A brief history of the Internet.

 

In 1973 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks of various kinds. The objective was to develop communication protocols which would allow networked computers to communicate trans­parently across multiple, linked packet networks. This was called the Internetting project and the system of networks which emerged from the research was known as the "Internet" (In­tercontinental Network).

During the course of its evolution, particularly after 1989, the Internet system began to intergrate support for other pro­tocol suites into its basic networking fabric. By the end of 1991 the Internet has grown to include some 5000 networks in over three dozen countries, serving over 700,000 host computers used by over 4,000,000 people.

The bulk of the system today is made up of private network­ing facilities in education and research institutions, business and in government organizations across the globe.

A secretariat has been created to manage the.day-to-day function of the Internet Activities Board (IAB) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). IETF meets three times a year in plenary and in approximately 50 working groups convene at intermediate times by electronic mail, teleconferencing and at face-to-face meetings.

There are a number of Network Information Centres (NICs) located throughout the Internet to serve its users with documen­tation, guidance, advice and assistance. As the Internet contin­ues to grow internationally, the need for high quality NIC func­tions increases. Although the initial community of users of the Internet were drawn from the ranks of computer science and engineering its users now comprise a wide range of disciplines in the sciences, arts, letters, business, military and government administration.

 

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What is Internet?

Internet is a global network connecting of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanging of data, news and opinions.

Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to use. The Internet is not synonymous with World Wide Web.

 

What is a Host?

A host is a computer system that is accessed by a user when there are two computer systems connected by modems and telephone lines. The computer system that contains the data is called the host, and the computer at which the user sits is called the remote terminal.

 

What is World Wide Web?

A system of Internet serves that support specially formatted documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking the mouse button.

There are several applications called Web browsers that make it easy to access the World Wide Web. Two of the most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

What is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web?

Many people use the terms Internet and World Wide Web (or simply the Web) interchangeably, but in fact the two terms are not synonymous. The Internet and the Web are two separate but related things.

The Internet connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which ant computer can communicate with any other computer as long as both connected to the Internet. Information travels over the Internet in many languages known as protocols.

the World Wide Web, or simply Web is built o top of the Internet. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, to access Web documents called Web pages. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.

The Web is just one of the ways that information can be sent and received over the Internet. Internet is used for E-mail, not the Web. So the Web is just a portion of the Internet, but the twp terms are not synonymous and should not be confused.

 

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