[ih] NCP to TCP/IP Transition

[Vint Cerf]

The date of transition was 1 jan 83 but for almost 5 years before that  
I was pushing implementations of TCP/IP in as many operating systems  
as possible. It was only after all these implementations were done  
(and many tested for interoperability) that I began pushing in late  
1981 or early 1982 for a planned (mandated) transition to TCP/IP.  
Mainly this meant all ARPANET hosts had to change or drop off the net.  
We had the ability to kill NCP at the network level and did so twice  
during 1982 to show we could do it.

vint

On Apr 27, 2009, at 12:50 PM, Matthias Bärwolff wrote:

> Hi,
>
> is my understanding correct in that it actually took more than a  
> year to
> do the transition from NCP to TCP/IP, starting roughly in early 1982  
> and
> being done with by mid-1983? This is what RFC 801 (the plan), and  
> rfc842
> through rfc848 plus rfc876 (the progress reports) seem to indicate.
>
> I am asking because the transition is nowadays always being referred  
> to
> as a flag day transition (which in may understanding is defined as the
> very absence of any transition period, e.g. something like changing  
> from
> driving on the left to driving on the right side of the road), but
> apparently this was neither the case, nor was it intended to be. There
> was simply a deadline, which, of course, was not met.
>
> Also, I am wondering, have the application layer gateways (relays)  
> that
> RFC 801 refers to been deployed, and if yes, to which extend, and how
> successful?
>
> And a final question, while I'm at it: How decisive was the pressure
> from DCA in this? My impression has been that without the top-down
> pressure the whole thing may well never have happened, despite all the
> money being poured into TCP/IP implementations.
>
> Pointers to relevant literature sources are appreciated, too. Thanks
> again for your help.
>
> Matthias
>
> -- 
> Matthias Bärwolff
> mbaer at csail.mit.edu
>