The North Dakota Information Network (NDIN) consists of eleven higher education institutions, the Online Dakota Information Network (ODIN), North Dakota state government agencies, North Dakota K-12 (SENDIT) and various other institutions. These organizations are interconnected by a public frame relay network administered by U S West Communications. In order to provide higher speeds across the state the

NDIN Executive Committee, upon recommendation from the NDIN Technical Committee, has approved the purchase of a high-speed 45Mbit (DS3) link between UND and NDSU and between the Informational Services Division (ISD) in Bismarck and NDSU. This circuit will use asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) which segments packets into fixed 53 byte cells so that they can be switched at high speeds throughout the network. This technology will broaden our ability to combine voice, data and video that will reduce operational costs, increase performance, maximize flexibility and reduce the overall complexity of our information infrastructure.