September 19, 2003

IP addresses, URL's, and protocols, what are they and why should I care? This discussion will attempt to inform you on what these are and why they are important.

First of all, lets define the terms, and then we'll discuss what they mean to you in plain easy to understand terms.

TCP: Transmission Control Protocol, usually used in conjunction with IP (TCP/IP), and is one way, or format, for devices to use to talk to each other.

IP: Internet Protocol, is a way for computers to talk to each other. It is one way and format that the computers use to send information, or talk to each other.

URL: Uniform Resource Locator, is a link to the IP address of a computer or web site.

Protocol: The format that devices will use to talk to each other.  In this discussion, TCP/IP and Netbeui are the protocols we will be discussing.

Netbeui: NetBIOS Extended Interface, is one way, or format, for devices to use to talk to each other.

Now, let's discuss how these terms affect how you use your computer. When you are using your Browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc.) you have an address area where you type in the address, or URL, of a web site you want to view.

Web sites, or pages, are nothing more than documents made up with text and graphics. In order for other people to be able to browse through them, their computers must have a way to find them. The pages must be on a computer which is connected to the Internet. Each web site, or domain, must have a unique address so that when someone wants to find it, their computer will have a way to find it. Every domain has an IP address, for example my web site is located at 65.61.20.173. My domain name, mauihelpdesk.com is registered to that address. When your computer is setup to use TCP/IP protocol and you tell it to go to http://www.mauihelpdesk.com, it will actually go to the TCP/IP address. You can also go there by typing http://65.61.20.173.

The URL is nothing more than a fancy name for the address of a web site. This is usually http://www.thenthename.com (or .org, .gov, etc.). This is how you tell your Internet browser what address you want it to find.

You can also connect computers together on a network so that you can share files, printers, Internet access, etc. If you want to go to the work of setting up TCP/IP addresses for each computer you can setup the network using the TCP/IP protocol. The network then works much the same as the Internet, except the addressing you use is usually in a range which is not accessible from the Internet. Another better alternative is to use another networking protocol called Netbeui. I prefer to use this protocol on networks simply because it is easier to setup since you don't have to give the individual computers addresses and you are protected even further from access from the Internet.

This is a very simple explanation of how networking is setup for computers and the Internet but it will give you an idea of how things work.

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