JANET
More info
- Released
- 1984
- Owner
- Jisc
- Type
- Research network
The UK academic network, which spent seven years writing its addresses backwards compared with everyone else.
The Joint Academic Network went live in 1984, linking British university computers over X.25. On top it ran not TCP/IP but the Coloured Book protocols, a home-grown British family in which Grey Book handled mail and Blue Book handled file transfer. Its Name Registration Scheme put the biggest part of a domain first: uk.ac.cam.cl rather than cl.cam.ac.uk. Mail between JANET and the internet passed through gateways that flipped addresses around, with mixed results.
The JIPS IP service opened in 1991, and the Coloured Books were retired over the following years. The ac.uk ordering is the one mark the academic road left behind. JANET is run today by Jisc and is still how British universities reach the internet.