The Four Dimensions Of The Internet’s Success
25/05/2022
Originally published here
After 52 years of existence, the Internet is a tool that continues to be adopted by users worldwide to help them with their work, documentation, as a source of information, a vehicle for entertainment, and much more, while handing over much of their professional and personal time —as well as a good amount of information—with little hesitation.
In a recent study commissioned by LACNIC and APNIC, the Internet Address Registries for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Asia Pacific region, respectively, identified four technical principles that have enabled the Internet’s success, sustainability, and growth for over 50 years.
In short, the four principles, which in turn have set the stage for the growth and technical dissemination of the Internet, are Flexibility, Adaptability, Resilience and Scalability. While we have already commented on certain aspects in which the Internet has fallen short due to reasons that were valid at the time, many of its design features have led the Internet to rank first among the tools supporting humankind.
From the beginning
The report lists the three design principles that have been present from the very beginning of the Internet. These are the layering, network-of-networks, and end-to-end principles.
The Internet has successfully scaled to the increased demand from new users and usage, it has been flexible to new underlying network technologies, it has adapted to new applications, and the whole has been resilient to shocks and changes.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LACNIC.