The field of datacenter networking has evolved significantly, now filled with advanced technology unimaginable to past system administrators. However, the past held a unique simplicity. Dr. Andrew Herbert, of the UK’s National Museum of Computing, reminisces about the Elliott 900 minicomputers from the 60s and 70s, highlighting vastly different networking landscapes. Simple parallel ports, used for instrument control, were the norm, supporting multi-user tasks despite lacking operating systems.

Donald Davies at the National Physical Laboratory pioneered network advancements, creating packet switching in the 1960s. While companies like IBM and Digital defined proprietary protocols like SNA and DECNet, these systems were often incompatible, frustrating users integrating different technologies.

In that era, networking relied heavily on leased lines or direct connections between data centers, often causing compatibility challenges during mergers of businesses using diverse tech.

The advent of early networks saw terminals as primitive, teletype devices with limited speeds, relying on frail analog connections for bank transactions. Yet, these terminals demonstrated considerable computing intelligence of their own.

With the rise of the 1970s wired local area networks like Ethernet, networks began connecting campus buildings. Then, the 1980s and 1990s witnessed the triumph of TCP/IP, the backbone of today’s internet, marking the end of the proprietary era.

Histories preserved by institutions like the UK’s National Museum of Computing offer professionals a tangible connection to this essential evolution in networking.