The Internet and the World Wide Web

Network Connections

Server: A computer that accepts requests from other computers connected to it and shares some or all of its resources.

Client: Other computers connected to the server.

• The network operating system is the software that is run on the server.
• "Client/server networks commonly are used to connect device in a local area network (LAN): Devices are located in close proximity."

Ways to Connect: Wired v. Wireless

Wired: 

Twisted-pair cable is oldest type of cable comes with heavy electrical interference: A small flow of unwanted electricity in nearby objects, including other wires, created when a wire carries an electric current and generates an electromagnetic field around itself.

Category 1 cable: the type of twisted-pair cable that telephone companies have used for years to transmit voice signals. It is not a current cable standard.

Coaxial cable: 20 times faster than Category 1 cable, but much more expensive.

Category 5 cable: Carries signals between 10 and 100 times faster than coaxial cable and it's easy to install.

Category 5e cable, Cat6, and CAT 7: Is constructed of higher quality materials than the Category 5 cable.

Fiber-optic cable: Is most expensive type of cable; transmits pulsing beams of light through very thin strands of glass. It has the fastest transmission rate and doesn't use electricity.

Wireless:

• Is becoming more common as costs continue to drop. 
• Welcome in organizations that occupy old buildings. 
• Popular with companies whose employees use laptop computers. 
• Used by schools in classrooms, libraries, and study lounges. 
• Used in homes. 

Web Addresses

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a four-part address that tells the Web browser:  

•  The transfer protocol to use when transporting the file.
• The domain name of the computer on which the file resides.
• The pathname of the folder or directory on which the file resides.
• The name of the file.

Inventing the Internet

1960s: ARPANET was created by  the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as a research  project for national defense. 

1969: DARPA researchers connected first computer switches. Grew to 20 in three years.

1970: Cerf and Kahn develop a new set of protocols. IP and TCP become standards.

1974: The term "Internet" is coined by Cerf and Kahn.