Project / VGN
Vainamo Global Network
Infrastructure as a research platform.
The Vainamo Global Network is a distributed network infrastructure project being built and operated by Vainamo.
VGN provides connectivity and infrastructure for Vainamo's research activities while also serving as a practical research project in its own right.
Vainamo Global NetworkVTA
Vainamo-operatedVantaa
Finland
Vainamo-operated data center and European infrastructure core.
60.29° N, 25.04° E
ZRH
Partner-operatedZurich
Switzerland
Partner-operated infrastructure.
47.37° N, 8.54° E
SJC
Partner-operatedSan Jose
United States
Partner-operated infrastructure.
37.34° N, 121.89° W
SIN
Partner-operatedSingapore
Singapore
Partner-operated infrastructure.
1.35° N, 103.82° E
Vainamo operates its own data center in Vantaa, Finland. Other parts of the global network run through data centers operated by trusted partners in Switzerland, the United States, and Singapore.
Architecture
What the network is made of
VGN is being developed as a foundation for Vainamo's technology research. Some components may become useful services or products in their own right, while others exist primarily to help us understand how infrastructure behaves in practice.
01
Geographic distribution
Locations chosen so that regions fail independently of one another.
02
Network connectivity
Interconnection between sites, addressing, routing, and transit arrangements.
03
DNS
Authoritative and resolving DNS operated as part of the network.
04
Web infrastructure
Hosting, certificates, and delivery for our own systems.
05
Email infrastructure
Mail transport, authentication, and deliverability.
06
VPN
Private connectivity between sites, systems, and operators.
07
Monitoring
Measuring availability, performance, and change over time.
08
Automation
Configuration and deployment expressed as reproducible code.
09
Security
Access control, hardening, and clearly defined trust boundaries.
10
Redundancy
Duplicated components and paths where failure would be costly.
Rationale
Why VGN exists
Large-scale infrastructure is difficult to understand purely from the outside. Building and operating infrastructure ourselves gives us a direct view into the engineering, operational, economic, and organizational challenges involved.
Operating infrastructure at our own scale gives us a practical perspective on some of the engineering and operational principles relevant to large-scale infrastructure providers.