The history of SANET
1990Two employees of Computer Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Ing. Martin Vystavil and RNDr. Jaroslav Bobovsky, came up with an idea to build up a global computer network. They initiated the first meeting of the deputies of Slovak universities and research institutes of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
They agreed with the presented proposal and negotiate establishing the civil association SANET. Its aim was to build up and operate the computer network connecting academic and research organisations in Slovakia with possibility of connecting to the similar networks in the world.
1991There were several projects presented which dealed with the future topology, transmission protocol, speed of leased circuits, hardware and software facilities considering the financial situation of the association.
Despite of the fact that protocol X.25 was firmly asserted as transmission standard in Europe, SANET decided to build up its own network on the basis of protocol TCP/IP which was refused by official spheres at that time. Future development showed that the guidance on Internet and protocol TCP/IP was right.
The reason for the guidance on Internet and protocol TCP/IP lied in principles of the Internet network such as:
- neutrality of the network in terms of transmitted data and provided services
- free usage of protocol TCP/IP
- independent growth of new services
Through the Internet we gained free access to a great number of information necessary for the research and education what was very important.
In 1991 the SANET network was built on leased analog circuits with speed 14.4 kbps that ended in PC routers. Its hardware fluctuated in extent from PC XT up to 286s. We used free disseminated program PCroute or KA9Q for packets routing.
1992At the beginning of 1992 we upgraded the line Banská Bystrica – Prague (CZ) to 19,2 kbps by using modems MOTOROLA CODEX in synchronous mode and router Cisco MGS. We connected the towns Nitra and Zvolen. In summer we swapped PCrouters in Bratislava and Košice for Cisco routers. From this moment the whole backbone network started to function in synchronous mode what signified better data throughput and enhancement of data volume. We eliminated some problems which were most often caused by saturation of serial ports of PCrouters.
1993During 1993 another nodes were added in Prešov and Martin and the backbone SANET network upgraded from the speed 14.4 kbps to 19.2 kbps. The independent Slovak Republic came into being in 1993 what caused the genesis of new top level domain .sk. All domains of the second level must have been registered again. After an agreement between SANET and Eunet, the administrator of the top domain became Eunet and SANET bought SUN hardware needed for this purpose.
1994We activated the first 64 kbps line Banská Bystrica via Prague (CZ) and several months later 64 kbps line Bratislava via Vienna (AT), too. We waited more than 9 months for the upgrade of inland line because the Slovak Telecommunications were not able to provide us with the requested circuits. We have to mention that the foreign lines were established thanks to IBM firm.
1995The upgrade of backbone network was realised to 64 kbps and we enhanced transmission capacity of the foreign lines to 128 kbps. The new nodes were added in to SANET in Trnava and Prievidza. From the routing point of view, SANET was devided into two independent autonomous systems and started to use the new routing protocol BGP4 for abroad that provided dynamic redundancy of international connectivity in case of dropout of one of the foreign lines. SANET reached the highest increase of new members in 1995.
1996In 1996, we made a great progress in the area of transmission capacity. We upgraded backbone network from 64 kbps to 512 kbps. We also upgraded the foreign lines from 128 kbps to 256 kbps. Besides technical changes that were related to spreading of infrastructure, there were big changes in the area of provided services. While in 1992 users paid their attention on mainly foreign sources and almost 80 % of traffic on foreign lines directed to SANET, in 1996 the ratio between input and output settled to 1 : 1.3
1997The year 1997 was very important for development of Internet in Slovakia. The Slovak Internet eXchange centre SIX came into being in Computer Centre of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava to which most of the Slovak providers were connected and SANET was among them. From this moment, data of Slovak providers started to exchange in Slovakia what caused better access to Slovak servers and release of international lines.
Another very important think was establishing of a node of the EBONE network in Bratislava, which came into being thanks to relationships of the SANET people with EBONE representatives. The international Internet network reached Slovakia and SANET could upgrade the foreign connectivity to 1Mbps.
Druhou významnou udalosťou bolo zriadenie uzla siete Ebone v Bratislave, ktorý vznikol vďaka kontaktom ľudí zo SANET-u s predstaviteľmi Ebone. Vďaka tomu sa medzinárodná sieť Internet dostala priamo na územie Slovenska a SANETmohol upgradovať zahraničnú konektivitu na 1Mbps.
1998-2000We continued upgrading of the backbone network as well as foreign connectivity. We tried to connect international consortium TEN-155 but with no success. It used high-speed network TEN-155 to interconnect European national research and academic networks.
