A History Of International Research Networking The People Who Made It Happen Howard Davies

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Edited by
Howard Davies and
Beatrice Bressan
A History of International
Research Networking

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Edited by
Howard Davies and Beatrice Bressan
A History of International
Research Networking
The People who Made it Happen

The Editors
Dr. Howard Davies
howard.davies@abington.plus.com
Dr. Beatrice Bressan
bb@beatricebressan.org
All books published by Wiley-VCH are carefully
produced. Nevertheless, authors, editors, and
publisher do not warrant the information contained
in these books, including this book, to be free of
errors. Readers are advised to keep in mind that
statements, data, illustrations, procedural details or
other items may inadvertently be inaccurate.
Library of Congress Card No.: applied for
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Bibliographic information published by
the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this
publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the
Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
# 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA,
Weinheim
All rights reserved (including those of translation into
other languages). No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form – by photoprinting,
microfilm, or any other means – nor transmitted or
translated into a machine language without written
permission from the publishers. Registered names,
trademarks, etc. used in this book, even when not
specifically marked as such, are not to be considered
unprotected by law.
Cover Design Adam-Design, Weinheim
Typesetting Thomson Digital, Noida, India
Printing and Binding T.J. International Ltd.,
Padstow
Printed in Great Britain
Printed on acid-free paper
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2

Contents
Foreword V
Preface XI
List of Contributors XIII
Color Plates XV
1 Early Days 1
1.1 The Starting Point 1
1.1.1 The Data Communications Scene 1
1.2 Protocols and Standards 2
1.2.1 Interim Standards 3
1.2.2 Open Systems Interconnection 3
1.2.3 The Internet Protocols 4
1.3 European Coordination 5
1.3.1 Identifying the Need 5
1.3.2 Preliminary Steps 5
1.3.3 The First European Networkshop 6
1.4 RARE: From Proposal to Reality 11
1.4.1 Laying the Foundations 11
1.4.2 The First Step for COSINE 12
1.4.3 The Second European Networkshop 13
1.4.4 The Birth of RARE 13
1.4.5 The End of the Beginning 14
1.5 EARN, the First International Service in Europe 15
1.5.1 Preparation and Constitution of EARN 17
1.6 IXI 21
2 The Role of Funding Bodies 27
2.1 EUREKA and COSINE 27
2.2 EC and National Governments 31
2.2.1 Impact on the Internal COSINE Debates 33
A History of International Research Networking. Edited by Howard Davies and Beatrice Bressan
Copyright Ó 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2
VII

3 Organized Cooperation 39
3.1 The Activities of RARE 39
3.2 The Gestation of DANTE 41
3.2.1 The Process and the Structure 43
3.2.2 Relationships with Other Bodies 45
3.2.3 Management and Staff 50
3.3 RARE and EARN: the Merger 52
3.4 RARE, EARN and TERENA 56
3.5 DANTE and TERENA 60
3.6 The Future of TERENA 62
3.7 The Value of COSINE 64
3.7.1 The Importance of the Achievements 65
3.7.2 COSINE Epilogue 67
3.8 RIPE and the RIPE NCC 68
4 Different Approaches 73
4.1 HEPnet 73
4.2 DECnet 77
4.3 EUnet 78
4.3.1 Precursors 79
4.3.2 The Network Grows Quickly 83
4.3.3 Cooperation with Emerging European Research
and Academic Networks 84
4.4 Ebone 86
4.5 EMPB, European Multi-Protocol Backbone 93
4.6 EuropaNET 102
5 The Interviews 111
5.1 Dai Davies 111
5.2 Kees Neggers and Boudewijn Nederkoorn 118
5.3 Klaus Ullmann 126
6 The Bandwidth Breakthrough 135
6.1 TEN-34 135
6.2 TEN-155 and QUANTUM 142
6.2.1 TEN-155 Takes Shape 144
6.2.2 Intercontinental and External Connectivity 150
6.2.3 The QUANTUM Test Program 151
6.3 Relations with Telecom Operators 152
6.4 Relations with Equipment Suppliers 154
6.4.1 Research and Education Networks as a Market 154
6.4.2 The Research and Education Community as a Technology
Incubator 155
6.4.3 Research and Education Networks Need for Interoperability 158
VIII Contents

7 Support for Applications 163
7.1 Security and CERTs 163
7.1.1 Establishing a Regional Identity 165
7.1.2 Today’s Activities 168
7.1.3 The Trusted Introducer Service 169
7.2 COSINE Sub-Projects 170
7.3 Grids 175
8 Regional Perspectives 179
8.1 NORDUnet 179
8.1.1 EARN, First Steps in European Collaboration 180
8.1.2 RARE, Harmonizing European Development 181
8.1.3 Ebone, the First Pan-European IP Backbone 182
8.1.4 NSF, the American Connection 183
8.1.5 DANTE, Coordinating European Networking 184
8.1.6 Internet2, towards New Applications 185
8.1.7 The 6NET Project, Testing IPv6 186
8.1.8 GLIF and Lambda Networking, the New Light 187
8.2 CEEC 189
8.2.1 External Support 189
8.2.2 The EC’s PHARE Program 190
8.2.3 National Infrastructures 191
8.2.4 Pan-European Connectivity of the CEEC 192
8.2.5 European Projects 193
8.2.6 The Signiﬁcance of GÉANT 194
8.3 Asia and Paciﬁc 194
8.3.1 Leased Line Connections 195
8.3.2 Trans-Eurasia Information Network 196
8.3.3 Trans-Siberia Link in the 2000s 197
8.3.4 Network Development 197
8.4 South East Europe and the Mediterranean 199
8.4.1 GRNET/Greece and SEEREN 199
8.4.2 ILAN/Israel 201
8.4.3 EUMEDCONNECT 203
8.5 Latin America 204
8.5.1 A Very Brief History of Academic Networking in
Latin America 206
8.5.2 The ALICE Project and the RedCLARA Network 207
8.5.3 New and Greatly Improved Research Networks in
Latin America 211
8.5.4 Collaborative Networked Applications in Latin America 213
8.5.5 The Future of the Latin American Regional Network 214
8.6 Russia 215
8.6.1 The Origins of the Main Russian Research Networks 215
Contents IX

9 Transatlantic Connections 221
9.1 The ‘‘Welcome Guest’’ Period 221
9.2 The Partnership Period 228
9.2.1 Euro-Link 228
9.2.2 GLIF - Global Lambda Integrated Facility 229
9.2.3 TransLight/StarLight 230
9.2.4 GLIF, Grids and the Future 231
10 A European Achievement 235
10.1 GÉANT 235
10.2 GÉANT2, Creation of the First International Hybrid Network 242
10.2.1 The Gestation Period 242
10.2.2 Complex Procurement 243
10.2.3 Roll-Out and Migration 245
10.2.4 Switched Point-to-Point (p2p) Connections 245
10.2.5 Cost Sharing 247
10.2.6 Cross Border Initiatives 248
10.2.7 Global Connectivity 249
10.2.8 Conclusion 249
10.3 The Impact of Research Networking 250
10.3.1 The Impact on Individuals 250
10.3.2 The Impact on Commerce 251
10.3.3 The Impact on Entertainment 251
10.3.4 The Impact on the Telecommunications Industry 252
10.3.5 The Impact on Education and Research 253
10.3.6 The Impact on the Environment 254
10.3.7 The Political Impact 254
10.3.8 The Impact on Standard Development Method 255
10.3.9 Conclusion 257
Further Reading 259
Appendix A: The People who Made it Happen 261
Appendix B: List of NREN Managers 273
Appendix C: List of Network Names 279
Appendix D: List of Acronyms 283
Appendix E: List of Terms 293
Appendix F: List of Units 303
Index of Names 305
Subject Index 307
Picture Credits 317
X Contents

Foreword
The 20th anniversary of the Trans European Research and Education Networking
Association, TERENA, took place in the summer of 2006. At this event, the idea
arose that it would be interesting to write a ‘‘History Book’’ about how Europe got its
act together and managed to create the globally most advanced facilities for research
networking in the world – in spite of, originally, being far behind the United States.
The time also seemed to be ripe, since many of the original players in the ﬁeld
although now retiring were still around, so that the editors of such a ‘‘History Book’’
could still get input and feedback from many of the people who had been involved in
this exciting development.
So it was decided to try to collect contributions from a fairly large number of
people in the European research networking community, and have these contribu-
tions edited and put together by an editorial team consisting of Howard Davies –
himself one of the original ‘‘networkers’’ in Europe – and Beatrice Bressan, a science
writer from CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) with long
experience in science dissemination.
As TERENA’s President I was asked to provide the liaison with the editors,
together with the Secretary General, Karel Vietsch, and we added a small editorial
committee consisting of two networking pioneers, Lajos Bálint from Hungary and
Claudio Allocchio from Italy.
So this is an attempt at writing a history of how the work of many brilliant people
joined together and in the end produced a remarkable result – really put the
European research area on the map as the ﬁrst and foremost in high speed
networking.
It is also a story about how complicated it can be to reach agreement on technical
and organisational issues between so many different countries – how much work
goes into getting the act together, when you are many different nations, each with
experts and opinions; and a story about what it meant to Europe that liberalization
came to the telecommunications market.
But apart from the telecommunications liberalization, it is not really a story about
politics but, above all, a story about how engineers and scientists all over Europe
joined forces to collaborate on the promotion of science and education, both in their
home universities or research centers and in the remotest parts of the world.
V
Copyright Ó 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2

The book is not the work of one person, and the styles of different parts bear
witness to that, however, I believe the editors also got their act together and joined
these different contributions into a very interesting whole. There is no attempt at
completeness – a selection of topics had to be made, and also not all of the
prospective contributors were able to provide contributions to the text – however,
most main events are described here, and most invited contributors did agree to
deliver.
One clear omission is that the intimate interplay in this development between
high performance computing and high performance networking is not truly eluci-
dated. Over the past decades, there is no doubt that this interplay has, at certain
periods of time, been very strong and has played a crucial role in the development of
the project. I personally saw how much it meant at the European level in the early 90s
that the Director General of CERN, Carlo Rubbia, when chairing a high-level
Advisory Committee for the EC (European Commission), made it an important
issue to link high performance computing with high speed networking. I know that,
at the national level, this has been decisive in many countries at certain periods of
time.
On behalf of the TERENA Executive Committee I am happy to express our
heartfelt thanks to all the people who took time out to write some pages of this
history and I also think it appropriate to thank all the people involved in this process
over the years – the heads of National Research and Education Networking Orga-
nisations, and their dedicated staff members. Without the ‘‘backbone’’ of all the
research networks, the European connections would not be of any real value to
anyone, and without the joint effort of the national organisations, there would not be
a European association.
So this is not the story of a single individual who made an astonishing step
forward – albeit there is also in the sequence of events at least one such story, the
invention of the Web by Tim Berners-Lee – but it is the story of many individuals, all
over Europe, making a collaborative effort that really has meant a big leap forward.
Dorte Olesen
President of TERENA and Director General of UNIC,
the Danish IT Centre for Education and Research
VI Foreword

