Overview

TCP/IP started as a robust network called ARPANET that was used by the government. The military wanted a network that would span the nation and be capable of maintaining connections even if a city had been devastated during war. It became popular among scientists and researchers and soon found its way onto U.S. campuses involved in research projects for the government. Naturally, students who had access to the ARPANET looked for ways to continue using it. When the ARPANET was later made public and became the Internet, many companies began looking for ways to get connected.

The reason for all of the interest is because TCP/IP provides a number of protocols and solutions that meet just about every corporate networking need. To top it off, TCP/IP is a very robust yet efficient network solution, making it cost effective for businesses who need to link various locations with corporate headquarters.

TCP/IP is not just for linking locations with one another. It s about linking millions of users with one another. This network solution allows businesses to communicate with one another, share e-mail across the globe, send files from one city to another, and exchange ideas through special forums called newsgroups.

The concept of the Internet has moved indoors. Many are now finding that the same suite of protocols used to connect the world work just as well within the walls of the corporate office. For this reason, companies are now looking to TCP/IP to support their own intranets: TCP/IP networks that...