ABSTRACT
By the late 1970s, computer networking began to blossom. The proliferation of multiple Local Area Network (LAN) technologies had a downside: data available in a given department could not be shared easily. The search for a network technology that allowed all computers to communicate led scientists and engineers to experiment with networks that could connect computers across, large geographic distance. Initially, they were called long-haul networks, but the name was changed to Wide Area Networks (WANs) to contrast with LANs. WANs use modems to send signals across long-distance transmission lines, but a WAN does much more than merely connect a pair of computers. Computer software forms an important part of Internet technology because software, not hardware, is key in making it possible to interconnect networks. Two pieces of the Internet software stand out as particularly important and innovative. Internet Protocol software provides basic communication, and the Transmission Control Protocol software provides key functions that applications need.