Preface
How do you get representatives of over 30 countries to manage the specification and
implementation of a service which is then made available to all of them? How do you
get several hundred highly qualified and independent-minded engineers to work
together to find solutions to the numerous technical problems that arise while the
service is being designed? How do you persuade funding bodies – which are often
large and complex bureaucracies – that your proposals are more deserving of
support than other demands on their resources? How do you persuade monopoly
suppliers who believe that they know better than you what your requirements are to
take your demands seriously? How do you – over a period of 25 to 30 years – increase
the capacity of your service by six orders of magnitude, i.e. by a factor of a million
while keeping the cost constant or even reducing it?
A facile answer common to all these questions might be ‘‘with difficulty’’. Yet there
is a group of people, those who have been involved in the development of several
generations of computer networks supporting scientific research, who can provide
real answers to these questions.
This book records the main elements of the history of European research net-
working, including some of the mistakes and dead ends as well as the successes that
were encountered along the way. It describes the principal steps which those
involved in European research networking have taken, in collaboration with (and
sometimes in competition with) their counterparts in North America and other
world regions, in the development of the underlying telecommunications infra-
structure which today supports the operation of the global Internet.
This is a story about people as well as technology; people as individuals and people
acting through organisations, often their employer but also committees, working
parties, task forces and so on. The developments described here have been to a very
large extent collective activities. A large number of people (counted in hundreds if
not thousands) have played some part and it would be impossible to name them all.
It is also difficult to define a boundary between those whose influence on events has
been so great that it would be invidious not to give them personal credit for their
contribution and the larger mass of engineers, managers and administrators whose
contribution has been significant but more routine. In general, the naming of
XI
Copyright Ó 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2

individuals has been limited to the most senior person within any organisation or
group and to cases where not naming someone would be counter-productive.
Some 30 people who have been deeply involved in some aspect of European
research networking during the last 30 years were invited to contribute a part of the
story. A few senior members of the community were interviewed. As might be
expected, the contributions differed widely in style, length, and level of technical
detail. They, and the interview transcripts, have been edited in order to remove
overlapping descriptions of the same events, to get a reasonable balance in the
treatment of different topics, and in some cases to re-order parts of different
contributions in order to achieve a more logical flow. A consequence of the re-
ordering is that there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the sub-chapters
of the book and the list of contributors. A few of the contributions have been
included with only small changes to the contributor’s original text, many more
have been changed significantly.
Cambridge and Pays de Gex Howard Davies
November 2009 Beatrice Bressan
Acknowledgment
The Editors wish to acknowledge the support of TERENA (Trans-European Research
and Education Networking Association) without which the production of this book
would not have been possible. As well as providing the impetus for the book’s
development, TERENA and its Officers have been the driving force from conception
to final print. TERENA’s support has been paramount and is greatly appreciated.
XII Acknowledgment

List of Contributors
XIII
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2
Claudio Allocchio
GARR
Rome
Italy
Lajos Bálint
NIIF
Budapest
Hungary
Vincent Berkhout
COLT
London
United Kingdom
Josephine Bersee
Hong Kong
Beatrice Bressan
Pays de Gex
France
Maxine Brown
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago
US
Brian E. Carpenter
University of Auckland
Auckland
New Zealand
Tryfon Chiotis
GRNET
Athens
Greece
Dai Davies
DANTE
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Howard Davies
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Thomas A. DeFanti
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago
US
François Fluckiger
CERN
Geneva
Switzerland
David Foster
CERN
Geneva
Switzerland
Fabrizio Gagliardi
Microsoft
Geneva
Switzerland

Jan Gruntorád
CESnet
Prague
Czech Republic
David Hartley
Abingdon
United Kingdom
James Hutton
Abingdon
United Kingdom
Yuri Izhvanov
Moscow
Russia
Klaus-Peter Kossakowski
DFN-CERT
Hamburg
Germany
Glenn Kowack
US
Peter Linington
University of Kent
Canterbury
United Kingdom
Vassilis Maglaris
National Technical University of Athens
Athens
Greece
Boudewijn Nederkoorn
Utrecht
Netherlands
Kees Neggers
SURFnet
Utrecht
Netherlands
Michael Nowlan
Dublin
Ireland
Dorte Olesen
Uni-Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Denmark
Roberto Sabatino
DANTE
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Michael Stanton
Cathrin Stöver
DANTE
Madrid
Spain
Peter Tindemans
Netherlands
Stefano Trumpy
CNR-IIT
Pisa
Italy
Klaus Ullmann
DFN
Berlin
Germany
Jean-Marc Uzé
Juniper Networks EURL
Paris
France
Karel Vietsch
TERENA
Amsterdam
Netherlands
David West
DANTE
Cambridge
United Kingdom
XIV List of Contributors

Color Plates
XV
Figure 4.1 HEPnet planned configuration. (This figure also appears on page 75.)

Note to the reader: The first figures in the color plates only exist in black and white. They have
nonetheless been included because together with the color figures they help to illustrate the evolution of
the network.
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2

Figure 4.3 Initial Ebone 92 configuration. (This figure also appears on page 89.)
Figure 4.4 Ebone 93 configuration. (This figure also appears on page 91.)
XVI Color Plates

Figure 4.6 EMPB topology, October 1992. (This figure also appears on page 97.)
Color Plates XVII

Figure 4.7 EMPB topology, September 1995. (This figure also appears on page 98.)
XVIII Color Plates

Figure 4.8 EuropaNET configuration. (This figure also appears on page 105.)
Color Plates XIX

Figure 6.2 TEN-34 topology, June 1998. (This figure also appears on page 142.)
Figure 6.3 TEN-155 configuration, May 1999. (This figure also appears on page 145.)
XX Color Plates

Figure 6.4 TEN-155 December 2000. (This figure also appears on page 148.)
Color Plates XXI

Figure 8.1 TEIN2 configuration. (This figure also appears on page 198.)
XXII Color Plates

Figure 8.2 SEEREN configuration. (This figure also appears on page 201.)
Color Plates XXIII

Figure
8.3
EUMEDCONNECT
configuration.
(This
figure
also
appears
on
page
206.)
XXIV Color Plates

Figure 8.4 RedCLARA topology map, July 2007. (This figure also appears on page 210.)
Color Plates XXV

Figure 10.1 GÉANTconfiguration, April 2004. (This figure also appears on page 241.)
XXVI Color Plates

Figure 10.2 GÉANT2 configuration. (This figure also appears on page 246.)
Color Plates XXVII

Figure
10.3
Global
connectivity.
(This
figure
also
appears
on
page
256.)
XXVIII Color Plates

1
Early Days
The national research and education networks which are interconnected to provide a
seamless service across Europe are taken for granted these days. They have in fact
followeddifferent routes toreach this point.Usingﬁrst-hand experience from someof
those involved in their development, this chapter explains the steps that were taken, by
whom, and the obstacles which had to be overcome. In addition to these individuals,
entire organisations sometimes had to be cajoled to step into line from their differing
positions. Different standards and protocols, changing requirements and attitudes,
and different national positions all had to be taken into account in achieving the goals.
The chapter focuses mainly on the years from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
1.1
The Starting Point
In the early 1980s, almost all the countries in Europe were planning new networks.
The technology existed, and the academic and research communities wanted to be
able to use it. However, there was no coordination at a European level, just rapid
national growth rates.
By the end of 1984, Scandinavia had a coordinated regional network, covering
Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Austria and the United Kingdom each had
operational networks, and Germany was in the middle of a major implementation
programme leading to the full DFN (Deutsches Forschungsnetz) network. Ireland
and Italy were also involved in implementation, and France, the Netherlands, Spain
and Switzerland had plans they were about to implement.
Before describing the way all these were brought together on a European scale, we
need to review the technologies that were available and the activities that form the
backdrop to our story.
1.1.1
The Data Communications Scene
The early 1980s were the height of the age of large-scale multi-user mainframes, and
the earliest remote access arrangements were stars of access links converging on
ISBN: 978-3-527-32710-2
j1

individualcomputercenters.Thesenetworklinkshadtheirrootsintheuseofanalogue
leased lines connecting first generation modems at speeds starting at 300 bps but
rising progressively to a few kbps. From the early 1970s to the early 1980s, most PTTs
(post, telephone, and telegraph operating entities) introduced digital leased line
services, although still primarily at speeds of 9.6 kbps or less. A few rather expensive
64 kbpsserviceswereintroducedandthefirstmegabitserviceswereonofferinFrance
and the United Kingdom, but not yet used in the emerging research networks.
The potential for merging the various star networks had already been shown; it had
been demonstrated by the first phase of the ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects
Agency network) in the early 1970s and by the first ubiquitous campus network at the
NationalPhysicalLaboratoryinLondonatthesametime.Thesewerethefirstpractical,
general-purpose packet networks, separatingtheswitching androutingfrom thehosts
accessed, and setting the direction for the modern generation of data networks.
The first public packet switched network in the world, EPSS (experimental packet
switching system), was opened by the United Kingdom Post Office in 1977; the
British academic community played a leading part in its user community, particularly
in the definition in 1975 of a set of so-called high level protocols to allow applications
to communicate over the new network. In 1976, the CCITT (Comit
e Consultatif
International T
el
ephonique et T
el
egraphique), the PTT standards body within the
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) defined the first version of its X.25
packet switching recommendation, and all the European PTTs rapidly established
plans for national packet switched services and for interworking between them. The
first technically stable version of the X.25 recommendation was ratified in 1980. In
the same year, the United Kingdom EPSS network was replaced by the X.25-based
PSS (packet switch stream), and the German PTT introduced its DATEX-P (data
exchange -packetized) X.25 network.
The transit arrangements between the national PTTs then gradually became
operational, offering communication on a European scale. By the middle of 1985,
a United Kingdom PSS customer, for example, could communicate with data
customers in any of the COST (European cooperation in the field of scientific and
technical research) countries except Turkey and Yugoslavia (although for Portugal,
the call had to be initiated from there).
One thing this shows is that the prevailing view of networking at that time was one
in which the PTTs played a large part. In their plans reported to the first European
Networkshop in 1985, representatives of the research communities in all countries
assumed that their infrastructure would be X.25 based, and all but Sweden and the
United Kingdom planned either immediate or phased adoption of publicly operated
networks as the basis of their networking activities.
1.2
Protocols and Standards
A crucial factor for any network to be successful is the choice of protocols (i.e. the
rules that the computers in the network must follow in order to exchange signals and
2j 1 Early Days

data) that it uses. Standardization is also an important consideration. For two
computers to intercommunicate effectively, they must both be following exactly the
same rules and procedures.
1.2.1
Interim Standards
The first implementers of networks had to invent their own protocols but only a few of
these took root outside the domain for which they had been invented.
One set of protocols which did get more widely used was the set of so-called
“Colored Books”. This was a family of standards defined in the United Kingdom in
the late 1970s and early 1980s, based on the experience gained from EPSS activities.
Each book defined a protocol for one function or application, and each had a
distinctive colored cover, giving it the obvious popular name. The main ones were:
. The Yellow Book – a network independent transport service
. The Green Book – character terminal protocols on PSS
. The Blue Book – a network independent file transfer protocol
. The Red Book – a network independent job transfer and manipulation protocol
. The Grey Book – the JNT mail protocol
. The Orange Book – Cambridge ring 82 protocol specifications
. The White Book – transition to OSI standards
The White Book was the final book in the series; it mapped out the intended
transition from these interim standards. Published in 1987, the White Book was a
plan worked out in response to a public declaration by the United Kingdom network
funding body in January 1985 that it was committed to adopt the emerging OSI (open
systems interconnection) standards; thus this decision had been taken before the
main activities described here had even started.
However, the Colored Books were the basis of a thriving networking community
over a period of more than ten years, and were the primary infrastructure in the
United Kingdom for most of that period. They were also used in a number of other
countries around the world but the real competition for acceptance as global
standards turned out to be between the OSI and Internet protocol suites.
1.2.2
Open Systems Interconnection
It was widely accepted that ubiquitous networking would only happen if it was
supported by a comprehensive set of open standards so that users could commu-
nicate no matter what equipment they used. Although the aim was agreed, the
standards were not yet available and each pioneering networking group had to create
some working set of protocols to get things going. Each equipment vendor also
offered its own private solutions.
Some convergence process was urgently needed; to support this, in 1977, the ISO
(International Standards Organisation) launched a comprehensive standardization
1.2 Protocols and Standards j3

program to provide OSI, a flexible architecture and a complete family of standards for
the main functions that users were then demanding. This programme was carried
forward by ISO during the next ten years, in close collaboration with, and later by
joining forces with, the CCITT (later reorganized as the current ITU-T, the ITU
telecommunication standardization sector) who were responsible for the standard-
ization in the telecoms industry.
The technical merits and organization of the OSI standards process is a separate
story in its own right, but its influence on the planning of academic networking
was profound. Policy makers embraced the concept of open standards as an essential
component of open markets; researchers welcomed the promise of vendor inde-
pendence and open interchange of information; funding bodies welcomed the
opportunity for efficient resource sharing. Open systems came to be seen politically
as one of the essential elements for providing integration of the European
infrastructure.
1.2.3
The Internet Protocols
Since the launch of the ARPAnet, its distinctive family of protocols had been evolving.
Their development reached a plateau with the production of a re-worked and
consolidated design by Jon Postel, leading to the publication of IPv4 (Internet
Protocol version 4) in September 1981. IPv4 was trialled and then the transition
away from the older NCP (network control programme) made in a final cutover in
January 1983.At thesame time the mainfocus forthe network moved fromthe ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency) to the NSF (National Science Foundation),
with the introduction of first CSNET (Computer Science NETwork) and then NSFnet
(National Science Foundation network), with significant upgrades from 56 kbps to
1.5 Mbps circuits in 1984.
Although there is nowa perception that the United States networking scene did not
engage with the formal standards process, this was not in fact the case. There were
many United States experts working within ISO, and there was a strong commitment
to the idea of open standards. The responsibility for standards within the United
States Government fell to the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST),
which formulated a Government OSI Profile (US-GOSIP, FIPS 146 - Federal
Information Processing Standard 146 – not to be confused with the earlier UK-
GOSIP) and eventually published it in 1988. This committed the United States
Government to the concept of OSI and established an adoption timescale requiring
transition to OSI for procurement purposes by 1990. The DoD (Department of
Defense) signed up to this aim in principle. As we know, these plans did not mature,
largely because of changes in economic factors such as the effect of bundling the
TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol) family as a free component
of the UNIX (Originally UNICS, uniplexed information and computing system)
operating system. However, the environment in the mid 1980s was one in which a
commitment to OSI was being promised by the United States and encouraged by
European officials. More will be said later about how things actually evolved.
4j 1 Early Days

