History, Present And Future Of Computer Networking

Overview of Internetworking

Internetworking is a term which has been used widely by BBN, Cisco and other providers of communication services and networks. According to these providers internetworking allows computers and people to communicate across different networks. Internetworking initially started as a way to connect disparate types of what was known as networking technology but after a period of time, it became widespread across the world via developing need of local area network (LAN). Initially, internetworks were referred to as castanets which was composed of two main words which were ‘inter’ and ‘network’.  The current definition of interworking includes connection of different types of networks such as Local Area Network, Personal Area Network, and Wide Area Network. This research report will present an analysis of human-centric design aspects in networking such as the layered approach in networking, an explanation of the current-day technologies used on the internet with a brief discussion of the main internet protocols. Lastly, the paper with present the future if computer networks such as the introduction of Software Defined Networking, Intelligent networking, and cloud computing.

From as early as mid-1960s people recognized the need to connect computers. The early computer connection was a point to point i.e. computers would connect directly to another by using either a modem or a line. Figure one below shows point to point connection of computers in the mid-1960s

 

Figure 1: Point to Point Connection [1]

Point to Point arrangement began to change in the 1970s where the US military was needed to connect a large number of computers for the purposes of their national defense. This requirement resulted in a development by Advance Research Programs Networks (ARPA) which would allow connection of a large number of computers [2]. One of the connections which made it possible is the Multi-Point connection which was also known as Multi-Point Connection. Figure 2 shows a sample connection of Multi-connection.

  

Figure 2: Multi-point Connection [1]

Another technology in the 1970s that meet the need of the US military department was the Local Area Network technology which is commonly known as Ethernet. LAN technology allowed lots of computers which are located within very few yards to connect via a physical cable. Each computer has its own unique address which enables it to send a message from one computer to another. Two major types of LAN architectures emerged which were circuit board to circuit board and bus and ring architectures.

Human-Centric Design in Networking

A need of connecting computers which are far apart then emerged in the US military. This resulted in the emergence of Wide Area Network (WAN). This was done in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. It first started with interconnecting of what was widely known as leased circuits using the T1s and then later T3s [3].  Other WAN architectures then emerged such as site to site communication, pass through routing, telephone-based, and dedicated computers.

From the mid-1980s it then began the proliferation of incompatible LANs and WANs which led to the development of the internet as it is known today. The Internet is a connection of LANs, WANs, PANs, MANs, and any form of single logical network. The point of connection between any of these two networks is a router.

The human-centered design aims at bridging the gap between human activities and the design and implementation of computing systems. In internetworking, this concept began in the late 1970s which were overseen by the International Telegraph and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) organizations. The two organizations developed a document independently which defined networking models. Later in 1983 the documents were merged and formed what was widely known as the basic reference model or the OSI reference model. The OSI model has two major parts which are the abstract model and a set of specific protocols. Table 1 below summarizes the seven layers of the OSI model [4]

Table 1: The seven layers of the OSI model

OSI model Layers	Description
Application	This layer provides services to the application
Presentation	The layer converts the information
Session	Handles issues which are not communication issues
Transport	This layer provides end to end communication
Network	Network routers information in the network
Data Link	The layer provides error control
Physical	The layer connects the outside entity to the transmission media

TCP/IP model was another consideration in internetworking.  TCP/IP is a suite of a communication protocol which is used to interconnect network devices on the internet.  It specifies how data can be exchanged over the internet by providing what is known as end-to-end communication. The DAPRA, a US department research created the TCP/IP model in the mid-1970s. It was designed for use in ARPANET and UNIX operating system but it was later implanted into other operating systems. Table 2 summarizes the TCP/IP model [5].

Table 2: TCP/IP model

TCP/IP model layer	Description	Example of protocols
Application	The layer provides application with a standardized data exchange	SMTP, SNMP, POP3, and HTTP
Transport	Maintains end to end communication across networks	TCP and UDP
Network	Transports network packets across the various network boundaries	ICMP
Physical	Connects hosts or nodes in the network	Ethernet and ARPs

Lastly networking accessories such as GUI, keyboards, and mouse have been taken into account when computer scientist discuss internetworking. Initially was the command based interface which was used in the 1950s and emerged graphical user interface. Command based interfaced used keyboards while GUI employed the use of keyboard shortcuts and mouse. GUI is used in many internetworking devices such as routers and switches. 

