INTERNET, OH MY

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INTERNET, OH MY!
TOTO, I dont think we are in Kansas any more.
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What is the INTERNET?

• It was born about 20 years ago, out of an effort
  t connect together a U.S. Defense Department
  network called ARPAnet and various other radio
  and satellite networks.
• The ARPAnet was an experimental network designed
  to support military research--in particular,
  research about how to build networks that could
  withstand partial outages (like bomb attacks) and
  still function.

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ARPAnet Model

• In this model, communication always occurs
  between a source and a destination computer. The
  assumption about the network is that it is
  unreliable. It was designed to require the
  minimum of information from the computer clients.

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What is the INTERNET? Cont

• To send a message on the network, a computer
  simply had to put its data in an envelop, called
  an INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) packet and "address"
  the packets correctly. The communication
  computers-- not the network itself-- were also
  given the responsibility for ensuring that the
  communication was accomplished. The philosophy
  was that every computer on the network could
  talk, as a peer, with any other computer.

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What is the INTERNET? Cont

• A newer network was the NSFNET commissioned by
  the National Science Foundation. In the late
  80's the NSF created five supercomputer centers
  at major universities. Up until this point, the
  fastest computers had only been available to
  weapons developers and a few researchers from
  very large corporations.

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What is the INTERNET? Cont

• These computing center were very costly. This
  created a communication problem they needed a
  way to connect their centers together and to
  allow the clients of these centers to access
  them. NSF tried to use the ARPAnet for
  communications, but his strategy failed because
  of bureaucratic and staffing problems.

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What is the INTERNET? cont

• NSF decided to build its own network, based on
  the ARPAnet's IP technology. These centers were
  connected with 56,000 bits per second telephone
  lines. In 1987, this system was upgraded.

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• The most importance of the NSF's networking
  effort was that it allowed everyone to access the
  network. Up until that point, INTERNET access
  had been available only to researchers in
  computer science, government employees and
  government contractors.

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What Makes Up the INTERNET?

• This is a difficult question to answer. The
  answer changes over time. Five years ago, the
  answer would have been easy All the networks,
  using the IP protocol, which cooperate to form a
  seamless network for their collective users.

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Makeup of INTERNET cont

• Some non-IP-based networks saw that the INTERENET
  was good. They wanted to provide its services to
  their clientele. Methods were developed to
  connect "strange" networks (BITNET, DECnets) to
  the INTERNET. These connections called gateways
  merely served to transfer electronic mail between
  the two networks.

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Who governs the INTERNET?

• The INTERNET has no president, or chief operating
  officer. There's no single authority figure for
  the INTERNET as a whole.

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Who governs the INTERNET? CONT

• The ultimate authority for where the INTERNET is
  going rest with the Internet Society (ISOC).
  This is a voluntary membership organization whose
  purpose is to promote global information exchange
  through INTERNET technology. It appoints a
  council of elders, which has responsibility for
  the technical management and direction of the
  INTERNET.

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INTERNET Architecture Board

• The council of elders is a group of invited
  volunteers called the INTERNET Architecture Board
  (IAB). The IAB meets regularly to "bless"
  standards and allocate resources for addresses.
  When a standard is required, it considers the
  problem, adopts a standard, and announces it via
  the network.

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I A B Cont

• The INTERNET works because there are standard
  ways for computers and software applications to
  talk to each other. The IAB keeps track of
  various numbers that must remain unique. Each
  computer on the INTERNET has a unique 32 bit
  address. no other computer has the same address.

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INTERNET Engineering Task Force

• INTERNET users express their opinions about how
  things ought to run. These opinions are
  expressed through meetings of the INTERNET
  Engineering Task Force (IETF). This is a
  volunteer organization it meets regularly to
  discuss operational and near-term technical
  problems of the INTERNET.

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I E T F Working Group

• When a problem is considered serious, a working
  group is set up. These working groups have
  various functions from producing documentation,
  to deciding how networks should cooperate when
  problems occur, to changing the meaning of the
  bits in some kind of packet. A report is usually
  done. This can be sent to the IAB to be declared
  a standard.

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Who pays for the INTERNET?

• Everybody that uses the INTERNET pays for the
  INTERNET either directly or indirectly. NSF pays
  for NSFNET. NASA pays for the NASA Science
  INTERNET. Networks get together and decide how
  to connect themselves together and fund these
  interconnections. A college or corporation pays
  for its connection to a regional network, which
  in turns pays a national provider for its access.

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What does the Future hold?
A. New Standard Protocols
B. International Connections
C. Commercialization
D. Privatization