1.3
European Coordination
All these technologies created the basis for much broader European networking and
the user experience from the early national pilots created a small but enthusiastic core
of network supporters. People had seen what the networks could do and wanted to
exploit them on a much larger scale.
From the earliest days, there was strong interest in following developments in the
US but because of the practical difficulties of forming and operating intercontinental
collaborations – the Atlantic Ocean was a bigger geographic obstacle than it is
nowadays – a European approach to deal with specific European issues was the
natural way forward.
1.3.1
Identifying the Need
Because of its commitment to open markets, the EC (European Commission), via the
ESPRIT (European strategic programme for research in information technology)
program, threw its considerable weight behind open networking developments in
Europe. The EC was also the target of significant lobbying from national groups. The
greatest impact was achieved between 1982 and 1984 by Professor Zander, who was
in many ways the father of DFN, the German research network, and who spent a great
deal of time and effort lobbying the EC and encouraging its political commitment to
the process. He can justly be credited with stimulating action by the European
institutions, particularly in the framework of the ESPRIT research programme.
Collaborative academic and industrial research was increasing in importance in
many European countries, and EC officials began a process of encouraging the
separate networks to join together.
In the United Kingdom, the period from 1981 to 1984 had been one of unification
ofregionaland discipline-specific networks toformthe general purposeJANET (joint
academic network); this was officially launched to mark the completion of this
process in April 1984. This rationalization, under which all the existing regional
networks serving universities and the central research support networks were
brought into one organization with a single funding source, convinced those
concerned of the benefits of harmonization. At the same time, the user groups now
benefiting from the more effective communication with colleagues nationally
became increasingly vocal about the need for similar connectivity across Europe.
This message came particularly strongly from the large international experimental
collaborations in astronomy and high energy physics (HEP).
1.3.2
Preliminary Steps
During the autumn of 1984, the JANETnetwork managers and their colleagues from
other networking interests, who were then all based at the Rutherford Appleton
1.3 European Coordination j5

Laboratory (RAL), were visited by Dr Nick Newman from the EC, who was contacting
national groups and raising awareness of the European situation. He was also
promoting the idea of cooperation on a European level.
Following this visit, Paul Bryant of the SERC (Science and Engineering Research
Council) engineering support network, James Hutton (HEP), and Peter Linington,
Head of the UK’s Joint Network Team (JNT) and Network Executive (the JANET
operations team), met in the JNT offices on 12 November 1984 to discuss how the
kind of integration achieved in the United Kingdom might be encouraged through-
out Europe. They decided that some kind of European technical networking summit
was needed and, agreeing to pool their resources, set about contacting their
colleagues to seek support.
There was an enthusiastic response, and it was clear that many groups were
thinking along similar lines. Just before Christmas 1984, the United Kingdom group
hosted a face-to-face meeting of the European prime movers at RAL where it was
agreed that a larger workshop of all the appropriate representatives should be held.
The EC agreed to host the event in Luxembourg and funding for participation was
obtained from ECFA, the European Committee for Future Accelerators, ESF, the
European Science Foundation, and COST-11. An organizing group was formed that
expanded the circle of contacts and gathered background information about the
situation in all the participating countries ready for the workshop.
1.3.3
The First European Networkshop
The first European Networkshop was held on May 14th and 15th 1985 in Luxem-
bourg. It took place in meeting rooms made available by Barry Mahon of the EC’s DG
III (Directorate General III). About 60 people attended, and most of the agenda on the
first day was taken up by presentations of the current activities and plans of the
participants.
The resulting summary of national activities gives a good idea of both the diversity
of practice and maturity, and the significant common themes across all the
contributions.
The following thumbnail sketches are derived directly from the presentations used
during the Networkshop:
Austria: Networking in Austria had reached the stage of a pilot linking Vienna, Graz
and Linz, using the DATEX-P public X.25 service as a base. The pilot, ACOnet
(Akademisches Computer Netz), was adopting an architecture in which local sub-
networks and hosts were linked to the public network by gateways, operating at either
the network or application level. Operations were supported by new gateway
management tools, supporting down-line loading of code over X.25 and remote
programme development.
Denmark: The core of the Danish activity was a long-established private X.25
network called Centernet, which linked NEUCC (Northern Europe University
Computing Centre), RECAU (det Regionale Edb-center ved A

rhus Universitet),
6j 1 Early Days

and RECKU (det Regionale Edb-center ved Københavns Universitet). It used the
EUROnet (European network) transport protocol and supported a gateway to the
public X.25 network. There were detailed plans for migration to the public X.25
service using standard off-the-shelf components. It had been decided that the
protocols used in Denmark would be aligned with those used by DFN. Application
plans included the early establishment of an electronic mail server.
Finland: FUNET (Finnish university network) had been launched in 1984, initially to
provide terminal access to twelve university hosts via the public X.25 network. There
were also closed sub-networks carrying manufacturer-specific protocols over X.25.
The remaining university hosts were expected to be connected shortly. Early
application use had focused on the popular KOM, a bulletin board system, and the
PortaCOM conferencing system (originated by Jacob Palme in Stockholm), but
electronic mail was seen as an important requirement. There were plans for a file
transfer service, probably based on the UNINETT FTP (file transfer protocol). The
University of Helsinki was using the GILT (get interconnection between local text
system), teletext-based protocols.
France: A project had been launched at the start of 1984 to study the needs of the
French research community. It involved all major research organizations and
French industry. Its report, issued in February 1985, defined a network project
that was under active consideration by the funding bodies. The hope was that
implementation would start in late 1985. The plan placed emphasis on inter-
national standards, particularly for electronic mail (X.400) and international
interworking. One distinctive requirement identified in France was for the support
of high-speed file transfer using a broadcast satellite carrier.
Germany: DFN,Germany’s flagshipnetworking project,had been initiated in1982.It
was using the new OSI protocols, and was based on the public X.25 network (DATEX-
P). The project was in response to a wide range of user requirements. Networking
within the universities was well established, and therefore the need for WAN-LAN
(wide area network–local area network) interworking was stressed. The user require-
ments were for interactive terminal access, file transfer, remote job entry and
electronic mail. One distinctive requirement was the particular need to support
graphics based on GKS (graphics kernel system) – a powerful (for its time) graphics
software package – in both interactive and bulk transfer modes. The network would
have no central accounting or logging mechanisms.
Ireland: There had been a university network in Ireland since 1979, based on
EUROnet activity. This was currently in the form of a private X.25 network.
A transition was in progress in which the initial network was being subsumed into
a Higher Education Authority network (HEAnet), giving more complete coverage
of the country. It would be based on the public X.25 service and was expected to
be in operation during 1985–86. At the application level, the network used the
United Kingdom Colored Book protocols; it also provided the COM (component
object model) conferencing system for ESPRIT at UCD (University College
Dublin).

Italy: There were two main networking activities in Italy. The longest-established was
the network set up by INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) for use by the HEP
community and based on DECnet (network protocol design by DEC – Digital
Equipment Corporation), and implemented on the VAXÔ family of computers that
it manufactured). More recently, a new initiative called OSIRIDE had been set up to
create a pilot OSI network. Initially, this was to concentrate on file transfer, but with
later targets of supporting electronic mail, conferencing, document transfer and,
eventually, video conferencing.
Netherlands: There was no report on the Netherlands in the workshop summary,
but the SURFnet proposal published the following autumn showed that detailed
planning had been in progress since ministers had approved an initial proposal in
December 1984. Requirements had been identified for file, job and image transfer,
electronic mail and access to international facilities. There was already significant
use of EARN (European academic and research network), and the plan called for
connection of all institutions to the Dutch PTT’s DATAnet 1 public network
by 1987.
The SURFnet plan not only covered the provision of national connectivity, but
made it part of a comprehensive strategy: each institution was required to produce a
LAN plan by September 1986, together with a commitment for the Netherlands to
play an active part in European coordination. The report committed to using OSI
standards, while recognising the need for some pragmatic short-term upgrades to
improve coverage.
Norway: UNINETT was based on research and development (RD) starting in 1976
and had been in service since 1983. It supported interactive terminals, file transfer
and conferencing. It was based on the use of public X.25 and on the ISO OSI
reference model.
Spain: There were existing terminal access services and access networks to the major
computing centers. However, strong user requirements based on Microelectronics
(CAD, computer-aided design), HEP, AI (artificial intelligence), SoftEng (software
engineering), computing center and supercomputer access were being articulated.
This had led to Ministry support for a new project called the Interconexión de los
Recursos Inform
aticoS (IRIS). IRIS was to report by June 1985, and a pilot was
expected to start by the fall of 1985. The plans placed emphasis on international
standards, European harmonization and the relationship to the public X.25 network
(IBERPAC, servicio IBERico de conmutacion por PACkets).
Sweden: SUNET (Swedish university network), the existing solution in Sweden, was
based on regional private X.25 networks and the use of the public X.25 services to
connect them.It had been inoperation since 1983.The network supported interactive
terminal traffic, file transfer, electronic mail and conferencing.
Switzerland: A detailed study of user requirements and justification for a networking
activity had been performed andthe study report had proposed further technical work
(jointly with the Swiss PTT) to establish a technical and organizational plan. The
8j 1 Early Days

intended timescale called for a detailed plan to be produced in 1985–87, and for a
network to be in service as of 1988.
United Kingdom: JANET in the United Kingdom had been based on a process of
rationalization of existing networks, some of which had been in operation since the
late 1970s. The unified network had been transferred to a single strategic and
management organization early in 1984. At its formal launch, JANET was a private
X.25 network with 10 transit switches connecting some 200 terminations, more than
50 of which were local networks. It connected a total of approximately 500 host
computers, and 10 000 terminal access (PAD, packet assembler-disassembler) ports.
It used the Colored Book protocols for terminal access (X.29), file transfer, job
transfer and electronic mail. The JANET community was actively planning a
transition to OSI, with the move to X.400 mail as a first step.
It was clear from these reports that there was a lot of activity and that support for
X.25 and X.29 was already widespread. They indicated that in this environment,
interworking of at least terminal services would be possible within Europe. However,
other applications would need harmonization. Of the identified requirements, X.400
electronic mail seemed to be the most pressing. It was also clear that a lot more
information needed to be collected and correlated. For example, there was no data
about coverage and availability at a local level. There was also little information about
how costs would fall on end users.
Informal discussions on the evening of May 14 led to the conclusion that a separate
body was needed to act as a European focus and an outline of its mission and initial
objectiveswasputtothefinalworkshopsession thefollowingday.Whatwasproposed
was a networking association to promote peer-to-peer interworking and harmoniza-
tion between the national academic and research networks, not the creation of a core
international data network, since this was seen as best provided by the PTTs.
Theroughoutlinesoftheorganizationwereproposed.ThescopewastobeWestern
Europe,whichwasthentakentomeantheEEC(EuropeanEconomicCommunity)and
COSTcountries. In addition to the national members, the major European research
laboratories such as CERN (Conseil Europ
een pour la Recherche Nucl
eaire) would
also be eligible to join in their own right. A role was also seen for European industrial
research laboratories and for significant user organisations, but not as primary
members. ESPRIT was recognized as having a special status, as it represented an
importantgroupofinfrastructureuserswithinthescopeoftheassociation,buttheEC
would not be a member in its own right.
The stated aims were to provide a high-quality networking infrastructure for the
supportofresearchandacademicendeavoronaEuropeanbasis,bytakinganynecessary
actions to ensure that this infrastructure adopted and exploited the most advanced
technology available. This was understood to imply the creation of an international
OSInetwork, involving as intermediate steps the short-terminterconnection of existing
non-OSI networks and the transition of existing networks to open standards.
Once these principles had been debated and agreed, a short summary resolution
was put to the workshop and accepted without any objections. The wording proposed
on that day is shown in Figure 1.1.

