Hi, This isn't really a North American Operational issue, but I couldn't find a more appropriate list to post this on. Please bear with me. I do hope that some of the replies would be useful to network operators. [1] From what I know, ANS was formed by Merit, IBM and MCI in 1990 to run the NSFNET backbone. Could somebody update me on the current status of ANS - i.e. after NSFNETs demise in 1995, did ANS become independent and does it qualify as an NSP in its own right? [2] Is there an equivalent to NANOG for Europe and Asia and is there an equivalent list which discusses operational issues for these continents? Pointers appreciated. [3] Is there a web page which lists all the public CIXs and NAPs around the world? Pointers appreciated. [4] Some recent threads on NANOG discussed physical layer issues like SONET, SDH, circuit layout etc. Could somebody point me to technical papers / articles / books which describe fiber and copper technology in detail. TIA. -dj ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com