Microcomputer to Internet layouts

     With the explosive growth of the Internet and the desire of users to connect to the Internet from home (either for pleasure or work-related reasons), the microcomputer-to-Internet layout continues to grow steadily. Originally, most home users connected to the Internet via a dial-up telephone line and a modem.
This arrangement allowed for a maximum data transfer rate of roughly 56,000 bits per second (56 kbps). (The connections do not actually achieve 56 kbps, but that is a discussion we will have in Chapter Eleven.) No longer is the dialup modem the most often used layout. Today, a majority of home users either
connect to the Internet using digital subscriber line (DSL) or access the Internet through a cable modem service. All of these telecommunications services will be examined in more detail in Chapter Eleven. (In comparing the various data transfer rates of services and devices, we will use the convention in which lowercase k equals 1000. Also as part of the convention, lowercase b will refer to bits, while uppercase B refers to bytes.)

     To communicate with the Internet using a dial-up, DSL, or cable modem connection, a user’s computer must connect to another computer already communicating with the Internet. The easiest way to establish this connection is through the services of an Internet service provider (ISP). In this case, the user’s
computer needs to have the necessary software to communicate with the Internet. The Internet “talks” only TCP/IP, so users must use software that supports the TCP and IP protocols. Once the user’s computer is talking TCP/IP, a connection to the Internet can be established. Figure 1-3 shows a typical microcomputer-to-Internet layout.

A microcomputer/

workstation sending data over a

DSL line to an Internet service

provider and onto the Internet