Overview of and topical guide to the Internet
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Internet.
Internet – worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of interconnected smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.
History of the Internet
History of the Internet
The internet wasn't invented but continually developed by internet pioneers.
- Predecessors
- NPL network – a local area computer network operated by a team from the National Physical Laboratory in England that pioneered the concept of packet switching.
- ARPANET – an early packet switching network and the first network to implement the protocol suite TCP/IP which later became a technical foundation of the Internet.
- Merit Network – a computer network created in 1966 to connect the mainframe computers at universities that is currently the oldest running regional computer network in the United States.
- CYCLADES – a French research network created in the early 1970s that pioneered the concept of packet switching, and was developed to explore alternatives to the ARPANET design.
- Computer Science Network (CSNET) – a computer network created in the United States for computer science departments at academic and research institutions that could not be directly connected to ARPANET, due to funding or authorization limitations. It played a significant role in spreading awareness of, and access to, national networking and was a major milestone on the path to development of the global Internet.
- National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) –
- History of Internet components
- Timeline of Internet conflicts
