762 - Chapter 6. The Internet Network <blockquote> <p><script> function OpenWin(url, w, h) { if(!w) w = 400; if(!h) h = 300; window. open (url, "_new", "width=" + w + ",height=" + h + ",menubar=no,toobar=no,scrollbars=yes", true); } function Print() { window.focus(); if(window.print) { window.print(); window.setTimeout('window.close();',5000); } } </script><span></span></p> <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr valign="top"></tr></table> <table width="100%" height="20" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tr></tr></table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center"><table width="95%"><tr><td align="left"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr><td valign="top" height="5"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/pixel.gif" width="1" height="5" alt="" border="0"></td></tr> <tr> <td><b><font size="1" color ="#0000FF">Team-Fly<img border="0" src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/Fly-Logo.gif" width="81" height="25"></font></b></td> <td valign="top" align="right"> </td> </tr> </table> <hr size="1"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="76" rowspan="4"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/0130409510/0130409510_xs.jpg" width="76" height="95" border="0"></td> <td valign="top">Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence<br>By William A. Giovinazzo<br> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Table of Contents</td></tr> <tr><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="bottom">Part 2. Making the Internet Work</td></tr> </table> <hr size ="1"> <br><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding ="0"><tr><td valign="top"> <h2>Chapter 6. The Internet Network</h2> <blockquote> <p><span>It is a fact or I have dreamt it - that by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve , vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?</span></p> <p><span>Nathaniel Hawthorne</span><br><span>The House of Seven Gables</span></p> </blockquote> <p>Did you know that the size of the booster rockets for the space shuttle was determined by the size of a horse's backside ? You see, the length of a wagon axle was based on the width of the horses pulling the wagon. As the wagons traveled along the roads , they would wear ruts into the road, making it difficult for wagons whose axle length was something other than the standard. Soon, everyone was making all their axles the same length. When trains came along, they of course made the axles for the railroad cars the standard length. This in turn determined the space between the rails. The tunnels that trains went through were based on the standard width of railroad cars. Since the booster rockets for the space shuttle were transported by train, it could be no larger than a train tunnel's opening. So, the width of the space shuttle's booster rockets is based on the size of a horse's backside.</p> <p>So what about Hawthorne's great nerve? The national information infrastructure as described by Don Tapscott in <span>The Digital Economy</span> becomes <span>the means by which the world of matter</span> develops this nerve. As companies integrate their information systems into the national information infrastructure, we develop the one nervous system that creates the one virtual organization. We have been saying this right along. So what are the pieces that make up that infrastructure? How do the pieces work together, and why do they work that way? In order for all these pieces to work together, somewhere along the way, someone had to establish a single standard. Where is the backside of the Internet's horse? (I can't believe I wrote that.)</p> <p>Internet standards did happen by design, and not just by accident . In this chapter, we discuss some of the organizations that defined these standards and how these standards are involved in the workings of the Internet.</p> <p>This chapter discusses how the Internet works. So often, we spend time discussing the Internet and this global network that we forget it is, in its own way, a work of art. This is not hyperbole. The technical aspects of the Internet, two systems on opposite sides of the planet speaking with one another, are truly fascinating. To some this may be basic networking concepts, but if we are going to talk about Internet Enabled Business Intelligence (IEBI), we should at least ensure that we are certain of how the Internet functions.</p> <img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0"> </td></tr></table> <hr size="1"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr><td valign="top" height="5"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/pixel.gif" width="1" height="5" alt="" border="0"></td></tr> <tr> <td><b><font size="1" color="#0000FF">Team-Fly<img border="0" src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/Fly-Logo.gif" width="81" height="25"></font></b></td> <td valign="top" align="right"> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="top" align="right">Top</td></tr></table> </td></tr></table></td> <td align="center"> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="center" valign="bottom"> <br><table width="100%"><tr><td height="25" valign="middle" colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </blockquote>
