Introducing TCP/IP

Because TCP/IP is so central to working with the Internet and intranets, it’s essential for you to understand it in detail. I’ll begin by giving you some background on TCP/IP and how it came about and then move on to describing the important technical goals defined by the original designers. After that, you’ll find out how TCP/IP compares to a theoretical model—the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

A Brief History of TCP/IP

TCP/IP first came on the scene in 1973. Later, in 1978, it was divided into two distinct protocols: TCP and IP. Then, in 1983, TCP/IP replaced the Network Control Protocol (NCP) and was authorized as the official means of data transport for anything connecting to ARPAnet, the Internet’s ancestor that was created by ARPA, the DoD’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, way back in 1957 in reaction to the Soviet’s launching of Sputnik. ARPA was soon redubbed DARPA, and it was divided into ARPAnet and MILNET (also in 1983); both were finally dissolved in 1990.