Netz-Werken.pdf A retrospect by Wilfried Wöber (in German; published in the ACOnet Annual Report 2016)
Upgrade of Internet Connections
From February to April 2024, all connections of the ACOnet backbone to the global Internet (both the two Vienna upstreams and the backup upstream in Salzburg) are gradually expanded. As with the connections to other scientific networks and to the Vienna Internet eXchange, a consistent bandwidth of 100 Gbps is thus also available for the commercial upstreams. Last but not least, this measure also further improves the DDoS resilience of the backbone.
Backbone Renewal
Thanks to excellent cooperation with the operators of ACOnet's Points of
Presence (PoPs) in the Austrian provinces, A1 Telekom Austria AG,
and Nokia Austria, the upgrade of
ACOnet's national fiber optic network
to 100 Gbps technology can be successfully completed in December 2023.
To this end, from 2021 to 2023, the routers and DWDM equipment have been replaced at
all ACOnet PoPs during ongoing operations; around 100 kilometres of
additional fiber optic lines have been installed; and two new PoPs (Eisenstadt 2,
Vienna 10) have been established.
Also in 2023, a dedicated system room for the ACOnet & VIX services can
be adapted at the University of Vienna, providing a new home for the local
DWDM equipment and one of the two routers of PoP Vienna 1, among other things.
The gratifying result is a future-proof, flexibly expandable network
infrastructure that also enables 100G participant connections at all major
ACOnet PoPs.
New Solution for Cross Border Fiber
ACOnet's bilateral fiber optic connections to the neighboring scientific networks SANET (Slovakia), CESNET (Czech Republic) and PIONIER (Poland) are also technologically upgraded in summer 2023, combined with an increase in bandwidth from 40 to 100 Gbps.
aaron's law
Together with renowned, inspiring cooperation partners, ACOnet's net:art coordination center realizes a series of projects entitled aaron's law. The concept is a homage to the programmer and Internet activist Aaron Swartz and is based on the interplay of art and technology as well as connecting themes such as Creative Commons, Open Library, Open Source Software and Ethics in Technology. With exhibitions, theatre projects, VR and AR installations, symposia and workshops, the event series reaches thousands of people.
Backup Upstream in Salzburg
In April 2022, an additional international uplink (20 Gbps) is put into operation in Salzburg via the provider next layer, connecting the ACOnet backbone to the global Internet outside of Vienna for the first time. This is particularly important in the event of a blackout in eastern Austria. However, the new upstream is used exclusively as a backup - data traffic will only be routed via this line if the upstreams in Vienna should fail.
New Umbrella Brand
As of October 2022, the ACOnet logo used since the late 1980s is replaced by a uniform visual umbrella brand for ACOnet, the ACONET Association and ACOmarket GmbH. The main reasons for this are changed structures and areas of responsibility within the ACO sphere, but also the revision of all PR materials on the occasion of the upcoming backbone changeover. The new logos form a contemporary, appealing umbrella brand that easily visualizes the similarities and differences of all ACO entities.
Setting the Course
The framework agreement with A1 Telekom Austria AG for ACOnet's
national fiber optic backbone ends in mid-2022; the backbone is to be upgraded
to 100G+ on this occasion. Following a public market survey and tender, a new,
open-ended framework agreement is therefore concluded in December 2021.
A1 Telekom Austria AG is once again the best bidder.
Also in 2021, a consortium under the umbrella of the ACONET Association
succeeds in acquiring infrastructure funding from the FFG:
The AQUnet
(Austrian Quantum Fiber Network) project, which is funded with
2.8 million euros and designed to run for five years, aims to
use parts of the ACOnet fiber optic network for the transmission of quantum signals.
GovIX Server at ZAS
In 2021, a third server location for the Government Internet eXchange (GovIX) is established at the ZAS (Federal Central Fallback System) in order to further increase the resilience of this service. The ZAS is operated by the Federal Chancellery in a bunker facility in St. Johann/Pongau and has been integrated into the ACOnet backbone as a fully-fledged PoP since 2017.
Innovations Despite Corona
On March 16, the ACOnet team moves to the home office for three weeks - and
remains there for the rest of the year (and beyond). Nevertheless, several
essential improvements turn out well.
For example, the router
infrastructure in Austria's provinces is equipped with more memory. This enables us
to continue to provide the global routing table to all ACOnet participants.
Moreover, ACOnet's first external 100 Gbps connection is established
with the pan-European research network GÉANT.
ACOmarket Takes Off
ACOmarket GmbH, founded in 2019, is operating as a central IT service broker and service provider for its nine shareholders (eight universities and the ACONET Association) since May 2020. ACOmarket's services are therefore available to all members of the ACONET Association.
