






                 NEARNET: New England Academic and Research Network


            _A_d_d_r_e_s_s:
            NEARnet
            c/o BBN Systems and Technologies Corp.
            10 Moulton St.
            Cambridge, MA  02138
            Attn: John Rugo

            _E-_m_a_i_l: nearnet-staff@bbn.com

            _P_h_o_n_e: (617) 873-8730 [NEARnet hotline]


            _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n

            NEARnet is a high-speed (up to 10 Mb/s) network of academic,
            industrial,  government, and non-profit organizations in New
            England.  It was established by Boston University,  Harvard,
            and  MIT  late  in  1988;   as of June, 1989, it included 14
            organizations.  NEARnet is operated by BBN Systems and Tech-
            nologies under contract to MIT.

            NEARnet uses the TCP/IP protocol suite and supports  leased-
            line and microwave links at speeds from 9.6 Kb/s to 10 Mb/s.

            NEARnet has the goal of creating  a  regional  ``information
            infrastructure''   in  New  England  to  support  education,
            research and development.  Special services and  facilities,
            such  as  the  Connection  Machine  (TM),  the Massachusetts
            Microelectronics  Center,  and  library  catalogs,  will  be
            available over NEARnet.

            NEARnet is linked to the NSFNET backbone via connections  to
            the  John  von Neumann Center network and NYSERnet.  It also
            has a link to the Defense Research Internet.

            _N_e_t_w_o_r_k _A_c_c_e_s_s

            At the discretion of the NEARnet member organization, any IP
            host  at  that  organization  may  access NEARnet.  Hosts on
            _________________________
            The information in this section is provided  in  accor-
            dance  with the copyright notice appearing at the front
            of this guide.




            July 8, 1989                NNSC        Section 5.8,  Page 1








            connected IP networks  can  exchange  packets  with  NEARnet
            hosts;   hosts on many networks can exchange electronic mail
            with NEARnet hosts.

            _W_h_o _C_a_n _U_s_e _t_h_e _N_e_t_w_o_r_k

            Any of the members  may  exchange  traffic  with  any  other
            member for purposes that are consonant with the primary mis-
            sion of NEARnet, the  support  of  education  and  research.
            Other usage policies are under discussion.









































            July 8, 1989                NNSC        Section 5.8,  Page 2


