How the Internet Works
Before you begin:
To take this course, you need to have a basic understanding of what a computer is and how they work. Please take the pre-test. Once you are familiar with all the terms on the pre-test and can score 100%, you are ready to proceed with this course. The pre-test is mostly vocabulary, so if one or two words are not familiar, please learn them. Make sure you can answer all of the questions. The written test will not be given in the same format at the on-line version.
Once you have taken the pre-test, proceed with this lesson.
Terms to know:-
World Wide Web
- The part of the internet that consists of documents linked together. It may have both text and multi-media. It is considered an international information service.
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- Internet
- A global system of interconnected computer networks. The "web" is on the Internet. The Internet (capital I) is different than an internet. An internet is any group of computers networked together, but The Internet is the global network.
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Client
- Any computer that is hooked up to a network. Also a user or a visitor. Another definition is a software program that must contact a larger program on a network to function.
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Server
- A computer on a network dedicated to a purpose. Usually, other computers contact this computer for information. (The clients contact the server.) It also refers to a program that other programs can contact for information.
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- Hardware
- The physical parts of the computer. Hardware includes the monitor, keyboard, the "box," mouse, speakers, and anything else you can touch.
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Software
- The programs or data that make the computer work. The software is the intangible information.
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- Information transfer
- Moving information from one place to another. This is especially true of moving information from it's source to a receiver - also called a "sink."
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- Storage
- Putting information into either the computer's memory or onto a compact disc or magnetic tape. Storage may be short-term or long-term.
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Additional Information:
Common general internet questions
Internet routing information
