Event Information - Proceedings - Part 03: Panel Discussion on "The T1--The Internet Comes of Age" (November 29, 2007)

Abstract

Panel discussion on the T1 backbone required by the NSF to address the chronic congestion on the 56 kbps NSFNET and ARPANET and the agency's goal of extending this new backbone’s reach to include the emerging regional networks. The traffic surge that followed the implementation of the T1 NSFNET backbone in July 1988 presaged the many challenges the Merit/IBM/MCI partnership team faced and dealt with to ensure a quality backbone service. The team took innovative steps in technical and organizational areas, pioneering new router technology and utilizing telephone company circuit technology in unanticipated ways. Panel addresses the challenges presented by the project, the trade-offs made as the backbone grew both in speed and coverage, the technological advances that were spawned, and the evolution of the organizational structure throughout the project