About ARKnet

A Brief History

In May 1991, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, received an award under the National Science Foundation's "Connections to NSFnet" program which allowed it to create ARKnet, the state's academic/research computer network. The nineteen state colleges and universities were provided Internet access through the grant. Two additional institutions joined later to become the charter members of the new ARKnet confederation.

Since that time, ARKnet has grown to encompass about 70 member institutions at over 80 sites. The National Science Foundation played a major role in sponsoring the network by funding a total of five separate connections grants. ARKnet's members now include all of the state's universities, colleges, community colleges, and technical institutes, as well as several non-profit organizations, state agencies, and public libraries.

The initial ARKnet network consisted of point-to-point 56K circuits from each institution to one of the two central network nodes located in Fayetteville and Little Rock. Internet access in the beginning was through the MIDnet regional network (later to become Global Internet, which later was bought out by Verio). As the network grew and bandwidth needs increased, the entire ARKnet network was rebuilt using frame relay services provided by Southwestern Bell. As the T1 lines at the central routing nodes became saturated, they were replaced by Southwestern Bell ATM OC-3 circuits and frame interworking. Eventually, the six T1 lines to Verio were overwhelmed by the state's traffic, so the state network contracted with Southwestern Bell Internet Services (SBIS) for new high-bandwidth (OC-3) Internet service. Today, the state network has an internal backbone consisting of multiple OC-3 circuits and two Internet service providers (SBIS in Little Rock, and Qwest Communications in Fayetteville).

In July 1998, the University of Arkansas, which had been providing all of the technical and network operations support for the ARKnet network, turned the operation of the network over to the Arkansas Department of Information Systems. DIS built and maintains a state backbone network through which ARKnet members, state agencies, and APSCN (public K-12 schools) can obtain their Internet service.

Organization

ARKnet is organized as a not-for-profit confederation managed by its Board of Directors and governed by a set of bylaws. Each Director fills a position according to institutional categories as specified in the ARKnet bylaws. Directors are elected from the Institutional Representatives appointed by each member institution.

There are presently no fees or costs for membership in ARKnet, except for possible fees for the annual ARKnet conference or other special events sponsored by ARKnet. Members may obtain Internet service through DIS, but are not obligated to do so.

Activities

ARKnet sponsors an annual conference, generally in the Little Rock area, where its members gather for technical and planning presentations. The conference affords a great opportunity to meet and talk with peers at other institutions state-wide. An annual business meeting is also held at the conference during which elections are held for positions on the board of directors that will expire at the end of the fiscal year.