The format and the bogus recommendation number in the text above were an
irreverent, high-spirited, parody of the CCITTprocedures in use at the time. Once it
had decided to go ahead, the workshop did two more things. First, it asked all the
representatives if their organizations were likely to participate actively, which they
were, and then asked them to take this commitment back to their organizations for
more formal ratiﬁcation. Secondly, it drew up a list of priority items to be carried out
in order to set the association up and start its work and attached to each item the name
of a member prepared to take the lead in developing it.
The priority items covered both technical and organizational issues. On the
technical side, there were:
. Coordination of message handling systems, primarily for X.400, including the
EAN (electronic access network) software package (CERN)
. X.25 (84) harmonization of operational requirements (France)
. File transfer protocols and services (CERN)
. Full screen terminal working (United Kingdom)
. Collection (manual) of directory information, covering services, people and help
contracts (EC)
. Exchange of operational information (Ireland)
And for the organizational items:
. Organization and support of the association (United Kingdom)
. Scope and mechanisms for liaison with CEPT (Conference of European Postal
and Telecommunication Administration).
. Organization of the next European Networkshop, provisionally scheduled for
mid-1986 (initially unallocated – Denmark subsequently volunteered).
The workshop ended on a very positive note. The technical and organizational
tasks were to be started straight away. The association would be set up with a formal
constitution so that it could hold funds and become self-supporting. It would seek
ﬁnancial support to help during the launch period but the members would not wait
for these things to happen. Rather, they would move forward immediately in
whatever way was open to them. This willingness to take risks and to make things
Recommendation A.200
Considering
that national academic networks exist or are planned in a large number
of European Countries;
that it is feasible, by coordination and harmonization of these national
activities, to provide facilities on a European basis;
that collaborative industrial research requires similar facilities;
the meeting unanimously declares the view that an association should be
established to promote the creation of a European research and academic
networking infrastructure.
Figure 1.1 The networkshop resolution.
10j 1 Early Days

happen without waiting for the formal niceties typified the spirit of optimism that
pervaded the workshop, and indeed all the early stages of RARE’s (R
eseaux Associ
es
pour la Recherche Europ
eenne) history.
1.4
RARE: From Proposal to Reality
Despite the impatience to get things moving on the part of many of the people
involved, it was necessary to go through a number of administrative steps to put a
robust, stable and adequately funded organizational structure in place.
1.4.1
Laying the Foundations
After the Luxembourg workshop, the delegates went home and consulted their
organisations. The Netherlands came back rapidly with an extremely positive
response, backed by the charismatic and far-sighted Hans Rosenberg. He obtained
support from SURF, the organization responsible for the Netherlands research
network, to provide funding for the embryonic organization to pay for an interim
secretariat. This secretariat was operated by James Martin Associates (JMA) in
Amsterdam who got to work immediately and helped in the drafting of Articles of
Association. This involved agreeing procedures and legal responsibilities, which
were derived from a Dutch legal template. It was also necessary to agree a business
plan, providing analysis of various proposed funding models to ensure that the
association would indeed be self-sustaining in the longer term. The main burden of
carrying this through fell on Rob Brinkhuijsen and Frank van Iersel of JMA.
One of the tasks that proved unexpectedly difficult was the choice of a name for the
new entity. Many immediately intuitive names were already taken by existing
organizations or led to acronyms that were already well established in members’
home countries. The name “European Networking Association”, although initially
supported by many, would have been abbreviated to ENA, meaning Ecole Nationale
d’Administration to any Frenchman. Other names proposed all seemed to be taken,
confusing or even obscene in one country or another. Finally, the French name
R
eseaux Associ
es pour la Recherche Europ
eenne, or RARE for short, was accepted
despite some misgivings concerning future jokes about RARE implying half-baked
ideas and from August 1985 that name was fixed.
Gradually the rest of the constitution came together, with a proposed structure in
which a fully-representative Council of Administration delegated short term deci-
sions to a smaller rotating Executive Committee. The Association was to have a
President to chair both these bodies, a Vice-President, a Treasurer and eventually a
Secretary-General as a full-time officer to oversee day-to-day business and run the
permanent administration.
In parallel with the organizational work, this was a time of widespread lobbying for
support. Members explained the objectives of the new body to their national
1.4 RARE: From Proposal to Reality j11

organizations, to many European research groups, to international contacts such as
the NSF in America, and to many parts of the EC. Finally, in December 1985, the
officers of RARE met Michel Carpentier, the Director General of DG XIII (IST,
Information Society Technologies) and his officials, and explained RARE’s plans and
goals to him. This led to a commitment from the EU (European Union) to fund the
secretariat until regular support on a subscription basis could be put in place, thus
providing bridging from the Dutch support.
Two important relationships with existing organizations were established during
this preparatory period. First, the responsibility for liaison with the CEPT that
Switzerland had undertaken to organize was progressed by Albert K€
undig of ETH
(Eidgen€
ossische Technische Hochschule) Zurich. K€
undig had moved to academia
from the Swiss PTTand had a wide network of contacts. He laid the foundations for
RARE’s credibility with the PTTs, so that they began to see the organization in a
positive light, and not as a potential threat.
The second key liaison was with EARN which, at the time, was also a relatively
young organization and which was providing services based on the use of IBM
equipment and protocols (see later for details). EARN was in many ways a natural
competitor to RARE but there were several people who were involved in both
organizations and there were clear advantages to cooperation. A series of meetings
was held between Dennis Jennings, the President of EARN and Peter Linington, the
President of RARE, in which common objectives were set out. This led later, after
EARN had adopted a statement of intent on the transition to open standards, to EARN
becoming an international member of RARE.
1.4.2
The First Step for COSINE
Although they were primarily academics, many of the members of the new asso-
ciation had strong links with their national industry or research ministries. These
contacts were very supportive, and the discussion with industry ministries, partic-
ularly the BMFT (Bundesministerium f€
ur Forschung und Technologie) in Germany,
the Ministry of Education and Science in the Netherlands and the Department of
Industry in the United Kingdom, resulted in these bodies seeing RARE as a flagship
for standards policy and, more generally, for open networking.
During the second ministerial conference in Hanover on November 5–6 1985,
Andreas Vogel, an official from the BMFT, was lobbying other countries to get
support for putting a project called COSINE, cooperation for open systems inter-
connection networking in Europe, on the first list of EUREKA (European Research
Coordination Agency) projects that ministers would announce. A subsequent full
meeting of COSINE participants in Bonn on February 19 1986 asked RARE to
prepare the technical specification for the project by midsummer. (The required draft
was delivered on time although the workshop set up to discuss it was not held until
November 1986 because of the need for negotiations between EUREKA officials).
RARE was now in the position of being a contractor to the EUREKA programme
before having its ownlegal existence! This put avery real pressure on the preparations
for RARE’s formal foundation.
12j 1 Early Days

1.4.3
The Second European Networkshop
The Second European Networkshop was held in Copenhagen on 26–28 May 1986.
The whole of the July/August edition of the Computer Compacts Journal was
dedicated to a report on the event, including an overview of RARE’s mission and
a feature interview with its President-elect. This edition also carried a full-page
advertisement for the post of Secretary General of RARE!
The second Networkshop was a much more orchestrated and better planned event
than the first; it was already more of a conference than an informal workshop. There
was a series of activity reports covering the priority tasks set out by the conclusions of
the first workshop, followed by technical sessions dealing with current technical
challenges, new standards and longer-term opportunities such as broadband. There
were also sessions looking at a number of EUindustrial research projects and at plans
from the PTTs for new services.
As well as being a forum for the interchange of information, the workshop also
provided a sounding board for testing the level of support in the community and
confirming that, after a year of largely organizational activity, the creation of the
association was still welcomed at a working level within the research networks.
Associated with the main workshop, most of the technical working groups that
RARE was setting up also met; these groups had started as task groups in response to
the priority items identified in Luxembourg, but were already running smoothly with
stable membership and with enthusiastic chairs able to take responsibility for their
organization and for the delivery of results. There had been some changes in
responsibilities of the Working Groups (WGs) during the year, and the line-up
reporting in Copenhagen was (Figure 1.2):
. WG1: Message handling systems (Alf Hansen)
. WG2: File transfer, access and management (François Fluckiger)
. WG3: Information services exchange of operation information (Barry Mahon)
. WG4: Network operations and X.25 (Piet Bovenga)
. WG5: Full screen services (Brian Gilmore)
. WG6: Medium- and high-speed communications (Jacques Pr
evost)
. Task 7 – Liaison with CEPT performed ad hominen by Albert K€
undig in direct
collaboration with the secretariat, and so no separate working group was needed.
. WG8: Management of network application services (Mats Brunell).
1.4.4
The Birth of RARE
The formal establishment of RAREwas activated by the signing of the constitution by
the new officers in Amsterdam on 13 June 1986. Present at the ceremony were the key
officers of the new organization, namely Peter Linington as the first President, Klaus
Ullmann as Vice-President and Kees Neggers as Treasurer, plus long-term supporter
and benefactor Hans Rosenberg and the Notary who witnessed the signatures
(Figure 1.3). After some 22 international meetings to agree the details of the
1.4 RARE: From Proposal to Reality j13

organization, the final signing was over in an hour, and was followed by a pleasant
social lunch. RARE was now in existence; the initial RARE Executive Committee
consisted of the three officers present at the signing, plus Birgitta Carlson, who
brought a wealth of experience from the running of NORDUnet (Nordic university
network). Francisco Ros was later co-opted as organizer of the third networkshop
in Valencia.
The constitution allowed only one member per country, and limited eligibility for
full membership to: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (Federal
Republic), Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, and Yugoslavia. The document signed that day in Amsterdam
was in Dutch and ran to 11 pages. However, the flavor of what was being agreed is
given by the key clause shown in Figure 1.4, taken from the certified English
translation provided at the time.
1.4.5
The End of the Beginning
Just over 18 months after its first international planning meeting, RAREwas now an
established organization with a constitution, a permanent secretariat and enough
Figure 1.2 RAREworking group leaders, 1986: (a) Alf Hansen, (b) François Fluckiger, Barry Mahon
(no photo), Piet Bovenga (no photo), (c) Brian Gilmore, Jacques Pr
evost (no photo), Mats Brunell
(no photo).
14j 1 Early Days

