Happy 30th Birthday, Internet!

Oh, Internet. What can we say about such a loyal and knowledgable friend that has been with us for such a long time? What did we ever do before you were in our lives? Read books, I presume. Blerch. Anyway, it’s the 30th birthday of the internet we know and love today. INTERNET PARTY IN HERE!

Ahem.

The internet was born after the founders of what was then known as the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) switched over from Network Control Protocol (NCP) to Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The birth of TCP/IP heralded the beginning of the internet we now know and love today.

Not everyone was such a fan of the new TCP/IP protocol at first, so the ARPANET’s admins simply demonstrated their power by shutting off NCP for a day or so to encourage people to shift. Thank goodness nothing has been that dramatic in the changeover to IPv6.

The changeover to IPv6 came last year as the Internet Protocol’s address system, IPv4, ran out of addresses. Thankfully we’re in a world now where changing protocols is relatively easy and turning off the whole internet isn’t something that we need to be afraid of.

Happy 30th Birthday, Internet. We love you.

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Internet quietly celebrates 30

Internet quietly celebrates 30 years of taking ARPANET's place
The Internet, a revolutionary and cheap communications system that has transformed the lives of billions of people across the world, turned 30 on Tuesday.

The computer network officially began its technological revolution when it fully substituted previous networking systems on January 1 1983.

Known as "flag day", it was the first time the US Department of Defence (DoD)-commissioned ARPANET network fully switched to use of the Internet protocol suite (IPS) communications system.

Using data "packet-switching", the new method of linking computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide Web.

"I don't think that anybody making that switch on the day would have realised the importance of what they were doing," the Daily Telegraph quoted Chris Edwards, an electronics correspondent for Engineering and Technology magazine, as saying.

"But without it the Internet and the World Wide Web as we know them could not have happened."

Commenting on the historic event's impact on the world, Edwards said: "The Internet means there is nowhere and no one in the world you can't reach easily and cheaply.''

Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the ARPANET network began as a military project in the late 1960s.

It was developed at prestigious American universities and research laboratories, such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute.

Starting in 1973, work on the powerful and flexible IPS and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) technology which would change mass communications got under way.

The new systems were designed to replace the more vulnerable Network Control Program (NCP) used previously, making sure the network was not exposed to a single point of failure.

This meant a single attack could not bring it down, making it safer and more reliable, the report said.

By January 1 1983, the substitution of the older system for the new Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born.

British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee was then able to use it to host the system of interlinked hypertext documents he invented in 1989, known as the World Wide Web.

Internet turns 30

Internet turns 30

The computer network officially began functioning when it fully substituted previous networking systems Jan 1, 1983, the Telegraph reported.

On that day, it was the first time the US Department of Defence-commissioned Arpanet network fully switched to use of the Internet protocol suite (IPS) communications system.

This new method of linking computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide Web (www).

Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the Arpanet network began as a military project in the late 1960s.
It was developed at many American universities, including the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute.
In 1973, work on the IPS and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) technology began. The new systems were designed to replace the more vulnerable Network Control Program (NCP) used previously, and made sure the network was not exposed to a single point of failure.
By Jan 1 1983, the substitution of the older system for the new Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born.
British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee later used it to host a system of interlinked hypertext documents in 1989, known as the World Wide Web.