Network host status
ARPANET host status for January 17-28, 1972, noting Utah and Rand as new servers.
Westheimer, E., "Network host status", RFC 298, DOI 10.17487/RFC0298, February 1972, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc298>.
@misc{rfc298,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 298,
howpublished = {RFC 298},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0298},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc298},
author = {E. Westheimer},
title = {{Network host status}},
pagetotal = 4,
year = 1972,
month = feb,
} RFC text
Network Working Group E. Westheimer
Request for Comments: 298 1 February 1972
NIC: 8486
NETWORK HOST STATUS
This RFC reports on the status of most Network Hosts from January 17
to January 28.
Several Hosts are currently excluded from the daily testing. These
Hosts fall into two categories:
1) Hosts which are not expected to be functioning on the Network as
servers (available for use from other sites) on a regular basis
for at least two weeks. Included here are:
NETWORK SITE COMPUTER
ADDRESS
133 BBN PDP-10(B)
13 Case PDP-10
15 Ames/(Paoli) ILLIAC/(B6500)
2) Hosts which are currently intended to be users only. Included
here are the Terminal IMPs, which are presently in the Network
(AMES, MITRE, NBS and BBN*). This category also includes the
Network Control Center (Network Address 5) which is used solely
for gathering statistics from the Network. Finally, included
among these Hosts are the following:
NETWORK SITE COMPUTER
ADDRESS
7 Rand IBM-360/65
73 Harvard PDP-1
12 Illinois PDP-11
19 NBS PDP-11
NOTE: During this interval both the UTAH PDP-10 and the RAND PDP-10
became Network servers.
The tables on the next two pages summarize the Host status for this
period.
* The BBN Terminal IMP (Network Address 158) is a prototype and as
such is frequently not connected to the Network, but being used to
refine and debug the Terminal IMP programs.
ADDRESS SITE COMPUTER DATE AND TIME (EASTERN)
1/17 1/18 1/19 1/20 1/21
1800 1730 1000 1500 1730
1 UCLA(NMC) SIGMA-7 #H O #D O O
65 UCLA(CCN) IBM-360/91 O O #D O O
2 SRI(NIC) PDP-10 O O O O O
66 SRI(AI) PDP-10 D D D D D
3 UCSB IBM-360/75 O O O D O
4 UTAH PDP-10 T T #T O O
69 BBN(10X-A) PDP-10 O O D O D
6 MIT(Multics) H-645 O T O D O
70 MIT(DM) PDP-10 D D O O D
71 RAND PDP-10 D D O D D
8 SDC IBM-360/155 #D #D #D #D #D
9 HARVARD PDP-10 O #D O #D #D
10 LINCOLN LABS IBM-360/67 D H T H H
74 LINCOLN LABS TX2 #D #T #D R O
11 STANFORD PDP-10 D D D D D
14 CARNEGIE PDP-10 H H H H H
16 AMES IBM-360/67 D D D D D
ADDRESS SITE COMPUTER DATE AND TIME (EASTERN)
1/24 1/25 1/26 1/27 1/28
1430 1630 1730 1300 1530
1 UCLA(NMC) SIGMA-7 O O O O T
65 UCLA(CCN) IBM-360/91 O O O O O
2 SRI(NIC) PDP-10 O O T O O
66 SRI(AI) PDP-10 D D D D D
3 UCSB IBM-360/75 O O D O O
4 UTAH PDP-10 O O O O O
69 BBN(10X-A) PDP-10 O D O H O
6 MIT(Multics) H-645 R O D O D
70 MIT(DM) PDP-10 O D T O H
71 RAND PDP-10 T D D O D
8 SDC IBM-360/155 #D #D #D #D #D
9 HARVARD PDP-10 #R #R O O O
10 LINCOLN LABS IBM-360/67 H D H T H
74 LINCOLN LABS TX2 O O O O T
11 STANFORD PDP-10 D D D D D
14 CARNEGIE PDP-10 D H H D H
16 AMES IBM-360/67 D D D D D
where
D = Dead (Destination Host either dead or inaccessible [due to
network partitioning or local IMP failure] from the BBN Terminal
IMP.)
H = 1/2 Open (Destination Host opened a connection but then either
immediately closed it, or did not respond any further.)
