Internet definition
<networking> (Note: capital "I"). The Internet is the largest
internet (with a small "i") in the world. It is a three
level hierarchy composed of backbone networks, mid-level
networks, and stub networks. These include commercial
(.com or .co), university (.ac or .edu) and other research
networks (.org, .net) and military (.mil) networks and span
many different physical networks around the world with various
protocols, chiefly the Internet Protocol.
Until the advent of the World-Wide Web in 1990, the Internet
was almost entirely unknown outside universities and corporate
research departments and was accessed mostly via command
line interfaces such as telnet and FTP. Since then it
has grown to become an almost-ubiquitous aspect of modern
information systems, becoming highly commercial and a widely
accepted medium for all sort of customer relations such as
advertising, brand building, and online sales and services.
Its original spirit of cooperation and freedom have, to a
great extent, survived this explosive transformation with the
result that the vast majority of information available on the
Internet is free of charge.
While the web (primarily in the form of HTML and HTTP) is
the best known aspect of the Internet, there are many other
protocols in use, supporting applications such as
electronic mail, Usenet, chat, remote login, and file
transfer.
There were 20,242 unique commercial domains registered with
InterNIC in September 1994, 10% more than in August 1994.
In 1996 there were over 100 Internet access providers in the
US and a few in the UK (e.g. the BBC Networking Club,
Demon, PIPEX).
There are several bodies associated with the running of the
Internet, including the Internet Architecture Board, the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the Internet
Engineering and Planning Group, Internet Engineering
Steering Group, and the Internet Society.
See also NYsernet, EUNet.
The Internet Index -
statistics about the Internet.
(2000-02-21)
Nearby terms:
International Telecommunications Union « International Traffic in Arms Regulation « Internaut « Internet » internet » Internet Access Provider » Internet Adapter
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