lauren (02/09/83)
Actually, ARPANET normally provides *extremely* reliable mail and telnet (login) / file transfer facilities across a 50 Kbit backbone network of leased lines. However, around the start of 1983, we on the Arpanet began a rather painful switch of the primary network protocols (from the so-called NCP to the DoD standard TCP/IP protocols) which has been a massive job. There were a variety of reasons for this switch -- one primary result will be the ability for largescale interconnection of Arpanet with other major (and minor) packet switched networks at a fundamental level. To complicate matters still further, a switch from the old 733 mail standards to the new (and rather complicated) 822 standards began to take place at about the same time. All of this has resulted in a somewhat unstable transition period as the many varied sorts of computers on Arpanet work out the bugs in the many software systems which were effected by the changes. The situation has been improving continually, and there is little doubt that the usual high standards of reliablity will be completely restored shortly. I hope. --Lauren--
mclure (03/09/83)
#R:vortex:-1800:sri-unix:7300008:000:99 sri-unix!mclure Feb 9 12:43:00 1983 The RFC's being distributed by the NIC on "Who Talk's TCP?" are quite interesting in this respect.