very high speed Backbone Network Services
Very high speed Backbone Network Service (US equivalent to SuperJANET)
very high-speed Backbone Network Service, the NSF's high-speed ATM research network to replace NSFNet. Connects the five NSF supercomputer centers and four Internet NAPs; UIC was the first additional institution to join.
The vBNS (very-high-performance Backbone Network Service) came on line in April 1995 as part of a National Science Foundation sponsored project to provide high-speed interconnection between NSF-Sponsored supercomputing centers and select access points. The network was engineered and operated by MCI Telecommunications under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. By 1998, the vBNS had grown to connect more than 100 universities and research and engineering institutions via 12 national points of presence with DS-3, OC-3 and OC-12 links on an all OC-12 network, a substantial engineering feat for that time.