IP: the protocol that rules the world

摘要

IP is a somewhat schizophrenic technology. Originally viewed as a threat to the very existence of old-style PTTs, it is now embraced by the descendants of those incumbents at least as enthusiastically as it has been by competing start-ups. Dominant in corporate LANs and increasingly prevalent in public backbone networks, it is currently attempting to expand into parts of the remaining middle ground in the shape of IP VPNs, intranets and extranets, and corporate VoIP networks. But Protean though it may appear, there's an abiding suspicion that most people in the public network arena have yet to make much money out of IP services.