Using the Network on Purpose

Using the Network on Purpose

For Fred to do his job, he really didn't need to know that the network existed. Sure, intellectually Fred could look at the new cabling Wilma had set up, see the printer cabled to Wilma's computer, and realize that something had to happen to let his computer print on Wilma's printer. But Fred didn't need to act any differently to use the networkhe still opened files, saved them, and printed them.

Although some of Fred's job tasks didn't require that he think about being connected to a network, when he goes home and uses the Internet, chances are Fred will be aware that he is using a network. The Internet is the global network to which almost every company and organization in the world is connected.

Unless you've been asleep for the past 10 years, you've probably heard of the Internet. In its most basic form, the Internet is a large number of networks that are connected together, allowing computers in each network to communicate with others. The Internet also includes many individual users that connect to the Internet from their homes. You can make a phone call to most anyone on the planet because all the telephone companies in the world connect to each other; similarly, most computers can communicate with each other over the Internet because most computer networks connect to each other through the Internet.

You can think of the word "Internet" as meaning interconnected networks. Many of the networks that comprise the Internet are enterprise networks. To create the basic connectivity between enterprise networks and home Internet users, Internet service providers (ISPs) provide networking connections among enterprises, individual home users, and other ISPs.

The general populace can connect to an ISP of their choosing as well. By doing so, an individual can communicate with the computers in most of the companies of the world, as well as the computers owned by the general populace. Figure 2-5 shows the general idea.