Page 102 - How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Cant Afford to Be Left Behind

MANA GEMENT STRATEGIES F O R THE CL OUD R EV OL UTION

Two of these networks, Digital Equipment’s DECnet and IBM’s
Systems Network Architecture (SNA), looked like solid in-
vestments for many years. But the growth of the Internet, at
first a phenomenon that the corporation could ignore, began
to take on a new meaning. The Internet could handle e-mail
and file transfer for any company that was equipped to send

things over a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Proto-
col (TCP/IP) network. As the Internet became the default
connection between universities, government agencies, and
some companies, the cost of not having a TCP/IP network in-
ternally went up and up. At the same time, a vigorous debate
ensued over whether TCP/IP was good enough for the needs
of the modern enterprise beyond e-mail.

As previously mentioned, TCP/IP, the protocol on which
the Internet is based, had been designed to survive a nuclear
attack. It was a network of networks. If a segment of the net-
work were to go down, the other segments would automati-
cally route around it. It made for what critics labeled a “chatty”
protocol. A router would map a good route for a particular
message, then call up the next router on that route. “Are you
there?” it would ask, and it would get a ping back, “Yes, I’m up
and running.” The sender would ping again, “Are you ready?”

and the router on the next leg of the route would answer, “Yes,
I’m ready.” The message would be sent. The sender would
then ask, “Did you receive the message?” and would get back a
response of either “Yes, I did,” or “No, send again.”
Neither DECnet nor IBM’s SNA would have tolerated such
chitchat. It wasn’t efficient, according to their designers. And
perhaps TCP/IP is a bit of a Chatty Kathy or Gabby Hayes. But

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