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URL:
http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci212370,00.html
The Internet, sometimes called simply "the
Net," is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks
in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get
information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at
other computers). It was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANET. The
original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research
computer at one university to be able to "talk to" research computers
at other universities. A side benefit of ARPANet's design was that, because
messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one direction, the network
could continue to function even if parts of it were destroyed in the event of a
military attack or other disaster.
Today, the Internet is a public, cooperative, and
self-sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people
worldwide. Physically, the Internet uses a portion of the total resources of
the currently existing public telecommunication networks. Technically, what
distinguishes the Internet is its use of a set of protocols called TCP/IP (for
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Two recent adaptations of
Internet technology, the intranet and the extranet, also make use of the TCP/IP
protocol.
Keywords:
Internet, TCP/IP
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