LoriKielty

CGS2871
TyWhalin

Essay:InternetHistory

July16,2003

TheHistoryofNetworking
1960s
Inthe1960scomputernetworkingwasessentiallysynonymouswithmainframecomputing,and
thedistinctionbetweenlocalandwideareanetworksdidnotyetexist.Mainframesweretypically
"networked"toaseriesofdumbterminalswithserialconnectionsrunningonRS232orsomeother
electricalinterface.Ifaterminalinonecityneededtoconnectwithamainframeinanothercity,a300baud
longhaulmodemwouldusetheexistinganalogPublicSwitchedTelephoneNetwork(PSTN)toformthe
connection.Thetechnologywasprimitiveindeed,butitwasanexcitingtimenevertheless.
1970s
Althoughthe1960swerethedecadeofthemainframe,the1970sgavebirthtoEthernet,which
todayisbyfarthemostpopularLANtechnology.Ethernetwasbornin1973inXeroxCorporation's
researchlabinPaloAlto,California.(AnearlierexperimentalnetworkcalledALOHAnetwasdeveloped
in1970attheUniversityofHawaii.)TheoriginalXeroxnetworkingsystemwasknownasXwireand
workedat2.94Mbps.Xwirewasexperimentalandwasnotusedcommercially,althoughanumberof
XeroxPaloAltoworkstationsusedforwordprocessingwerenetworkedtogetherintheWhiteHouseusing
XwireduringtheCarteradministration.In1979,DigitalEquipmentCorporation(DEC),Intel,andXerox
formedtheDIXconsortiumanddevelopedthespecificationforstandard10MbpsEthernet,orthicknet,
whichwaspublishedin1980.Thisstandardwasrevisedandadditionalfeatureswereaddedinthe
followingdecade.

1980s
Inthe1980sthegrowthofclient/serverLANarchitecturescontinuedwhilethatofmainframe
computingenvironmentsdeclined.TheadventoftheIBMPCin1981andthestandardizationandcloning
ofthisarchitectureledtoanexplosionofPCbasedLANsinbusinessesandcorporationsaroundtheworld,
particularlywiththereleaseoftheIBMPCAThardwareplatformin1984.ThenumberofPCsinusegrew
from2millionin1981to65millionin1991.Novell,whichappearedonthescenein1983,soonbecamea
majorplayerinfileandprintserversforLANswithitsNovellNetWareplatform.
However,thebiggestdevelopmentintheareaofLANnetworkinginthe1980swasthecontinued
evolutionandstandardizationofEthernet.WhiletheDIXconsortiumworkedonEthernetstandardsinthe
late1970s,theIEEEwithitsProject802initiativetriedworkingtowardasingleunifiedLANstandard.
Whenitbecameclearthatthisgoalwasimpossible,Project802wasdividedintoanumberofseparate
workinggroups,with802.3focusingonEthernet,802.4onTokenBus,and802.5onTokenRing
technologiesandstandards.Theworkofthe802.3groupresultedinthefirstEthernetstandard,called
10Base5orthicknet,whichwasalmostidenticaltotheversiondevelopedbyDIX.10Base5wascalled
thicknetbecauseitusedthickcoaxialcable,andin1985the802.3standardwasextendedtoinclude
10Base2usingthincoaxialcable,commonlycalledthinknet.
Throughmostofthe1980s,coaxialcablewasthemainformofcablingusedforimplementing
Ethernet.AcompanycalledSynOpticsCommunications,however,developedaproductcalledLattisNet
thatwasdesignedfortransmitting10MbpsEthernetovertwistedpairwiringusingastarwiredtopology
thatwasconnectedtoacentralhuborrepeater.Thiswiringwascheaperthancoaxialcableandwassimilar
tothewiringusedinresidentialandbusinesstelephonewiringsystems.LattisNetwassuchacommercial
successthatin1990the802.3committeeapprovedanewstandardcalled10BaseTforEthernetthatran
overtwistedpairwiring.10BaseTsoonsupersededthecoaxialformsofEthernetbecauseofitseaseof
installationandbecauseitshierarchicalstarwiredtopologywasagoodmatchforthearchitecturaltopology
ofmultistorybuildings.