A PoP Is Moving
The Medical University of Innsbruck is moving into a new building, and ACOnet's Point of Presence (PoP) there has to move with it. Thanks to perfect preparation, the PoP relocation can be accomplished in November with just a two-hour outage.
Good Manners Matter
ACOnet participates in the MANRS (Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security) initiative. The network operators who commit to MANRS jointly ensure more security and stability on the Internet by means of a number of uniform actions.
New Interface for Arts & Culture
In 2018, ACOnet initiates the net:art coordination center - a platform dedicated to network-based, interactive art production. The main focus is on the exchange of experience and knowledge between all experts involved, both within and outside of scientific networks.
Shortcuts
In addition to the backbone changeover in 2016/17, direct connections between several Points of Presence in Austria's provinces are put into operation. These new connections reduce the round trip delay of data packets by up to 80 %.
Backbone Redesign
The framework agreement with A1 Telekom Austria AG (A1TA) concerning the
operation of ACOnet's national fiber backbone, that is expiring after ten years, is
renewed until mid-2022. However, the backbone's topology has to be adjusted to accommodate
new PoPs in Wiener Neustadt, Bregenz and St. Johann/Pongau. Moreover, direct connections
among neighboring provinces need to be established.
ACOnet and A1TA complete the backbone's overhaul (including an upgrade of DWDM nodes
as well as the replacement of routers) in autumn 2017.
eduroam in the city
The City of Vienna and ACOnet join forces to deliver eduroam all over Vienna. The Magistrate contributes parts of its Wifi infrastructure in public buildings. Furthermore, as part of Vienna's "wien.at Public WLAN" initiative, eduroam is deployed to Wifi hot-spots in the inner districts, the Danube island and a number of places in Vienna's outer districts.
Upgrading the CBF Triangle
The so-called Cross Border Fiber (CBF) Triangle has connected the National Research and Education
Networks of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria, CESNET, SANET, and ACOnet, since 2006.
In November, 2015, it's technology is changed to TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links).
Also, the connection bandwidth is doubled to 20 Gbit/s.
net:25
In June, 2015, ACOnet celebrates not one, but two silver jubilees:
In 1990, the first IP-based leased line went into operation from Vienna University
to the CERN in Geneva, laying the foundation for the Internet in Austria.
Also, in 1990, the first ACOnet backbone network was implemented under the supervision of
the Technical University Vienna.
A trilogy of events are held for this occasion: net:25 (net:future, net:science, and net:art)
New Fiber Ring in Vienna
A new, fully redundant glass fiber ring for central and western Vienna is completed in April, 2015, within just a few months. It connects some of the most renowned Viennese art institutions to the ACOnet backbone but also to each other.
eduGAIN
Since October, 2013, ACOnet participates in eduGAIN. eduGAIN is a service provided by the European association of scientific networks, GÉANT. It aims to interconnect academic identity federations, thus extending the scope of validity of electronic identities as well as the accessibility of services across national borders and onwards.
net:art
In March, 2013, ACOnet hosts the yearly, international Network Performing
Arts Production Workshop in Vienna. This year's main topic is performing
arts over advanced networks, aka net:art. This is an interactive form of art that
uses the Internet as a medium.
On the occasion of the workshop, ACOnet arranges the net:art production "near in the distance",
that connects artists in Vienna, Trieste and Barcelona via special transmission protocols (LOLA,
UltraGrid) for joint performances.
KUKIT Round Table
KUKIT is a German abbreviation for arts and culture in the IT sector.
In a joint effort, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and ACOnet establish a Round Table
that meets at somewhat regular intervals to discuss recent IT and ICT developments
deemed relevant for the fields of arts and culture. Held first in July, 2012, the
KUKIT (Kunst, Kultur und IT) is open
to all interested parties in the field.
Identity Federation
The ACOnet Identity Federation, established in July, 2011, is a federation of ACOnet participants and (external) service providers. It facilitates access to electronic resources across the participating institutions.
IPv6
After several years of pilot testing, IPv6 is introduced into normal operations in March, 2011. Thus, ACOnet belongs to the vanguard of IPv6 deployment and one of the first Austrian Internet providers offering IPv6 as a standard feature.
GovIX/GovDNS
Governmental bodies and agencies team up in December 2010, to form the
Government Internet eXchange (GovIX),
effectively creating a nation-wide peering VLAN on to of the ACOnet backbone.
This is supplemented by a corresponding DNS infrastructure (GovDNS), in 2011.
