How the Internet Was Invented: Part 1

TL;DR

The Internet emerged through decades of work on making computers cooperate, beginning with early parallel problem-solving and leading to ARPANET, packet switching, TCP/IP, and DNS. ARPA began building ARPANET in 1969 to connect UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and the University of Utah. Read on to see how each innovation solved a specific obstacle to building an interconnected network.

Transcript

When you clicked on this video, your computer sent a message to a computer at YouTube that might be states or countries or continents away. It didn’t know how to get the message there, but it sent it anyway. The message probably arrived after about half a second and told YouTube’s computers to search for a file -- a set of ones and zeros practicall... Read More

Key Insights

• 🌐 The Internet is a complex and interconnected system that allows computers to communicate with each other across vast distances. It operates through a process called packet switching, where messages are sent in small packets along the same set of wires.
• 👥 The development of the Internet started as early as World War II when computers were used to solve difficult math problems. Physicist Richard Feynman and his team found a way to solve multiple problems simultaneously by utilizing the idle time of computers. This method later proved useful for important calculations.
• 📡 In the 1950s and 60s, colleges separated computer terminals from the computers themselves, thereby creating an early form of cloud computing. The US Department of Defense funded the creation of a computer network connecting scientists and engineers throughout the country in 1969, known as ARPANET.
• ️ Packet switching was a major innovation of ARPANET and allowed for the efficient exchange of information between computers. Instead of relying on circuit switching, where signals traveled through uninterrupted circuits, packet switching allowed for simultaneous connections and faster communication.
• 📚 As ARPANET expanded, the need for a standardized system became apparent. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) was developed to provide a common language and assign addresses for the growing number of networks joining the Internet.
• 💌 Email became a popular form of communication, but the process of sending emails became cumbersome due to different email programs and the need to map out the entire network manually. The Domain Name System (DNS) was introduced to reorganize and simplify the structure of the Internet.
• 🏢 By the late 1980s, the Department of Defense realized the success and magnitude of the Internet, leading to the end of the ARPANET project. Plans were made to transition responsibility for running the Internet to a trusted entity. The question of making the internet accessible to the general public arose.
• 😎 The next episode of the series will delve into the challenges and decisions faced by the Internet in 1989, including the selection of a new entity to take over the infrastructure and the accessibility of the internet to the public.

Questions & Answers

Q: How was the Internet invented?

The Internet developed through decades of advances in software, hardware, technology, and networking rather than through one invention. Key steps included early methods for coordinating computers, ARPANET, packet switching, TCP/IP, and DNS.

Q: What was ARPANET, and when was it created?

ARPANET was a computer network funded by the US Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA. Construction began in 1969, initially connecting UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and the University of Utah.

Q: Why was ARPANET created?

Joseph Licklider helped persuade ARPA to fund research into a network connecting scientists and engineers across the country. ARPA had been established to keep US technology a step ahead of the Soviets.

Q: How did packet switching change computer communication?

Packet switching allowed different computers to send messages over the same wires instead of requiring a dedicated circuit for every connection. Each packet carried a numerical destination address and was forwarded from computer to computer until it arrived.

Q: Why was circuit switching impractical for the Internet?

Circuit switching required a single uninterrupted connection between two places, which would let a computer connect to only one other computer at a time. Websites can connect users to ten computers simultaneously while serving hundreds or thousands of visitors, so constantly rearranging dedicated circuits would not work.

Q: How did Richard Feynman’s team make early computers more productive?

During World War II, Richard Feynman’s team assigned idle computers to parts of other problems. Although one problem might still take a month, the approach could solve three or four during that same period and could repeat crucial calculations to catch mistakes.

Q: How did college computing in the 1950s and 1960s resemble cloud computing?

Colleges separated terminals, where people entered programs, from the computers that performed the work. This let many users experiment while keeping the machines’ circuits and tubes protected, resembling a user-friendly device sending difficult tasks to less accessible computers elsewhere.

Q: Why were TCP/IP and DNS important to the Internet’s growth?

TCP/IP gave expanding networks a common language for formatting packets and assigning addresses, allowing them to connect more easily. DNS reorganized address management into domains and simplified navigation and tasks such as sending email as the network grew.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• During World War II, physicist Richard Feynman developed a system for computers to work on multiple problems simultaneously, leading to the acceleration of calculations.

• In the 1950s and 60s, computer terminals were separated from computers themselves, resembling an early form of cloud computing.

• ARPANET, funded by ARPA, was created in 1969 as the first network connecting computers at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and the University of Utah, and it laid the foundation for the internet we know today.