InotherEthernetdevelopments,fiberopticcabling,firstdevelopedintheearly1970sbyCorning,
founditsfirstcommercialnetworkingapplicationinEthernetnetworkingin1984.(Thetechnologyitself
wasstandardizedas10BaseTintheearly1990s.)In1988thefirstfiberoptictransatlanticunderseacable
waslaidandgreatlyincreasedthecapacityoftransatlanticcommunicationsystems.
Ethernetbridgesbecameavailablein1984fromDECandwereusedbothtoconnectseparate
EthernetLANstomakelargenetworksandtoreducetrafficbottlenecksonoverloadednetworksby
splittingthemintoseparatesegments.Routerscouldbeusedforsimilarpurposes,butbridgesgenerally
offeredbetterpriceandperformance,aswellaslesscomplexity,duringthe1980s.Again,market
developmentsprecededstandards,astheIEEE802.1DBridgeStandard,whichwasinitiatedin1987,was
notstandardizeduntil1990.
1990s
The1990swereanexplosivedecadeineveryaspectofnetworking,andwecanonlytouchona
fewhighlightshere.EthernetcontinuedtoevolveasaLANtechnologyandbegantoeclipsecompeting
technologiessuchasTokenRingandFDDI.In1991,KalpanaCorporationbeganmarketinganewformof
bridgecalledaLANswitch,whichdedicatedtheentirebandwidthofaLANtoasingleportinsteadof
sharingitamongseveralports.LaterknownasEthernetswitchesorLayer2switches,thesedevicesquickly
foundanicheinprovidingdedicatedhighthroughputlinksforconnectingserverstonetworkbackbones.
Layer3switchessoonfollowed,eventuallydisplacingtraditionalroutersinmostareasofenterprise
networkingexceptforWANaccess.Layer4andhigherswitchesarenowpopular
inserverfarmsforloadbalancingandfaulttolerancepurposes.
TherapidevolutionofthePCcomputingplatformandtheriseofbandwidthhungryapplications
createdaneedforsomethingfasterthan10MbpsEthernet,especiallyonnetworkbackbones.Thefirst
fullduplexEthernetproducts,offeringspeedsof20Mbps,becameavailablein1992.In1995workbegan
onastandardforfullduplexEthernetitwasfinalizedin1997.AmoreimportantdevelopmentwasGrand
JunctionNetworks'commercialEthernetbus,introducedin1992,whichfunctionedat100Mbps.Spurred

bythisadvance,the802.3groupproducedthe802.3u100BaseTFastEthernetstandardfortransmission
ofdataat100Mbpsoverbothtwistedpaircopperwiringandfiberopticcabling.
Althoughthejumpfrom10Mbpsto100MbpsEthernettookalmost15years,ayearafterthe
100BaseTFastEthernetstandardwasreleased,workbeganona1000
MbpsversionofEthernetpopularlyknownasGigabitEthernet(GbE).FastEthernetwasbeginningtobe
deployedatthedesktop,andthiswasputtingenormousstrainontheFDDIbackbonesthatweredeployed
onmanycommercialanduniversitycampuses.FDDIalsooperatedat100Mbps(or200Mbpsiffault
tolerancewasdiscardedinfavorofcarryingtrafficontheredundantring),soasingleFastEthernetdesktop
connectioncouldtheoreticallysaturatethecapacityoftheentirenetworkbackbone.AsynchronousTransfer
Mode(ATM),abroadbandcellswitchingtechnologyusedprimarilyintelecommunication/WAN
environments,wasbrieflyconsideredasapossiblesuccessortoFDDIforbackboningEthernetnetworks
together,andLANemulation(LANE)wasdevelopedtocarryLANtrafficsuchasEthernetoverATM.
However,ATMismuchmorecomplexthanEthernet,andanumberofcompaniessawextendingEthernet
speedsto1000Mbpsasawaytoprovidenetworkbackboneswithmuchgreatercapacityusingtechnology
thatmostnetworkadministratorswerealreadyfamiliarwith.Asaresult,the802groupcalled802.3z
developedaGbestandardcalled1000BaseX,whichitreleasedin1998.TodayGbeisthenormforLAN
backbones,andFastEthernetisbecomingubiquitousatthedesktoplevel.Workisevenunderwayon
extendingEthernettechnologiesto10gigabitspersecond(Gbps).AcompetitorofGbeforhighspeed
collapsedbackboneinterconnects,calledFibreChannel,wasconceivedbyanANSIcommitteein1988but
isusedmainlyforstorageareanetworks(SANs).
The1990ssawhugechangesinthelandscapeoftelecommunicationsprovidersandtheirservices.
"Convergence"becameamajorbuzzword,signifyingthecombiningofvoice,data,andbroadcast
informationintoasinglemediumfordeliverytobusinessesandconsumersthroughbroadbandtechnologies
suchasmetropolitanEthernet,DigitalSubscriberLine(DSL),andcablemodemsystems.Thecable
modemwasintroducedin1996,andbytheendofthedecadebroadbandresidentialInternetaccessthrough

