Internet DRAFT - draft-ietf-uswg-FYI4
draft-ietf-uswg-FYI4
INTERNET-DRAFT R. Plzak
draft-ietf-uswg-fyi4-00.txt SAIC
A. Wells
UWisc-Mad
E. Krol
Univ IL
November 1998
FYI on Questions and Answers
Answers to Commonly asked New Internet User Questions
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working
documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas,
and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
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To view the entire list of current Internet-Drafts, please check the
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Rim), ftp.ietf.org (US East Coast), or ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast).
"Copyright(C) The Internet Society (1998). All Rights Reserved."
Abstract
This memo provides an overview to the new Internet User. The
intended audience is the common Internet user of today, thus it
attempts to provide a more consumer oriented approach to the Internet
rather than going into any depth about a topic. Unlike its
predecessors, this edition seeks to answer the general questions that
an unsophisticated consumer would ask as opposed to the more pointed
questions of the more a technically sophisticated Internet user.
Users desiring a more in-depth discussion are directed to FYI 7 that
deals with intermediate and advanced Q/A topics. A conscious effort
has been made to keep this memo brief but at the same time provide
the new user with enough information to generally understand the
Internet.
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1. Acknowledgements
The following people deserve thanks for their help and contributions
to thei FYI Q/A: Albert Lunde (NWU).
2. Questions About the Internet
2.1. What is the Internet?
The Internet is the worldwide group of networks that are connected
together. It consists of the computers used by users that are
connected to these networks, the specialized computers (routers) that
are the interconnection points between these networks, and the
communications lines. Most home users connect to a network via a
telephone line and a communication device (modem). A company known as
an Internet Service Provider (ISP) connects this network to the
Internet. The Internet was put together from normal telephone
communication products which are offered by telephone companies, but
they are used in a different way which allows everyone to share them
which makes the whole thing cheaper.
The Internet is structured much like any other business. You buy
your service from a retail ISP. Your ISP takes its profit and buys
bulk services from a bigger provider who does the same thing. This
may happen a couple of times until there gets a point where there are
places where the big providers all connect together and communicate
with each other. There are only a few of these in each area of the
world and they pay a fee to connect at these points. The connection
points are connected together by international providers, so that if
you connect to the Internet at one point, you can get anywhere in the
world.
2.2. Who Runs the Internet?
The Internet is operated as a cooperative effort among the ISPs,
software companies, volunteer organizations, and a few facilities
that tie the whole thing together. The ISPs and software companies
are completely independent and most of them compete with each other.
The ISPs agree to connect to each other and transmit information
following an established set of rules (protocols). The software
companies agree to manufacture programs (such as email or web
browsers) that also follow protocols. These protocols are developed
by a group of volunteers (Internet Engineering Task Force IETF) that
come together regularly and discuss how the Internet is running and
how to standardize new services.
But, there are things that must be unique in the Internet, just like
your phone number must be unique in the world. To keep these things
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straight there are groups identified in the community which allocate
addresses (IP Registries ARIN, RIPE, APNIC), allocate names (domain
registries), and generally keep track of things (ICANN). This is
keeps the Internet working well, adding new services, and running on
a wide variety of computers.
2.3. What Can I do on the Internet?
There are a variety of applications and activities on the Internet.
These include the ability to surf, use search tools, send mail,
transfer programs and documents, and chat.
Surfing is one of the two most popular activities. To surf, a user
uses a program known as a web browser. The web browser enables the
user to connect to a location that contains information. From one
location a user can follow various links by clicking on them to
explore the Internet. Like following a footnote or reference in a
print publication, links can be used to find related or non-related
information.
Typically surfing begins by connecting to a site that contains a
search engine. Since the Internet contains many, many different kinds
of material on a wide variety of topics, finding exactly what you are
looking for can be challenging. This is where search engines come in
since they can help you locate specific information. But, remember
just as using a dictionary versus the yellow pages to locate
information on automobiles will yield very different results, so too
will different search engines.
E-mail is the second most popular activity and is very similar to
sending letters through the post office. It is both an application
and an activity which allows for the exchange of messages between two
or more people. Additionally, many people use e-mail to join and
participate in what are known as listserv discussions or mail lists.
A listserv is simply a forum wherein people exchange e-mail and is
typically on a defined topic i.e. home buying, politics, or even
running the Internet.
