154 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
154 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
Unauthorised Access UK 0636-708063
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Jester Sluggo presents
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an insight on
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Wide-Area Networks
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Part 1
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Part 1 contains information on ARPANET and CSNET.
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Part 2 contains information on BITNET, MFENET, UUCP and USENET.
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It is best if you read both files to better understand each other.
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These files will cover general information on wide-area networks, (I.E.
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ARPANET, CSNET, BITNET, MFENET, UUCP and USENET), but may contain information
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in relationship with other networks not emphasized in these files. These files
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are NOT a hacker's tutorial/guide on these systems.
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ARPANET
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~~~~~~~
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ARPANET. The ARPANET, which is a major component of the NSFnet [National
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Science Foundation Network], began in 1969 as an R&D project managed by DARPA
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[Dept. of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]. ARPANET was an experiment
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in resource sharing, and provided survivable (multiply connected), high
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bandwidth (56 Kilobits per second) communications links between major existing
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computational resources and computer users in academic, industrial, and
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government research laboratories. ARPANET is managed and funded by by the DCA
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[Defense Communications Agency] with user services provided by a network
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information center at SRI International.
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ARPANET served as a test for the development of advanced network protocols
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including the TCP-IP protocol suite introduced in 1981. TCP-IP and
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particularly IP, the internet protocol, introduced the idea of inter-
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networking -- allowing networks of different technologies and connection
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protocols to be linked together while providing a unified internetwork
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addressing scheme and a common set of transport of application protocols. This
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development allowed networks of computers and workstations to be connected to
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the ARPANET, rather than just single-host computers. TCP-IP remain the most
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available and advanced, non-vendor-specific, networking protocols and have
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strongly influenced the current international standards of activity. TCP-IP
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provide a variety of application services, including remote logon (Telnet),
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file transfer (FTP), and electronic mail (SMTP and RFC822).
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ARPANET technology was so successful that in 1982, the Dept. of Defense
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(DOD) abandoned their AUTODIN II network project and adopted ARPANET technology
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for the Dept. of Defense Data Network (DDN). The current MILNET, which was
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split form the original ARPANET in 1983, is the operational, unclassified
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network component of the DDN, while ARPANET remains an advanced network R&D
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tested for DARPA. In practice, ARPANET has also been an operational network
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supporting DOD, DOE [Dept. of Energy], and some NSF-sponsored computer science
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researchers. This community has come to depend on the availability of the
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network. Until the advent of NSFnet, access to ARPANET was restricted to this
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community.
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As an operational network in the scientific and engineering research
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community, and with the increasing availability of affordable super-
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minicomputers, ARPANET was used less as a tool for sharing remote computational
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resources than it was for sharing information. The major lesson from the
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ARPANET experience is that information sharing is a key benefit of computer
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networking. Indeed it may be argued that many major advances in computer
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systems and artificial intelligence are the direct result of the enhanced
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collaboration made possible by ARPANET.
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However, ARPANET also had the negative effect of creating a have--have not
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situation in experimental computer research. Scientists and engineers carrying
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out such research at institutions other than the twenty or so ARPANET sites
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were at a clear disadvantage in accessing pertinent technical information and
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in attracting faculty and students.
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In October 1985, NSF and DARPA, with DOD support, signed a memorandum of
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agreement to expand the ARPANET to allow NSF supercomputer users to use ARPANET
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to access the NSF supercomputer centers and to communicate with each other.
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The immediate effect of this agreement was to allow all NSF supercomputer users
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on campuses with an existing ARPANET connection to use ARPANET. In addition,
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the NSF supercomputer resource centers at the University of Illinois and
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Cornell University are connected to ARPANET. In general, the existing ARPANET
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connections are in departments of computer science or electrical engineering
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and are not readily accessible by other researchers. However, DARPA has
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requested that the campus ARPANET coordinators facilitate access by relevant
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NSF researchers.
