 Janet developed out of a number of local and research networks dating back to the 1970s.By 1980, a number of national computer facilities serving the Science and Engineering Research Council community had developed, each with their own star network (ULCC London, UMRCC Manchester, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory).There were also regional networks centred on Bristol, Edinburgh and Newcastle, where groups of institutions had pooled resources to provide better computing facilities than could be afforded individually.