University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/1197 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995 by Dorian James Rutter A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science Department of Computer Science University of Warwick July 2005 Contents LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................XI DECLARATION .............................................................................................................................. XIII ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................... XIV ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................................................................XV 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 COMPUTER NETWORKS, CONVERGENCE, AND THE INTERNET.........................................................1 1.2 THE THESIS.....................................................................................................................................3 1.2.1 Scope ......................................................................................................................................3 1.2.2 Sources ...................................................................................................................................4 1.2.3 Overview ................................................................................................................................6 1.2.4 Outline....................................................................................................................................7 2. FROM DIVERSITY TO CONVERGENCE: JANET...................................................................11 2.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................11 2.2 EARLY NETWORK ISLANDS...........................................................................................................14 2.2.1 SWUCN ................................................................................................................................14 2.2.2 SRCnet..................................................................................................................................19 2.2.3 Other Networks ....................................................................................................................23 2.3 TOWARDS A NATIONAL NETWORK: FROM DIVERSITY TO CONVERGENCE....................................25 2.3.1 Network Rationalisation.......................................................................................................25 2.3.2 The X.25 Decision ................................................................................................................30 2.4 THE JOINT ACADEMIC NETWORK..................................................................................................35 2.4.1 Convergence.........................................................................................................................35 2.4.2 Basic Network Provision and the Development of New Services.........................................37 2.4.3 Interim Standards and the Transition to OSI .......................................................................40 2.4.4 Network Organisation, Control, and User Representation ..................................................42 2.4.5 Network Evolution and the Importance of X.25 and OSI .....................................................46 2.4.6 Traffic and Upgrades ...........................................................................................................51 3. FROM CONVERGENCE TO CONSOLIDATION: SUPERJANET..........................................54 3.1 FROM X.25 AND OSI TO TCP/IP...................................................................................................54 3.1.1 JANET Mark II.....................................................................................................................54 3.1.2 New Services on JANET.......................................................................................................56 3.1.3 OSI and the Ascendancy of TCP/IP......................................................................................58 3.1.4 The Shoestring Project, X.25, and OSI.................................................................................63 I 3.1.5 The Dominance of TCP/IP ...................................................................................................67 3.2 SUPERJANET ...............................................................................................................................72 3.2.1 Expansion.............................................................................................................................72 3.2.2 The SuperJANET Pilot Networks .........................................................................................74 3.2.3 SuperJANET Phase I............................................................................................................82 3.2.4 Network Evolution: Access to JANET ..................................................................................83 3.2.5 Internet Services and the Rise of the World Wide Web ........................................................85 3.2.6 Consolidation of TCP/IP and the Decline of X.25 and OSI .................................................88 3.2.7 SuperJANET Phase II...........................................................................................................93 3.2.8 SuperJANET Phases III, IV, and V.......................................................................................94 4. BEFORE THE INTERNET: THE RISE AND FALL OF PRESTEL .......................................105 4.1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................105 4.2 EARLY NETWORK DEVELOPMENTS: TELETEXT AND VIEWDATA ................................................106 4.2.1 Teletext ...............................................................................................................................106 4.2.2 Viewdata.............................................................................................................................107 4.3 PRESTEL: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY .....................................................................................115 4.3.1 Early Problems...................................................................................................................115 4.3.2 Travel Information and Private Viewdata Networks..........................................................122 4.3.3 Revisiting the Residential Market.......................................................................................125 4.4 PRESTEL IN CONTEXT .................................................................................................................129 4.4.1 The Evolution of International Videotex Networks ............................................................129 4.4.2 From Diversity to Convergence: A Videotex internet ........................................................132 4.5 PRESTEL, VIDEOTEX, AND THE INTERNET ...................................................................................142 4.5.1 The Decline of Prestel and Videotex and the Rise of the Internet ......................................142 4.5.2 Survival in an Internet world: Teletext, TOP, and Télétel..................................................151 5. GETTING THE MESSAGE: PUBLIC ELECTRONIC MAIL NETWORKS.........................159 5.1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................159 5.2 EARLY ELECTRONIC MAIL NETWORKS .......................................................................................161 5.3 PUBLIC ELECTRONIC MAIL NETWORKS ......................................................................................161 5.3.1 Telecom Gold .....................................................................................................................161 5.3.2 Cable & Wireless Easylink.................................................................................................170 5.4 FROM DIVERSITY TO CONVERGENCE: X.400 ..............................................................................172 5.4.1 The Need for Interconnection.............................................................................................172