Netz.ac e.V. and its legal predecessors can look back on 30 years of eventful history.
In addition, we have listed some remarkable achievements of other associations that had a direct impact on our club. These are marked with an *.
| Stardate | Dormitory | Notable Event |
|---|---|---|
| 01.04.2026 | Bärenstraße 19 | Right on time for April 1st, the Netz.ac e.V. network at Bärenstraße 19 goes live. The network launches with minimal interruptions and IPv6 from day one. |
| 20.01.2026 | Bärenstraße 19 | Starting April 1st, Netz.ac e.V. will also provide the network in the Bärenstraße 19 student dormitory. We are excited about the expanded scope of responsibility and the challenges that come with it. |
| 30.10.2025 | Kullenhof | We once again host the TANAG at Kullenhof. This time around 90 people attended, with numerous talks and interesting conversations about our field of activity. |
| 30.12.2024 | The “Netzwerk-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kullenhof e.V.” is merged into “Netz.ac e.V.”. The integration process is thus organizationally complete. | |
| 30.01.2024 | “Netzwerk KaWo.ac e.V.” becomes “Netz.ac e.V.” – now Kullenhof no longer gets lost in the name either 😉 | |
| 18.10.2023 | Kullenhof | After long and at times tough negotiations, we take over network operations in the Kullenhof student dormitory in November 2023. We are happy to offer even more students a service that is good beyond compare. So that Kullenhof does not get lost in our web presence, we now appear exclusively under https://netz.ac. |
| 26.10.2022 | For the first time since Corona, a TANAG takes place again – and for the first time at KaWo3! We provide the venue & partial funding, while various other smaller dormitories handle the organization. | |
| 06.08.2022 | Kullenhof* | After well over 10 years, the Cisco Catalyst 7604 goes into well-deserved retirement. |
| 15.04.2022 | KaWo1 | The first electronic locking system at KaWo1 is up and running. May many more follow! |
| 25.10.2021 | We take over the Kullenhof TV server service and make this popular service available to other dormitories as well. | |
| 09.05.2021 | KaWo3 | A fire breaks out in the basement of KaWo3 House 4 at around 3:00 in the morning. All our hardware in the building is destroyed. By the afternoon, we are already able to offer many residents (albeit limited) service again. Thanks to KaWo 2 for that! The repair work takes about half a year. |
| 06.03.2021 | KaWo1 | Our last HP ProCurve switches at KaWo1 finally go into well-deserved retirement. |
| 14.03.2020 | SARS-CoV-2 strikes. All office hours are cancelled for over a year. A good time to strive for going as paperless as possible and for extensive automation. | |
| 01.2020 | KaWo3 | The WiFi rollout at KaWo 3 is finally complete. |
| Q1 2019 | We change our branding and from now on appear exclusively under https://kawo.ac. | |
| 27.09.2018 | “Netzwerkgruppe KaWo1 e.V.” becomes “Netzwerk KaWo.ac e.V.” – now KaWo3 no longer gets lost in the name either 😉 | |
| 04.07.2018 | KaWo1 | After 2014, we host a TANAG at KaWo1 for the second time in recent history. |
| 23.01.2018 | After much work, the new statutes for a joint network group of KaWo1 and KaWo3 are adopted. Various detail changes follow in the coming months! | |
| 15.12.2017 | Bärenstraße 19* | After long planning (the first considerations go back well before 2014): start of the renewal of the LAN cables in all buildings. So (almost) everyone gets to enjoy Gigabit! |
| Q4 2017 | A permanently joint network group of KaWo1 and KaWo3 is up for debate. Residents are surveyed, discussions flare up. | |
| 21.07.2017 | Our shared office with the (then still to be founded) KaWo Drei e.V. is set up at KaWo3. From now on, we offer additional office hours at KaWo3. | |
| 06.2017 | KaWo1 | We begin replacing all switches at KaWo1. |
| 01.03.2017 | KaWo3 | Operations at KaWo3 commence! |
| 02.2017 | KaWo1 | Finally, WiFi! Kaworoam goes live at KaWo1! |
| 01.2017 | KaWo1 | Yes, we are a bit late to the party, but now we also offer DHCP for all user devices. |
