Колледж МУ им. Витте

Introduction Nowadays, a significant issue in the informatization of the society lies in the transition from using computers in an offline mode to using them in information networks. Information networks create a real opportunity for quick and convenient user access to all the information gathered by the mankind throughout our history. E-mail, online communication, listening to radio stations, shopping in online stores have become a daily practice for many users. Current situation with Covid-19 pandemic has promoted online studying and working, almost all public services are now available online, people don't have to queue for ages in post-offices, banks, taxation and pension fund offices, city halls and other institutions any more. The Internet is as commonplace, as electricity, gas and central heating. However, very few people understand what the Internet really is and how it all began. All the listed above form the topicality of my paper and therefore, my work is devoted to the history of the Internet and related networks.
The objective of my paper is to give a brief outlook of the history of the Internet and related networks.
To accomplish the objective the following tasks have to be solved:
Define what the term Internet means;
Define various networks related to the Internet;
Study the existing literature on how the Internet appeared;
Follow the development of the Internet throughout its history;
Study the existing literature on the history of the networks related to the Internet;
Practical value of the paper lies in the fact that it can be used at English lessons at schools, colleges and higher education establishments within the topic of IT or for IT students.
Main bodyII.1 Types of networksThe Internet is the International computer network made up of thousands computers from all over the world. [1]. It can be also called a network of networks. All These computers communicate with one another, they share data, exchange information etc. The Internet is the brightest example of how networking works, however as it consists of various smaller private, public, education, business and other networks, we should first describe and differentiate smaller networks.
Networking starts with local networks, known as LANs – local area networks. LANs typically connect computers that are close to each other. They should be situated in one room or one building. Mainly they are networks of universities, libraries, companies or other institutions that need to share data stored on computers in one building.
To connect computers that are many kilometers apart a WAN – wide area network is built. Both LANs and WANs use cables or wires to interconnect computers. [1, 9]
Local area networks and wide area networks existed long before the Internet appeared. First primitive networking contributed a lot into creation and development of the Internet.
II.2 How the Internet appearedII.2 .1 ARPANETThe history of the Internet starts with creating the first wide area network called ARPANET and designed to exchange secret scientific data between the USA research centers. Creation of this network was vital when the USSR sent the artificial Earth satellite in 1957. After this event the United States Department of Defense decided that they needed a reliable system to exchange secret data in case a war would start. They urgently ordered to create such system and allocated the necessary funds for this. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (DAPRA), which was responsible for the introduction of new technologies in the United States, proposed to create a computer network. Four universities were in charge of creating a new computer system – the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford Research Institute (SRI), the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), the University of Utah. Officially, the work on this project started on October, 4 1962 and the network was launched in 1968 by connecting the four listed above scientific institutions. The US Department of Defense financed all the research work. Over time, APRANET has evolved and become popular in scientific circles from different branches of science. In 1972 a new feature - electronic mail was included to the APRANET. In 1973 the net was divided in two parts: MILNET for military purposes and APRANET for scientific circles. [4,7]
On the 1 of September 1969 the first server appeared in the University of California in Los Angeles. It was a Honeywell computer that had only 24 KB of RAM. On October 29, 1969 the first communication session was to be held between the first two computers connected to the ARPANET and located 640 km from each other. These computers were situated at the– the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). A scientist from Lis Angeles Charley Kline had to connect to a computer from SRI. Through this connection C.Kline tried to send a message, it was a word «logon». However, he had managed to transmit only before the connection disappeared. It was recovered in an hour and the message was successfully send. [7]
In 1973 British and Norwegian institutions were connected to the network via a transatlantic telephone cable and thus the network became international. In the 1970s, people used the network mainly to exchange e-mails, as the first mailing lists, newsgroups and message boards appeared. However, at that time, the network could not yet easily interoperate with other networks that had different architecture or technical characteristics. Networks needed one common language to communicate with each other and in the 1970s first data transfer protocols began to appear and develop so fast that in the early 1980 s they were standardized. [8]
The person who played the most significant part in the development and standardization of network protocols was John Postel. As a result of his work TCP / IP, protocol appeared in 1983. This protocol allowed connect different networks and is used till nowadays. It was then that the term «Internet» started referring to the ARPANET. In 1984, the Domain Name System (DNS) appeared. [4]
To sum it all up I think we could easily say that the Internet we have today started with ARPANET, and October 29, 1969 can be regarded as the date of birth of the Internet.
