TCP/IP

Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) is a family of network protocols and is also known as Internet protocol family because of their great importance for the Internet.

The identification of participating in the network computer is done via IP addresses. A calculator or generally a device with an IP address is called the TCP / IP jargon as host. Originally TCP was designed as a monolithic network protocol, but later split in the IP and TCP protocols. The core group of the protocol family is complemented by the User Datagram Protocol ( UDP) as another transport protocol. There are also numerous adjuvants and application protocols, such as DHCP and ARP.

History

The protocol suite TCP / IP was developed from work of DARPA in the early 1970s. After the pioneering Arpanet was built in the late 1960s, DARPA started work on alternative transmission techniques.

1972 Robert was E. Kahn employed at the DARPA Information Processing Technology Office, where he worked on satellite-based packet-switching networks and terrestrial wireless networks, said he realized how important would be the ability to communicate regardless of the transmission technology of all networks.

In the spring of 1973, Vinton Cerf joined Kahn to work on new open-architecture interconnection models with the goal of creating the next protocol for the Arpanet.

In the summer of 1973, Kahn and Cerf had a fundamentally new model is developed that compensates for the differences between physical networks by introducing an abstraction layer in the form of Internet Protocol ( IP). At the same time the task of ensuring reliability of the physical network has been transferred to the single host computer as opposed to the Arpanet. Cerf indicates Hubert Zimmerman and Louis Pouzin, the developers of the CYCLADES network to have been heavily influenced here.

With the reduction of the duties of the physical network to a minimum almost any networks could now be together, completely independent of its physical implementation.

This idea was to Cerfs research group at Stanford University from 1973 to 1974 in the first TCP specification developed (RFC 675).

Then began DARPA, BBN Technologies, Stanford University and University College London to develop the first implementations on different hardware platforms. Four versions were developed: TCP v1, TCP v2, the split setup TCP v3/IP v3 in the spring of 1978 and then the stable TCP / IP v4, which is also still used today on the Internet.

1975 was a comprehensive two networks TCP / IP test between Stanford and University College London ( UCL) conducted in November 1977, a three networks comprehensive test between the U.S., UK and Norway. Between 1978 and 1983, yet other TCP / IP prototypes were developed at multiple research institutions. A complete switch to TCP / IP in the Arpanet took place on 1 January 1983.

In March 1982, the Department of Defense TCP / IP explained as the standard for all military computer networking.

In 1985, the Internet Architecture Board by a three day workshop on TCP / IP for the computer industry, where 250 vendors attended, whereby the protocol became more popular and has been used in connection frequently.

Use

TCP / IP was a long time in competition with protocols such as IPX / SPX (Novell), AppleTalk (Apple) or NetBEUI (Microsoft Windows). It is one of the first network protocols ( and the only successful ), which is universal and independent for all major operating systems and virtually every conceivable networking. However, it is only configurable with some basic knowledge due to its universal applicability; the integration of different network segments requires special hardware ( router) and deeper knowledge.

At least with the advent of the Internet, which requires the use of IP addresses mandatory, but also due to its high flexibility and routing capability, this network protocols were generally prevail.

Importance of the protocols

The Importance of Internet protocols can be seen from its history and is closely linked to the development of the Internet. Only later, when the Internet already established, they became the standard protocol in networks. Apple and Microsoft have long used their own network protocols, which were gradually displaced by the penetration of the Internet. Until Windows for Workgroups had to TCP / IP on Windows is installed manually, dial components, there were only with the Internet Explorer are available, in addition, these components had to be configured individually by hand. With modern operating systems ( for example Linux or Windows version 2000 and ME) and the use of network servers and the automatic address reference from the ISP, the configuration of Internet protocols for end users virtually omitted, which was an important prerequisite for their success.

Meanwhile, Novell, Apple and Microsoft have their own network protocols by TCP / IP largely replaced. Today also routers, printers or print servers, IP phones, IP radios or hardware firewalls use this protocol as a standard. Also practical IP connections to other hardware components ( such as scanners, PDAs, network attached cell phones, etc.) are present, because the implementation by the modularity and openness of this standard is in principle simple.

Due to the restriction of the Internet Protocol address needs to V4 essentially the Internet layer are replaced by IPv6 in the layer model. The other layers of this model remain relatively unaffected thereof, unless the application layer more addresses are included, as is the case with FTP.