54:
in the 1970s. These protocols were designed to enable communication and data exchange between different computer systems and networks. The name originated with each protocol being identified by the colour of the cover of its specification document. The protocols were in use until the 1990s when the
159:
The Yellow Book
Transport Service was somewhat misnamed, as it does not fulfill the Transport role in the OSI 7-layer model. It really occupies the top of the Network layer, making up for X.25's lack of NSAP addressing at the time, which did not appear until the X.25 (1980) revision, and was nopt
151:
The Yellow Book defined the Yellow Book
Transport Service (YBTS) protocol, also known as Network Independent Transport Service (NITS), which was mainly run over X.25. It was developed by the Data Communications Protocols Unit of the Department of Industry in the late 1970s. It could also run over
247:
Over time, as technology evolved, many of the concepts and principles from the
Coloured Book Protocols were integrated into broader international standards. They remain an important part of the history and evolution of computer networking, showcasing an early effort to establish standards and
95:
academic network from 1984. The protocols were influential in the development of computer networks, particularly in the UK, gained some acceptance internationally as the first complete X.25 standard, and gave the UK "several years lead over other countries".
232:
The Red Book defined the Job
Transfer and Manipulation Protocol (JTMP), a mechanism for jobs to be transferred from one computer to another, and for the output to be returned to the originating (or another) computer, running over Blue Book FTP.
71:
division (BPO-T) worked with the academic community in the United
Kingdom and the computer industry to develop a set of standards to enable interoperability among different computer systems based on the
675:
111:
The standards were defined in several documents, each addressing different aspects of computer network communication. They were identified by the colour of the cover:
381:
646:
617:
900:
103:
were adopted on the Janet network instead; they were operated simultaneously for a while, until X.25 support was phased out entirely in August 1997.
248:
protocols for efficient and reliable communication between computers. One famous quirk of
Coloured Book was that components of hostnames used
757:
Mansell, Robin; Mansell, Dixons Chair in New Media and the
Internet Interdepartmental Programme in Media and Communications Robin (2002).
880:
683:
830:
768:
601:
337:
310:
785:
366:
654:
625:
269:
140:
91:
The
Coloured Book protocols were used on SERCnet from 1980, and SWUCN from 1982, both of which became part of the
80:(WAN) communication. First defined in 1975, the standards evolved through experience developing protocols for the
726:
354:
177:
68:
176:
running over X.25, and the TS29 protocol modelled on Triple-X PAD, but running over YBTS. It was developed by
472:
173:
153:
172:
The Green Book defined two protocols to connect terminals across a network: an early version of what became
249:
910:
905:
200:
The Blue Book defined the
Network-Independent File Transfer Protocol (NIFTP), analogous to Internet
56:
885:
504:
434:
Kirstein, P.T. (1999). "Early experiences with the
Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom".
851:
529:
201:
43:
820:
758:
327:
591:
300:
740:
760:
Inside the Communication Revolution: Evolving Patterns of Social and Technical Interaction
720:
8:
85:
451:
416:
100:
698:
549:
826:
764:
597:
569:
565:
333:
306:
77:
28:
853:
From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995
531:
From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995
420:
730:
561:
455:
443:
408:
47:
224:
transfer (not file transfer as is sometimes claimed), running over Blue Book FTP.
164:
addressing between YBTS nodes—there was no global addressing scheme at that time.
676:"Janet(UK) Quarterly Report to the Janet Community: July 1997 to September 1997"
796:
743:
161:
51:
32:
412:
399:
Kirstein, Peter T. (2009). "The early history of packet switching in the UK".
139:
The Orange Book defined protocols for transport over local networks using the
915:
894:
573:
302:
A History of International Research Networking: The People who Made it Happen
274:
24:
20:
505:"Computing Service History - BUCS - History and Archive - University Wiki"
382:"Packet Switching: The first steps on the road to the information society"
209:
81:
716:
252:
as compared to the Internet standard. For example, an address might be
205:
492:
See "15:00 Starting the Commercial Internet in the UK (Peter Houlder)"
447:
735:
355:"Data Communications at the National Physical Laboratory (1965-1975)"
242:
480:
192:
The Fawn Book defined the Simple Screen Management Protocol (SSMP)
120:
881:
alt.folklore.computers: "What is the British Grey Book protocol?"
427:
204:, running over YBTS. Unlike Internet FTP, NIFTP was intended for
160:
available in implementations for some years afterward. YBTS used
221:
181:
92:
786:"The Good Old Days: Networking in UK Academia ~25 Years Ago"
128:
124:
73:
699:"The Yellow Book Transport Service: Principles and Status"
822:
The "Hidden" Prehistory of European Research Networking
869:. Oxford University Press, 2004, s.v. "coloured book"
859:(Computer Science thesis). The University of Warwick.
596:. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 42.
537:(Computer Science thesis). The University of Warwick.
27:. For the series of U.S. government publications on
119:The Pink Book defined protocols for transport over
180:. These protocols are similar in functionality to
379:
892:
550:"Evolution of networks using standard protocols"
473:"6th UK Network Operators' Forum Meeting Agenda"
299:Davies, Howard; Bressan, Beatrice (2010-04-26).