Programs and documents are transferred in several ways. The most
common way this is done between individual users is to attach the
program or document to an e-mail message. Programs and documents are
usually transferred from sites to users using the save feature of a
web browser or the file transfer protocol (FTP). This enables users
to obtain a variety of programs, documents, audio files, and video
files.
Another application and activity known as chat takes place with
another person or persons who are also on the Internet. Chatting is
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very similar to going to a party. Just as people congregate in small
groups and discuss things, chatters meet in chat rooms to discuss a
topic. Chat rooms are generally sponsored or operated by an
organization that has an interest in the topic area. For example, an
online news organization would have a chat room for chatters to
discuss current events. To chat one person writes a message which
can be read, as it is being written, by the others who can respond to
it in turn. Persons who enter a chat room but dont enter the
discussion are said to be lurking. Chatters come and go to chat
rooms the same way people move about groups at a party.
Some popular activities that have recently sprung up include
electronic shopping, banking, and investing. Major and specialty
retail stores around the nation and many around the world describe
and display pictures of their products on the Internet for people to
buy directly or indirectly. Shopping can also include purchasing
services such as an airline ticket or ordering groceries.
Additionally, many banks allow people to transfer funds, check
available funds, pay bills and other such activities while on the
Internet with an account number and ID. Lastly, many people invest
while on the Internet in everything from stocks and bonds to real
estate.
2.4. How Does the Internet Work?
The Internet allows people to conduct activities, whether it is web
browsing, e-mail, a file transfer, or a chat session between two
computers (source and destination) that can be located anywhere. To
make this happen several things occur. An activity is started, the
address of the destination is identified, a path to the destination
is created, an activity session is started, and then the activity
takes place. This is done by a variety of programs that follow
standards (protocols) of Internet activity.
Lets look at how this would happen for an e-mail session. The user
creates a message using an e-mail program. The user identifies the
destination by specifying an e-mail address. Since humans are more
comfortable with names the e-mail protocol specifies that this
address is the name of the user at the destination. It looks like
jones@ietf.org. However, the computers that move information about
the Internet use numeric addresses called Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses. IP addresses are used to move (route) the message along
the best path to the destination. Thus the name has to be translated
into an IP address. The name-to-address mapping system called the
Domain Name System (DNS) does this. Once the address has been
determined, a set of protocols called routing protocols find the best
path to the destination. Then an activity session is created between
the source and the destination computer. The e-mail protocol checks
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the destination to make sure that it will accept the message.
Finally the message is transmitted. As it moves from the source to
the destination it may cross several networks that belong to several
ISPs. All of this activity takes place within the time it takes to
read this paragraph!
2.5. Are There Any Rules of Behavior?
In general common sense, courtesy, and decency govern good Internet
behavior. There is no single formal rulebook that governs behavior on
the Internet. However many e-mail discussion lists and chat rooms
have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Before you join in one of these
activities check and see if there is an AUP, make sure you understand
it, and then follow it. The IETF has published RFC 1855 (Netiquette
Guidelines) and is publishing other RFCs that deal with subjects such
as advertising and Internet junk mail (spam).
Users should also be aware that their particular programs such as
word processors or e-mail might produce documents and messages that
are not readable by everyone. You should make sure that the intended
recipient can read what you are sending them.
As in any group, the users of the Internet have, over time, developed
language short cuts. These primarily take the form of acronyms and
emoticons (smilies). Lists of these acronyms and emoticons can be
found by surfing.
3. Security Considerations
It is important to realize that not Internet user is a good netizen.
Therefore, users should learn to protect themselves. The IETF has
published several RFCs that provide security information and
guidance. Additionally, users can protect themselves from sites and
documents that have unwanted content by using baby sitting software.
4. References
References to be inserted here.
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5. Authors' Address
Raymond Plzak
SAIC
1710 Goodridge Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102
Phone: (703) 821-6535
EMail: plzakr@saic.com
Amy Tracy Wells
Internet Scout Project
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Computer Sciences Department
1210 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608)263-2611
Email: awel@cs.wisc.edu
Ed Krol
University of Illinois
1120 DCL 1304 Springfield
Urbana IL 61801
Phone (217)333-7886
Email: krol@uiuc.edu
6. "Full Copyright Statement".
"Copyright (C) The Internet Society (date). All Rights Reserved.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others,
and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its
implmentation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or
in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright
notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative
works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as
by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or
other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing
Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the
Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it
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into languages other than English.
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked
by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS"
basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE
DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY
RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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