How the Internet works / Preston Gralla ; illustrated by Michael Troller

Includes index

pt. 1. Understanding the Internet's underlying architecture -- 1. What is the Internet? -- 2. How computer networks send data across the Internet -- 3. How TCP/IP works -- 4. Understanding the Internet's software structure -- 5. How Internet addresses and domains work -- 6. How routers work -- pt. 2. Connecting to the Internet -- 7. How computers connect to the Internet -- 8. How Internet/television connections work -- 9. How wireless connections and WiFi work -- 10. How home networks work -- pt. 3. Communicating on the Internet -- 11. How email works -- 12. How email spam works -- 13. How newsgroups work -- 14. How Internet chat and instant messaging work -- 15. How Skype and VoIP work -- 16. How blogging and RSS work -- pt. 4. How the World Wide Web works -- 17. How Web pages work -- 18. How Web browsers work -- 19. How markup languages work -- 20. How hypertext works -- 21. How URLs work -- 22. How image maps and interactive forms work -- 23. How Web host servers work -- 24. How Websites work with databases -- 25. How .NET and Web services work -- 26. How grid computing works -- pt. 5. Using the World Wide Web -- 27. How Internet searching works -- 28. How Google works -- 29. How map sites work -- 30. How wikis and Wikipedia work -- pt. 6. Using common Internet tools -- 31. How telnet works -- 32. How FTP works -- 33. How agents work -- 34. How Java, ActiveX, and JavaScript work -- 35. How CGI scripting works -- pt. 7. Enjoying entertainment and multimedia on the Internet -- 36. How music and audio work on the Internet -- 37. How iPods, iTunes, and podcasting work -- 38. How music sharing and file sharing work -- 39. How multicast IP and the MBone work -- 40. How virtual reality is created by VRML -- 41. How animation on the Web works -- pt. 8. Shopping and doing business on the Internet -- 42. How intranets work -- 43. Shopping on the Internet -- pt. 9. Protecting yourself on the Internet -- 44. How firewalls work -- 45. How hackers can cripple the Internet

and attack your PC -- 46. The dangers of wireless networking -- 47. How viruses work -- 48. How Internet sites can invade your privacy -- 49. The dangers of spyware and phishing -- 50. Cryptography, privacy, and digital certificates -- 51. How government and workplace surveillance work -- 52. Parental controls on the Internet -- Glossary