Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

CUHK; The Internet Hub of Hong Kong Hong Kong's First Internet Connection I n 1991, the Department of Information Engineering set up the first Internet l i n k in H o n g K o n g to the Na t i o n a l Aeronautics and Space Adm i n i s t r a t i on ( N A S A ) in the Un i t e d States. The l i n k was thereafter open to all tertiary institutions in the territory for Internet connections w i t h the rest of the world. HKIX-the First Internet Exchange Centre Wh at followed was the mu s h r o om i ng of H o n g Kong-based Internet service providers (ISP), which made their own linkages to the Internet i n the States. However, communication among different ISPs themselves also had to be routed through the States, which was time-consuming an d expensive. I n 1995, the I TSC of C U H K set up the H K I X to provide a n interconnection point for local ISPs as well as the H o n g K o n g Academic and Research Ne t wo rk ( H A R N E T ), whose members are ma i n l y local tertiary institutions. Since then inter-ISP traffic no longer need to be routed outside H o n g Ko n g , which saves a lot of money and reduces the volume o f traffic to the States, thereby speeding up data delivery between H o n g K o ng an d the States. Th i s i n t u r n attracts mo re app l i c an t s f or I n t e r n e t connectivity and results in a larger number o f ISPs in Ho n g Kong. A t the same time, H K I X helps to speed up data delivery within Ho n g Ko n g and between Ho ng Ko n g and overseas, as a result o f which the use o f multimedia applications on the ne t has become increasingly popular locally. Ap a r t f r om the running of H K I X , the I TSC took up the registration of domain names ending w i th ‘.hk ，’ and set up a database o f websites i n H o n g Kong. The University has b e c ome t h e de facto Internet hub of Ho n g Kong. The 'brain' of HKIX IT: The Name of the Game