Due to the relative overnight success of the Internet and the World Wide Web, TCP/IP (the primary protocol of the Internet) is now the most widely implimented network protocol. In addition to its use for the Internet, it has found success converting local area networks into intranets. An intranet in an internal network that uses the tools and processes of the Internet to access local network resources.
Knowing the meaning and application of some of the Internet terminology and features are a must.
- TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the primary protocol set used to address, transport, and deliver messages on the Internet. The TCP part of the protocol divides an Internet message into data packets for transmission on the network. The IP part of the protocol addresses and sends the packets and then assembles them and provides error-checking at the remote (receiving) end.
- An IP (Internet Protocol ---the IP part of the TCP/IP) is a numerical routing address assigned to a networked PC and used to route e-mail, Web documents, and FTP files from one PC to another. An example of an IP address is 127.0.0.1, where each of the four segments of the address represents the address of a different subunit of the network.
- A domain is a network server that can be accessed from the Internet to download and upload files. Most domains have a domain name.
- A domain name is used in place of the numerical IP address because IP address are difficult to remember. It is much easier to remember WWW.groundhoghaven.com instead of 128.213.254.199, right? Domain names are registered by the InterNIC project to avoid duplicate names. To classify the companies or organizations to which the names are assigned, domain names end with a dot (period) and a three letter classification abbreviation, like .edu for school or .com for business.
- Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is used to encode documents that contain text and graphics so that a Web browser software program can display the document as the author intended.
- Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the protocol used to transport documents on the Internet and the World Wide Web.
- A Web browser is a client-end software that uses HTTP to download an HTML document from a remote host site via the Internet and prepares the document for presentation, launches special program coding sequences, or opens interaction with other Web and Internet tools. The most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- An Internet Service Provider (ISP) shares its bandwidth with subscribers who contact it via dial-up access. An ISP maintains an Internet presence to facilitate the receipt and delivery of e-mail, the downloading and uploading of data, and any other server-end function you want to use on the Internet. For these services you pay a fee; an ISP is a company that sells you your Internet access.
|