2001The Government accepted the SANET 2 project and by its resolution No 383/2001 committed the SANET association to build up high-speed network and connect it to European gigabit network GEANT.
2002In February 2002, the southern chain of the SANET 2 network was activated. It connected the towns Bratislava, Zvolen and Košice at the speed 1 Gbps.
2003Vo novembri 2003 bola do prevádzky uvedená severná vetva siete SANET2, spájajúca mestá Bratislava, Trnava, Pieštany, Zilina, Martin, L. Mikuláš, Poprad, Prešov a Košice rýchlosťou 1 Gbps.
2004-2007Sme realizovali postupný upgrade na 10 Gb/s.
2009Bola dobudovaná sieť SANET II na rýchlosť 10 Gb/s na celej chrbtici okrem prepojení uzlov v Tatranskej Lomnici (rádiový spoj), Trebišove a Michalovciach (optika 1 Gb/s). Pribudla optická trasa Nitra – Hurbanovo – Komárno a nový uzol sa vybudoval v Spišskej Novej Vsi. SANET sa prepojil rýchlosťou 10Gb/s aj so sieťou PIONIER v Poľsku. Zahraničná konektivita do sietí Internet a GÉANT sa zvýšila o 1 Gb/s. Cez peeringové centrá SIX – VIX – NIX (Slovensko – Rakúsko – Česko – Poľsko) má SANET zahraničnú konektivitu 10 Gb/s. Združenie SANET má ku koncu roka 397 členov.
2012Bola dobudovaná optická sieť 10 Gb/s na celej ploche Slovenska okrem trasy Poprad – Tatranská Lomnica, kade nevedú diaľkové optické káble žiadneho prevádzkovateľa. Pribudol uzavretý okruh Košice – Trebišov – Michalovce – Humenné – Vranov – Prešov a zdvojenie pripojenia Komárna novou trasou Bratislava – Dunajská Streda – Komárno s novým uzlom v Dunajskej Strede. Pribudli nové trasy: Trnava – Senica – Skalica a Žilina – Kysucké Nové Mesto. Pripojenie do GÉANT-u, ACONET-u, CESNET-u a peeringových centier SIX, VIX a NIX sa zvýšilo na 20 Gb/s. Zahraničná konektivita realizovaná operátorom GTS Slovensko sa zvýšila na 4 Gb/s. V projekte SANET do škôl bolo pripojených na sieť SANET spolu 21 škôl.
2015Tri roky prevádzkovaná sieť SANET v rovnakej zostave uzlov s prenosovou rýchlosťou 10 Gb/s, okrem už tradičného rádiového spoja, Poprad – Tatranská Lomnica (AsÚ SAV). V tomto roku sa pripravoval projekt zvýšenia prenosovej kapacity siete na 100 Gb/s. Sieť vykazovala stabilne spoľahlivú prevádzku s identifikáciou chýb na úrovni paketov, ktoré používateľ ešte nepociťoval. zataženie siete však dosahovalo v priemerných hodnotách až 7 Gb/s, čo už bola kritická záťaž. Bolo schválených 6 projektov na pripojenie škôl do siete SANET v Košiciach, Bardejove, Žiline a v Senci. Zahraničná konektivita sa zvýšila zo 4 na 6 Gb/s cez operátora GTS Slovensko.
2016V prvej polovici roku 2016 prešla sieť SANET generačným skokom v oblasti prenosovej kapacity aj v oblasti smerovania paketov. Na najdôležitejších trasách prepájajúcich osem krajských miest bola zvýšená prenosová kapacita z 10 Gb/s na 200 Gb/s teda 20-násobne. Zároveň bola v celej sieti SANET zmenená smerovacia a prepínacia štruktúra z kombinovanej L3 a L2 technológie, kde zálohovanie bolo riešené v tretej vrstve, na modernú TRILL technológiu. Tu je už smerovanie paketov a zálohovanie v prípade výpadku niektorej linky riešené v druhej vrstve. V technológii TRILL sú stále všetky linky používané, pakety sú rovnomerne rozdeľované na paralelné linky a prepnutie na zálohu je oproti predošlej technológii oveľa rýchlejšie. Oddelením L2 štruktúry, ktorá prevzala na seba zálohovanie a rozdeľovanie záťaže, od L3 systému je konfigurácia siete jednoduchšia a prehľadnejšia. Odľahčením záťaže pôvodých L3/L2 prepínačov sieť zvýšila svoju výkonnosť.