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As part of the NSFnet initiative, a number of universities have requested
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connection to ARPANET. Each of these campuses has undertaken to establish a
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campus network gateway accessible to all due course, be able to use the ARPANET
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to access the NSF supercomputer centers, from within their own local computing
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environment. Additional requests for connection to the ARPANET are being
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considered by NSF.
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CSNET
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~~~~~
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CSNET. Establishment of a network for computer science research was first
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suggested in 1974, by the NSF advisory committee for computer science. The
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objective of the network would be to support collaboration among researchers,
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provide research sharing, and, in particular, support isolated researchers in
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the smaller universities.
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In the spring of 1980, CSNET [Computer Science Network], was defined and
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proposed to NSF as a logical network made up of several physical networks of
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various power, performance, and cost. NSF responded with a five year contract
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for development of the network under the condition that CSNET was to be
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financially self-supporting by 1986. Initially CSNET was a network with five
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major components -- ARPANET, Phonenet (a telephone based message relaying
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service), X25Net (suppose for the TCP-IP Protocol suite over X.25-based public
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data networks), a public host (a centralized mail service), and a name server
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(an online database of CSNET users to support transparent mail services). The
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common service provided across all these networks is electronic mail, which is
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integrated at a special service host, which acts as an electronic mail relay
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between the component networks. Thus CSNET users can send electronic mail to
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all ARPANET users and vice-versa. CSNET, with DARPA support, installed
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ARPANET connections at the CSNET development sites at the universities of
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Delaware and Wisconsin and Purdue University.
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In 1981, Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN) contracted to provide technical
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and user services and to operate the CSNET Coordination and Information Center.
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In 1983, general management of CSNET was assumed by UCAR [the Univ. Corporation
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for Atmospheric Research], with a subcontract to BBN. Since then, CSNET has
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grown rapidly and is currently an independent, financially stable, and
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professionally managed service to the computer research community. However,
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the momentum created by CSNET's initial success caused the broad community
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support it now enjoys. More than 165 university, industrial, and government
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computer research groups now belong to CSNET.
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A number of lessons may be learned from the CSNET experience.
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1) The network is now financially self-sufficient, showing that a research is
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willing to pay for the benefits of a networking service. (Users pay usage
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charges plus membership fees ranging from $2000 for small computer science
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departments to $30,000 for the larger industrial members.)
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2) While considerable benefits are available to researchers from simple
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electronic mail and mailing list services -- the Phonenet service -- most
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researchers want the much higher level of performance and service provided by
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the ARPANET.
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3) Providing a customer support and information service is crucial to the
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success of a network, even (or perhaps especially) when the users are themselves sophisticated computer science professionals. Lessons from the
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CSNET experience will provide valuable input to the design, implementation,
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provision of user services, and operation and management of NSFnet, and, in
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particular, to the development of the appropriate funding model for NSFnet.
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CSNET, with support from the NSFnet program, is now developing the CYPRESS
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project which is examining ways in which the level of CSNET service may be
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improved, at low cost, to research departments. CYPRESS will use the DARPA
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protocol suite and provide ARPANET-like service on low-speed 9600-bit-per-
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second leased line telephone links. The network will use a nearest neighbor
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topology, modeled on BITNET, while providing a higher level of service to users
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and a higher level of interoperability with the ARPANET. The CYPRESS project is
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designed to replace or supplement CSNET use of the X.25 public networks, which
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has proved excessively expensive. This approach may also be used to provide a
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low-cost connection to NSFnet for smaller campuses.
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/
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\
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/ luggo !!
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Please give full credit for references to the following:
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Dennis M. Jennings, Lawrence H. Landweber, Ira H. Fuchs, David J. Faber, and W.
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Richards Adrion.
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Any questions, comments or Sluggestions can be emailed to me at Metal Shop,
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or sent via snailmail to the following address until 12-31-1986:
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J. Sluggo
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P.O. Box 93
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East Grand Forks, MN 56721
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Downloaded From P-80 Systems 304-744-2253
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