Internet Defined

One or more computers that can function together sharing resources is a network. When we connect more than one network together for the same purpose, that is called internetworking. The resulting collection of computers is called an internet. As the owners of many separate networks have found internetworking to be useful, a massive worldwide network has developed. We call that the Internet.

Saying that "the Internet is a network of computer networks" grossly understates the significance of this powerful information resource. Any statistical statement that could be made about the number of computer systems or people who are involved in use of the Internet at any given time is certain to be inadequate within only a few weeks. One statistic in 1993 reported an average of one new computer network being connected to the Internet every ten minutes; and the rate has only accelerated since then. Let it suffice to say that the Internet is enormous. It spans the globe involving computer systems and users on every continent. Its value as a connectivity resource causes phenomenal growth. Almost every significant computer network in the world is somehow connected to the Internet or is trying to be. Individual computer users are not excluded and can gain access very easily with an inexpensive personal computer. In fact, the only things that one needs to connect to the Internet is some "Internet-literate" software (that knows the rules of communications used by the many different services on the Internet) and a link (a physical connection) to a node (a machine that is already connected to the Internet). Both of these things might involve a financial exchange, but often they are already provided as part of some other available resource. For example, many students and faculty have free access to the necessary hardware and software for Internet access on the computers and networks at their schools.

The Internet is more than simply the sum of its computers. It is a collective system of people, software, hardware and procedures that have been coordinated to work together to meet the ever growing informational needs of our world. It is a patchwork quilt of many different computer resources, each with their own unique languages and operating procedures. Although standards are frequently developed and agreed upon for the sake of mutual cooperation between different users of the Internet, it is neither owned nor governed by any one organization. Rather it is a magnificent testimony to how well humankind can combine completely unique and incompatible systems into a larger cooperative one if the envisioned rewards are great enough.

The essence of the Internet is in its protocols, which are the sets of rules that all Internet programs must follow in order to communicate effectively with the multitude of other programs written by programmers all over the world.

The people who pushed for and ultimately caused the evolution of the Internet have coalesced into a fascinating sub-culture with its own rules, habits, mores and taboos. Although each network that makes up the Internet has and publishes its own unique Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), many practices have become common amongst Internet users and thus define a world-wide user etiquette known as netiquette.

The Internet is comprised also of a multitude of software that has been developed to allow users to easily navigate and make use of the wide variety of resources that make up the network. The existence of the Internet as a connectivity resource has spawned the development of a huge collection of free and proprietary programs and databases which now can be rapidly accessed and distributed worldwide.

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