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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARPANET | 5/7 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:35:36.923745+00:00 | kb-cron |
Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the Computer Science Network (CSNET).
The transatlantic connectivity with Norway (NORSAR and NDRE) and University College London (UCL) later evolved into the SATNET. The ARPANET, SATNET and PRNET were interconnected in 1977. The DoD made TCP/IP the standard communication protocol for all military computer networking in 1980. Norway and UCL left the ARPANET and began using TCP/IP over SATNET in 1982. On January 1, 1983, known as flag day, TCP/IP protocols became the standard for the ARPANET, replacing the earlier Network Control Protocol. In September 1984 work was completed on restructuring the ARPANET giving U.S. military sites their own Military Network (MILNET) for unclassified defense department communications. Both networks carried unclassified information and were connected at a small number of controlled gateways which would allow total separation in the event of an emergency. MILNET was part of the Defense Data Network (DDN). Separating the civil and military networks reduced the 113-node ARPANET by 68 nodes. After MILNET was split away, the ARPANET would continue to be used as an Internet backbone for researchers, but be slowly phased out.
== Applications == NCP provided a standard set of network services that could be shared by several applications running on a single host computer. This led to the evolution of application protocols that operated, more or less, independently of the underlying network service, and permitted independent advances in the underlying protocols. The various application protocols such as TELNET for remote time-sharing access and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), the latter used to enable rudimentary electronic mail, were developed and eventually ported to run over the TCP/IP protocol suite. In the 1980s, FTP for email was replaced by the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and, later, POP and IMAP. Telnet was developed in 1969 beginning with RFC 15, extended in RFC 855. The original specification for the File Transfer Protocol was written by Abhay Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971. By 1973, the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) specification had been defined (RFC 354) and implemented, enabling file transfers over the ARPANET. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson, of BBN sent the first network e-mail (RFC 524, RFC 561). An ARPA study in 1973, a year after network e-mail was introduced to the ARPANET community, found that three-quarters of the traffic over the ARPANET consisted of email messages. E-mail remained a very large part of the overall ARPANET traffic. The Network Voice Protocol (NVP) specifications were defined in 1977 (RFC 741), and implemented. But, because of technical shortcomings, conference calls over the ARPANET never worked well; the contemporary Voice over Internet Protocol (packet voice) was decades away.
== Security == The Purdy Polynomial hash algorithm was developed for the ARPANET to protect passwords in 1971 at the request of Larry Roberts, head of ARPA at that time. It computed a polynomial of degree 224 + 17 modulo the 64-bit prime p = 264 − 59. The algorithm was later used by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) to hash passwords in the VMS operating system and is still being used for this purpose.
== Rules and etiquette == Because of its government funding, certain forms of traffic were discouraged or prohibited. Leonard Kleinrock claims to have committed the first illegal act on the Internet, having sent a request for return of his electric razor after a meeting in England in 1973. At the time, use of the ARPANET for personal reasons was unlawful. In 1978, against the rules of the network, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent out the first mass email to approximately 400 potential clients via the ARPANET. He claims that this resulted in $13 million worth of sales in DEC products, and highlighted the potential of email marketing. A 1982 handbook on computing at MIT's AI Lab stated regarding network etiquette:
It is considered illegal to use the ARPANet for anything which is not in direct support of Government business ... personal messages to other ARPANet subscribers (for example, to arrange a get-together or check and say a friendly hello) are generally not considered harmful ... Sending electronic mail over the ARPANet for commercial profit or political purposes is both anti-social and illegal. By sending such messages, you can offend many people, and it is possible to get MIT in serious trouble with the Government agencies which manage the ARPANet.
== Decommissioning == In 1985, the NSF funded the establishment of national supercomputing centers at several universities and provided network access and network interconnectivity with the NSFNET project in 1986. NSFNET became the Internet backbone for government agencies and universities. The ARPANET project was formally decommissioned in 1990. The original IMPs and TIPs were phased out as the ARPANET was shut down after the introduction of the NSFNet, but some IMPs remained in service as late as July 1990. In the wake of the decommissioning of the ARPANET on 28 February 1990, Vinton Cerf wrote the following lamentation, entitled "Requiem of the ARPANET":
It was the first, and being first, was best, but now we lay it down to ever rest. Now pause with me a moment, shed some tears. For auld lang syne, for love, for years and years of faithful service, duty done, I weep. Lay down thy packet, now, O friend, and sleep. -Vinton Cerf
== Legacy ==