astronomy

Stanford University Network

Stanford University Network is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stanford University Network rather than just read about it. In short: The Stanford University Network, also known as SUN, SUNet or SU-Net is the campus computer network for Stanford University. History Stanford Research Institute, formerly part of Stanford but on a separate campus, was the site of one of the four original ARPANET nodes.

Key takeaways

Stanford University Network belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stanford University Network to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stanford University Network from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Stanford University Network, also known as SUN, SUNet or SU-Net is the campus computer network for Stanford University.

History Stanford Research Institute, formerly part of Stanford but on a separate campus, was the site of one of the four original ARPANET nodes. Later ARPANET nodes were located in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Computer Science Department, and the Stanford University Medical Center. In late 1979, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center donated equipment including Xerox Alto computers, a laser printer, and file server connected by Ethernet local area network technology. A router based on the PDP-11 computer from Digital Equipment Corporation with software from MIT was used to connect the Ethernet to the ARPANET. The PARC Universal Packet protocol was initially used on the local parts of the network, which was the experimental version of Ethernet with a data rate under 3 megabits/second. As the TCP/IP protocols evolved through the 1980s, a TCP/IP network was built on the main campus, extending to other departments, and connecting many other computers. This network was called the Stanford University Network or SUN. Today, the campus network is referred to as SUNet. Andy Bechtolsheim, a Stanford graduate student at the time, designed a SUN workstation for use on the network in 1980. It was inspired by the Alto, but used a more modular design powered by a Motorola 68000 processor interfaced to other circuit boards using Multibus. The workstations were used by researchers to develop the V-System and other projects. Bechtolsheim licensed the design to become the basis of the products of Sun Microsystems (whose name was a pun based on the SUN acronym). The CPU board could be configured with Bechtolsheim's experimental Ethernet boards, or commercial 10 megabit/second boards made by 3Com or others to act as a router. These routers were called Blue Boxes for the color of their case. The routers were developed and deployed by a group of students, faculty, and staff, including Len Bosack who was in charge of the computer science department's computers, and Sandy Lerner who was the Director of Computer Facilities for the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. All told there were about two dozen Blue Boxes scattered across campus. This original router design formed the base of the first Cisco Systems router hardware products, founded by Bosack and Lerner (who were married at the time). The original router software was called NOS, Network Operating System, written by William Yeager, a staff research engineer at Stanford's medical school. Distinguishing features of NOS were that it was written in C and that it was multi-tasking capable; this allowed additional network interfaces and additional features to be easily added as new tasks. NOS was the basis of Cisco's IOS operating system. In 1987, Stanford licensed the router software and two computer boards to Cisco, after investigations by Stanford staff members such as Les Earnest.

References

External links Router man, an interview with William Yeager

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stanford University Network

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stanford University Network claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stanford University Network before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stanford University Network ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stanford University Network

In research: Stanford University Network appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stanford University Network in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stanford University Network is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics ARPANET, History of the Internet, Stanford University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stanford University Network outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stanford University Network in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stanford University Network means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stanford University Network out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stanford University Network in simple terms?

The Stanford University Network, also known as SUN, SUNet or SU-Net is the campus computer network for Stanford University. History Stanford Research Institute, formerly part of Stanford but on a separate campus, was the site of one of the four original ARPANET nodes.

Why does Stanford University Network matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stanford University Network?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stanford University Network.