CSNET (the "Computer Science Network") was created by the US National Science Foundation in the early 1980s. It was a computer network linking academic Computer Science departments nationwide. It was an alternative to ARPANET, to which many Computer Science departments didn't have the privilege of access. CSNET connected with ARPANET using TCP/IP, and ran TCP/IP over X.25, but it also supported departments without sophisticated network connections, using automated dial-up mail exchange. It was a forerunner to NSFNET. CSNET operated autonomously until 1989, when it merged with Bitnet to form CREN. By 1991 the growth of the Internet had made the CSNET services redundant, and CREN discontinued them. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent United States government agency responsible for supporting basic science research mainly by providing research funding. ... The 1980s, in its most obvious sense, was the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... ARPANET logical map, March 1977. ... The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet runs. ... X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for WAN networks using the phone or ISDN system as the networking hardware. ... National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet) was a major part of early 1990s Internet backbone. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BITNET was a cooperative U.S. university network founded in 1981 under the aegis of Ira Fuchs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and Greydon Freeman at Yale University. ... CREN was the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

http://livinginternet.com/i/ii_csnet.htm