Cyclade ( FR. CYCLADES ) - French research computer network. One of the prototypes of the current Internet. In the Cycladic network, the principle of distributed hosts was first implemented.
The cyclade was created in the early 1970s with the financial support of the French government, an institute of research in computerization and automation . Computer equipment manufacturers, research institutes, and universities also participated in the project. Project management was carried out by the French scientist Louis Pouzin .
In the construction of the Cyclades, the achievements of the engineers of the ARPANET network, which was in effect at that time in the USA, were used.
With the advent of the alternative computer network Transpac ( fr. ) In 1976, the financing of the Cyclad project was complicated and by 1981 the network had ceased to function.
Technology
To transfer data to the Cyclade, a data packet called a datagram was used . The technology of using datagrams did not imply a clear addressing and protection against loss and distortion of information during transmission.
The network had a decentralized structure in which there was no main repository of information.
Hosts were the main unit of building a network, they could serve as a receiver and source of information. This is one of the basic principles of building a modern Internet, inherited from the Cyclades.