Understand TCP/IP and the Internet

TCP/IP was known primarily as the protocol of the Internet, and the biggest challenge of getting a local area network (LAN) connected to the Internet was figuring out how to mesh TCP/IP with the proprietary protocols that were the basis of the LANs - most notably IPX/SPX and NetBEUI. A few years ago, network administrators realized that they could save the trouble of combining TCP/IP with IPX/SPX and NetBEUI by eliminating IPX/SPX and NetBEUI from the equation altogether. As a result, TCP/IP is not just the protocol of the Internet now, but it is also the protocol on which many - if not most - local area networks are based.

This tutorial is a gentle introduction to the Internet in general and the TCP/IP suite of protocols in particular.