y of protocols (e.g., ftp, gopher, or http) on different machines (or your own machine). Browsing and E-mailTo use the Internet for Web browsing or to send and receive e-mail, you require applications to request information from the Internet and display it on your computer. These client applications include Web browsers to display Web pages containing the text and graphics displayed on your screen, e-mail packages to send and receive e-mail, and media players to play music. How Does the Internet Work?Now that you know what components are involved in making the Internet work, this section explains the steps involved in the entire Internet process.1)URL Selected2)Packets Sent3)Data Collected4)Connection Made5)Files Downloaded6)Page DisplayedURL SelectedWhen you "call up" a URL through your Web browser, the browser first has to resolve the address it has been given. In the case of http//www.wright.edu, the Web browser will first look for the computer that stores information on the ".edu" domain. The domain name system is structured as a hierarchy of names, and .edu is what is referred to as a gTLD, a generic top-level domain name. A second level domain name consists of a top-level domain name, with another name preceding it, separated by a dot. Thus "wright.edu" is a second level domain name. Once the URL is selected, packets are sent.Packets SentWhen an application needs to communicate with a server application on a remote computer, it sends packets to the specific server's IP address and appropriate port number. On the remote computer, the server application constantly "listens" for IP packets addressed to the specific port. If you want to send someone an email, your software will either contact the mail server at your ISP, which will then relay the message. Or it will use the DNS to locate the remote computer and communicate directly. After the packet is sent, the data is collected.Data CollectedOnce the data arrives at the d...
