How the Internet Works: Millennium Edition [Paperback]

Preston Gralla (Author), Leonhard Gralla (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0789721325 | ISBN-13: 978-0789721327 | Publication Date: January 2, 2002 | Edition: 1st

Have you ever wanted to know how data travels from computer to computer, around the world? Have you ever wondered how Web sites can track users or how newsgroups work? How the Internet Works shows you how with easy-to-follow, four-color visual spreads tracking the path data flows and the hardware involved. Now entering its fourth year, How the Internet Works helps you understand the latest in Internet and networking technology from cookies and data tracking to Web sound and video. Its intelligent visual approach demystifies the technology in a format that appeals to readers of all levels. Content includes explanations of digital certificates, extranets, Internet telephony, and meta-searches and scripting languages such as XML and dynamic HTML.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Internet does many wondrous things, but an alarming number of them remain "black boxes" whose interior workings are a mystery. In How the Internet Works, Preston Gralla shows how information gets from here to there on the world's biggest computer network. With assistance from illustrators Sarah Ishidi, Mina Reimer, and Stephen Adams, Gralla presents a series of full-color spreads, each of which picks apart some aspect of Internet technology. You'll find explanations of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), Web browsers, electronic mail, Web search engines, multimedia, and more. There's a spread that shows how bulk e-mailers (known as spammers) extract addresses from newsgroups and send advertisements to them. There's also an excellent graphical depiction of how the infamous Melissa trojan horse wreaked havoc among Microsoft Outlook users in early 1999.

Some of the explanations are weaker than others. While Gralla gives a lot of details about how Internet telephony works, his explanation of PointCast consists of, to paraphrase, "You install the special client software, which communicates with the special server software and presents news to you." It's more of a definition than an explanation. The book is split about evenly between simple definition entries and detailed, commendable how-it-works entries. There's no glossary per se, but the index is good. --David Wall

Topics covered: Internet architecture, addressing, domain names, routers, connectivity, e-mail, newsgroups, Web browsers, push technologies, and Internet safety and security.

From the Back Cover

Have you ever wanted to know how data travels from computer to computer, around the world? Have you ever wondered how Web sites can track users or how newsgroups work? How the Internet Works shows you how with easy-to-follow, four-color visual spreads tracking the path data flows and the hardware involved. Now entering its fourth year, How the Internet Works helps you understand the latest in Internet and networking technology from cookies and data tracking to Web sound and video. Its intelligent visual approach demystifies the technology in a format that appeals to readers of all levels. Content includes explanations of digital certificates, extranets, Internet telephony, and meta-searches and scripting languages such as XML and dynamic HTML.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Que; 1st edition (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789721325
• ISBN-13: 978-0789721327
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,688,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent current information presented clearly & concisely, November 3, 1999

By 

George Orfanedes (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the Internet Works (Paperback)

This book presents this somewhat complicated subject in clear understandable language and diagrams. Both the novice and the experienced user/surfer will discover new facts or clear up a misconception about the technologies of the Internet. Many terms are defined and explained, including the interactions of computers and associated hardware devices, communications, software, and protocols.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple but Thorough - A Great Introduction, December 20, 2000

By 

Fred "Technology is your friend." (CHAPEL HILL, NC, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How the Internet Works: Millennium Edition (Paperback)

I purchased this book a year or two ago and have come back to it many times as a reference. This is a visually-based book, which uses many illustrations to explain the functioning of the internet to the reader. Yes, there are a lot of areas where it glosses over things and it is very repetitive, but there are many parts where the large, clearly illustrated examples are without question the best explanation of some very complex systems. The book does spend a lot of time on simpler, less awe-inspiring technology like email and explaining how HTML works, but this is well balanced out by the visually-based explanations of how routers and other more dynamic aspects of the internet work together.

The book also clearly spells out the differences between various access systems (DSL vs. Cable modems, vs. dial-in modems, vs. Satellite access) and also spends enough time outlining wireless internet access and other systems to allow the reader to see how the same 'system' used for the internet applies to these newer, more cutting edge applications. I think the book does a great job of showing and explaining all of the complexities behind the internet, without bogging the reader down with too much jargon and detail.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Guide for Beginners--buy one for your Parents, November 9, 2002

By 

Frater V "The Truth is Absolutely Not Absolut... (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: How the Internet Works (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I work in the IT / Computer Repair industry, and I personally feel that this book is very helpful to most individuals who have little familiarity with The Internet and all the intricacies of email, firewalls, modems, Instant Messaging, etc.
This book is very, very Basic..., yet I can guarantee you, as a Help-Desk Agent, that many adults (including myself) can gather useful information from this book. The old saying is true: "a picture is worth a thousand words." In this book, that is mostly what you get...a lot of illustrations.
There is much reiteration of the same material throughout the book, which creates Filler, but the Illustrations are very helpful to the average beginning Internet user.
This book is not designed to be the Ultimate Internet Guide, but it IS a wonderful book to read through and donate to your local library, or to give your parents or grandparents to help them understand the Wonderful World of the Web.
Most people generally tend to forget that not everyone is hip to the Internet technology and terminology. This book caters to individuals who are struggling to incorporate all this new-fangled gadgetry into their lives. I wouldn't recommend this book to Techs, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone trying to integrate with the rest of society, online.