RFC 1359 (rfc1359) - Page 3 of 25

Connecting to the Internet - What Connecting Institutions Should Anticipate

RFC 1359               Connecting to the Internet            August 1992


   The most basic functions provided are electronic mail, access to
   remote computational and informational facilities and file transfer.
   The networking protocols were first deployed in the late 1960's in
   the United States.  For several years, they were only used for very
   specific research activities and in some computer science
   departments.

   In 1985, at a meeting of National Science Foundation networking
   specialists and higher educations representatives, a new national
   data networking backbone, using these protocols, was outlined and
   acted as a catalyst resulting in dramatic changes in data networking
   technologies and usage.

   Originally conceived to connect the six national supercomputing
   centers that had been established, in the ensuing years, the NSFNet
   backbone network and its associated mid-level networks have grown
   dramatically.  The networks built for mission and discipline specific
   uses have also grown dramatically.  More importantly, because of the
   common technology, they have been able to be connected together,
   increasing their reach and as a result, their usefulness to the user
   community with very little additional expense.  The end result is a
   robust technology supporting the higher education and research
   community.  Its continued development and growth are essential to
   maintaining excellence in education and research.

   The use of the Internet has steadily and dramatically grown over the
   past years.  More and more sites have connected.  Each site may have
   more and more uses of the network, as existing users expand and new
   users are added resulting in exponential growth of network traffic.
   But even more dramatic are the explosions in growth due to the
   innovative applications.  Networks are having a dramatic effect on
   everything from libraries to elementary schools, from sharing
   expensive scientific instruments to using databases to access
   atmospheric data to electronic publishing and interpersonal
   collaborations building "workplaces without walls".

   The number of organizations connected at present is constantly
   growing.  At present, the organizations that connect through the
   Internet include universities and colleges, research laboratories,
   government and private, libraries, specialized scientific centers,
   state agencies, K-12 (Kindergarten-12th Grade) organizations,
   individuals, and individual research labs.  But no matter what kind
   of organization it is, they all have the same need to understand what
   it means to connect to the Internet.

   An institution must anticipate and prepare for four critical phases
   in the deployment of an Internet connection.  The list of issues
   discussed within this document is not exhaustive but rather the



NETTF