CIRCA Network Services

This handout is available online at:
http://www.circa.ufl.edu/handouts/networks/internet.html

Introduction to the Internet
August 15, 1997

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Services
  3. Books
  4. Online documents

Introduction

The term "Internet" applies to a collection of worldwide networks. These networks include the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNet), regional networks, and local networks at many government, commercial, and educational sites, such as UF's own campus wide area network, UFNet.

All of CIRCA's mainframe computers, NERDC, and all of the PCs and Macintoshes in the public labs are connected to the Internet. To use electronic mail, campus computers or dialups, you need a computer account with access to these services. Contact the UF Computing Help Desk at CSE E520, 392-HELP.

Services

Below is a list of some of the many things you can do using the Internet. CIRCA has additional handouts available for some of these topics.

  1. Electronic mail - You can send and receive electronic mail to and from other users connected to the Internet.

  2. Network news - Network news is a collection of thousands of bulletin boards or discussion groups that operate over the Internet. This service is also known as the Usenet news. You can use it to discuss many different topics with people all over the world.

  3. Chat - Chat or Internet Relay Chat (IRC), is a real-time communication between interested parties on the Internet. The person who is talking types on the keyboard. A chat server distributes the message to all persons in the discussion group.

  4. World Wide Web - The World Wide Web (WWW) is a pointer-driven information system. The UF Campus Wide Information System is built using World Wide Web "pages". You can use it to find information about UF's activities as well as to explore information at other places on the Internet. The World Wide Web uses an address called a URL (Universal Resource Locator) to specify the Internet computer name and location of a page to view. UF's home page URL is http://www.ufl.edu.

  5. FTP - FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a technique that allows users to transfer text files, programs, software, graphics, etc., from one Internet site to another.

  6. Telnet - Telnet is a program with the ability to log on to another computer connected to the Internet. You can use telnet to log on to a mainframe computer from one of the Pcs or Macintoshes in the CIRCA computer labs.

Books

The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog, 2nd Edition, by Ed Krol (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.)

The New Internet Navigator, by Paul Gilster (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Online documents

You can use Netscape or Internet Explorer web browsing software to view the following sites:

Center for Instructional and Research Computing Activities • E520 CSE • University of Florida • Gainesville, FL
Call the UF Computing Help Desk for assistance • (352) 392-HELP • SUNCOM 622-HELP