History of the Internet

History of the Internet

Steven Johnson

Mr. Dominguez

Literature Period 5

14 May 2001

Works Cited

Buick, Joanna and Jevtic, Zoran. Introducing Cyberspace. New York, NY: Totem

Books, 1995.

Crick, Prof. Rex E. E-Mail History. [Online] Available

http://www2.uta.edu/geology/compulit/mailhist.html, December 20, 1999.

Hafner, Katie and Lyon, Mathew. Where Wizards Stay up Late. New York, NY:

Simon & Schuster Inc., 1996.

"Internet." Encyclopedia Britannica, 1999 ed.

Kristula, Dave. The History of the Internet. [Online] Available

http://www.davesite.com/net-history.html, November 19, 1999.

Network Solutions, Inc. What is the History of the Internet. [Online] Available

http://www.vzinet.com/train/history/sld01.html, November 19, 1999.

Torgiano. Vinton Cerf. [Online] Available

http://www.mediamente.rai.it/english/c/cerf.htm, December 20, 1999

Webmaster@ISOC.ORG. History of the Internet. [Online] Available

http://www.isoc.org/Internet/History/History, December 21, 1999.

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The Internet is a vast network of computers and other mini-networks all linked together so that everyone can find information, purchase products, or meet new people. It is easily accessible from home for anyone that has a computer and a modem or at a local library. It has made a huge impact since its introduction to the public and now some people cannot see life without it. It is also relatively new considering it was just about 10 years ago that it was made public and easily accessible to everyone thorough online services.

The Internet works by a number of connections, leading to a bigger one and then somehow finding where it wants to be. So how does it do this? First it begins at the PC where the User's machine is equipped to send and receive all variety of audio and video. From there, the data goes out through the PC's communication to the user's "Local Loop" which is the Internet service provider such as AOL or some other online provider. In there, the system decides what kind of data is being sent and at this location it tells the data what type of data it is and where to go. Examples of the different kinds of data are Domain Name Server, E-mail, and newsgroups. From there it is sent to the ISP backbone, which interconnects the ISP's, POPs, and interconnects the ISP to other ISP's and online content. At this location the data is routed to the desired location and the online content the user was looking for, is found. The data is then sent back through the system to the original user. The information that is on the data coming back could have came from a wide array of sources such as books, financial markets, embedded chips or even made up by someone trying to fool the user. The History? The Internet is first

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conceived in the early '60s. "Under the leadership of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency, it grows from a paper architecture into a small

network (ARPANET) meant to promote the sharing of super-computers amongst researchers in the United States." (Kristula, pg 68). Through the next couple years there were talks of about how this network could come into the cooperate world. In 1969 researchers at four US campuses created the first hosts of the ARPANET. They connected the Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. The ARPANET was a success from the very beginning. Although originally designed to allow scientists to share data and access remote computers, email quickly became the most popular application. The ARPANET became a high-speed digital post office as people use it to collaborate on research projects and discuss topics of various interests. In 1971 the ARPANET grows to 23 hosts connecting universities and government research centers around the country. In 1972, the Inter-Networking Working Group becomes the first of several standards, which set entities to govern the growing network. Vinton Cerf is elected the first chairman of the INWG, and later becomes known as a "Father of the Internet." The ARPANET goes international in 1973 with connections to University College in London, England and the Royal Radar Establishment in Norway. (Kristula).

From 1974 to 1981 the general public starts to get its first hint of how networked computers can be used in daily life as the commercial version of the ARPANET goes online. The ARPANET starts to move away from its military and research roots and in 1974. Bolt, Beranek & Newman opens Telnet, the first commercial version of the

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ARPANET. In 1981 ARPANET has 213 hosts and a new host was being added approximately once every 20 days.

From 1982 to 1987 Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf are key members of a team which creates TCP/IP, the common language of all Internet computers. For the first time it seemed as though the loose collection of networks which made up the ARPANET is seen as an "internet", and the Internet as we know it today is born.

The mid-80s marks a "boom" in the personal computer and super-minicomputer industries. The combination of inexpensive desktop machines and powerful, network-ready servers allows many companies to join the Internet for the first time. Corporations begin to use the Internet to communicate with each other and their customers. In 1982 the term "Internet"