|
The software that makes the internet
work, It is useful to think of tcp / ip as a kind of electronic
removals outfit, which is used to ship data from one physical place to
another. The tcp part of the outfit is responsible for the
donkey-work of packing everything up individually and labelling it
carefully. IP handles the driving of the digital van (or vans, which may all
take different routes) and the map-reading. Once everything has arrived at
the right address tcp then takes over again, unpacking everything and
putting it back in its proper place.
The tcp / ip combination
has triumphed over other protocols because it works efficiently
across disparate networks and many different kinds of computer platforms.
Every major operating system now speaks tcp / ip (or can
easily be made to); and although some network purists have argued that other
alternatives are more robust or more secure, none has been able to find a
cheap, fast, easy-to-use way of doing the same jobs. |