resources to support its activity. Within this time frame, its influence had grown to
the point where it was a recognized player in shaping European policy and it was
a credible prime contractor for a major activity like the EUREKA COSINE project.
It also had a thriving technical program supported by its working groups and,
after two Networkshops, it was well on the way to establishing its long-running and
well-respected conference series. RARE had arrived and the beginning was, so to
speak, over.
1.5
EARN, the First International Service in Europe
The networks for the research and academic environments appeared as test-beds in
different stages of evolution in various countries in the 1970s. Towards the end of the
decade, some of these test-beds began to involve foreign partners and began to offer
international services. To assert that EARN (European academic and research
network) developed the first international network service in Europe is too strong.
Yet, one can say that EARN was the first network in Europe offering an international
service in a structured way. The diffusion of the research network services in the
United States in the early 1980s was based mainly on networks such as ARPAnet,
BITNET and CSNET. EARN constituted the European extension of the BITNET
network. BITNET was a “store and forward” type network developed at the City
University of New York by Ira Fuchs in 1981, initially baptized as “Because It’s There
Net” and later “Because It’s Time Net”.
The system was originally based on IBM’s VNET (virtual networking) email system
and used RSCS (remote spooling communications subsystem) and NJE (network job
Figure 1.3 Adoption of the RARE constitution. Left to right: Peter Linington, Klaus Ullmann, Hans
Rosenberg, and Kees Neggers.
1.5 EARN, the First International Service in Europe j15

entry) application protocols on IBM’s VM (virtual machine) mainframe operating
system. Later, RSCS was emulated on other popular operating systems such as
DEC VMS (virtual memory system) and UNIX. The network was designed to be
inexpensive but efﬁcient, so it was built as a tree structure with only a single path
from one computer to another. By the end of 1982 the network included 20
institutions in the United States. At this point IBM extended BITNET into Europe.
Basically, BITNET began as a network for IBM computer users but was soon
opened up to other manufacturers. This increased its appeal to the research and
academic environments.
RARE Constitution: Objectives - Article 4
1. The objectives of RARE are to promote and participate in the creation
of a high-quality European computer-communications infrastructure for
the support of research endevour. It will take whatever steps are
required to ensure that this infrastructure adopts the most advanced
technology available, according to the principles of Open Systems
Interconnection as defined by the International Standards
Organisation (ISO), in order to ensure open international
interconnection. It will wherever possible use the data carrier
services of the European Postal, Telephone and Telegraph services.
2. In order to attain the above objectives, RARE shall, inter alia:
– remove technical and organisational barriers between national
networks, by harmonizing their technical facilities;
– provide for the exchange of operational, directory and
technical information;
– protect and serve the interests of RARE with respect to other
organizations, in particular governmental, standardization, PTT
and industrial bodies;
– where appropriate, set up and run common services and technical
facilities;
– establish working groups to perform technical activities in
line with the objectives of RARE;
– assist identified international user groups in the definition
and provision of computer communications facilities;
– support and organize conferences.
3. RARE may negotiate and secure rights in the name of its members but
has no authority to undertake obligations or liabilities in their
name, unless so instructed by an express authorization from the
members concerned.
4. Generating profits for the purpose of distributing the same among the
members shall not be permitted.
5. RARE shall take an independent attitude towards political groups,
whether national or international.
6. The language of communication within RARE shall be the English
language, entirely without prejudice however to Article 22, paragraph
4, last sentence.
Figure 1.4 Extract from the RARE constitution.
16j 1 Early Days

1.5.1
Preparation and Constitution of EARN
In 1982 the management of IBM research centers across Europe launched the idea of
building a network dedicated to the research community. In 1983 the first dedicated
lines were installed on a national basis. In the following year a set of international
lines was deployed, including an intercontinental connection from Rome to the
coordination centre of BITNET in New York.
The international lines were installed via an IBM-funded project to support the
network over a four-year period. After the establishment of the first international
links and the activation of the software, the European partners started to organize the
network. An international network like EARN needed a good management structure
to handle this organizational activity, distribute information, and address subsequent
international issues.
It was a challenge to merge the operational experience gained in North America by
BITNETwith the requirements of the European research and academic community.
The idea had been to define the role of an EARN coordinator for each country and
create a Board of Directors. The first meeting of a group which would eventually
become this Board was held in Geneva in February 1983; at another meeting later in
the year, the participants agreed that Dennis Jennings would be their Chairman and
President of the embryonic organization (Figure 1.5 and 1.6). During 1983 and 1984,
there were four Board meetings to reach an agreement for the incorporation of the
EARN Association in Paris on February 12.
The Articles of Association of EARN, registered in France, specified that EARN is a
computer network open to any non-commercial academic and research institution
locatedin Europe,the Middle Eastor Africa, aiming atinformation anddata exchange
to improve scientific collaboration. Looking through the statutes, the following items
are notable:
. The geographical coverage includes the Middle East and Africa. This is connected
to the fact that the sponsor of the initiative was IBM EMEA (Europe, Middle East
and Africa) and that the international lines provided included these areas.
Figure 1.5 EARN Presidents: David Lord (no photo), (a) Dennis Jennings, (b) Frode Greisen.

. The non-commercial nature of the network: this referred not only to the potential
partners but also to the utilization of the network.
. The importance and focus on information made available for public consultation.
. The national representation formed by the members of the Board of Directors:
Stefano Trumpy was the acting director of EARN, Italy from the preparatory phase
until 1990.
. The national contributions to ensure the annual budget for the association.
. The establishment of the following officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary
General and Treasurer.
During the meeting of the Board of Directors in December 1984, David Lord was
elected President, Dennis Jennings Vice-President, Stefano Trumpy Secretary-Gen-
eral and Jean Claude Ippolito Treasurer. During the October 1986 meeting, Dennis
Jennings was elected President, David Lord Vice President and M. Hebgen Secretary-
General. The Treasurer remained unchanged. Stefano Trumpy moved to the position
of CEPT liaison. At the end of 1987 IBM considered that the network had reached
maturity and withdrew its financial support.
In the beginning, IBM’s assistance in creating EARN encountered some hostility
due to the following doubts:
. Was it IBM’s intention to boycott OSI protocols?
. Did IBM want to be the only acceptable manufacturer in universities and research
institutions?
. Did IBM intend to dominate the market for networks?
. Telecom operators did not wish to support EARN’s ideas.
The problem of the relationship between EARN and the CEPT was first raised
during the EARN Board meeting of May 1984. EARN wanted to get support for the
network from CEPT but the position of CEPT at that time was as follows:
. EARN, like all data networks, should use OSI protocols as much as possible.
. EARN should use the public X.25 network for its international links.
. Some CEPTmembers wanted to apply a form of volume charging for their leased
lines.
CEPT then specified that these positions had to be considered as recommenda-
tions for the national PTTs. At the time, CEPT had a very conservative approach,
later contradicted by history. For at least a couple of years, discussions had been very
heated. The EARN Board closely monitored the relationships with the local PTTs.
The EARN Board position, since the beginning, had been: “to agree to progress
towards the adoption of X.25 and OSI but to ask for no volume-dependent
component in tariffs for leased lines”. In the beginning, British Telecom, the
major telecommunications operator in the United Kingdom, wanted to impose one
of the highest volume charges. Other PTTs across Europe proposed milder tariffs
but the idea of a volume-related charge on top of the leased line cost was retained for
some time.
18j 1 Early Days

An extract from a communication on the subject from Dennis Jennings to the
Board, dated November 1985, reads as follows: “The connection of the United
Kingdom on the basis of the imposition of this volume charge (one of the first and
the highest), and EARN’s implicit acceptance of this volume charge, sets a
precedent for the imposition of a similar volume charge by every country PTT
in Europe. EARN should never accept the imposition of such a volume charge.” It
could be said that Dennis Jennings was a good prophet as volume-related tariffs
were later abandoned.
The reason for the CEPT position was the fear the PTTs had of losing their very
rewarding income from telephone traffic to the networks. The introduction of the
volume charges would compensate for this loss of telephone traffic. This situation
was severely penalising to researchers in Europe when compared to the cost structure
for leased lines in the United States.
The recent evolution of the Internet where VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) has
gained momentum shows how conservative that position was. The imposition of
using the public X.25 network for international connections was also a conservative
position, one that might have been accepted as a compromise.
In 1985 the EARN Board discussed requests to join from institutions in Eastern
European countries. At the time, a serious problem was the existence of COCOM
(coordinating committee for multilateral export controls) export regulations that
prohibited the export of sensitive technology (which covered almost all networking
equipment) to communist countries. It was also not clear how the United States
Department of Commerce would have reacted to the extension of EARN into
Hungary and Poland, the countries which had asked to join EARN. These arguments
seem quite amusing today but are linked to the political climate prevalent at the time.
The conclusion of the Board was to move carefully and to investigate the position of
the United States in this regard. During a Board meeting in October 1986 there was a
vote concerning the request from South Africa to join EARN. The request was
rejected with ten votes against and only one in favor – at the time, South Africa still
implemented an apartheid regime.
There is no doubt that EARN helped spread usage of networks in European
academic and research environments. In addition, EARN helped to weaken the
domination of the telecommunications monopolies in Europe. EARN can take credit
for setting up an international organization capable of designing and managing the
network, as well as ensuring the financing of that infrastructure after the financial
support of IBM ended in December 1987. At the beginning of 1987, EARN and
BITNET were able to connect some 3000 scientific institutions (two thirds of them
connected through gateways) with an estimated audience of 150 000 correspondents.
Today these numbers do not seem so impressive, but until the early 1990s EARN
provided the main instrument for cooperation in Europe amongst research and
academic institutions.
The first gateways were activated by BITNET. The most relevant was the gateway to
the IBM VM operating system. There was also a gateway to ARPAnet and one to
CSNET. Columbia University developed the gateway to DECnet. A gateway was then

developed for UNIX systems. These gateways were initially developed as test-beds.
They were not easy to use and were subject to code errors but gradually became more
reliable. Later the number of protocol emulators1)
would reach 32. In this way
BITNET and EARN gained the reputation of a heterogeneous network.
The main services provided by EARN were:
. e-mail
. file transfer
. instant messaging
. resource sharing between computers in the network
. access to libraries and databases
. LISTSERV (mailing list server), a system based on a distribution list that supports
interaction amongst groups of users with common interests.
The naming system adopted in the first years used the form “hosts.txt”, a non-
standard convention. ARPAnet adopted the DNS (domain name system) in 1984 and
EARN adopted it in the late 1980s. In 1988, DEC began supporting EARN with funds.
In 1991, EARN started to use the Internet for data transport and the justification for
keeping an independent international structure alive progressively vanished.
By early 1993, RARE – through the COSINE project – had set up the IXI
(international X.25 infrastructure) network and its plans for establishing an oper-
ational unit were well on the way to fruition. In April 1993, Marco Sommani
Figure 1.6 The EARN Board of Directors (about 1991). Back row, left to right: Hans Deckers (EARN
Manager, not a member of the Board), Marco Sommani (Treasurer), Frode Greisen (President),
L
aszló Csaba. Front row, left to right: Jean-Lo€
ıc Delhaye, Avi Cohen, Paul Bryant (Secretary).
1) A protocol emulator is a device inserted on a line connecting two computers which use incompatible
protocols. It manipulates signals and data passing between the two computers in such a way that it
appears to each of them as though it was a compatible machine.
20j 1 Early Days

