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Information about Internetworking

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Internet connection rate in 2000 showing the number of connections/10,000 people/country.
Internetworking involves connecting two or more distinct computer networks or network segments together to form an internetwork (often shortened to internet), using devices which operate at layer 3 (Network layer) of the OSI Basic Reference Model (such as routers or layer 3 switches) to connect them together to allow traffic to flow back and forth between them [1]. The layer 3 routing devices guide traffic on the correct path (among several different ones usually available) across the complete internetwork to their destination.

Note: Routers were originally called gateways, but that term was discarded in this context, due to confusion with functionally different devices using the same name.

It is interesting to note that some people inaccurately refer to the connecting together of networks with bridges as internetworking, but the resulting system mimics a single subnetwork, and no internetworking protocol (such as IP) is required to traverse it. However, a single computer network may be converted into an internetwork by dividing the network into segments and then adding routers or other layer 3 devices between the segments [1].

The original term for an internetwork was catenet. Internetworking started as a way to connect disparate types of networking technology, but it became widespread through the developing need to connect two or more local area networks via some sort of wide area network. The definition now includes the connection of other types of computer networks such as personal area networks.

The most notable example of internetworking in practice is the Internet, a network of networks running different low-level protocols, unified by an internetworking protocol, the Internet Protocol (IP).

IP only provides an unreliable packet service across an internet. To transfer data reliably, applications must utilize a Transport layer protocol, such as TCP, which provides a reliable stream (These terms do not mean that IP is actually unreliable but instead that it sends packets without contacting and establishing a connection with the destination router beforehand. The opposite applies for reliable). Since TCP is the most widely used transport protocol, people commonly refer to TCP and IP together, as "TCP/IP". Some applications occasionally use a simpler transport protocol (called UDP) for tasks which do not require absolutely reliable delivery of data, such as video streaming.

See also

References

1. ^ Groth, David; Toby Skandier (2005). 'Network+ Study Guide, Fourth Edition'. Sybex, Inc.. ISBN 0-7821-4406-3. 

External links

  • E-book (pdf format) - Deals with the foundations of major internetworking architectures (chapters 4 to 9).
as a college campus, industrial complex, or a military base. A CAN, may be considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area network), but is generally limited to an area that is smaller than a typical MAN.
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Device was a short-lived pop-rock trio formed by keyboardist/bassist Holly Knight, vocalist Paul Engemann and guitarist Gene Black. Their only album, 22B3,was released in the spring of 1986. It produced a Top 40 single in the U.S.
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network layer is the third layer out of seven in OSI model and the third layer out of five in TCP/IP model. In the TCP/IP reference model it is called the Internet layer.
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router is a device that extracts the destination of a packet it receives, selects the best path to that destination, and forwards data packets to the next device along this path.[1] They connect networks together; a LAN to a WAN for example, to access the Internet.
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In telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meanings:
  • In a communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols.

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A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges are similar to repeaters or network hubs, devices that connect network segments at the physical layer, however a bridge works by using bridging where traffic from one
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subnetwork or subnet is a range of logical addresses within the address space that is assigned to an organization. Subnetting is a hierarchical partitioning of the network address space of an organization (and of the network nodes of an autonomous system) into several
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computing protocols, see Protocol (computing). For protocols on two-way voice communications, see Voice procedure. For other meanings of the word protocol, see Protocol.
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Internet protocol may refer to:
  • The Internet Protocol, a data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork
  • The Internet protocol suite, a set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet runs

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Catenet is an obsolete term for a system of packet-switched communication networks interconnected via gateways. It was coined at a time when network meant what is now called a local area network, to refer to the concept of linking these networks into a "network of
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local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Networks (WANs), include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and
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Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries [1]).
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A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer devices (including telephones and personal digital assistants) close to one person. The devices may or may not belong to the person in question.
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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Internet protocol may refer to:
  • The Internet Protocol, a data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork
  • The Internet protocol suite, a set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet runs

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transport layer is the second highest layer in the four and five layer TCP/IP reference models, where it responds to service requests from the application layer and issues service requests to the Internet layer.
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The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. TCP provides reliable, in-order delivery of a stream of bytes, making it suitable for applications like file transfer and e-mail.
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A reliable byte stream is a common service paradigm in computer networking; it refers to a byte stream in which the bytes which emerge from the communication channel at the recipient are exactly the same, and in the exact same order, as they were when the sender inserted them into
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The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet and most commercial networks run. It has also been referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite, which is named after two of the most important protocols in it:
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User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. Using UDP, programs on networked computers can send short messages sometimes known as datagrams (using Datagram Sockets) to one another.
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first multiprotocol wide area network called the NASA Science Internet, or NSI. NSI was established to provide a total integrated communications infrastructure to the NASA scientific community for the advancement of earth, space and life sciences.
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