How did the
Internet Develop?
| 1960s |
| In the 1960s, the
Transmission Control Protocol and the
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) were developed
to provide high-speed communication
between two networked devices. These
network protocols were to provide a
communication link, even if some of the
connecting links between the devices were
to fail. The RAND Corporation, in
conjunction with the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and the
University of California, Los Angeles,
developed this technology for the United
States Department of Defense. This
government agency needed a fail-safe
network to ensure communications in the
event of a nuclear war. In 1969, the
Department of Defense began using
ARPANET, the first network based on the
protocol technology. ARPANET initially
connected four supercomputers. |
| 1970s |
| During the 1970s,
educational and research institutions
began to connect to ARPANET to create a
community of networks. In the late 1970s,
TCP/IP became the official protocols to
use on the Internet. |
| 1980s |
| In the 1980s, the U.S.
National Science Foundation replaced
ARPANET with a high-speed network. This
is the network that now serves as the
backbone for the Internet today. When
ARPANET was first used in 1969, it
consisted of only 213 registered hosts.
By 1986, there were over 2,300 host
computers. |
| 1990s |
| In the early 1990s, the U.
S. National Science Foundation transfered
the maintenance and funding of the
Internet to private foundations and
corporations. Today, the Internet has
several million host computers worldwide.
The development of other protocols and
other technologies, such as the World
Wide Web, has contributed to this growth. |
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