Protocol Wars

The Protocol Wars were a long-running debate in <a href="/facts/Computer_science/lN3pEyPz">computer science</a> that occurred from the 1970s to the 1990s, when engineers, organizations and nations became polarized over the issue of which <a href="/facts/Communication_protocol/5uady7cB">communication protocol</a> would result in the best and most robust <a href="/facts/Computer_network/3w5RM99p">networks</a>. This culminated in the Internet–OSI Standards War in the 1980s and early 1990s, which was ultimately "won" by the <a href="/facts/Internet_protocol_suite/KNkxtSpw">Internet protocol suite</a> (TCP/IP) by the mid-1990s when it became the dominant protocol suite through rapid adoption of the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a>.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the pioneers of <a href="/facts/Packet_switching/olDlDP1R">packet switching</a> technology built computer networks providing <a href="/facts/Data_communication/1yAhaANd">data communication</a>, that is the ability to transfer <a href="/facts/Data/AUBFN97o">data</a> between points or <a href="/facts/Node_(networking)/LBp2vNcJ">nodes</a>. As more of these networks emerged in the mid to late 1970s, the debate about communication protocols became a "battle for access standards". An international collaboration between several national <a href="/facts/Postal,_telegraph_and_telephone_service/Ec1V8LhK">postal, telegraph and telephone</a> (PTT) providers and commercial operators led to the <a href="/facts/X.25/yaGPqw2Y">X.25</a> standard in 1976, which was adopted on <a href="/facts/Public_data_network/sMYs1t3f">public data networks</a> providing global coverage. Separately, <a href="/facts/Proprietary_software/9zcskxYL">proprietary</a> data communication protocols emerged, most notably IBM's <a href="/facts/Systems_Network_Architecture/NlFaXaBC">Systems Network Architecture</a> in 1974 and Digital Equipment Corporation's <a href="/facts/DECnet/9wnFzPvn">DECnet</a> in 1975.
The <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Defense/dWAvf7e3">United States Department of Defense</a> (DoD) developed TCP/IP during the 1970s in collaboration with universities and researchers in the US, UK and France. <a href="/facts/IPv4/bnQ5MEqm">IPv4</a> was released in 1981 and was made the standard for all DoD computer networking. By 1984, the international reference model <a href="/facts/OSI_model/oxN9Xhjz">OSI model</a>, which was not compatible with TCP/IP, had been agreed upon. Many European governments (particularly France, West Germany and the UK) and the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Commerce/3sch0DLr">United States Department of Commerce</a> mandated compliance with the OSI model, while the US Department of Defense planned to transition from TCP/IP to OSI.
Meanwhile, the development of a complete Internet protocol suite by 1989, and <a href="/facts/Internet_protocol_suite/KNkxtSpw">partnerships with the telecommunication and computer industry</a> to incorporate TCP/IP software into various operating systems laid the foundation for the widespread adoption of TCP/IP as a comprehensive protocol suite. While OSI developed its networking standards in the late 1980s, TCP/IP came into widespread use on multi-vendor networks for <a href="/facts/Internetworking/sCyckA2T">internetworking</a> and as the core component of the emerging Internet.

Protocol Wars open-in-new

Protocol Wars