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Internet 101

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a huge network of computers around the world. One computer is connected to another computer, connected to another computer. Just like a spider's web, the Internet is a network of interconnectivity among many computers. This is not so mysterious when you understand that everything is physically connected. When you access the Internet, your computer dials a telephone number using a modem. Waiting at the other end of the telephone line is another modem. Your modem speaks to the other modem and a connection is established using the phone line. 

Whoever provides the receiving modem you dial, is known as your Internet access provider. The access provider's modem is connected to a device called a router which connects to a trunk line-- a higher speed telephone line. There are several high-speed line configurations used, which you may have heard of, such as "T" lines (i.e., T1, T2 or T3 lines). Satellite connection is another option available to these providers. These lines are extremely fast and can carry data at speeds as high as 45 Megabits per second (mbps). These trunk lines form the backbone of the Internet.

This "navigation" or movement of information may be compared to your driving experiences. To get from one state to another, you must drive down your driveway (the telephone connection), onto the road (the high speed line owned by your Internet provider), and onto the inter-state highway (the backbone).

In addition to the issues of connectivity, a common language must be used for these computers to talk to each other. The language that computers use to talk to each other on the Internet is called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

Is my Service Provider the same as the Internet?

No. People often people confuse the Internet with America On-line, Prodigy, and so on. While these are computer networks, they are not the Internet. These providers offer services exclusively to their members. These one-way services allow members access to the Internet, but restrict incoming access to non-member Internet users. These Internet providers benefit from capturing the immediate attention of their members as a marketing audience. Their users can benefit from "ease of use" and access to many services, however, the user must activate their Internet browser and "jump" out onto the actual Internet to access the body of information available from web sites all over the world. It can be compared to the difference between shopping in a mall and shopping in stores all over town.

How are Internet files actually viewed? 

When you view information on the Internet you are not actually looking at information on another computer. What has actually happened is that you have given a command or URL (web site address such as http://www.ifull.com) to download information from an Internet address to a temporary file on your own computer. A browser is a software program, very much like a word processing software, that is able to display the files you download. Browser's, can display many more kinds of information than simple text documents, such as audio, video or features that provide users with interactivity (i.e., the user does something and something happens). Examples of browsers are Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape. (Internet Explorer is loaded into just about every computer you can buy along with Microsoft's Windows program. This is what the Bill Gates legal battles were referring to!) Browser software may also be used to access e-mail, receive on-line news and search for information.

How should I choose a provider?

The two primary services a provider can offer include "access" and "hosting." Access services, which typically cost around $19.00 per month, provide the ability to use your modem and the provider's phone number to link into the Internet. Hosting services have a broader range of costs and refer to space for your website, provided on a computer configured for interaction from the Internet. Most provider's that offer Internet access, also offer hosting services. However, not all provider's of hosting services provide access service. It is not necessary that both services be employed from the same provider and it is wise to make these decisions independently, determined by your particular needs and the costs of the services.

Considerations for choosing an access provider . . . 

Processing Speeds:
Choose an access provider that supports the speed of your modem. If you have a 56K modem and the provider only provides a 28K modem, you will not get the benefit of the speed of your modem. (Modems always communicate with each other at a common rate of speed, so a 56K and 28K modem will communicate at 28K-- a speed they are both capable of.) You should also ask a provider about their actual performance speed. Depending upon the volumes of connections they support, the actual connection speeds may be lower than the optimum performance of their modem.

Access Lines:
Find out if they have more than one local phone number, or what their experience is with "busy signals" on their access number. Do you travel and need to use the Internet on the road? Ask if your provider offers access through local numbers in areas you travel to, and where you can find these numbers when you travel. 

Pricing:
Unlimited access based on a flat monthly fee is a valuable feature. Some providers bill access on actual time spent connected to the Internet through their line, or offer a base rate for a limited amount of time per day. 

Hosting service pricing is usually based upon the amount of space allowed for your web site. The two areas of concern regarding space are the space to hold your pages and the space in their transmission lines to hold your web site's traffic. 

10 MB may be enough to hold a small to medium website primarily containing text based information. If you have lots of graphics or features that include audio or video, your storage space needs may be considerably more. If you intend to accept on-line payments, you should ask about SSL (secure socket layer), a feature that allows for secure collection of information, such as encrypted (scrambled) transmission. It's also important to know whether the host can offer adequate speed through their "trunk" lines.

Ask the hosting service about their experience with video or scripting if you know you are going to utilize these features on your site. If you intend to develop your website using Microsoft's FrontPage software, ask whether the server supports "FrontPage extensions." (By the way, if a hosting services says they support FrontPage, this usually means they can support the file extensions used with pages created in FrontPage. It does not usually mean that if you have a question regarding the use of FrontPage software, that they have support staff to answer those questions.) Your website can be uploaded to the host through development software, such as Front Page, or it can be directly transferred (i.e., copy-to-copy transfer) using FTP upload (File Transfer Protocol). Ask for specific information on their allowed upload capabilities and associated costs.

Reports of Website Activity:

Can they provide you with worthwhile information about your web site to support your own analysis of your visitors? Can they report on how many people visit your site, which pages receive the most traffic, where users are coming from and what kind of software they are using? This information is critical to the evaluation of your site content and promotion efforts and will help you determine whether the users that come to your pages have the browser technology that supports the level of features you provide.

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