Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > alt.folklore.computers > #233055

Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP

Show all headers | View raw

Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
> newspaper article about some of Edson's Internet & TCP/IP IBM battles:
> https://web.archive.org/web/20000124004147/http://www1.sjmercury.com/svtech/columns/gillmor/docs/dg092499.htm
> Also from wayback machine, some additional (IBM missed, Internet &
> TCP/IP) references from Ed's website
> https://web.archive.org/web/20000115185349/http://www.edh.net/bungle.htm

late 80s, a senior disk engineer got a talk scheduled at internal,
world-wide, annual communication group conference, supposedly on 3174
performance. However, his opening was that the communication group was
going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division. The disk
division was seeing drop in disk sales with data fleeing mainframe
datacenters to more distributed computing friendly platforms. The disk
division had come up with a number of solutions, but they were
constantly being vetoed by the communication group (with their corporate
ownership of everything that crossed the datacenter walls) trying to
protect their dumb terminal paradigm. Senior disk software executive
partial countermeasure was investing in distributed computing startups
that would use IBM disks (he would periodically ask us to drop in on his
investments to see if we could offer any assistance).

The communication group's stranglehold on mainframe datacenters wasn't
just disks and a couple years later, IBM has one of the largest losses
in the history of US companies ... and was being reorganized into the 13
"baby blues" (take-off on the "baby bells" breakup a decade earlier) in
preperation for breaking up IBM.
https://web.archive.org/web/20101120231857/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,977353,00.html
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,977353-1,00.html
We had already left IBM but get a call from the bowels of Armonk asking
if we could help with the breakup. Before we get started, the board
brings in the former AMEX president as CEO to try and save the company,
who (somewhat) reverses the breakup and uses some of the same techniques
used at RJR (gone 404, but lives on at wayback)
https://web.archive.org/web/20181019074906/http://www.ibmemployee.com/RetirementHeist.shtml

other trivia: in the early 80s, I was funded for HSDT project, T1 and
faster computer links (both terrestrial and satellite) and battles with
SNA group (60s, IBM had 2701 supporting T1, 70s with SNA/VTAM and
issues, links were capped at 56kbit ... and I had to mostly resort to
non-IBM hardware). Also was working with NSF director and was suppose to
get $20M to interconnect the NSF Supercomputer centers. Then congress
cuts the budget, some other things happened and eventually there was RFP
released (in part based on what we already had running). NSF 28Mar1986
Preliminary Announcement (from old archived a.f.c post):
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002k.html#12
The OASC has initiated three programs: The Supercomputer Centers Program
to provide Supercomputer cycles; the New Technologies Program to foster
new supercomputer software and hardware developments; and the Networking
Program to build a National Supercomputer Access Network - NSFnet.

... IBM internal politics was not allowing us to bid. The NSF director
tried to help by writing the company a letter (3Apr1986, NSF Director to
IBM Chief Scientist and IBM Senior VP and director of Research, copying
IBM CEO) with support from other gov. agencies ... but that just made
the internal politics worse (as did claims that what we already had
operational was at least 5yrs ahead of the winning bid), as regional
networks connect in, NSFnet becomes the NSFNET backbone, precursor to
modern internet. Note RFP had called for T1 links, however winning bid
put in 440kbit/sec links ... then to make it look something like T1,
they put in T1 trunks with telco multiplexors running multiple
440kbit/sec links over T1 trunks.

When director left NSF, he went over to K (H?) street lobby group
(council on competitiveness) and we would try and periodically drop in
on him

-- 
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Back to alt.folklore.computers | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-01 20:25 +0000
  Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Peter Flass <Peter@Iron-Spring.com> - 2026-01-01 13:34 -0700
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-01 22:10 +0000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2026-01-01 15:36 -1000
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2026-01-01 15:27 -1000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Al Kossow <aek@bitsavers.org> - 2026-01-01 17:45 -0800
        Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2026-01-02 13:27 -1000
          Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-03 03:11 +0000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-02 03:22 +0000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-01-02 14:08 +0000
        Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-02 20:29 +0000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2026-01-02 08:27 -1000
        Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-01-02 20:34 +0000
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP John Levine <johnl@taugh.com> - 2026-01-02 04:41 +0000
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-01-02 05:45 +0000
  Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2026-01-01 22:11 +0000
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Al Kossow <aek@bitsavers.org> - 2026-01-01 15:03 -0800
  Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> - 2026-01-04 16:46 +0100
    Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP - What was the competition Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2026-01-04 15:53 +0000
      Re: 43 Years Of TCP/IP - What was the competition Johnny Billquist <bqt@softjar.se> - 2026-01-10 17:38 +0100

csiph-web