What Was
That Again?????
The Interstate system consists of roads that connect
different states, allowing travelers to access different points across
the United States. The traveler has many opportunities to enter and exit
the Interstate system at any given point and time. The Internet is similar
to the Interstate system since both are designed for high-speed travel
and have the potential for easy access and successful navigation. The
intent of the Internet basics chapter is to assist you in having a more
successful journey.
What
is the Internet?
The Internet is a worldwide telecommunications system
that provides connectivity for millions of other, smaller networks; therefore,
the Internet is often referred to as a network of networks. It allows
computer users to communicate with each other across distance and computer
platforms.
The Internet began in 1969 as the U.S. Department of
Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) to provide immediate
communication within the Department in case of war. Computers were then
installed at US universities with defense related projects. As scholars
began to go online, this network changed from military use to scientific
use. As ARPAnet grew, administration of the system became distributed
to a number of organizations, including the National Science Foundation
(NSF). This shift of responsibility began the transformation of the science
oriented ARPAnet into the commercially minded and funded Internet used
by millions today.
The Internet acts as a pipeline to transport electronic
messages from one network to another network. At the heart of most networks
is a server, a fast computer with large amounts of memory and storage
space. The server controls the communication of information between the
devices attached to a network, such as computers, printers, or other servers.
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) allows the user
access to the Internet through their server. Schools in our district don't
use an ISP they have a direct connection to the state network via ethernet.
Other ISPs, such as America Online, CompuServe, Earthlink, telephone companies,
or cable companies provide Internet access for their members.
To connect to an Internet server, most people use a
computer, modem, and a telephone line. In some areas, cable modems or
DSL are available for high-speed access to the Internet. In our case again
we use ethernet and a T1 line directly to the phone company. We
don't need to use a modem at school.
We have servers in the Tech Lab for saving files and
for serving web pages. The difference is that the web server is specifically
designed to take requests for web documents and then send those requests
back the user(client) web browser. If you don't have this specific software
on the server it will not send web pages when you go to it's domain name
address or it's IP address.
What
makes up the World Wide Web?
The Internet is often confused with the World Wide
Web. The misperception is that these two terms are synonymous. The Internet
is the collection of the many different systems and protocols. The World
Wide Web, developed in 1989, is actually one of those different protocols.
As the name implies, it allows resources to be linked with great ease
in an almost seamless fashion.
The World Wide Web contains a vast collection of linked
multimedia pages that is ever-changing. However, there are several basic
components of the Web that allow computer users to communicate with each
other. Below you will find selected components and their descriptions.
TCP/IP protocols
In order for a computer to communicate on the Internet,
a set of rules or protocols computers must follow to exchange messages
was developed. The two most important protocols allowing computers to
transmit data on the Internet are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
and Internet Protocol (IP). With these protocols, virtually all computers
can communicate with each other. For instance, if a user is running
Windows on a PC, he or she can access the Apple Learning Interchange
(ALI) site. Another user operating an iMac can access the Microsoft
Classroom Teacher Network.
Domain name system
An Internet address has four fields with numbers that
are separated by periods or dots. This type of address is known as an
IP address. Rather than have the user remember long strings of numbers,
the Domain Name System (DNS) was developed to translate the numerical
addresses into words. For example, the address fcit.usf.edu is really
131.247.120.10.
URLs
Addresses for web sites are called URLs (Uniform Resource
Locators). Most of them begin with http (HyperText Transfer Protocol),
followed by a colon and two slashes. HTTP MEANS IT'S A WEBSITE. For example, the URL for the Tech
Lab's web site is http://piotech.wsd.wednet.edu and the URL for Pioneer
Middle School is http://pio.wsd.wednet.edu.
Some of the URL addresses include a directory path
and a file name. Consequently, the addresses can become quite long.
For example, the URL of a web page may be:
http://piotech.wsd.wednet.edu/halloffame/halloffamebody.html
In this example, "halloffamebody.html" is the name of the file which
is in a directory named "halloffame" on the Tech Lab server at Pioneer.
Top-level domain
Each part of a domain name contains certain information.
The first field is the host name, identifying a single computer or organization.
The last field is the top-level domain, describing the type of organization
and occasionally country of origin associated with the address.
Current top-level domain names include:
| .com
| Commercial
| .biz
| Entertainment |
| .edu
| Educational
| .coop
| Cooperative Associations |
| .gov
| US Government
| .info
| |
| .int
| Organization
| .museum
| Museums |
| .mil
| US Military
| .name
| Individuals |
| .net
| Networking Providers
| .pro
| Credentialed Professionals |
| .org
| Non-profit Organization
| .int
| International Treaties |
Current domain name country codes include, but are
not limited to:
| .au
| Australia |
| .de
| Germany |
| .fr
| France |
| .nl
| Netherlands |
| .uk
| United Kingdom |
| .us
| United States |
Paying attention to the TLD may give you a clue as
to the accuracy of the information you may find. For example, information
on a "com" site can prove useful but one should always be aware that the
intent of the site may be to sell a particular product or service. Likewise,
the quality of information you may find on the "edu" domain may vary.
Although many pages in that domain were created by the educational institutions
themselves, some "edu" pages you encounter may be the private opinions
of faculty and students.
The most reliable websites are .org, because they are non-profit and aren't trying to sell you something. Also, .gov websites are reliable, because it's a government agency that is creating the site. If you don't trust the government, I guess it wouldn't be as reliable though. :- ) |