infoARPA

The Childhood of Internet

 
 

The advent of ARPAnet: beginning, growth and the possibilities

Between 1972 and 1983 ARPANET underwent a number of significant transformations: the entire network switched to TCP/IP, the military users left for their own network, and the ARPANET became part of a larger system -- the Internet. The field of computer networking underwent a conceptual transformation: instead of thinking about how to connect individual computers together, network builders also had to consider how different networks could interact with each other.

The first four nodes devised.

ARPANET was the first packet-switching network that was developed to enhance the communication within the military sectors. It was funded by the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The ARPANET came into operation in October 1969 and was a uniform system comprised of a number of identical nodes and it was accessible only to researchers funded by ARPA. Although a number of other packet switching networks came into being shortly after the advent of ARPA, they were all functionally incompatible with one another. After the successful demonstration of the ARPANET as a working system in 1972, ARPA turned its attention to the problem of how to ‘inter-network’ these networks to create a bigger, transnational network.

Between 1972 and 1983 ARPANET underwent two significant transformations as per the solution which originated with Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn: it became a network of networks, or an Internet, and it began to realize its commercial potential. At the end of 1971 ARPANET entered service with fifteen sites connected to the network. At this point, ARPANET incorporated and embodied many significant advances in computer networking techniques, hardware, and software; however, usage remained low. Though a great technical achievement, it could hardly be considered successful if nobody used it. In 1972 Robert Kahn and Lawrence Roberts decided to demonstrate the ARPANET’s capabilities at the First International Conference on Computer Communications (ICCC), held in October in Washington, DC. This demonstration made a powerful impression on the thousand or so attendees. The Washington demonstration marked the point at which telephone engineers, steeped in a culture of circuit switching, began to accept packet switching as a workable communications methodology. The ICCC demonstration also marked a turning point in the use of the system. Traffic on the ARPANET jumped 67% during the month of the conference and maintained high growth rates afterward. As more and more users entered the ARPANET they began to reshape it toward their own purposes. Although ARPANET’s architects envisioned it as a system to facilitate resource sharing like remote file access and time-sharing, it soon became apparent that its most popular use was electronic mail.



Make a comment on this topic..