756:
380:Smith, Ed; Miller, Chris; Norton, Jim (2017).
696:
593:Digital Convergence - Libraries of the Future
589:
352:
298:
901:History of computing in the United Kingdom
715:
734:
590:Earnshaw, Rae; Vince, John (2007-09-20).
156:was extended to allow running over NITS.
763:. Oxford University Press. p. 208.
433:
398:
325:
270:Internet in the United Kingdom § History
651:Central Computing Department Newsletter
622:Central Computing Department Newsletter
436:IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
305:. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 2–3.
893:
849:
547:
527:
585:
583:
783:
653:(16). September 1991. Archived from
467:
465:
294:
292:
290:
220:The Grey Book defined protocols for
86:Experimental Packet Switched Service
13:
813:
624:(12). January 1991. Archived from
580:
359:Annals of the History of Computing
14:
927:
874:
462:
287:
141:Cambridge Ring (computer network)
16:UK set of communication protocols
697:C. J. Bennett (12 August 1980).
777:
750:
709:
690:
668:
639:
610:
541:
521:
497:
392:
373:
353:Cambell-Kelly, Martin (1987).
346:
319:
178:Post Office Telecommunications
146:
134:
69:Post Office Telecommunications
67:In the mid-1970s, the British
1:
722:Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
329:A Brief History of the Future
280:
167:
154:Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
123:. The protocol was basically
795:. Manchester. Archived from
566:10.1016/0140-3664(80)90069-9
401:IEEE Communications Magazine
386:National Physical Laboratory
250:reverse domain name notation
215:
195:
187:
114:
106:
7:
263:
227:
10:
932:
843:
548:Powell, Kit (1980-07-01).
240:
84:in the late 1960s and the
62:
59:came into widespread use.
18:
867:A Dictionary of Computing
413:10.1109/MCOM.2009.4785372
236:
784:Reid, Jim (2007-04-03).
258:user@star.hatfield.ac.uk
254:user@UK.AC.HATFIELD.STAR
850:Rutter, Dorian (2005).
825:. Trafford Publishing.
554:Computer Communications
528:Rutter, Dorian (2005).
326:Naughton, John (2015).
57:Internet protocol suite
44:communication protocols
40:Coloured Book protocols
682:. 1997. Archived from
23:standards series, see
686:on February 16, 2012.
241:Further information:
127:level 3 running over
88:in the early 1970s.
76:for packet-switched
74:X.25 protocol suite
911:Wide area networks
101:Internet protocols
906:Network protocols
832:978-1-4669-3935-6
770:978-0-19-829656-0
603:978-1-84628-903-3
448:10.1109/85.759368
339:978-1-4746-0277-8
312:978-3-527-32710-2
78:wide area network
50:developed in the
48:computer networks
29:computer security
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736:10.17487/RFC0821
713:
707:
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680:Janet webarchive
672:
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479:. Archived from
477:www.uknof.org.uk
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99:From late 1991,
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729:. sec. C.
719:(August 1982).
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31:standards, see
17:
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875:External links
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703:rfc-editor.org
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560:(3): 117–122.
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162:source routing
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52:United Kingdom
42:were a set of
33:Rainbow Series
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886:Janet website
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802:on 2008-05-28
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25:Rainbow Books
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804:. Retrieved
797:the original
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721:
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684:the original
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659:. Retrieved
655:the original
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630:. Retrieved
626:the original
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512:. Retrieved
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485:. Retrieved
481:the original
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442:(1): 38–44.
439:
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407:(2): 18–26.
404:
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394:
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375:
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328:
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301:
246:
231:
219:
208:rather than
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174:Triple-X PAD
171:
158:
150:
138:
118:
110:
98:
90:
66:
39:
37:
21:compact disc
256:instead of
210:interactive
147:Yellow Book
135:Orange Book
82:NPL network
895:Categories
806:2008-04-16
717:Jon Postel
661:2020-02-13
647:"FLAGSHIP"
632:2020-02-13
618:"FLAGSHIP"
514:2022-12-21
487:2020-02-12
281:References
206:batch mode
168:Green Book
574:0140-3664
332:. Orion.
243:JANET NRS
216:Grey Book
196:Blue Book
188:Fawn Book
152:TCP. The
115:Pink Book
107:Protocols
421:34735326
264:See also
228:Red Book
121:Ethernet
19:For the
844:Sources
456:1558618
365:(3/4):
212:usage.
63:History
829:
793:UKNOF7
767:
600:
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454:
419:
336:
309:
237:Legacy
222:e-mail
182:TELNET
857:(PDF)
800:(PDF)
789:(PDF)
535:(PDF)
452:S2CID
417:S2CID
369:-247.
93:JANET
916:X.25
827:ISBN
765:ISBN
727:IETF
598:ISBN
570:ISSN
334:ISBN
307:ISBN
129:LLC2
125:X.25
46:for
38:The
744:821
741:RFC
731:doi
562:doi
444:doi
409:doi
367:221
202:FTP
897::
791:.
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649:.
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507:.
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464:^
450:.
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415:.
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289:^
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