(Trumpy’s successor as EARN’s Italian Director) and Stefano Trumpy (who was also a
member of the COSINE Policy Group, CPG) reported on the possible future of EARN
and provided an evaluation of COSINE as follows:
. The COSINE project pulled together the wish for a pan-European network
services organization based on the existence of well-organized national research
networks while using a federated approach.
. COSINE helped link the research networks with the relevant financing bodies of
the research and academic sector.
. COSINE ensured that RARE was involved with the organizational aspects of
a pan-European network. The EARN Board tried to promote a role for EARN
as one of the major service providers of the academic and research environ-
ment, but this failed due to the misconception that EARN was still linked
with IBM.
COSINE failed to create user services for the broader community. But on a
positive note COSINE created a managed multi-protocol backbone (EuropaNET,
European multi-protocol backbone network) and a central structure OU (opera-
tional unit) that offered European-scale network services to the research
networks. This OU still lacked structure but RARE had a fundamental role in
defining that unit. A merger of EARN with RARE could be an excellent oppor-
tunity although it had recently been rejected, not through lack of initiative on
EARN’s part. If the proposal cannot be reformulated, an alternative partner
should be found to make the best use of EARN’s networking expertise gained
over the last decade.
The relationship between EARN and RARE had been discussed for the first time as
long ago as 1986 and there had subsequently been an exchange of representation on
the two bodies; the EARN President had been nominated as the EARN representative
on the RARE Council of Administration and RARE had become an EARN interna-
tional member.
Despite these elements of cooperation, a merger with RARE was not generally
favored within the EARN community and another year would pass before the topic
was taken up again.
1.6
IXI
On completion of the COSINE specification phase as a result of the work undertaken
by RARE during 1987/8, it was decided that the first step in the COSINE imple-
mentation phase (CIP) would be to establish a pan-European network for the
academic and research community, which became known as IXI (International
X.25 infrastructure).
The European PTTs were still mostly state monopolies. The concept that they
should provide their customers with a “one-stop shop” for an international service
was a novel one. They were contemplating setting up a joint MDNS (managed data
1.6 IXI j21

network service) venture through the CEPTand at first it was thought that this service
might be used to meet the research networks’ requirement. In practice, the MDNS
never materialized but an offer was received in October 1988 from the Netherlands
PTT Telecom with several other telecom operators in Europe as sub-contractors.
Preliminary discussion within and between the organizations involved started in
autumn 1988. Because of the urgency of setting up a service, it was decided that the
technical planning and implementation of IXI would be carried out by staff from the
research networks in parallel with continued negotiation of the COSINE implemen-
tation phase execution contract (CIPEC) with RARE. Since the CIPEC was not yet
ready to be signed, RAREwas not in a position to take responsibility for managing the
funds required for IXI and the EC took on this role.
RARE established the IXI co-ordinating committee with one representative per
participating organization to provide overall direction of the project and the IXI
project team to provide day-to-day technical management. A contract between PTT
Telecom (now KPN, Koninklijke PTT Nederland) and the EC acting on behalf of the
CPGwas signed in October 1989 and the pilot service started a few months later. The
full IXI service was officially inaugurated on June 8 1990 in The Hague.
For the first few months, service availability and reliability were poor, due to
software problems with the X.25 switches. These problems were mainly in the
software modules that had been implemented to meet IXI’s specific requirements.
IXI was meant to be a one-year pilot service, but it continued until October 1992 when
it was replaced by the European multi-protocol backbone (EMPB) network. By this
time, the 64 kbps bandwidth was a major limitation. In addition, many of the
connecting research networks were moving towards the use of IP (Internet protocol)
rather than X.25.
The IXI project was started because it was clear that the international interconnec-
tions provided by the public X.25 networks were inadequate to support the European
research community and match the bandwidth available nationally. Subject-specific
networks, such as HEPnet (high-energy physics network), were starting to be estab-
lished but it was clearly necessary to establish an interconnection for the national
research networks for their general traffic. Although the initial target was for access at
64 kbps, it was a stated requirement that access at 2 Mbps should be available in due
coursebecausetherequirementsofthisusercommunitywouldobviouslygrow.Inthe
research network environment, traffic was typically doubling every year.
There were many issues that had to be addressed in the IXI planning phase,
technical, organizational and political. Many research networks had been created to
support universities and government research laboratories and because of national
connection policies (sometimes determined as a result of in-fighting between
different ministries) could not widen their range of client organizations; others
were already moving towards support for the whole education sector. “Acceptable
use” rules also varied and while it was easy to get agreement that the transport of
“commercial” traffic should be forbidden, there was no agreed definition of which
traffic was “commercial”.
Despite the PTTs’ earlier exploration of the MDNS (or perhaps as a result of it) PTT
Telecom in its lead role in IXI found itself in conflict with some of the other PTTs,
22j 1 Early Days

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Title: Hi Jolly!
Author: Jim Kjelgaard
Illustrator: Kendall Rossi
Release date: December 24, 2012 [eBook #41700]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan, Jen Haines and the
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HI JOLLY! ***

By Jim Kjelgaard
Illustrated by Kendall Rossi
Dodd, Mead Company New York 1960
© by Eddy Kjelgaard, 1959.
Second printing
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher
The general situation and many of the events described in this book
are based upon historical facts. However, the fictional characters are
wholly imaginative: they do not portray and are not intended to
portray any actual persons.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-6197
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Inc.,
Binghamton, N. Y.
Dedicated to
DOROTHY AND ED HANSEN

Contents
1. ALI FINDS THE DALUL 1
2. FUGITIVE 21
3. AMBUSH 38
4. THE HADJ 52
5. THE UNPARDONABLE SIN 64
6. THE STRANGE SHIP 78
7. ANOTHER PILGRIMAGE 94
8. TROUBLE 105
9. LIEUTENANT BEALE 120
10. THE EXPEDITION 133
11. THE WILDERNESS 145
12. THE ROAD 158
13. REUNION 174

1. Ali Finds the Dalul
The first gray light of very early morning was just starting to thin the
black night when Ali opened his eyes. He came fully awake, with no
lingering period that was part sleep and part wakefulness, but he
kept exactly the same position he had maintained while slumbering.
Until he knew just what lay about him, he must not move at all.
Motion, even the faintest stir and even in this dim light, was sure to
attract the eye of whoever might be near. In this Syrian desert, where
only the reckless turned their backs to their own caravan
companions, whoever might be near—or for that matter far—could be
an enemy.
When Ali finally moved, it was to extend his right hand, very slowly
and very stealthily, to the jeweled dagger that lay snugly sheathed
beneath the patched and tattered robe that served him as burnous
by day, and bed and bed covering by night. When his fingers curled
around the hilt, he breathed more easily. Next to a camel—of course
a dalul, or riding camel—a dagger was the finest and most practical
of possessions, as well as the best of friends.
As for owning a dalul, Ali hadn't even hoped to get so much as a
baggage camel for this journey. When it finally became apparent that
the celestial rewards of a trip to Mecca would be augmented by
certain practical advantages if he made his pilgrimage now, he had
just enough silver to pay for the ihram, or ceremonial robe that he
must don before setting foot in the Holy City. Even then, it had been
necessary to provide Mustapha, that cheating dog of a tailor, with
four silver coins—and two lead ones—and Mustapha had himself to
thank for that! When Ali came to ask the price, it was five pieces of
silver. When he returned to buy, it was six.

But the ihram, as well as the fifth silver coin which Mustapha might
have had if he'd retained a proper respect for a bargain, were now
safe beneath Ali's burnous. The dagger was a rare and beautiful
thing. It had been the property of some swaggering desert chief who,
while visiting Damascus, Ali's native city, had imprudently swaggered
into a dark corner.
Though he frowned upon killing fellow humans for other than the
most urgent reasons, and he disapproved completely of assassins
who slew so they might rob, it never even occurred to Ali that he was
obliged to do anything except disapprove. He knew the usual fate of
swaggering desert chieftains who entered the wrong quarters of
Damascus, and, when the inevitable happened, he did not spring to
the rescue. That was not required by his code of self-preservation. So
the assassin snatched his victim's purse and fled without any
intervention. Ali got the dagger.
In the light of the journey he was undertaking, and the manner in
which he was undertaking it, a dagger was infinitely more precious
than the best-filled purse. Mecca was indeed a holy city, but of those
who traveled the routes leading to it, not all confined themselves to
holy thoughts and deeds. Many a pilgrim had had his throat slit for a
trifle, or merely because some bandit felt the urge to practice throat
slitting. A dagger smoothed one's path, and, as he waited now with
his hand on the hilt of his protective weapon, Ali thought wryly that
his present path was in sore need of smoothing.
He'd left Damascus two weeks ago, intending to offer his services, as
camel driver, to the Amir of the nearby village of Sofad. He would
then travel to Mozarib with his employer's caravan. The very fact that
there would be force behind the group automatically meant that
there would also be reasonable safety. Located three days' journey
from Damascus, two from Sofad, Mozarib was the assembly point and
starting place for the great Syrian Hadj, or pilgrimage. It went
without saying that, if Ali tended to his camel driving and kept his
dagger handy, he would go all the way to Mecca with the great Hadj,
which often consisted of 5000 pilgrims and 25,000 camels.

Thus he had planned, but his plans had misfired.
He reached Sofad on the morning scheduled for departure, only to
find that the Amir, at the last moment, had decided to make this first
march toward Mozarib a cool one and had left the previous night.
Hoping to catch up, but not unmindful of the perils that beset the
way when he neared the camp of the Sofad pilgrims, Ali had decided
that it would be prudent to reconnoiter first. It had indeed been
prudent.
Peering down at the camp from a nest of boulders on a hillock, Ali
was just in time to see the Amir and his fourteen men beheaded, in a
most efficient fashion, by sword-wielding Druse tribesmen who'd
taken the camp. Afterwards, the raiders had loaded everything except
the stripped bodies of their victims on their own camels and
departed.

It was a time for serious thinking, to which Ali had promptly devoted
himself. Unfortunately, he failed also to think broadly, and the only
conclusion he drew consisted of the fact that it was still possible for
him to go on and join the Hadj. Camel drivers were always welcome.
Sparing not a single thought to the idea that Druse raiders would
rather kill than do anything else, Ali had almost been caught
unawares by the one who had slipped hopefully back to see if he
could find somebody else to behead. Ali had taken to his heels and,
so far, he had proved that he was fleeter than his pursuer. Tenacious
as any bloodhound, the Druse had stayed on his trail until yesterday
morning. Now he was shaken. Ali knew that he was somewhere
south of Damascus and, with any luck, might yet join the Hadj.
Help would not come amiss. Ali drank the last sip from his goatskin
water flask, shifted his dagger just a little, so it would be ready to his

hand should he have need of it, and made ready to address himself
to the one unfailing Source of help.
Though he had no more water, there was an endless supply of sand.
Good Moslems who could read and write had assured him that this
statement appears in the Koran: When ye rise up to prayer, wash
your faces and your hands and your arms to the elbows, and wipe
your heads and your feet to the ankles. Though it was commonly
assumed that one would cleanse himself with water before daring to
mention Allah's name, special provisions applied to special occasions.
For those who had no water, sand was an acceptable substitute.
His ablutions performed, Ali faced toward Mecca, placed an open
hand on either side of his face and intoned, God is most great.
Remaining in a standing position, he proceeded to the next phase of
the prayer that all good Moslems must offer five times daily.
It was the recitation of the opening sura, or verse, of the Koran. Ali,
who'd memorized the proper words, had not proceeded beyond, In
the name of the merciful and compassionate God. Praise belongs to
God— when he was interrupted by the roar of an enraged camel.
Ali halted abruptly, instantly and completely, forgetting the sacred rite
in which he'd been absorbed and that had five more complete
phases, each with prescribed gestures, before he might conclude it.
When he finally remembered, he was a little troubled; Allah might
conceivably frown upon whoever interrupted prayers to Him. But Ali
remembered also that Allah is indulgent toward those who are at war,
in danger, ill, or for other good reasons are unable to recite the
proper prayers in the proper way at the prescribed times.
Surely a camel in trouble—and, among other things, the beast's roar
told Ali that it was in trouble—was the finest of reasons for ignoring
everything else. Not lightly had the camel been designated as Allah's
greatest gift to mankind. To slight His gift would be to slight Him. His
conscience clear on that point, Ali devoted himself to analyzing the
various things he'd learned about when a camel roared in the
distance.

