Proprietary Network Models Prevent Pervasive
Population of Networking Devices
Once upon a time, there were no networks and no computers. Then
the first computer was created, but because there was no one else to talk to,
there was no need for a network! Finally, the second computer was created, and
the need for networking was born.
Networks began to be developed as part of each computer
vendor's offerings by the late 1960s, and they became popular by the late 1970s.
Each computer vendor created its own networking model, which helped computers
from that one vendor communicate easily.
At the advent of networking, the two largest computer vendors
in the world were International Business Machines (IBM) and Digital Equipment
Corporation (DEC). So, IBM created its own networking model called Systems
Network Architecture (SNA), and DEC created its own, cleverly named DECnet.
These vendor-proprietary networking models and others like them
were goodthey allowed networks to be created and implemented, and they workedbut
they weren't perfect. The problem with these proprietary networking models was
that they were…proprietary. So, IBM computers could not communicate with DEC
computers. Imagine if the same thing had happened with phones; you wouldn't be
able to call your buddy if he used a different vendor's phone! Figure 3-4 outlines the problem, and a description of the
solution follows.
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