- Access Management
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Backup
- Border Gateway Protocol
- Cloud
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Connectivity
Show all 25 topics
- Enterprise
- Federated Identity
- High performance computing
- Information and Communication Technology
- Internet
- Internet Protocol
- IT Governance
- Multiprotocol Label Switching
- Network Operator
- OpenID Connect
- Optical Networking
- Services
- Single Sign-On
- Software
- Standards
- Virtualization
- Virtualized Infrastructure
SURF appears across 2 articles to date.
Who is SURF?
SURF is a cooperative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) organization for Dutch education and research institutions that provides shared digital infrastructure, connectivity, and related services.
- National research and education network services for Dutch institutions, including high-bandwidth connectivity and peering
- Cloud and compute services for research and education workloads, including access to high-performance and federated resources
- Identity, access management, and security services for institutional users and inter-organizational collaboration
- Data services supporting research data storage, sharing, and collaboration across institutions
- Advisory, knowledge-sharing, and joint innovation programs in digitalization of education and research
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More About SURF
SURF is a cooperative association of Dutch universities, universities of applied sciences, research institutes, and vocational education organizations that jointly develop, procure, and operate digital services for education and research. Its role in enterprise and institutional environments is to provide shared ICT foundations that individual member organizations can adopt and integrate into their own architectures, reducing duplication and enabling interoperability across the national research and education landscape.
A core domain within SURF is networking (research and education network), where it operates a high-capacity IP and optical backbone that connects member institutions, data centers, and international research networks. This environment typically relies on standard internet and routing protocols such as IPv4, IPv6, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and related transport and security mechanisms. For enterprise architects within institutions, SURF’s network services serve as the external connectivity and peering layer that integrates with campus networks, firewalls, and identity-aware access controls.
SURF also offers cloud and compute services (cloud infrastructure, High performance computing (HPC), and research computing) that support scientific workloads, digital learning environments, and institutional IT. These services may include virtualized infrastructure, container-compatible environments, and access to HPC clusters, which institutions can consume directly or integrate with their own platforms. Standard technologies in this area include virtualization stacks, storage fabrics, and support for widely used research software frameworks, often combined with federated identity and access management.
Identity, access management, and security services (IAM and security) form another main solution area. SURF supports federated authentication and authorization across institutions, typically based on Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), OpenID Connect (OIDC), and related federation standards used in research and education. This enables Single Sign-On (SSO) for staff and students across institutional and SURF-hosted services, and supports cross-border collaborations via established international education and research federations.
Data services (research data management and collaboration) provided by SURF cover storage, data transfer, and collaboration platforms suited to research data lifecycles. These services are positioned to integrate with institutional storage, backup, and archiving solutions and to support FAIR data principles and cross-institutional data sharing where required by research projects.
In addition, SURF runs programs focused on digitalization of education and research, including joint procurement, pilots, and knowledge exchange. For enterprise stakeholders, SURF can be viewed as a sector-wide shared services and infrastructure provider, with solution areas spanning networking, cloud infrastructure, research computing, Identity Access Management (IAM) and security, and research data services, all tailored to the needs and governance context of Dutch education and research institutions.
Our description of SURF. Updated December 2025.
