Advanced research projects agency network

Discussion Assignment.

DISCUSSION- 1

Name of the first computer network and who created it

In 1969, the first-ever computer-to-computer link was established on ARPANET. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, the precursor to the Internet, and launch the world's first successful packet-switched wide area computer network (Deffree, 2018). ARPANET was built to accommodate research equipment on packet switching technology. It was mainly built to allow resource sharing for the Department of Defense's contractors.

According to KeriLynn Engel (2019), “The U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, then known as ARPA) began the work that led to the ARPANET in the mid-1960s”. The programmer Charley Kline was able to send the first fully readable message via ARPANET: 'login'. The initial ARPANET was a network of just four computers located at four different sites: first UCLA and SRI, followed by the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. This first connection, in the form of a logon request, was sent to SRI International (then known as Stanford Research Institute) from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Network establishment and major disadvantages at initial stages

ARPANET was the network that became the basis for the Internet on October 29, 1969. Based on a concept first published in 1967, ARPANET was developed under the direction of the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) (Featherly, n.d.). In 1969, the idea became a modest reality with the interconnection of four university computers. The initial purpose was to communicate with and share computer resources among mainly scientific users at the connected institutions.

A major goal was to create a reliable computer network with built-in network redundancy that would provide reliable communications between its major nodes as well as remote access to these same computing resources, even when the network was subject to attack. Before ARPANET, the networks were basically the telephone networks which operated on the circuit switching principle. But this network was too vulnerable, because the loss of even one line or switch would terminate all the conversations and that was one if its major disadvantages at the initial stage (Thakur, n.d.).

What is TCP, who created it and when it was implemented

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation via which application programs can exchange data. TCP is one of the main protocols in TCP/IP networks. As Vangie Beal (n.d.) stated, “the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent”. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol, which means a connection is established and maintained until the application programs at each end have finished exchanging messages. It determines how to break application data into packets that networks can deliver, sends packets to and accepts packets from the network layer, manages flow control, and—because it is meant to provide error-free data transmission—handles retransmission of dropped or garbled packets as well asacknowledgement of all packets that arrive.

The TCP/IP protocol suite was designed in 1970s by 2 DARPA scientists—Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, persons most often called the fathers of the Internet. They started by conducting research on reliable data communications across packet radio networks, factored in lessons learned from the Networking Control Protocol, and then created the next generation Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the standard protocol used on the Internet today. ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there researchers began to assemble the “network of networks” that became the modern Internet (Andrews, 2019).

What is IP, when it was implemented and how it revolutionized communication technology

IP, or the Internet Protocol, is a suite of communication protocols used to interconnect network devices on the internet. IP can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network (an intranet or an extranet). The entire internet protocol suite -- a set of rules and procedures -- is commonly referred to as TCP/IP, though others are included in the suite, as per (Rouse, n.d.). More specifically, TCP/IP dictates how information should be packaged (turned into bundles of information called packets), sent, and received, as well as how to get to its destination. TCP/IP was developed in 1978 and driven by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf. ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there researchers began to assemble the “network of networks” that became the modern Internet.

TCP/IP has helped in revolutionizing communication technology by establishing standardization. According to B.T. Alto (n.d.), “although computers are capable of exchanging data with each other using several data transfer methods, communication by its very definition requires the transferred information to be understood on the receiving end”. A communication protocol is like a language; it enables computers to communicate with each other so that the receiving computer understands the data sent to it. TCP/IP standardizes this communication process by offering one universal protocol for all the computers over the Internet to use in their communication with each other.

DISCUSSION- 2

Computer Networks

According to Salus & Vinton (1995), the first computer network was referred to as ARPANET (Advanced Research’s Projects Agency Network). ARPANET was developed by ARPA which was under the U.S Department of Defense. This network was founded on the designs that were developed by Lawrence Roberts and Donald Davies. It was established on October 29, 1969.

One the major disadvantage of this network was that for one to connect to it, they had to go through several processes since it required some political connections. Also, one had to part with a large amount of money to use the network, meaning that it was restricted to just a few organizations and people (Hauben, 2007).

Transmission Control Protocol

Forouzan & Fegan (2006) states that TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is a standard that gives guidelines on how to start and run a network conversation where different application programs can exchange information. TCP works with IP (Internet Protocol) which shows how different computers can send packets of data to one another.

TCP was created by two DARPA scientists known as Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. These are famously referred to as fathers of theInternet. TCP was implemented in January 1, 1983. This is when the new protocols were activated on a permanent basis (Stevens & Wright, 1995).

Internet Protocol

IPs are initials that stand for Internet Protocol. This is a method in which information is sent from one computer to another via theInternet. IP is normally the main protocol in the Internet layer which comprises of four other layers. These layers are the link layer, transport layer, Internet layer and the application layer (Hinden, 2017) the most common version of IP is the IP version 4. However, IP Version 6 is under development and might be in use.

Crowcroft & Phillips (2001) contends that every computer on the Internet has an IP address that distinguishes it from other computers over the Internet. IP translates to an IP address that is assigned to every computer network for communication purposes. IP is commonly termed as a connectionless protocol, which translates to the fact that there is no other communication taking place between the endpoints. IP was implemented in the year 1974.

The Implementation of TC/IP Revolutionize Communication Technology

TCP/IP has revolutionized the Internet and technology sector by allowing any TCP/IP device to address any other device even where the network is large. Further, TCP/IP has provided for widely available services. Over the years, TCP/IP has transformed to revolutionize the whole framework of communication technology. Today, being referred to as the Internet, all new devices can be uniquely identified (Hassan& Jain, 2003). In addition protection of data has become easier and more efficient with the use of TCP/IP.

According to Leiner et al. (2009), TCP/IP is the characterizing interoperability convention for interfacing PCs to each other whereupon the Internet is assembled. The makers of the TCP/IP convention suite perceived that the assignment of interchanges are excessively intricate and too different to possibly be practiced by a solitary layer. In this way, the usefulness required for system interoperability is partitioned into independent layers that rely upon one another.