The Origin and First Decade of the Internet

1983

• all military sites connected to ARPANET began using TCP/IP
• ARPA set up external structure for coordinating TCP/IP research and Internet development
  • Internet Activities Board (IAF), chaired by Internet Architect
    • worked through task forces
    • Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) emerged as the primary organization for defining Internet technical standards and shaping research and development

1985

• NSFNET links 100 universities, primarily to provide access to supercomputer centers

1987

• second NSFNET backbone set up to link regional and mid-level networks
• IBM, MCI, and MERIT contracted to run NSFNET

1992

• Advanced Network Services (ANS) corporation set up, at the encouragement of NSF, to build next-generation network
  • formed by IBM, MCI, and MERIT
  • expanded backbone capacity
  • beginning of privatization

1983-1994

Growth of Internet connected computers:

• 1983: 562
• 1984: 1,024
• 1985: 1,961
• 1986: 2,308
• 1987: 5,089
• 1988: 28,174
• 1989: 80,000
• 1990: 290,000
• 1991: 500,000
• 1992: 727,000
• 1993: 1,200,000
• 1994: 2,217,000

1995

• Sale of Internet to four private conglomerates