Chapter 12. Telnet

Telnet is one of the oldest application protocols used within the Internet, and its origin is tied with the ARPANET network. Telnet’s history dates back to 1969 when the word "Telnet" came into being as an acronym for Telecommunications Network Protocol. RFC 764 standardized Telnet in 1980, and RFC 854 replaced it in 1983.

Usage

Telnet protocol is used to emulate a conventional character terminal (for example, the legendary VT100) in TCP/IP-based computer networks.

A ‘conventional terminal’ is an I/O device used for human-computer communication. A conventional terminal is hardware consisting of a keyboard and an output device, namely, a printer or a display. A conventional terminal is usually connected to a computer via a serial asynchronous link (IBM terminals are a different story and therefore not mentioned in this book).

It is possible to emulate a conventional terminal in the HyperTerminal program (previously known as Terminal...