The earliest recollection of Ali, who'd never known father or mother,
was of his career as a rug vendor's apprentice in the bazaar of The
Street Called Straight. His master worked him for as many hours as
the boy could stay awake, beat him often and left him hungry when
he was unable to steal food. But the life was not without
compensations.
Though no longer enjoying the flourishing trade it had once known,
Damascus sat squarely astride the main route between the vast
reaches of Mohammedan Turkey and Mecca, the city that every good
Moslem must visit at least once during his lifetime. The Turks came
endlessly, and in numbers, and since it's only sensible to do a little
trading, even when on a holy pilgrimage, when they reached
Damascus, they stopped to trade at The Street Called Straight. But
though the pilgrims were interesting, Ali found the camels that
carried both the Turks and their goods infinitely more so.
He knew them all—plodding baggage beasts, two-humped bactrians,
the hybrid offspring of bactrians and one-humped camels, and all the
species and shades of species in between. But though he liked all
camels, he saved his love for the dromedary, the heira, the hygin,
riding camel, or, as Ali called them, the dalul.
Invariably ridden by proud men and never used for any purpose
other than riding, they were a breed apart. Slighter and far more
aristocratic than the baggage beasts, they could carry a rider one
hundred miles between sunrise and sunset, satisfy themselves with a
few handfuls of dates when the ride ended, and go without water for
five days. Their pedigrees, in many instances longer than those of
their riders, dated back to pre-Biblical history. The owner of a dalul
considered such a possession only slightly less precious than his life.
It was when he became acquainted with the dalul that Ali invented
his own mythical father. This parent was not a nameless vagabond,
petty thief, or fly-by-night adventurer who never even knew he'd
sired a son and wouldn't have cared if he had, but a renowned
trainer of dalul. It was he who went to the camel pastures and chose

the wild young stallions that were ready for breaking. Though they
would kill any ordinary man who ventured near, Ali's father gentled
them and taught them to accept the saddle and rein. Ali determined
that he himself must go out with the camels and promptly ran away
from his master.
Because he was too young to be of any imaginable use, the few
caravan masters who condescended to look at him usually aimed a
blow right after the look. For two years Ali was one of the numerous
boy-vagabonds who infested the bazaars of Damascus. If such a life
did not elevate the mind it could not help but sharpen the wits.
Then, just after his ninth birthday, Ali got his chance to go out with a
caravan. It was a very small and very poor one, fewer than fifty
camels, and the caravan master decided to take Ali only because he
was a boy. As such, quite apart from the fact that he could safely be
browbeaten, it was reasonable to assume that he had not had time
to learn all the tricks of experienced drivers, the more talented
among whom have been known to get rich, and leave the owners
poor, on just one journey.
Apart from their uses and physical functions, which he learned so
precisely that one glance enabled him to cite any camel's past history,
age, present state of health, and what it would probably do next, Ali
came to appreciate the true miracle of a camel. He was the one in
ten thousand, the camel driver who knew everything the rest did—
and much they did not—and who transcended that to understand
clearly the nature of the camel itself. So fine was his touch and so
complete the affinity between camels and himself, that even beasts
thought hopelessly unmanageable responded to him.
Nine years old when he made his first trip, Ali had spent the past nine
years on the caravan routes. He'd been to Baghdad, Istanbul, Tosya,
Trebizond. He went where the camels went and never cared if it was
two hundred miles or two thousand. But though every member of a
caravan is entitled to trade for himself, and many a camel driver has

become a caravan master or owner, Ali was as poor as on the day he
started.
Partly responsible for this was his consuming passion for camels and
his negligible interest in trading. Far more at fault was his origin. The
men of the caravans knew him as Ali, and only Allah could know
more about camels. To the merchants, who saw camels merely as the
most convenient method for transporting goods, he remained the
orphan waif of Damascus. They turned their backs upon one who had
neither family nor prestige, who could point to no achievement other
than an outstanding skill with camels. Now, camels were very
convenient, but, as every merchant in a perfumed drawing room
knew, they also smelled!
So Ali had a most compelling reason for deciding to undertake his
pilgrimage at this time. After he'd been to Mecca, like all others who
have completed the difficult and dangerous journey, he'd be entitled
to add the prefix Hadji to his name. That alone would never make
him the equal of the wealthy merchants who also had been to Mecca,
but it would surely make him the superior of all who had not. And
this was a vast number, since the life of a merchant is not necessarily
conducive to physical achievement and the journey to Mecca is hard.
Now, in a desert wilderness, while on the way to Mecca, a camel had
cried out to Ali, and he could not have helped responding, even if the
camel had cried while he was at prayer in the masjid-al-haram, the
Great Mosque of Mecca.
Its roar had already told Ali many things about the beast, including
the exact direction he must take to find it and approximately how far
he must go before locating it. The sound had had a certain timbre
and quality that hinted of regal things and regal bearing, therefore it
was not a baggage animal. However, neither did it have the awesome
blast of a fully-grown dalul. It was not challenging another stallion to
battle, but roaring in rage and defiance at something that it did not
know how to fear.

Ali's hand slipped back to the hilt of his dagger. Unmindful of the hot
little wind that had just arisen, and that would become hotter as the
day grew longer, he started toward the camel. Although he had never
been here before, he had traveled similar country often enough to
make a reasonably accurate guess as to the terrain that lay ahead.
It was a land of low hills, or hillocks, whose sides and narrow crests
supported a straggling growth of Aleppo pine intermixed with scrubby
brush. There was more than average rainfall, so the trees were
bigger and not as parched as those found in very arid regions. The
camel was in a gulley between the second and third hills. Ali climbed
the hill, slunk behind an Aleppo pine, peered around the trunk and
gasped.
There was a camp in the gulley—and a string of baggage camels and
men—but at first glance Ali saw nothing except the dalul. Of a deep
fawn color, which stamped it as one of the Nomanieh dromedaries, it
was still so young that it had not yet attained full growth. Located
apart from the rest, each separate leg was held by a separate rope,
and the bonds were stretched so tightly that the beast could hardly
move. A fifth rope, that encircled its neck, was equally tight.
Evidently bound in such a fashion for many hours, the young dalul
was weary, thirsty and choking. But, despite its obvious misery, this
was far and away the most magnificent beast Ali had ever beheld. It
was the riding camel he'd often dreamed of when, plodding along
some lonely caravan trail, he'd conjured up mental images of the
perfect dalul.
Further examination revealed why the young dalul was bound so
cruelly. Ali's lip curled in contempt.
The men—he counted nineteen—were part of the same band of
Druse tribesmen who'd pillaged the camp of Sofad and massacred its
people. Evidently they considered themselves safe here, since they
kept no watch at all and seemed to be unconcerned about anything.
The twenty-nine camels on the picket line were all stolid baggage

animals such as even Druse could handle. The young dalul was
something else.
There was no telling just how it had fallen into the hands of the
Druse; a dalul so fine would certainly be carefully guarded.
Regardless of how the raiders had obtained the animal, they could
not handle it. Obviously, it had turned on them and probably hurt
somebody—Ali voiced a fervent hope that the injury was not a light
one—and now the dalul was tightly bound, to insure that it would
hurt nobody else.
Ali whispered, Have patience, brother.
Slowly and thoroughly, beginning at one end and letting his eyes
move alertly to the other, Ali inspected the camp and confirmed an
ugly truth that had already been pointed out by common sense. With
eight good men at his back, and the element of surprise in their
favor, he would have a reasonable chance of storming the camp. But,
as things were—
He'd help neither the dalul nor himself by joining his ancestors at this
moment, Ali decided. He pulled the burnous over his head, drew the
dagger from its sheath and settled down to wait.
The light grew, and the heat with it, as the sun climbed higher. Ali
risked moving just enough to pick up a pebble and put it on his
tongue. He had no water, and if the wait proved a long one, the
pebble would help relieve thirst. He must not move again, though.
The merest flicker could be one too many, and certainly a Druse
tribesman with even a baggage camel could run down a man who
hadn't any.
A camel rider, coming into camp from the south, roused not the least
interest among the men already there, and Ali took mental note of
the incident. Doubtless these raiders were flanking the great Hadj,
but surely they could not be insane enough to attack it. Probably they
intended to waylay small groups coming from various sources to join
the Hadj, just as they had the camp of Sofad. The very fact that the

camel rider came almost unnoticed proved that the raiders had a
sentry posted to the south, and the sentry had somehow advised his
companions of the rider's approach. Apparently, they anticipated no
interference from any other point of the compass.
Sudden hope rose in Ali's heart. The rider might be bringing news of
another caravan to be attacked, and, if so, he and his companions
would depart very shortly. Since they did not know how to control it
anyhow, they would not take the dalul with them. Ali's eyes strayed
back to the tethered animal.
It must have come from the very choicest of the riding camels of
some mighty official. Even the Pasha of Damascus would not have
many such, for the simple reason that there weren't many. More than
ever, it represented all the perfection dreamed of by some camel
breeder—some long-dead camel breeder, since the dalul had never
been produced in one generation or during the life span of one man
—who knew the desert and yearned for the ideal camel.
Watching the dalul, Ali found his own mounting thirst easier to bear.
The animal had been without water longer than he and probably was
desperate for a drink—but refused to show it. Ali had learned while
still apprenticed to the rug vendor that camels may be as thirsty as
any other creatures. He turned his eyes back to the men.
One, in a rather desultory fashion, was mending a pack saddle. Two
or three others were at various small chores and the rest were
sleeping in the shade of their own tents. The hardness flowed back
into Ali's eyes.
No followers of Mohammed, the Druse were devoted to heathen gods
and rituals. It was not for that, or their hypocrisy—a Druse tribesman
going among other peoples usually pretended to accept the religion
of his hosts—or their thievery, or the fact that they seldom attacked
anyone at all unless the odds were heavily in their favor, that Ali now
hated them. He'd have hated anyone at all who mistreated such a
dalul in such a fashion!

It occurred to Ali that he had neglected the prayer he should have
offered immediately after the sun rose and probably would have to
omit proper ceremonies at high noon, but it did not worry him. Allah,
the Compassionate, would surely understand that there are certain
inconveniences attached to the observance of prayers while in the full
sight of hostile Druse. Nor would He frown upon Ali for refusing to let
the dalul out of his sight. When Ali left the camp, the dalul was
leaving with him.
Passing the noon mark and starting its swing to the west, the full
glare of the sun no longer burned down on Ali's burnous, and the
branches of the Aleppo pine offered some shade. But since the day
became hotter as it grew longer, with the hottest hour of any being
that one just preceding sunset, there was little relief from the heat.
Ali lay as still as possible, partly because the slightest motion would
be sure to excite the curiosity of any Druse who happened to glance
his way and partly because moving must inevitably make him hotter.
Helping him to accept with grace what almost any other man of
almost any other nation would have found an unendurable wait were
certain talents and characteristics that had been his from birth.
Though he'd never even known his own father, Ali was of ancient
blood. Few of his ancestors, throughout all the generations, had ever
had the facilities, even though they might possess the best of
reasons, for going anywhere in a hurry. Ali came of people who knew
how to wait, and added to his inheritance was his experience with
the caravans. Regardless of when a shipment had been promised for
delivery in Baghdad or Aleppo, it lingered along the way, if the camels
that carried it developed sore feet en route.
In some measure, Ali suffered from heat, and, to a far greater extent,
he knew the tortures of thirst, but he accepted both with the inborn
fatalism of one who knows he must accept what he can neither
change nor prevent. Heat and thirst were passing factors. Unless he
died first, in which event he'd join Allah's celestial family, sooner or
later he'd be cool and he'd drink.

There'd been little action in the camp all day, but toward night the
Druse stirred. They did so surlily, grudgingly, after the fashion of men
who do not like what they've been doing in the recent past and have
no reason to suppose they'll be doing anything more interesting in
the near future. Rather than build cooking fires, they nibbled dates,
meal and honey cakes, and drank from goatskin flasks. There was no
singing, not even much shouting. The Druse, born raiders who could
be happy only when in the saddle and riding to the attack, must now
be unhappy and snarl at each other because their scouts, who were
doubtless haunting every caravan trail, had brought no news of
quarry sighted.
Night came, and with it a coolness so refreshing that it inspired Ali to
thoughts of the heavenly bath that must be enjoyed by Allah's

angels. The cool night air fell and enfolded him like a gentle flood,
but with no hint of the earth's dross. After a blazing day, it was as
welcome as the sight of green palms ringing an oasis.
Ali reveled in the coolness, but not nearly as much as he did in the
fact that, with night, the Druse camp quieted. After waiting another
hour, he drew his dagger and went forward.
The sky was cloudless, but there was no moon and, at this early
hour, very few stars shone. Ali advanced with silent and unfaltering
speed, in spite of the fact that he could see almost nothing. A dozen
times during the day he had marked the exact route between himself
and the young dalul. He knew where he was going.
Ali's fingers tightened on the dagger's hilt. If Allah saw fit to reveal
him to the Druse, he hoped that the All Merciful would see equally fit
to defend himself manfully. When Ali was within a dozen yards of the
dalul, the peaceful night was shattered by an alarm.
Ho! Wake and arm! There is an enemy among us!
Because that was all he could do, Ali began to run. He had cast his
lot, and now all depended on the dalul. If he could free it, then
mount and ride, he and the camel would be safe at least until
morning.
Ali was within an arm's length of the dalul when it turned and spoke
to him. It was a guttural sound, and scarcely audible, but as different
from the usual camel's grunt as the scream of a hawk is from the
chirp of a robin. Even as he flung himself forward and started
slashing at the nearest rope, Ali heard and correctly interpreted.
The dalul had just said that it would kill him if it could!

