History and Evolution of the Internet Part II

At first, it was thought that the network could take advantage of the existing telephone network infrastructure for this kind of information routing. However, when the first remote computers located at MIT and Berkeley were linked together, it was found that the phone lines were just too slow to allow for a successful transfer of data and the running of programs between the two locations. But the experiment was successful in one regard, this was the first time two computers had been linked to each other to form a ‘Wide Area Network’ or WAN. Finally, in 1966-67, the new head of computer research at APRA, Leonard Roberts, proclaimed a blueprint for an interconnected computer network.

It was to be called the APRANET. Following this announcement it was discovered that a few other research institutions were also studying the advantages of computer networking for speedier transfer of data and communication. Independent of each other, and in fact in total ignorance of similar research, scientists at MIT, the RAND Corporation and the UK based National Physics Laboratory were working in the same field. The first functional version of the ARPANET integrated within itself the best features of all these investigations.

This was just the hardware part. Now the need was to develop a suitable software platform which could integrate these computers and enable the transfer of data between them. This was the impetus towards the development of the ‘interface message processor’ or IMPs, the work on which was finished only in 1968. Finally in 1969, IMPs were loaded on to the computers located at the remote locations of UCLA and Stanford. This was the first computer network of its kind which enabled the students at UCLA to ‘login’ in to the Stanford computer, gain access to its database and transfer data between the two locations. The success of this experiment led to the addition of four more host computers to ARPANET and the establishment of research centers at Utah and Santa Barbara. By the December of 1971, ARPANET had linked together 23 host computers. This was the first true fully functional computer network. At the First International Conference on Computers and Communication in the October of 1972, the ARPANET was presented to the public. Another resultant development of this conference was the formation of the IWG or the Internetworking Working Group. Its main task was to coordinate the research happening in this field.

Simultaneously, research was being carried out on the means to increase the functionality, flexibility and expansion of this system. 1972 marked the launch of the prototype of the program we know today as e-mail. The early 70s also mark the development of host-to-host protocols which would enable two remote computers to be merged together so that they function as one host (though only for the period that they are linked together). However, the most important innovation of this period was the development of the ‘transmission control protocol/internet protocol’ or TCP/IP.

This was a language which would enable disparate computer networks to interact with each other on a common platform. Finally we come to the one innovation which definitively determined the present nature of the internet as we know it today. The scientists working on computer networking decided that such a network would have an ‘open architecture’. In this sense, they remained true to the basic idea of Licklider’s ‘Galactic Network’. Firstly, in an ‘open architecture’ system, every network is given the freedom to develop applications which would be specific to that particular network. At the same time, ‘open architecture’ insured that these networks would not need to undergo any modification to join the larger complex of interconnected computers.

The History and the Evolution of the Internet Part I

Today, the internet has become an integral part of our lives. In fact, it is hard to name a technology which has left so big an impact on modern life. Apart from the fact that the internet is a mine of information, a viable business platform and a means of social interaction, what is truly astounding about it is its global reach; and this is the reason why the internet today has emerged the primary platform for business, academia and pleasure - regardless of location. It is a compendium of a range of technologies – it integrates the capabilities of the telegraph, the telephone with that of the radio and the computer.

The form in which most individuals access it today – the World Wide Web – is the result of a concerted effort to bring together continual investment, path breaking research and committed infrastructure development. What had started out as an experiment in military communication technology is now a means of global information gathering and dissemination. The history of the internet involves three major aspects – technology, infrastructure organization and the role of community in shaping its current form. Also, we should keep in mind that the evolution of the internet has been the result of the government, the academia and the industry working together.

The story begins in the year 1957. This was the year that the erstwhile USSR launched the satellite Sputnik, stealing a march over the US in the space wars. Spurred by this defeat, the Ministry of Defense created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). While the primary function of this agency was to supply state of the art defense technology, it also became the nodal site for computer research in the United States. It is here that the first computer network of its kind would be developed. The need for such a communication network was determined by the fact that from the beginning, ARPA was interested in developing a communication interface between the computers on its operational base and those at the sites of its various sub-contractors locate din various top academic institutes and research laboratories.

In the August of 1962, J C R Licklider circulated a series of memos discussing the possibility of building a ‘Galactic Network’. He envisioned this as a global network, formed of interconnected computers through which any individual would be able to access data, from any location in the world. This was the first time that the possibility of such a network was posited in the scientific community. Licklider was the first head of the computer research program at ARPA and was thus particularly influential in directing its research. At the same time, another scientist within the ARPA was developing another technology which would later form an integral part of the internet.

This scientist was Leonard Kleinrock and he was involved in the development of ‘packet switching’. This is the method of sending information through breaking down the intended message into ‘packets’. These individual ‘packets’ are sent separately and the computer at the other end reassembles them to form the complete message. The main advantage of this method was that it increased the flexibility of the network and increased its capacity to handle traffic. Also, this was a more secure process of sending data as it makes spying difficult along with the fact that it removes the need to rely on only one router.

Continued in Next few posts...