cabletelevisionsystemshadbecomeastrongcompetitorwithtelephonebasedsystemssuchas
AsymmetricDigitalSubscriberLine(ADSL)andG.Lite,anothervariantofDSL.
Alsointhe1990s,VoiceoverIP(VoIP)emergedasthelatest"HolyGrail"ofnetworkingand
communicationsandpromisedbusinesseshugesavingsbyroutingvoicetelephonetrafficoverexistingIP
networks.VoIPtechnologyworks,butthebugsarestillbeingironedoutanddeploymentsremainslow.
RecentdevelopmentsinVoIPstandards,however,mayhelppropeldeploymentofthistechnologyin
comingyears.
2000andBeyond

IntheLANfield,Ethernetreignssupreme.TokenRingandFDDIaredeadendtechnologies,and
ATMnevercaughton.

Microsoftcontinuestobebyfarthedominantplayeronthedesktop,andWindowsXPhasfinally
unitedtheseparateWindows95,Windows98,
WindowsMe,andWindowsNT/2000codestreamsintoasingleplatform.

Intheenterprise(largecompanies),WindowsNTandWindows2000haveprovedenormously
popularasfile,print,andapplicationserverplatforms.MicrosoftExchangehaseclipsedLotus
Notesasthedominantmessagingplatform,andMicrosoftSQLServerisgivingOracleandDB2a
runfortheirmoney.IISandApachecontinuetofightitoutforWebserversupremacy,witheach
sideclaimingvictoryindifferentmarketsegments.AndLinuxhasestablishedanicheforitselfin
theenterpriseandcontinuestogrow,mostlyattheexpenseofNovellNetWareandUNIX
platforms.

Wirelessnetworkingusingthe802.11bstandardhasexplodedacrosstheenterprise,butsecurity
continuestobeabigconcernforthesenetworks,as"drivebyhackers"haveshownwiththeir
laptopsandBMWs.Datatransmissionovercellularcommunication
systemsisstillincrediblyslowinmostareas,as2Gtechnologiesareslowlysupersededby2.5G
ones.

MetropolitanEthernetisthehottestWANtechnology,lettingcompaniesaccessGbeserviceswith
plugandplaysimplicity.DSLishavingtroubleestablishingitselfasaviableenterpriseoption,
mainlyduetoreliabilityissues.T1pricesarestillridiculouslyhigh,butnotlikelytochangemuch
duetoconsolidationintheserviceproviderindustry.Anddespiteitslackofglamour,framerelay
isgoingstrongandstillgrowingintheenterpriseWAN.

TheInternetisnowthebloodandbackboneofmostbusinesses,butthenumberofInternet
businessesthatfailedinthedotcombustdefiesdescription.TheInternetaccessmarketcontinues
toconsolidate,andbroadbandInternetaccessisnowinthetensofmillionsofsubscribersand
risingrapidly.The"BigThree"onlineportalsMSN,Yahoo!,andAOLnowcomprisean
estimated20percentofallInternettraffic.ApartfromeBayandAmazon,thenumberoftruly
greatebusinesssuccessstoriesisamazinglysmall.

B2B(businesstobusiness)ebusinessisonthe
risebutmostlyhiddenfromviewintheformofemarketplacesfordifferentcorporatesectors.
AndXML,whichpromisedtorevolutionizeebusiness,isstilladistantsecondinpopularityto
goodoldEDI.

WorksCited
Mich,Tulloch,andIngrid,Tulloch.
MicrosoftEncyclopediaofNetworking2e
.(2003):
itemX0895159.
MicrosoftWindowsXPInsideOutDeluxeEdition
.CDROM.
MicrosoftPress.2003.