Tech Talk Home>>Episodes>>Season 6
Networks and the Internet
Video
Ever wonder how the Internet really works? Join us to learn some network basics and find out what the future of the Internet holds.
Guests
Chris Bongaarts
Chris Bongaarts
Chris is a systems programmer for the Office of Information Technology at the University of Minnesota. He is part of the Internet Services group, which is responsible for managing the University’s central e-mail, directory, and authentication services. Chris is no stranger to the Internet...he's been on it since 1992 and used other computer communication tools since 1986!
Joe Konstan
Joe Konstan
Joe is a professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He specializes in human-computer interaction and conducts research on Internet-based applications ranging from HIV-prevention tools to movie recommenders. He claims he's such an Internet junkie that he carries a web browser with him in his pocket.
Links
Wikipedia.org has a detailed discussion on network neutrality.
HowStuffWorks.com has a section on how the Internet works. Visit this site for detailed information on how the Internet and various Internet services work.
Protocols
The set of rules and descriptions of how information is formatted that allow computers to exchange information.
Packet
Packets are basic units of network traffic. Data is divided into packets that are sent over a network and reassembled when they reach their destination.
DNS
Short for "Domain Name Server," it's what translates text names to IP numbers on the Internet.
Buffering
A process that stores data in memory for a period of time before transmitting it to the recipient to allow for the intermittent delivery of data.