II.2 .2 NSFNETThe first rivalry of the ARPANET appeared in the early 1980 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) financed the establishment of national computing centers with supercomputers at several universities and in 1986 it started developing the NSFNET to interconnect those main computer centers. The net was launched a year later. It had significantly higher bandwidth compared to the ARPANet and it was free to connect to, so by 1987 it connected 10 000 computers and by 1990 the APRANET was completely substituted by the NSFNET. [4,7]
Initially, the system that was to become the Internet was primarily intended for the government's scientific and military purposes. I suppose that all great inventions start with the military purposes. No one would have invented a computer, the Internet or a mobile phone just for fun.
II.2 .3 UUCPNETAs more people and organizations connected to the Internet, the matter of its commercial use soon became an utterly discussed topic. The commercial use of the Internet was prohibited at that time, but people found the way out and developed the UUCPNET - a net of computers connected through Unix-to-Unix Copy command (UUC). This network was informal and interconnected big number of private companies, businesses, universities, and other organizations. Frequently, especially in the private sector, UUCP links were established without the official agreement of the heads of the companies. The UUCP network was constantly changing as new systems were added and dial-up channels were added and removed all the time. Finally, it was forbidden for computers connected the UUCPNET to connect to the ARPANET and NSFNET and thus UUCPNET didn't become as popular as ARPANET and NSFNET. However, appearance and development of UUCPNET showed the society that the Internet can be used in private or commercial purposes. Who knows, maybe if not for the UUCPNET the Internet would have never become an inseparable part of our everyday lives. [4,9]
II.2 .4 World Wide WebIn1980s a British scientist Tim Berners started researching the WWW (World Wide Web) technology. As a result, the concept of hypertext appeared. It was one of the most prominent inventions of the XX century and the network began to grow with geometric progression. As a result, the first internet service providers appeared in 1980s. Network access based on UUCPNet mailing was provided to the public as well as to regional research networks by different companies like PSINet, UUNET, Netcom and Portal Software. The first commercial Internet service provider in the United States was The World, created in 1989. [9]
Since then, the Internet parted from the National Science Foundation and started developing independently. For example, by June 1995, there were already 4.5 million active computers on the network!
II.3 Modern history of the InternetBy the end of the 2010s, the development of the Internet raised many global issues related to privacy protection, Internet censorship, cyber terrorism, and more. Edward Snowden released information about the total surveillance by the US authorities of Internet users around the world with the illegal assistance of leading IT corporations. The development and popularity of the Facebook and related incidents caused extreme concern in the US Congress. In November 2019, the father of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee proposed to revise the rules of the game for key participants in online interactions: authorities, online businesses and users, for which he created the Contract for the Web document and proposed it for open signing. The authorities of Ghana, France and the FRG immediately subscribed to it. [6]
ConclusionInternet is one of the most important inventions of the mankind. Being relatively young it reached all spheres of our life from entertainment to military and political issues. Commissioned by the USA Department of Defense for military purposes, it quickly became popular in scientific circles of the USA and later around the world. Notwithstanding the fact that the initially it was forbidden to be used for commercial purposes, nowadays it is the most potent way to earn money, sell or buy goods, get services etc.
The history of the Internet shows how fast a technology can separate from its founders and develop independently. It also proves the idea that all modern technologies were initially created for the military purposes and later evolved as independent ones. However, who knows, maybe it was the great plan of the US Department of Defense to interconnect the whole world in one single net for better guidance, control and influence. No wonder that the creator of the modern Internet Tim Berners-Lee has started speaking about legal documents and rules of using the net by the authorities, businesses and ordinary people.
LiteratureHow Ethernet Works：Why Network? http://english.ioa.cas.cn/rs/psk/201403/t20140310_117442.htmlInternet. Computer network https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet
Internet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet
История интернета. https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/История_ИнтернетаCelebrating 40 years of the Net. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8331253.stmСоздатель Интернета Бернерс Ли создал «Заповеди»: власти, бизнесу, юзерам. https://m.roem.ru/25-11-2019/280847/sozdatel-zapovedej/Интернет: история, развитие. https://foxford.ru/wiki/informatika/internet-istoriya-razvitieКолисниченко Д. “Интернет: от «чайника» к пользователю, 2 изд.” «БХВ-Петербург», СПБ, 2009, 528 с
Новиков Д., Новиков Ю., Чуркин В, “Компьютеры, сети, Интернет” Энциклопедия. 2-е изд. Издательский дом «Питер», СПб, 2003, 832 с