Re: Internet "architecture"

just before the word internet was used, some people used the terms
catenet (for a concatenation of networks)
and 
gateway (for something that did protocol translation)

this was around the time of the switchover from NCP to the seperation of
TCP and IP - however, the clarity of the simplification you describe 
about the "architecture" was not, as far as I saw at the time
part of the deliberate choice - it is described in dave clarks 1988 sigcomm paper, but that is nearly a
decade after that time...

the internet you describe is an emergent post hoc rationalisation
for IP's alleged parsimony

by the way, while ICMP was moved out of IP, the control plane
you need to participate in the net
(ARP, DHCP, NAT, OSPF, BGP, etc) is by no means simple
indeed is mor LOC and bugs than any TCP...

In missive <[email protected]>, Dave Crocker typed:

 >>This is a risky query.  There have been previous threads about such 
 >>things as the "start" of the Internet.  Instead, I want to ask about the 
 >>"architecture" of the Internet.
 >>
 >>Here's a comment that I sent earlier today, to a non-technical person 
 >>who is aware of the overall Internet timeline, but I believe does not 
 >>understand what is distinctive about Internet 'architecture'.  I'm 
 >>curious about reactions on this list, and any possible improvements -- 
 >>including complete replacement -- but more importantly I'm interested in 
 >>filling in the details:
 >>
 >>      The original use of the term Internet was to describe a 
 >>distinctive technical design for a distributed, scalable data exchange 
 >>fabric.  Its design characteristics differ dramatically from those of 
 >>its predecessor, the Arpanet, and from other related efforts.
 >>
 >>That's what I sent.  To prime the pump for the detail:
 >>
 >>      By saying 'fabric' I meant to distinguish the mechanism for moving 
 >>raw data from the applications that used it.  What I'd class as 
 >>distinctive were the TCP/IP separation, the remarkably modest 
 >>functionality of IP, even to the point of moving it's control plane to 
 >>the next level up with ICMP, and continuing with modest expectations the 
 >>layer below (which made it possible to operate over any medium including 
 >>birds.)  This is usually characterized as moving robustness to the edges.
 >>
 >>
 >>Thoughts?
 >>
 >>d/
 >>
 >>-- 
 >>  Dave Crocker
 >>  Brandenburg InternetWorking
 >>  bbiw.net

 cheers

   jon