How do the Internet and Internet technology work, and how do they support communication and e-business?
The Internet is a worldwide network of networks that uses the client/server model of computing and the TCP/IP network reference model. Every computer on the Internet is assigned a unique numeric IP address. The domain name system (DNS) converts IP addresses to more user-friendly domain names. Worldwide Internet policies are established by organizations and government bodies, such as the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Major Internet services include e-mail, newsgroups, chatting, instant messaging, Telnet, file transfer protocol (FTP), and the Web. Web pages are based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and can display text, graphics, video, and audio. Web site directories, search engines, and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology help users locate the information they need on the Web. RSS, blogs, social networking, and wikis are features of Web 2.0. Firms are also starting to realize economies by using Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for voice transmission and by using virtual private networks (VPNs) as low-cost alternatives to private WANs.
