BITNET-NJE has had a long and productive life, providing many years of
networking services to higher education and
research and helping prove the value of networking to higher education.
Our debt is great to the volunteers
whose vision started it, and whose contributions and dedication have
nurtured it. Their efforts are an example and inspiration for
future collaborative initiatives in higher education.
The Internet has now grown, with the support of many of the same volunteers who made BITNET successful.
It encompasses most of the BITNET services
that CREN members have prized, and its connectivity far exceeds
that of BITNET. The resources required to continue supporting
BITNET can now be put to better use than the
continuation of a second network whose work is completed.
CREN therefore recommends that its members terminate
their dependence on BITNET-NJE by December 31, 1996 (with the
possibility for continuation beyond then if needed).
The following memo discusses:
Support of NJE Infrastructure Through Dec. 31, 1996
CREN and TERENA (the successor to EARN, which has taken over
responsibility for BITNET-NJE support in Europe) have agreed to support
the BITNET-NJE infrastructure through December 31, 1996, collecting the
necessary data and distributing BITEARN NODES and the corresponding
Routing Tables.
TERENA and the GUMNCC management (responsible,
through contract with TERENA, for the
generation, coordination and distribution of the NJE
infrastructure tables) are working on a proposal for continuing global support
of the NJE infrastructure beyond the end of 1996, as may be
necessary to avoid loss of global connectivity.
CREN shares this objective and will work with TERENA and
the GUMNCC to ensure that global NJE connectivity is wound down in a
graceful manner. CREN members desiring continued NJE support after
December 31, 1996 should contact CREN by sending e-mail to cren@cren.net
as soon as possible, to be included in and kept informed of plans to
extend service beyond the end of this year.
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The Importance of BITNET-NJE
and Those Who've Contributed To It
BITNET-NJE has played an important role in providing many years of
increasingly widespread networking services to higher education and
research. It has also played a major role in laying the groundwork for
the widespread acceptance and use of the Internet by research,
education, and the rest of society for an even broader array of
services. BITNET proved the value of networking to higher education and
motivated that community to take a leadership role in establishing
NSFnet and the Internet. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to those
whose vision started and nurtured it 15 years ago, and to the many
individuals and organizations whose contributions and dedication have
helped it grow and become increasingly useful during the intervening
years. The volunteer efforts of the individuals and organizations that
have sustained and developed it are an example and inspiration for
future collaborative initiatives in higher education.
Back to the beginning
Carrying NJE Traffic At Least Until the End of June
Because of rapidly declining participation in BITNET-NJE worldwide,
CREN recommends that all its members eliminate any remaining dependence
on NJE traffic as early as possible during this year. Members are
nevertheless urged to continue their NJE connectivity and to pass NJE
traffic at least until the end of June, in order to facilitate the
orderly migration of other institutions from NJE to the Internet.
CREN members still using BITNET-NJE should obtain the file
"LEAVING BITNET"
as described in the next paragraph, and should begin
now
to follow the steps described therein for an orderly termination of their
participation. CREN members who are not passing NJE traffic to lots of
other BITNET participants are encouraged to submit, during June, if
possible, the final changes to their BITEARN NODES entries that are
necessary to terminate their participation.
Back to the beginning
Some Steps for a Smooth Transition
As the first and most essential step in removing any campus
dependence on NJE, the institution should determine if any of its
component organizations are
not
providing Internet access to all of
their faculty, staff, and students, and should make immediate
arrangements for the provision of Internet access to all individuals
throughout the organization. For example, if a mail host computer is
not connected to the Internet, it should be provided with Internet
connectivity (at least a month, preferably more, before disconnecting it
from BITNET-NJE, in order to provide continuity of e-mail services).
List addresses should be converted to use the Internet address of
the mail host by adding a "newnode" tag to that computer's information
in the BITEARN NODES file as described in the document
LEAVING BITNET
which is available in plain text from listerv@bitnic.cren.net, and in
plain text,
PostScript, and
RTF
via anonymous ftp from ftp.cren.net
(as /bitnet/doc/leaving.bitnet, ...leaving-bitnet.ps,
and ...leaving-bitnet.rtf, respectively).
The BITNIC, and any organizations receiving their BITNET
connectivity through a node scheduled for removal from BITNET, should be
given as much warning as possible (preferably several months) of the
pending termination of any node through which other organizations are
connected to BITNET-NJE. That will allow those organizations time to
make the necessary transition to the Internet or to seek another BITNET
connection. And, of course, any people who will be switched from BITNET
to the Internet should be given adequate warning and provided with the
necessary software tools and with training in the use of the Internet!
If these steps are taken early, any disruption which might otherwise
arise from termination of BITNET services will be minimized for both
your organization and those who may be depending on you for their
BITNET-NJE connectivity and services.
BITNET-NJE has had a long and productive life and has earned an
important niche in the history of networking. Its passing will be a
nostalgic moment for many networking pioneers.
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