Ethiopian Treasures

What is the Internet?

The Internet consists of several millions of interconnected computers around the world that enables users to communicate and share information.

Components of the Internet

1. E-mail

Electronic mail or e-mail allows computer users to sending and receiving text messages, files, graphics and sounds on the Internet. It is the simplest and most widely used of all Internet facilities.

2. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a means of transferring files from one computer to another across the Internet. You must know the names and locations of host (remote) computers on the Internet if you want to download and/or upload files from/to host (remote) computers.

3. World Wide Web (WWW)

The World Wide Web consists of several millions of pages of information stored on host computers throughout the world. Web pages are generally written in HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language), which defines the style and layout of web pages and allows hyperlinks to be created to other documents and/or web pages. Hyperlinks appear as either text or images, and provide an efficient means of following threads of web pages which enable users to move from one page to another.

3.1. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is the communications protocol for the world wide web which defines how information is transmitted across the Internet. This is why the addresses (URLs) of web pages always start with "http".

3.2. Web Address (URL)

Web Address (URL) identifies the location of a web site on the Internet and must be typed correctly for the routine to work. Each web site available on the Internet has a unique web address (URL). Web addresses are known as URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). Unlike e-mail addresses web addresses are not case sensitive but watch out for symbols. Some addresses (URLs) include a tilde (~) and/or forward slash (/). e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/education or
http://www.btinternet.com/~bill

Back to Top

---