Internet technologies

Abstract

The Internet is first and foremost a technical way of exchanging all kinds of information with numerous partners throughout the world. The term Internet per se simply refers to the connection of two local networks to form a larger network (inter-networking). All computers in a network are able to communicate with all computers in another network to which it is connected. By linking further networks to this first pair, an even larger network is created. Today, the term Internet has long become synonymous with a system of networks that extends across the world. The only thing these groups of computers have in common is the protocol that they use - that is, the agreement as to how data are to be exchanged. Known as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), the protocol used for the global network of computers enables data interchange through a wide variety of media including copper wires, fiber-optic cables, telephone lines, radio, satellites, and other technologies. For many private users, a fast ADSL connection (ADSL = Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) with a transmission rate of several megabits per second is already the accepted standard. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.