O = Open (Destination Host opened a connection and was accessible
to users.)
R = Refused (Destination Host returned a CLS to the initial RFC.)
T = Timed out (Destination Host did not complete the ICP and open
a connection within 60 second)
* The only service currently offered by the UCLA IBM-360/91 is a
Network Job Service (NETRJS), however, the BBN Terminal IMP is not
equipped to test NETRJS. We are assuming that initial connection
to the NETRJS logger indicated the NETRJS is also functioning.
#These sites advertise that they may not have their system
available at these times
STATUS OR
SITE SITE COMPUTER STATUS OR PREDICTIONS
ADDRESS PREDICTION OBTAINED FROM
1 UCLA SIGMA-7 Server(#Limited) John Postel
65 UCLA IBM-360/91 Remote Job Service Bob Braden
(Telnet in April)
2 SRI(NIC) PDP-10 Server John Melvin
66 SRI(AI) PDP-10 "Soon" Len Chaiten
3 UCSB IBM-360/75 Server Jim White
4 UTAH PDP-10 Server Barry Wessler
*5 BBN(NCC) DDP-516 Never Alex McKenzie
69 BBN(TENEX-A) PDP-10 Server Dan Murphy
*133 BBN(TENEX-B) PDP-10 Server(Exper.) Dan Murphy
6 MIT(Multics) H-645 Server Mike Padlipsky
70 MIT(DM) PDP-10 Server Bob Bressler
*7 RAND IBM-360/65 User only Eric Harslem
71 RAND PDP-10 Server Eric Harslem
*8 SDC IBM-300/155 Server Bob Long
9 HARVARD PDP-10 Server Bob Sundberg
*73 HARVARD PDP-1 User only Bob Sundberg
10 LINCOLN IBM-30/67 "Soon" Joel Winnet
74 LINCOLN TX-2 Server Will Kantrowitz
11 STANFORD PDP-10 "Soon" Andy Moorer
*12 ILLINOIS PDP-11 User only John Cravits
*13 CASE PDP-10 March Charles Rose
14 CARNEGIE PDP-10 "Soon" Hal VanZoeren
*15 AMES/(PAOLI) ILLIAC/B6500 September John McConnell
16 AMES IBM-360/67 "Soon" Wayne Hathaway
*144 AMES TIP User only
*145 MITRE TIP User only
*19 NBS PDP-11 User only Robert
Rosenthal
*147 NBS TIP User only
*158 BBN TIP User only
(Prototype)
* Host not included in daily testing.
#The NMC is a research site and would like to have prior arrangement
with each user.
[This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry]
[into the online RFC archives by Kelly Tardif, Via Genie 10/1999]
AI ELI5
On this page
§1Introduction and Status Updates
RFC 298 reports on ARPANET host status from January 17 to January 28, 1972. A key note: during this period both the Utah PDP-10 and the Rand PDP-10 became network servers, a significant expansion of available computing power. The report lists hosts excluded from daily testing: those not expected to be servers for two weeks (BBN PDP-10/B, Case PDP-10, Ames and Paoli computers), and user-only hosts (Terminal IMPs, the Network Control Center, and others).
A report from late January announced that two computers—one in Utah and one at Rand—could now serve other networked computers.
§2Daily Test Results and Status Codes
Two tables of daily test results span January 17-21 and January 24-28. Tests used status codes where O meant open, D meant dead, H meant half-open, R meant refused, and T meant timed out (with timeout set at 60 seconds). Sites advertising unavailable times are noted in the tables. UCLA's IBM-360 offered Remote Job Service and would offer Telnet in April. SDC remained consistently dead during this period.
Tables showed which computers answered calls each day. Some computers stayed broken the whole time (SDC), while others worked most days.
§3Host Server Status and Availability
The report includes a status table with 20 hosts and their server status or predictions. Major servers like UCLA, SRI, UCSB, MIT, and Harvard show stable or improving availability. Utah and Rand PDP-10s are now marked as servers. Other hosts show mixed results: Lincoln TX2 became a server (improved from earlier reports), while Stanford and Illinois remained non-servers or unavailable. The NMC at UCLA is noted as a research site requiring prior arrangement with users.
Each site said whether its computer would help others, and the tests showed which ones were already answering calls reliably.