The internet is not a single network but thousands of computer networks linked together. These linked networks are of two types: the Local Area Network (LAN) which covers a campus or perhaps an office, and the Wide Area Network (WAN) which covers distant sites. It maybe nationwide or over many countries. At every place on the internet, there is what we called Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which helps you know what the file is, what the file is, and how to access with that file.

The internet actually started from the ARPANET, a long distance communication network devised by the US government. From an initial of four computers, it grew over to two hundred com puters realizing that internetworking is very much economical. Then The USEnet, BITnet, NSFnet follows with the ARPANET and they connected with it.The Internet was actually designed for government-funded research and not for commercialization. That's why there is what we called Approprite Use Rules that prevent us from being bombarded with such commercialization. It is also a fact that internetworking usually uses mainframe computers.

The internet has many uses. In academics, it is used by students and staffs at universities, colleges, and other schools in doing their research. In business, it is used by businessmen to communicate with their colleagues around the world. Different organizations such as our government also uses internet for public service. Individuals used internetworking as a form of recreation.

What is instore for you on the internet? First, There are gigabytes of files contained on the internet any of which can be useful in doing your research or academic works. Second, there are thousands of host computers connected on the internet any of whom can be possible friends, customers, or fellow enthusiast. In the internet, youcan also get advice regarding your travel such as in airline reservation, and also regarding your work.