|
| |
What Does This Mean for Me
The concept that the Internet is not a network, but a collection of
networks, means little to the end user. You want to do something
useful: run a program, or access some unique data. You shouldn't have
to worry about how it's all stuck together. Consider the telephone
system--it's an internet, too. Pacific Bell, AT&T, MCI, British
Telephony, Telefonos de Mexico, and so on, are all separate
corporations that run pieces of the telephone system. They worry
about how to make it all work together; all you have to do is dial.
If you ignore cost and commercials, you shouldn't care if you are
dealing with MCI, AT&T, or Sprint. Dial the number and it works. You
only care who carries your calls when a problem occurs. If
something goes out of service, only one of those companies can fix
it. They talk to each other about problems, but each phone carrier is
responsible for fixing problems on its own part of the system.
The same is true on the Internet.
Each network has its own network operations
center (NOC). The operation centers talk to each other and
know how to resolve problems. Your site has a contract with one of
the Internet's constituent networks, and its job is to keep your site
happy. So if something goes wrong, they are the ones to gripe at. If
it's not their problem, they'll pass it along. |
![[Company Logo Image]](images/webgfx-6236316.jpg)