| In order to understand just
how open and powerful the Internet has become, we need to
review a few more details of its components. Every
computer on the Internet has its own unique name. This is
called a domain name. In addition to the domain name, each
system has an extension. The extension usually describes
the general function of the holder of the domain name.
Although there have recently been some changes in the use
of extensions, they generally follow some basic
principles: .com usually denotes companies or commercial
operations. .net is often used by Internet Service
Providers, .mil is for the military and so on.
More recently, country and other extensions
are becoming sought
after. The .cc and .tv extensions are particularly
popular. For computers
to talk to one another on the Internet a valid domain name
is requited
to make the connection. Each of these unique connections
allows us to
ensure that we always connect to a valid member of the
Internet. and
that the members have become Internet citizens through a
policing
body that used to be known as the InterNIC. This authority
has
been replaced by a governing and licensing body (Shared
Registration
System) that allows approved organizations to issue domain
names
and manage and issue domain names. This authority ensures
that each
name is unique and managed independently. New mechanisms
are
now being set up as further extensions are being made
available to the
domain name world, most recently the .biz arid .info
extensions.
When we connect to the Internet. we
connect to a network. In a
typical workgroup organization, this connection is usually
a physical
connection, a network in the office. We get around this
problem
with remote access by using dial-up connections through a
modem
to connect to remote computers in the system. Our
computers then
become part of the network.
There are many, applications that use
the Internet. Even
if you are not familiar with some of these applications,
it is very
likely that someone in your organization is using some or
all of these
applications in support of your Website or internal
applications. Over
time, more and more of these applications are becoming
available via
a simple browser interface, avoiding the need for
specialized software
or interfaces.
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