The Internet Protocol

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the foundation upon which all other Internet protocols are built. The irony of IP is that it predates the Internet itself. When IP was created, it was intended as a protocol to link one network to another—an inter-network protocol. Eventually, as various large networks became permanently connected, everyone began to refer to the overall network as the Internet.

There are plenty of computers that use IP every day that aren't connected to the Internet. Many companies maintain large internal networks that, for security or economic reasons, have no access to the Internet.

Most people think that the Internet is synonymous with the World Wide Web. In some ways this is true, but the truth is, the Internet ...

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