A local area network, or LAN, might be what you’re connected to if you’re using your computer inside your home or another building. LANs connect computers within a relatively small area using Ethernet cables. You might recognize Ethernet cables, as it is most likely the manner in which you’re able to use the Internet right now. But what is the history of this networking standard? While it may seem like a new technology, the story of Ethernet begins back in 1973 in Palo Alto, California.
A researcher at the Xerox Corporation named Bob Metcalfe was the first to construct a working Ethernet network. Metcalfe was tasked with designing a system of networks for the Palo Alto Research Center that was able to connect the center’s computers to a new laser printer Xerox had just created. The challenge lied in constructing a fast network with the ability to connect to a large number of computers, something unheard of before the Ethernet.
In 1979, Metcalfe left the company to advance LAN technology, persuading companies such as Xerox, Intel and Digital Equipment to encourage the standardization of Ethernet.
Much like the Internet and all means of telecommunications, the Ethernet uses a protocol. The Ethernet’s protocol is called CSMA/CD, which includes three distinct components of the Ethernet’s operation. The first, carrier sense, ensures that computers connected to the network have carriers to send data through. The second, multiple access, means the connected computers can use the network as they please. The last, collision detection, confirms that simultaneous data sending does not interfere with each other and dispenses with corrupted data.
More than 70 percent of the world is connected through the Ethernet and local area networks, so the likelihood is high that you are as well. The Ethernet is fast and reliable thanks to the research of Metcalfe, and the technology is constantly improving.