PoPs in Lower Austria
In co-operation with the Lower Austrian Research and Education Company (NFB), two
additional PoPs can be established in the cities of St. Pölten and Krems, thus
connecting the province of Lower Austria to the ACOnet backbone.
In the following years, ACOnet activities will focus on the enhancement of services,
rather than the backbone.
Optical Fiber Backbone in Operation
The new optical fiber backbone built for ACOnet by
A1 Telekom Austria AG, is completed and commissioned in January, 2009.
It enables ACOnet participants to exchange virtually any amount of data. Additional
costs are confined to the "last mile" from the participant's premises to the nearest
ACOnet PoP.
The new infrastructure facilitates the implementation of bilateral services and
allows for joint projects involving high data volumes, such as media libraries,
video conferencing and e-learning co-operations.
Transition to glass fiber
A1 Telekom Austria AG wins a European tender regarding construction and operation of "nation-wide telecommunication services based on optical-fiber connections". In July, 2007, they receive the go-ahead and by the end of the year, the first PoPs (Graz and Linz) can already migrate to the new backbone infrastructure. The remaining PoPs follow suite in the course of the year 2008.
CBF Triangle
A 1 Gbit/s fiber optic line connecting ACOnet to the Slovak science network
SANET in Bratislava since 2002 is updated to 10 Gbit/s in January, 2006.
In September, two additional fibers from Vienna to Brno, and from Brno to Bratislava
are put into service, effectively forming the so-called CBF Triangle (CBF = Cross Border
Fibre) that allows for direct peering between ACOnet, SANET and the Czech science network
CESNET.
Upgrade in Vienna
The interconnects in Vienna receive an upgrade from Gigabit Ethernet to 10-Gigabit Ethernet in June, 2005.
Gigabit Ethernet
In December, 2001, the ACOnet backbone is migrated once again, this time to Gigabit Ethernet technology. This change affects foremost Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz and Klagenfurt. Leoben and the new PoP Eisenstadt follow in early 2004.
ATM Backbone
Parts of ACOnet's carrier net is switched over to ATM technology in March, 1996.
Fast growing bandwidth requirements, especially in Vienna, Linz and Graz make this
step necessary.
The PoPs in Salzburg, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Leoben follow in April, 1997.
Thus, ACOnet once again has a homogeneous backbone, now based on ATM technology.
Migration to MAN
Traffic on the ACOnet is ever rising and new services cannot be implemented on the
existing infrastructure because of their traffic requirements. Thus, in Mai 1994,
the infrastructure must undergo further changes. A nation-wide, SMDS-based MAN
(Metropolitan Area Network), run by Post und Telekom Austria AG, becomes ACOnet's
new carrier network.
Each university PoP is connected to it with 2 Mbit/s.
Migration to IP
ACOnet's network infrastructure is migrated from X.25 to IP (IP = Internet Protocol).
At the core, the backbone forms a triangle that connects multi-protocol-enabled routers
at the universities of Vienna, Linz and Graz. All other PoPs are connected to one of these
backbone nodes.
At this stage, the lines boast connection rates of 64 kbit/s or 128 kbit/s.
X.25 Backbone
In the second half of 1990, a common, producer-independent communication infrastructure is being erected in the form of a private X.25 network. It interconnects the universities of Vienna, Graz, Leoben, Klagenfurt, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Linz with a ring topology at 9,6 kbit/s, at first. Later on, the connection speeds are raised to 64 kbit/s.
Internet Access
Thanks to IBM's "European Academic Supercomputer Initiative" (EASI), the University
of Vienna gains access to the Internet for the first time, in 1990, in the form of a
permanent line to Geneva. It's a whopping 64 kbit/s! Fron Geneva onwards, a further
1,5 Mbit/s are available to the NSFnet in the USA (EASINET).
Also the remaining Austrian universities receive access to the Internet in that same year.
ACOnet Association
Addressing the need for an institutionalized forum for planning, review and discussion of the joint network, the ACOnet Association is founded. It's membership consists of the IT centers of all Austrian universities. The ACOnet Association supports the Federal Ministry of Science and Research it it's aim to further develop ACOnet.
RARE/TERENA/GÉANT
In 1986, ACOnet joined the European association of national science networks, that was founded in the same year under the name RARE. In 1994, RARE merged with EARN and was named TERENA. As of 2015, this institution is known as GÉANT Association.
International Connectivity
For the first time, Austrian universities hook up to international data networks, such as EARN and EUnet. The Austrian EARN node, AEARN, is implemented at the University of Linz.
First Steps
As early as 1981, the universities' IT departments team up with the Federal Ministry for Science and Research. These are the players responsible for creating a common communication infrastructure for the Austrian scientific community. Together, they kick off the ACOnet.