| 17.08.2015 | As of today, the parking lot behind KaWo1 is being dug up. Construction of KaWo3 has now officially begun! We worry about our fiber-optic cable laid there and hope everything goes well… | |
| 25.06.2014 | The tradition-steeped meeting of the Aachen network working groups (TANAG) was hosted at KaWo1 this year (in close cooperation with KaWo2). Around 60 visitors from the Aachen dormitories and the IT Center were wonderfully catered for with food from the grill, drinks, and dessert. As at every TANAG, there were interesting talks, a lively technical exchange, and a tour of the server rooms of the hosting dormitories. | |
| 22.01.2014 | At the general assembly, the purchase of a second firewall is approved, as redundancy had become urgently necessary after changes in routing. Overall, our server fleet has grown in recent years to two firewalls, two VM cluster nodes, a monitoring server, a file server for the storage backend, and a file backup server. | |
| 22.10.2013 | KaWo1 | The advance payment from the Studentenwerk for the full Gigabit rollout in 2010 is now fully paid off. |
| 16.04.2013 | Kullenhof* | The “Netzwerk-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kullenhof e.V.” is founded and takes over network operations at Kullenhof. |
| 15.06.2010 | After weeks of cabling work, reconnecting all rooms, and purchasing new switches, the entire network is now Gigabit-capable; the cables are even to be certified for 10 Gigabit. | |
| 27.11.2007 | At its last general assembly, the previous KaWo1-Net decides to dissolve and designates the newly founded non-profit association “Netzwerkgruppe KaWo1 e.V.” as heir to its hardware and finances. | |
| 02.10.2007 | After about a month of renovation work, we now have our own office/network room all to ourselves, the size of two KaWo1 rooms! From today on, all office hours and meetings take place exclusively in this room. | |
| 16.06.2004 | Gigabit backbone in operation! A bandwidth of 1 GBit/s is now available on all connections between the switches. The switches in House 2 are now connected via fiber optics. | |
| 20.12.2002 14:52 | KaWo1 | Gigabit in operation! KaWo1 is now connected to the computing center via a Gigabit line. |
| 27.03.2002 | KaWo1 | Full rollout complete! As of today, every room is connected to its own switch port. |
| 22.11.2001 | KaWo1 | After most connections were already upgraded to 10/100 MBit (switched) in May, every user now gets their own switch port. |
| 10.10.2001 | KaWo1 | The IP range of KaWo1 is changed; we now have a /22 and thus 1024 IP addresses. |
| 30.08.1999 | 10:30 a.m.: Anxious waiting for the news from the Reze (computing center) that the routers can be configured. 1:37 p.m.: The Reze gets in touch! Our technical officer sets off for the Reze. 2:15 p.m.: It is done! After a short visit to the computing center to configure the router there and our house server, KaWo1 is now also connected to the big wide world via fiber optics. | |
| 27.08.1999 | On Thursday and Friday, the last connections between the computing center and the KaWo dormitories were plugged in. On Friday, KaWo2 is connected to the university network via fiber; we still have to wait until Monday. | |
| 27.07.1999 | In recent days, the splicing work for the fiber-optic connection at KaWo1 and KaWo2 was carried out. Since KaWo2 is only connected via two 128 kBit lines, we connect the two dormitories directly and allow KaWo2 to use our proxy, i.e. to surf via our ADSL line. The line to K2 works without problems; the connection to the computing center unfortunately takes a while longer. | |
| 11.02.1999 | Our second subnet (another 255 addresses) goes into operation; at this point, 245 computers are on the network. | |
| 03.07.1998 | Bärenstraße 19* | Splicing of the fiber-optic strands and plugging in of the last patch cable. Operational! |
| 18.06.1998 | Since about 2:00 p.m., surfing has been running over an ADSL line kindly provided to us by NEC, Telekom, and the computing center as part of a pilot project. This new line had become urgently necessary, as the small leased line could no longer cope with the onslaught of 180 users. We thank the participating companies and the computing center for the new connection! | |
