Network

Belnet has a long-running Scalability Improvement Project, aimed at strengthening the core of the Belnet network and improving connectivity. Recently, significant steps have been taken, including the upgrade of routers and the migration of some Points of Presence (PoPs).

International Connectivity uses the GÉANT network, of which Belnet is a part. Belgian research and higher education institutions can therefore make point-to-point connections with sites abroad without leaving the research network.

Félix Gaudin gave a Lightning Talk about his thesis regarding an open-source tool allowing internet users to measure latency more precisely and efficiently

Federal Public Services (FPSs) are connected by Belnet to one another and to the Internet via FedMAN (Federal Metropolitan Area Network). FedMAN is an essential part of the federal government's IT infrastructure and was fully integrated into the Belnet network about 10 years ago. Recently, in line with the rest of the Belnet network, the FedMAN ring has been running entirely on new equipment from Ciena. Tom De Clercq, one of our network architects, explains the benefits of this renewal and how the network team brought this project to a successful conclusion.

As part of its new connectivity strategy, Belnet launched a large-scale public tender in 2021. This aimed at concluding a five-year framework agreement with a single contractor that will provide WAN connectivity for federal government services.

The number of DDoS attacks has increased significantly worldwide in recent years. They are also becoming more complex and powerful.

From January 2023, your institution, whether or not it is a G-Cloud member, can access Belnet FedSender thanks to Belnet's implementation of a discovery service that directs to your authentication system.

To meet the increasing demand for higher bandwidths, Belnet has modified the design of its network. The heart of our backbone now features new hardware that allows us to upgrade our other Points of Presence in a scalable manner.

As part of our Service Improvement Programme, in early October we initiated a series of changes to make the Belnet network more resistant to DDoS attacks. The cooperation of all our member organisations is crucial to the success of this project.