Internet Procedures Essay

The Internet is considered the â€Å"world’s largest computer network† (Encyclopedia Americana). The Internet dates back to the early 1960s. The Internet consists of small computer networks that are connected to each other. It serves as a tool for different organizations to share and exchange electronic data. It links different computers from all over the world through TCP/IP protocols (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). Each computer has a software that allows it to provide information and conversely, to access and view information (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). The Internet has grown in size over the years that the Internet Software Consortium estimated that by early 2003, more than 170 million computers or hosts are connected to the Internet (Encyclopedia Americana). A person who wants to access the Internet through a computer must have a telecommunications link, such as modem, and software that is necessary to be able to connect to an Internet Service Provider (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). A computer needs an IP address to be able to connect to the Internet. An IP address consists of a unique set of numbers that allows the computer to receive data using the TCP/IP. Transmission or sharing of computer files occurs when each packet of a computer file finds its destination, which is the IP address of its intended recipient (Encyclopedia Americana). The Internet differs from the World Wide Web (WWW), in that the Internet is the network that serves as the conduit of all computers connected to it, while the World Wide Web is â€Å"a service that allows computer users to quickly and easily navigate the Internet† (Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia). References Internet. (2007). Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Grolier Online http://0-ea. grolier. com. novacat. nova. edu:80/cgi-bin/article? assetid=0216805-00 The Library, University of California, Berkeley. (2006). What is the Internet? Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www. lib. berkeley. edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/WhatIs. html World Wide Web. (2007). Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Grolier Online http://0-gme. grolier. com. novacat. nova. edu:80/cgi- bin/article? assetid=0315535-0