PeteDotCom -> Networking -> TCP/IP -> History ->   The Internet was first proposed by the advanced research projects agency, as a method of testing viability of packet switching networks, and was later developed by the defense advanced research projects agency. The Arpanet initially started with four Internet message processors (IMPs), located at the UCLA, UCSA, Stanford research institute and the university of Utah. In the early years, the purpose and usage of the Arpanet network was widely discussed, leading to many enhancements and modifications as the users steady increased and requested demanded more from the network. User requests included the capability of transferring files from one university to another, as well as being able to perform remote logins and perform tasks as if the user was actually there on the premises. As time passed many enhancements were made to the existing protocol but by 1973 it was clear that NCP was unable to handle the volume of traffic passing through it network and proposed a new functionality. The TCP/IP and gateway architecture was proposed in 1974. This protocol was to be independent of the underlying network and computer hardware as well as having universal connectivity throughout the network. This would enable any kind of platform to participate in the network.In 1981 a series of request for comment was issued,  standardising the TCP/IP version 4 for the Arpanet. Within 12 moths the TCP/IP protocol had succeeded in replacing the NCP as the dominant protocol of the Arpanet and was connecting to machines across the united states. During these years the Arpanet was used both by military and nonmilitary researchers. One of the reasons TCP/IP became important because the united states department of defense started including the protocols as military standards, which was a requirement for many contracts. TCP/IP became popular primary because of the work done at the Berkeley university. Berkeley had been a leader in the unix development over the years and in 1983 they released a new version that included TCP/IP as an integral element. That 4.2BSD version, was made available to the world as public domain software. An optimised TCP implementation followed in 1988 and practically every other version of TCP/IP available today has its roots from the Berkeley version. The Internet advisory board (IAB) organises the internet by controlling the adoption of new standards. The IAM coordinates several task forces, such as the Internet engineering task force (IETF) and the internet research task force (IRTF). These task forces handing issues such as ongoing research as well as the implementation and engineering aspects with the internet. The body that outlines the standard internet operating protocols such as TCP/IP is the internet engineering task force (IETF). The IETF works under the internet architecture board (IAB), from the internet society, hence the members of IETF are drawn from the internet society’s members.