- 29 May 2019 06:27
#15008201
An interesting thing I have learned in my TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) class is where the internet came from and why it was originally invented. It started under the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the US Department of Defense. The funding provided was to create a long-haul long distance network that could withstand a devastating and overwhelming first strike from the Soviet Union upon the United States. The choices when it came to such a long haul network came down to a circuit switched network or a packet switched network. It was determined that a packet switched network was more reliable and could meet the goal of with-standing an overwhelming first strike nuclear attack from the Soviet Union.
In a circuit switched network anything destroyed between two network nodes (communicating computers for example when I say nodes) would make it impossible for those two nodes to communicate. However, with a packet switched network, even if things were destroyed between two communicating nodes, packets in a packet switching network can be re-routed if necessary and still enable those two nodes to communicate with each other with no problems despite any destruction between the two communicating nodes. This was important for US nuclear defense strategy which relied on Mutually Assured Destruction of the Soviet Union in the event that the Soviet Union launched a surprise and overwhelming first strike nuclear attack upon the United States.
The theory of mutually assured destruction relied upon the notion that if one power launched a first strike upon another power, then the power that was hit by the first strike will still be able to retaliate with an overwhelming retaliatory nuclear strike of it's own upon the the power that launched the first strike inflicting overwhelming and unacceptable losses and damage upon the power that would hypothetically be the aggressor. The problem, however, was if the Soviets launched a first strike, their was a potential that they could knock out command and control abilities that would prevent the US from launching a successful and overwhelming retaliatory response in return due to the ability to communicate being destroyed.
That's when the internet came in and it's design goals was to be able to withstand an overwhelming nuclear first strike from the Soviet Union. This why a packet switching network was part of it's design. This solved that problem and guaranteed, that if the Soviets launched an overwhelming first strike upon the US, the US would still be able to communicate with it's nuclear forces despite any destruction and launch an overwhelming retaliatory response that would inflict unacceptable damage and destruction upon the Soviet Union in return. Thus, it more likely assured the doctrine of deterrence and discouraged the Soviets from considering a first strike nuclear attack upon the United States as a military option. And that's the origins of the internet.
TCP/IP was part of that. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) assures reliable delivery of packet switched network packets for communication purposes while IP (Internet Protocol) determined the routing of these network packets to various important areas that would need to be communicated with to mount a response to any Soviet nuclear strike. TCP/IP given that it was publicly funded by the American taxpayer falls into the public domain. So, it's not a privately owned suite of protocols despite the fact it under the purview of specific standards-making bodies. Both everybody and nobody owns TCP/IP. Currently today, the US government has very little to do with TCP/IP.
References-
Pyles, J., Carrell, J. L., & Tittel, E. (2016). Introducing TCP/IP. In Guide to TCP/IP: IPv6 and IPv4 (5th ed., pp. 1-5). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
In a circuit switched network anything destroyed between two network nodes (communicating computers for example when I say nodes) would make it impossible for those two nodes to communicate. However, with a packet switched network, even if things were destroyed between two communicating nodes, packets in a packet switching network can be re-routed if necessary and still enable those two nodes to communicate with each other with no problems despite any destruction between the two communicating nodes. This was important for US nuclear defense strategy which relied on Mutually Assured Destruction of the Soviet Union in the event that the Soviet Union launched a surprise and overwhelming first strike nuclear attack upon the United States.
The theory of mutually assured destruction relied upon the notion that if one power launched a first strike upon another power, then the power that was hit by the first strike will still be able to retaliate with an overwhelming retaliatory nuclear strike of it's own upon the the power that launched the first strike inflicting overwhelming and unacceptable losses and damage upon the power that would hypothetically be the aggressor. The problem, however, was if the Soviets launched a first strike, their was a potential that they could knock out command and control abilities that would prevent the US from launching a successful and overwhelming retaliatory response in return due to the ability to communicate being destroyed.
That's when the internet came in and it's design goals was to be able to withstand an overwhelming nuclear first strike from the Soviet Union. This why a packet switching network was part of it's design. This solved that problem and guaranteed, that if the Soviets launched an overwhelming first strike upon the US, the US would still be able to communicate with it's nuclear forces despite any destruction and launch an overwhelming retaliatory response that would inflict unacceptable damage and destruction upon the Soviet Union in return. Thus, it more likely assured the doctrine of deterrence and discouraged the Soviets from considering a first strike nuclear attack upon the United States as a military option. And that's the origins of the internet.
TCP/IP was part of that. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) assures reliable delivery of packet switched network packets for communication purposes while IP (Internet Protocol) determined the routing of these network packets to various important areas that would need to be communicated with to mount a response to any Soviet nuclear strike. TCP/IP given that it was publicly funded by the American taxpayer falls into the public domain. So, it's not a privately owned suite of protocols despite the fact it under the purview of specific standards-making bodies. Both everybody and nobody owns TCP/IP. Currently today, the US government has very little to do with TCP/IP.
References-
Pyles, J., Carrell, J. L., & Tittel, E. (2016). Introducing TCP/IP. In Guide to TCP/IP: IPv6 and IPv4 (5th ed., pp. 1-5). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
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