Physical Internet Structure
September, 19. 1996
When mentioned in literature, the Internet is often referred to as a large computer network. Well, this is not exactly what it is. A more exact definition would be that the Internet is a large network which has acquired some smaller networks during its growth. Basically it was designed to transfer from point A to point B (see history for details) Examples for such acquired networks are EARN (Eropean Academic and Research Network) and the Usenet, which is now known as the newsgoups. To these networks many different computers were connected. You will find a PC and a MacIntosh as well as an Amiga or a SUN workstation connected to the Net.

The common technology mentioned in the definition above is called the >TCP/IP >protocol For a introduction to TCP/IP please refer to the TCP/IP chapter. This protocol ensures, that the transmitted data reaches the desired destination safely.

A computer network, which is installed in a company or covers only a small area (>LAN - Local Area Network) normally has one of the following structures:

Name Structure
Linear Linear
Star Star
Circle Circle
Decentral Decentral
Hierarchical Hierarchical

The Internet is a mixture of a decentral and a hierarchical network, where the Net itself is decentral. The explanation why there also is a kind of hierarchical construction can be found in the addressing chapter.

Nearly every country on earth has a connection to the Internet. However not all countries allow free access to it like in the U.S.A or Europe. Many countries are filtering contents or grant access only to universities and their members or to government staff.


© 1996 Christian Feichtner
Redistribution without prior permission prohibited.
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