Lagrosa, Jamaykha E.
Grade 12- Daisy
Application 4
A BASIC GUIDE TO THE INTERNET
The internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No
one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain,
however, that these number in the millions and are growing. No one is in charge of the
internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and
set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The
Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.
All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/Ip. Computers on Internet
use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides
files and services to the user’s local client machine. Software can be installed on a client
computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.
An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer,
vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration,
multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, breaking news, shopping opportunities,
and much more.
The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols
feature programs that allows users to search for and retrieve material made available by
the protocol.
COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET
WORLD WIDE WEB
The world Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers
that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface.
Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This
include e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide
Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. Overall, the Web
contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents,
graphics, videos, and sounds. The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or
home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.
The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-
time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and automatic
“push” of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java,
JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the
Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from contents
stored in databases.
The Web is therefore not fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development
and flux.
E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange
messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent.
Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds. A powerful aspect
of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person’s e-mail address.
TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online
databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. Telnet is available on the World
Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet
have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to
transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to
transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal
computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds,
multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.
E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to
communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who
carry out active discussion organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail.
FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Question. These are periodic posting to Usenet
newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup.
Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet
newsgroup. A Web-based collection of FAW resources has been collected by The
Internet FAQ Consortium.
RFC stand for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed
to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain
both technical specifications and general information.
FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain
information of interest to new Internet users. Links to indexes of all three of these
information resources are available on the University Libraries.
CHAT & INSTANT MESSAGING
Chat programs allows users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing
their real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of Web site, where users can
log into the “chat room” to exchange comments and information about the topics
addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example,
America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to
each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific
topics. While many topics are frivolous substantive conversations are also taking place.
To access IRC, you must use an IRC software.
A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messaging. With instant messaging, a
user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation.
Most famous is America Online’s Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo also offer
char programs.
