| Revision as of 17:00, 8 December 2001 view source12.235.7.xxx (talk) Removing pointless comment, fixing /Talk← Previous edit | Revision as of 04:27, 25 January 2002 view source Damian Yerrick (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers15,082 edits fix DARPA link; some named services were *originally* proprietary; don't encourage use of TelnetNext edit → | ||
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| This is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network. | This is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network. | ||
| The core networks forming the Internet started out in 1969 as the ] devised by the ] |
The core networks forming the Internet started out in 1969 as the ] devised by the ] Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (]). | ||
| An important step in the development was the National Science Foundation's (NSF) building of a university backbone, the NSFnet, in 1986. |
An important step in the development was the National Science Foundation's (NSF) building of a university backbone, the NSFnet, in 1986. | ||
| Important alien networks that have successfully been accomodated within the Internet include ], ], and ]. | |||
| See ]. | |||
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| Some of the popular services on the Internet are ], ] ]s, ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], ]s, and ]s. |
Some of the popular services on the Internet are ], ] ]s, ], the ], ], ] (which has displaced ]), ], ], ], ]s, and ]s. | ||
| Some other popular services of the Internet were not created this way, but were originally based on proprietary systems. | |||
| These include ], ], ], and ]. | |||
Revision as of 04:27, 25 January 2002
In the general sense, an internet (with a lowercase "i") is a computer network that connects several other networks. The art of connecting networks in this way is called internetworking. See also the related terms intranet and extranet. As a proper noun, the Internet is the world-wide, interconnected system of computers (plus the information and services they provide and their users) that uses the TCP/IP suite of protocols. Thus, the largest internet in the world is called simply "the" Internet.
During the 1990s, the Internet successfully accommodated the majority of previously existing computer networks.
This is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network.
The core networks forming the Internet started out in 1969 as the ARPANET devised by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
An important step in the development was the National Science Foundation's (NSF) building of a university backbone, the NSFnet, in 1986.
Important alien networks that have successfully been accomodated within the Internet include Usenet, Fidonet, and Bitnet.
The Internet is held together by bi- or multilateral commercial contracts (e.g. peering agreements) and by technical specifications or protocols that describe how to exchange data over the network. These protocols are formed by discussion within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and its working groups, which are open to public participation and review. These committees produce documents that are known as Requests For Comments (RFCs). Some RFCs are raised to the status of Internet Standard by the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
Some of the popular services on the Internet are E-mail, Usenet Newsgroups, FTP, the World Wide Web, Gopher, SSH (which has displaced Telnet), WAIS, Finger, IRC, MUDs, and MUSHs.
Some other popular services of the Internet were not created this way, but were originally based on proprietary systems.
These include ICQ, AIM, CDDB, and Gnutella.
Some of the most used protocols that implement these services are TCP-IP, UDP, PPP, SLIP, ICMP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, LDAP, and SSL.
The Internet has a large and growing number of users that have created a distinct culture. See Netiquette, Internet friendship, Internet romance, Trolls and trolling, Flaming, Cybering, Hacktivism, Internet humor, Internet slang, Internet in Art, PSTN.