2. Fugitive
The picketed camels, that never saw any reason to give way to
excitement just because humans did, shuffled their feet, grunted and
went on munching fodder. His warning voiced, the young dalul
remained silent. He would waste no more breath on threats or further
warnings; just let any man who came near enough look to his own
safety! His very silence had all the lethal promise of a poised,
unsheathed dagger!
Ali said, I hear, oh lord of all dalul, and I understand. But behold, I
free you!
He spoke calmly, and there was no fear to be detected by the young
camel because there was none in Ali. This young camel driver, who
had seen the shadow of death, or heard death whisper, as frequently
as did all those who ventured forth on the lonely caravan routes, now
assured himself that he was not necessarily looking upon a forbidding
being in this tortured camel. But, be that as it may, he must take the
chance. The incurably ill, the weary old, the oppressed, the
mistreated, knew no friend more kind than Ali.
However, though he talked slowly and softly, he moved swiftly as a
leaping panther while he cut the first rope and went at once to the
second. The Druse camp was silent, and had been since that first
shouted alarm, but it was alert and the Druse were no fools. Certainly
they would know better than to come yelling and leaping, brandishing
weapons and mouthing threats.
Far more probable, Ali wouldn't even know an enemy was within
striking distance until he saw—or felt—the pointed dagger that was
seeking his heart or heard the swish of a descending sword. Then, if
Allah so decreed, one less camel driver would return to the caravan
routes.

As he cut the remaining ropes, Ali continued to speak soothingly to
the young dalul. Far from nervous, or even slightly excited, the young
rescuer was almost serenely calm. Death would certainly be his
portion if the Druse had their way, and, of course, there was also a
good chance that he would die if he liberated the young dalul. But
some deaths are much sweeter than others.
It would be far easier, and more honorable, to die under the
trampling feet of a good Moslem dalul than under the sword or
dagger of a heathen Druse. Besides, even though the dalul first killed
Ali, there remained the satisfactory probability that he would then
turn upon and kill one or more of the villains.
Ali cut the final rope, the one about the dalul's neck, and waited
calmly. He lowered the hand holding the dagger. He'd have sheathed

the weapon, except that one or more of the Druse might be upon
him at any moment and a dagger would be a convenient article to
have in hand. But Ali had no intention of fighting the dalul, or even of
resisting should it attack him.
He said calmly, You are free, brother.
Not accustomed to freedom after standing so long bound by
cramping ropes, the dalul shook his head and stamped his forefoot.
Then he gave two prodigious sidewise leaps toward the picketed
baggage camels and roared.
The baggage camels crowded very close together, as though for the
comfort each found in the others, when the dalul leaped. His roar
robbed them of common sense, so that they began a wild plunging.
Even better than Ali, the baggage camels knew the dalul's quality.
They'd have broken their tethers and stampeded had not some of the
Druse taken note of the situation and rushed in to quiet the terrified
beasts.
For the first time, Ali had a few fleeting moments to wonder why he
still lived. It had seemed inevitable that, if the Druse did not kill him,
the dalul most certainly would. Perhaps, during the tortured hours it
had stood as captive, it had marked its enemies and knew Ali was not
among them. More probable, Ali's gift, his ability to understand and
be understood by all camels, had proved itself once again.
Ali shrugged. He didn't know, and probably never would know, just
why the dalul had not killed him the instant it was free. But Allah
knew, and it was not for Ali to question or even wonder about His
judgments.
Ali's business was camels. He decided that it was high time he took
his business in hand and called the dalul.
It responded, but before coming all the way to Ali, it stopped twice to
bestow a long, lingering and disappointed look upon the camp of the
Druse. Raging, but bound and helpless, the dalul had promised his
captors a battle as soon as he was free. The challenge still stood,

and, even though the Druse were not accepting, the situation
rebounded to Ali's benefit. While the dalul roamed the camp, the
enemy dared not move freely, and Ali's peril was correspondingly
less.
After his second inspection of the enemy camp, the dalul did not stop
again or even look about him but continued straight to Ali. He halted
a few steps away and grunted a little camel song. Then he extended
his long neck and lightly laid his head on his rescuer's shoulder. Ali
embraced the great head with both arms and pressed his cheek close
to the dalul's neck.
Mighty one! he crooned. Peerless one! Where is a name worthy of
such as you?
The Druse were continuing the hunt, and when and if they found Ali,
they'd be overjoyed to kill him as dead as possible in the shortest
necessary time. But creeping into an armed Druse camp, his only
weapons a dagger and courage, was one matter. Waiting beside the
young dalul, whom the Druse had every reason to fear, was quite
another. Again Ali addressed the young stallion.
Sun of cameldom! Jewel of the caravan routes! By what title may
you be called so that, wherever you may venture, all men shall know
your deeds when you are called by name?
The young dalul—and if he had the faintest interest in the name Ali
or anyone else might bestow, there was no indication of that—took
his head from Ali's shoulder to sniff his hand. Obviously, it was high
time for Ali to seek divine assistance in determining a name for the
dalul, and it would not come amiss to indicate that haste was in
order. Even Druse tribesmen, knowing Ali was in camp but failing to
find him, must sooner or later deduce that he was with the dalul.
Ali faced Mecca. He began his supplication with the customary
Allahu akbar—God is most great. He ended it at precisely the same
place, more than a little overwhelmed by the speed with which Allah

may respond to even the least of His worshipers. Ali had scarcely
started when he knew the name he sought. He whirled to the dalul.
From this moment you shall be known as Ben Akbar! he declared
happily. Ben Akbar!
Transcending mere perfection, the name was a stroke of genius. Ben
Akbar, the unequaled, the peerless, the greatest dalul of any. No
matter how hard they racked their own brains, regardless of the
masters of rhetoric they might consult, no camel rider anywhere
would ever hit upon a name that described his favorite in terms more
superlative.
Now that Ben Akbar bore the only name that truly conformed to his
dignity and power, Ali turned his thoughts to affairs of the moment.
His entry into the Druse camp, audacious though it had been, never
would have created other than momentary alarm. Freeing Ben Akbar,
a confirmed killer camel in the mind of every Druse, gave a wholly
different meaning to the entire affair. The least of the raiders would
happily prowl the camp in search of Ali. But while darkness held
sway, not even the best of them cared to chance an encounter with
Ben Akbar.
In addition, or so the Druse would think, killer camels made no
distinction among Moslems, Christians, Jews, or men of any other
faith. They killed whomsoever they were able to catch. Since Ali had
been near enough to cut the dalul's bindings, it followed that the
killer camel had been able to catch him.
Regardless of anything the Druse thought at the moment, Ali knew
that they would not continue to remain deceived after sunrise. The
signs, the tracks, would be there for them to read, and few desert
dwellers read signs more skillfully. Despite anything their minds told
them, their eyes would leave no doubt that Ali and the dalul had
gone away together.
For a brief interval, Ali speculated concerning the inscrutable ways of
Allah, who had bestowed upon the Druse tribesmen a maximum of

ferocity and a minimum of common sense. Obviously, it was his duty
to take certain most urgent action if he would live to greet another
sunset.
At night, the Druse would have no stomach for attacking, or even
coming near, Ben Akbar. As soon as a new day brought light enough
so they could see, they'd never hesitate. If Ali happened to be near
Ben Akbar, where he had every intention of being, he'd be found.
Ali said softly, We go, brother. With Ben Akbar pacing contentedly
at his shoulder, he faded into the darkness.
Although Ali wanted to go south, where he thought he'd have the
best chance of meeting the great Hadj, and the gulley in which the
Druse were camped ran almost directly north-south, he did not go
down that gulley. There was at least one enemy outpost stationed
there—and possibly more.
Ali climbed the ridge, retracing almost exactly the path he'd followed
when he came to the rescue of Ben Akbar. Rather than stop when he
gained the summit, he went on down into the next gulley and
climbed the following ridge. On the summit of that, he finally halted.
Ben Akbar, who sported neither tether rope nor rein but who was
amiably willing to walk behind Ali where the path was narrow and
beside him where space permitted, came up from behind and thrust
his long neck over his friend's shoulder. Ali reached up to caress the
mighty head.
The baggage animals he'd seen in the Druse camp were just that,
ponderous beasts, bred to carry six hundred or more pounds a
distance of twenty-five miles at a stretch and to bear this enormous
burden day after day. Under ordinary circumstances, they'd be no
match for the dalul, but Ben Akbar was more than just tired and
hungry. An hour of the torment he'd endured was enough to sap
more strength than an entire day on the trail. His hump, that
unfailing barometer of a camel's condition, was half the size it should
have been. There was no way of telling when he'd had his last drink
of water.

This last, Ali told himself, was of the utmost importance. Every urchin
on every caravan route knows that camels store water in their own
bodies, and that it is entirely possible for some seasoned veterans of
the caravan trails to plod on, though at an increasingly slower pace,
for three, four, or even five days without any water save that which
they absorb from their fodder. But those are the exceptions. As
noted, given an opportunity, camels will drink as much and as
frequently as any creature of similar size, and a thirsty camel is
handicapped.
So, although Ali might have laughed in their faces had Ben Akbar
been rested and well-nourished, the Druse, who would most certainly
be on their trail the instant it was light enough to see, had more than
a good chance of overtaking them before nightfall. But before Ali
could concern himself with the Druse, there was something he must
do.
Kneel! he commanded.
Ben Akbar knelt, settling himself with surprising grace. Ali mounted.
Though there was no riding saddle, he seated himself where it should
have been and placed his feet properly, one on either side of the
base of Ben Akbar's neck. There was no rein either, but the finest of
the dalul were carefully schooled to obey the spoken word without
regard to rein. Ali gave the command to rise, then bade Ben Akbar
go.
Ben Akbar's gait was as gentle as the evening wind that ruffles the
new-sprouted fronds of young date palms. Ali sent him to the right,
then the left, relying on spoken commands alone and getting a
response so perfect that there'd have been no need of a rein, even if
the dalul wore one. Ali no longer had reason to wonder if Ben Akbar
was the property of a rich man. None except the wealthy could afford
the fees demanded by riding masters who knew the secret of
teaching a camel to obey spoken orders.
Though he knew he should not, Ali ordered Ben Akbar to run. The
camel obeyed instantly, yet so imperceptible was the change in pace,

and so rhythmically smooth was his run, that he had attained almost
full speed before his rider realized that the change had been made.
Ali sat unmoving, letting the wind fan his cheeks and reveling in this
ride as he had delighted in nothing else he could remember. The gait
of riding camels varies as much as that of riding horses, but Ben
Akbar stood alone. Rather than landing with spine-jarring thuds as he
raced on, his feet seemed not even to touch the earth.
Ali had never ridden a smoother-gaited camel...but suddenly it
occurred to him that the ride had better end. Bidding his mount halt,
Ali slid to the ground and went around to where he could pet Ben
Akbar's nose.
You are swift as the wind itself, and the back of the downiest bird is
a bed of stones and thorns compared with the back of Ben Akbar, he
stated. But it is not now that you should run.
Ben Akbar sniffed Ali gravely and blew through his nostrils. Ali
responded, as though he were answering a question.
The Druse, he explained, tonight they are helpless, for even if they
would follow, they cannot see our path in the darkness. But rest
assured that they shall be upon our trail with the first light of
morning and they know well how to get the most speed from their
baggage beasts. If you were rested and nourished, I would laugh at
a dozen—nay!—a thousand such! But you are weary and ill-cared-for,
so tonight we must spare your strength. Tomorrow, you may have to
run away from the Druse!
The next day was two hours old, and Ali and Ben Akbar were still
walking south, when Ali glanced about and saw the mounted Druse
sweep over a hillock.
At the same instant, they saw him and raced full speed to the kill.

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