North American Network Operators' Group
The North American Network Operators' Group is a forum for the coordination and dissemination of information to backbone/enterprise networking technologies and operational practices. It runs meetings, talks, surveys, and a mailing list for Internet service providers. The main method of communication is the NANOG mailing list, a free mailing list to which anyone may subscribe or post.
History
NANOG evolved from the NSFNET "Regional-Techs" meetings, where technical staff from the regional networks met to discuss operational issues. At the February 1994 regional tech meeting in San Diego, the group revised its charter to include a broader base of network service providers and subsequently adopted NANOG as its new name. NANOG was organized by Merit Network, a non-profit Michigan organization, from 1994 through 2011, when it was transferred to NewNOG.Funding
Funding for NANOG originally came from the National [Science Foundation] as part of two projects Merit undertook in partnership with NSF and other organizations: the NSFNET Backbone Service and the Routing Arbiter project. All NANOG funds came from conference registration fees and donations from vendors, and starting in 2011, membership dues.Meetings
NANOG meetings are held three times each year and include presentations, tutorials, and BOFs. There are also lightning talks, where speakers can submit brief presentations on a very short term. Conference participants typically include senior engineering staff from tier 1 and tier 2 ISPs. In addition to the conferences, NANOG On the Road events offer single-day networking events.NANOG meetings are organized by NewNOG, Inc., a Delaware non-profit organization, which took over responsibility for NANOG from the Merit Network in February 2011. Meetings are hosted by NewNOG and other organizations from the U.S. and Canada. Overall leadership is provided by the NANOG Steering Committee, established in 2005, and a Program Committee.