The internet has continued to grow in the mid-1990s at a very first-rate. The most important recent development is the emergence of the World Wide Web. In the early 1990s, World Wide Web began as internet application which allowed atomic and nuclear scientists at several international sites. Other recent developments are the routing protocols. Static and dynamic routing is currently being used in the current networks. Static routing is specifically used to implement small networks while dynamic routing is used to manage large networks or those networks which consist of several routers [6].  Other protocols are the Routing Information Protocol (RIP) which is a forceful protocol that is used in LANs and WANs. Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) is used to exchange routing data in an independent system. EIGRP is a distance-vector routing protocol wh9ich lessens routing unsteadiness incurred after a topology alteration. BGP is aimed at routing protocol of the internet and is responsible for maintaining a table of internet protocols [7].   

Current-day technologies used on the Internet

Internet Speed has continued to grow to speed with ever-faster need. Cisco Company highlighted that worldwide network traffic reached 20 exabytes per month by 2010. This showed a high growth in internet speed. Internet speed has grown with the development of cables table 3 has summarized the growth the growth of internet speed since the inception of internetworking.

Table 3: Internet speed over the years

Year	Internet speed
The 1970s	The Internet began operating at 50 Kbs circuits
1986	National Science’s Internet backbone (NSFNET) went online at a speed of 56 Kbps
1994	NSFNET was connected at 145 Mbps
2010	After the emergence of the world wide web internet speed reached 20 exabytes per month
2013	Google launched what it referred to as  Google fiber where internet speed reached 10MB per second
2017	After the emergence of Fiber optic cable internet speed has been very fast even up 200MB per second

As highlighted from the previous section it is evident that internetworking has grown. CPUs have grown from large CPUs to portable CPUs. This has made it easy for networking of CPUs to easier. Computer screens have been developed for portable monitors of 17 inches. Currently, there is also the availability of touch screens. Mobile apps are also at the peak of their development. All this development have resulted in various networking topologies such as client-server, peer to peer topology, mesh topology and others. These networking topologies the sitting arrangement of CPUs

Part of this rapid development in computer networks is traced back in 1993 after the first graphical and point and click browsers of web pages. In the future, we look forward to seeing further developments in computer networks. One of the technology people are waiting is the Internet of Things (IoT). As it is highlighted IoT is that connection of physical devices such as home appliances, actuators, sensors, and vehicles to the current wide area network. This creates chances for direct integration with the current physical world. Other computer networks under development are cloud computing and Software Defined networking [8].

Cloud computing technology is one of the many technologies people are eagerly waiting. It enables ubiquitous access of configurable computer system resources. With cloud computing networking technology it enables organizations and companies to consume resources like an application as a utility. Rather than having to maintain and build computing infrastructures in-house organizations will be able to consume them just like electricity [9]. An illustration of a sample cloud computing is as shown in figure 3 below

 

Figure 2: Cloud computing illustration [10]

Conclusion

This report has given an overview of internetworking. The report has highlighted the development of inter-networking since its inception to the current day. Also, the report has presented computer network technologies and given an in-depth overview of the internet. Two major future computer technologies that need to monitored closely are cloud computing and IoT. As we from the report future development are forth-coming and more is coming in inter-networking.

References

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UniversityOfNorthCarolina, “Internet Chronology,” University of North Carolina, n.d. [Online]. Available: https://www.cs.unc.edu/~jbs/resources/Internet/internet-chron/chronology1.html. [Accessed 31st August 2018].

J. Dickey, “The evolution of private WANs: LANs and WANs converge,” Talari Networks, 10th April 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.talari.com/blog/history-of-wan-part-2/. [Accessed 31st August 2018].

SANSInstitute, “The OSI Model: An Overview,” Computer networks, vol. III, no. 3, pp. 23-69, 2017.

Fall, TCP/IP illustrated Volume 1, addison-Wesley, 2011.

CiscoNetworkingAcademy, “Cisco Networking Academy’s Introduction to Routing Dynamically,” Cisco Networking Academy, 24th March 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=2180210&seqNum=5. [Accessed 31st August 2018].

“Routing Protocols Types (RIP, IGRP, OSPF, EGP, EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS),” FreeWimaxInfo, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://freewimaxinfo.com/routing-protocol-types.html. [Accessed 31st August 2018].

J. R. B. S. M. a. M. P. Gubbi, “Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural elements, and future directions,” Future generation computer systems, pp. 1645-1660, 2013.

W. J. W. B. J. B. E. a. P. E. Cardoso, “igital manufacturing, industry 4.0, clould computing and thing internet: Brazilian contextualization and reality.,” Independent Journal of Management & Production, pp. 459-473, 2017.

C. Doukas, “Bringing IoT and Cloud Computing towards Pervasive Healthcare,” Research Gate, p. 1002, July 2012.