- Published: November 14, 2021
- Updated: November 14, 2021
- University / College: University of California, Davis
- Language: English
- Downloads: 37
Evolution of The Internet
The structure and makeup of the Internet has adapted as the needs
of the community have changed. Today’s Internet serves the largest and
most diverse community of network users in the computing world. Since it
was created, the Internet has grown in size and become something that the
entire world is almost completely dependent on.
The Internet started as an experiment in the late 1960s by the
Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U. S. Department of Defense. It
was originally developed to explore the possibility of a communication
network where there would be no obvious central command, but all surviving
points would be able to re-establish contact in the event of a nuclear
attack. It continued simply because the Department of Defense, its
contractors, found that it provided a convenient way to communicate. For
the first decade the Internet was in existence, its primary use was to
facilitate e-mail, support on-line discussion groups, allow access to
distant databases, and support the transfer of files between government
agencies, companies, and universities(Cerf 286).
In December 1969, the experimental network went on-line with the
connection of a four-node network connected via 56 Kbps circuits. This
new technology, known as ARPANET, proved to be highly reliable and led to
the creation of two similar military networks, MILNET in the U. S. and
MINET in Europe. Thousands of hosts and users connected their private
networks to the ARPANET, thus creating the initial ” ARPA Internet”. The
problem with ARPANET is that it had an Acceptable Use Policy, which
prohibited the use of the Internet for commercial use(The ARPANET and Computer Networks
143).
By 1985, the ARPANET was heavily used and congested. In response
the National Science Foundation began development of the NSFNET. The
NSFNET was made up of multiple regional networks and peer networks
connected to a major backbone that held the entire network together. In
its earliest form in 1986, the NSFNET created a three section network
architecture. The architecture connected campuses and research
organizations to regional networks. These connected to the main backbone
which linked six super-computer centers(Alexander 11).
The NSFNET backbone connected thirteen sites and five NSF supercomputer centers.
In 1991, data traffic had increased tremendously, which caused the upgrading
of the NSFNET’s backbone network service . These new connections were over one
hundred times faster than the original connections and much more dependable due to
the implementation of two new protocols for the computers to communicate with called
Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, commonly referred to as TCP/IP
(Anderson 1064-65).
As late as the early 1990s, the NSFNET was still reserved for
research and educational applications; and government agency backbones
were reserved for mission-oriented purposes. But new pressures were being
felt by the networks, different agencies needed to interconnect with one
another. The nation was urning for network access, and Internet
service providers were emerging to accommodate those interests, defining a
new industry in the process. Networks in places other than the U. S. had
developed, along with interest in international connections. As the many
new networks pursued their goals, the complexity of connections and the
Internet’s internal structure grew(Applications of Information Network
57).
Government agency networks connected at Federal Internet Exchange
points on both the east and west coasts. Commercial network organizations
had formed the Commercial Internet Exchange association, which built an
interconnect point on the west coast. At the same time, Internet service
providers around the world had developed substantial infrastructures and
connectivity. To begin sorting out the growing confusion, Sprint was
appointed by NSFNET to be the International Connections Manager to provide
connectivity between the American, European, and Asian networks. NSFNET
was decommissioned in April 1995(The Evolution of Packet Switching 266-7).
The shutdown of the NSFNET had to be done in specific stages to
ensure continuous connectivity to various institutions and government
agencies that used to be connected to the regional networks. Today’s
Internet structure has changed from a core network, such as NSFNET, to a
more distributed architecture operated by commercial providers connected
via major network exchange points. This ” new” Internet is a collection of
providers that have connection points called points of presence over
multiple areas. Its collection of points and the way its points are
interconnected form a providers network. Customers are connected to
providers via the points of presence. Customers of the providers can be
providers themselves, and these providers using points of presence
thoughout the U. S. are known as national providers which are commonly
referred to as network service providers(Heart, et al. 46-48).
This network started out with a small four node experiment and
grew into the single largest machine the world has ever known.
Information can be sent between almost any two points on the globe. This
” Information- Superhighway” is one of the greatest achievements mankind
has ever seen, and will continue to shape the world and adapt to the new
world that it has created.
