How the Internet Works: Special Edition (How It Works Series (Emeryville, Calif.)) (Paperback)

by Preston Gralla (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
How the Internet Works promises "an exciting visual journey down the highways and byways of the Internet," and it delivers. The book's high quality graphics and simple, succinct text make it the ideal book for beginners; however it still has much to offer for Net vets. This book is jam- packed with cool ways to visualize how the Net works. The first section visually explores how TCP/IP, Winsock, and other Net connectivity mysteries work. This section also helps you understand how e-mail addresses and domains work, what file types mean, and how information travels across the Net. Part 2 unravels the Net's underlying architecture, including good information on how routers work and what is meant by client/server architecture. The third section covers your own connection to the Net through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and how ISDN, cable modems, and Web TV work. Part 4 discusses e-mail, spam, newsgroups, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and Net phone calls. In part 5, you'll find out how other Net tools, such as gopher, telnet, WAIS, and FTP, can enhance your Net experience. The sixth section takes on the World Wide Web, including everything from how HTML works to image maps and forms. Part 7 looks at other Web features such as push technology, Java, ActiveX, and CGI scripting, while part 8 deals with multimedia on the Net. Part 9 shows you what intranets are and covers groupware, and shopping and searching the Net. The book wraps up with part 10, a chapter on Net security that covers firewalls, viruses, cookies, and other Web tracking devices, plus cryptography and parental controls.

Product Description
The Internet has completely changed the way people work, communicate, socialize, and have fun. All around the world, millions of people log-on the cyberspace network that knows no political, racial, ethnic, or religious boundaries to meet, conduct research, send email, and play games. It's a revolutionary Web of server and computers that is rewriting the script of human interaction.Covering today's latest technology, How the Internet Works, Special Edition explains the Internet and the technologies that make it work, and how you can apply them at home or in the office. Full-color graphics make it easy to understand how the Internet works.Inspired by the popular "How It Works" series in PC/Computing, this book offers original illustrations that graphically unravel the PC network to detail in full color how each component does its magic-and how all the pieces fit together.

• The reader is taken into the network of computers which make up the Internet
• Fully updated to cover Push technologies, ActiveX, Java, Agents, and offline browsers
• Over 150 additional pages of new material
• Full-color illustrations make complex subjects easy to understand

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ziff Davis Pr; Spl Sub edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562765523
• ISBN-13: 978-1562765521
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,855,888 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 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 (How It 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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	F. Lybrand "Black Mesa" (Chapel Hill, NC US) - 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.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars very elementary and superficial, March 17, 1999

By A Customer

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

This book has glitzy graphics. Reading it, I was not sure where it was headed. Nowhere in particular, it turned out. Each "chapter" has a page or two-long introduction followed by a couple of pages of illustrations breaking down the various aspects mentioned in the introduction. Could be a useful book for learning the jargon of the internet but nothing more. I was hoping for the nuts and bolts description, but most of it was superficial. Maybe a decent introductory book for someone who has just discovered the "net".