| December 1997 | Bärenstraße 19* | Start of the cabling work |
| 07.02.1997 | In the early morning hours of Friday, 07.02.1997, two routers at the computing center and KaWo 1 perform a reboot with subsequent auto-configuration. They find each other, the connection is up … KaWo 1 is online! Hurraaaaaaay! After a good two years of planning and work, we are on the network! We made it! | |
| 06.02.1997 | Word finally comes from the Hilton that we can pick up a router there that has already been configured by the REZE! Since the leased line has been in place since mid-December ‘96 and the modems have already been provided by the computing center, things can (finally) get going! | |
| 03.02.1997 | Three representatives of the network group spend four hours at the computing center to discuss the way forward with those responsible and the management of the REZE. | |
| 20.12.1996 | The computing center has to inform us that our connection to the network cannot take place until early January 1997! Mild disappointment spreads, but hopes remain for a happy ending soon. | |
| 13.12.1996 | The Quantum Scirocco in Hermes gives up the ghost completely unexpectedly! As a result, the web pages have to be recreated. | |
| 03.12.1996 | Since autumn ‘96, our hopes for an imminent connection have been taking shape; positive signals are coming from the computing center, so that a connection within 4 to 6 weeks seems at least possible! Unfortunately, unforeseen problems delay the connection. In early December, there is reason for optimism again, as the REZE suggests we now request the leased line from Telekom. All sides hope for a connection to the network before Christmas… | |
| End of 11'96 | Since the talks with Ms. Hoffmann no longer promise success, we turn directly to the managing director of the Studentenwerk. As a result, the Studentenwerk takes over the financing of the leased line installation. | |
| 26.11.1996 | Bärenstraße 19* | Proposal at the house general assembly to network the building following the example of other dormitories |
| 09.11.1996 | KaWo1 | Through a collective digging effort, the horizontal connection between the two buildings is completed, so House 2 is now also on the house network. |
| 29.10.1996 | KaWo1 | The vertical axis in House 2 of KaWo1 is completed. |
| End of 07'96 | Our server Hermes goes online, putting the house network in the first building into operation. Now the wait for the connection to the network begins. | |
| Mid 06'96 | KaWo1 | The vertical axis in House 1 of KaWo1 is completed (breakthroughs in the cleaning rooms). |
| April ‘96 | KaWo1 | A meeting with representatives of KaWo 2, the Studentenwerk, and our network group is organized. The Studentenwerk surprisingly shines by its absence! The result: the connection to KaWo 2 cannot be financed, as the computing center does not have the necessary funds. |
| Early 03'96 | KaWo1 | The first cable ducts are installed on the floors. This gives rise to a BNC network with around 20 participants, christened “KAWONET BNC” (with its own server). |
| Turn of ‘95/‘96 | KaWo1 | The Studentenwerk pledges us a budget of 20,000 DM for networking KaWo1! At this point, the computing center tells us to first complete the house network, then they would realize the connection to the network (via the leased line of KaWo 2, to which we are to lay a line). |
| 22.12.1995 | We draft 117 letters asking various companies for donations … and receive no reply… | |
| November ‘95 | Visit to the expo in Düsseldorf to ask companies for donations. | |
| End of ‘95 | KaWo1 | Three concepts are worked out: networking the floors via BNC network, 286ers as bridges on the floors; cabling the rooms through the utility shafts, hubs in the basement; networking the floors via twisted-pair cable, hubs in the cleaning rooms. |
| Early ‘95 | KaWo1 | One week later, five people meet for the very first time for the legendary Thursday meetup of the network group, which was thereby brought to life … here we go! |
| Early ‘95 | KaWo1 | At the following house senate, the project is brought up again. |
| End of ‘94 | KaWo1 | The first ideas for networking KaWo 1 come up in the house senate. |