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Internetworking is de practice of connecting a computer network wif oder networks drough de use of gateways dat provide a common medod of routing information packets between de networks. The resuwting system of interconnected networks are cawwed an internetwork, or simpwy an internet. Internetworking is a combination of de words inter ("between") and networking; not internet-working or internationaw-network.

The most notabwe exampwe of internetworking is de Internet, a network of networks based on many underwying hardware technowogies, but unified by an internetworking protocow standard, de Internet Protocow Suite, often awso referred to as TCP/IP.

The smawwest amount of effort to create an internet (an internetwork, not de Internet), is to have two LANs of computers connected to each oder via a router. Simpwy using eider a switch or a hub to connect two wocaw area networks togeder doesn't impwy internetworking; it just expands de originaw LAN.

Interconnection of networks[edit]

Internetworking started as a way to connect disparate types of networking technowogy, but it became widespread drough de devewoping need to connect two or more wocaw area networks via some sort of wide area network. The originaw term for an internetwork was catenet.

The definition of an internetwork today incwudes de connection of oder types of computer networks such as personaw area networks. The network ewements used to connect individuaw networks in de ARPANET, de predecessor of de Internet, were originawwy cawwed gateways, but de term has been deprecated in dis context, because of possibwe confusion wif functionawwy different devices. Today de interconnecting gateways are cawwed routers.

Anoder type of interconnection of networks often occurs widin enterprises at de Link Layer of de networking modew, i.e. at de hardware-centric wayer bewow de wevew of de TCP/IP wogicaw interfaces. Such interconnection is accompwished wif network bridges and network switches. This is sometimes incorrectwy termed internetworking, but de resuwting system is simpwy a warger, singwe subnetwork, and no internetworking protocow, such as Internet Protocow, is reqwired to traverse dese devices. However, a singwe computer network may be converted into an internetwork by dividing de network into segments and wogicawwy dividing de segment traffic wif routers. The Internet Protocow is designed to provide an unrewiabwe (not guaranteed) packet service across de network. The architecture avoids intermediate network ewements maintaining any state of de network. Instead, dis function is assigned to de endpoints of each communication session, uh-hah-hah-hah. To transfer data rewiabwy, appwications must utiwize an appropriate Transport Layer protocow, such as Transmission Controw Protocow (TCP), which provides a rewiabwe stream. Some appwications use a simpwer, connection-wess transport protocow, User Datagram Protocow (UDP), for tasks which do not reqwire rewiabwe dewivery of data or dat reqwire reaw-time service, such as video streaming [1] or voice chat.

Networking modews[edit]

Two architecturaw modews are commonwy used to describe de protocows and medods used in internetworking.

The Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference modew was devewoped under de auspices of de Internationaw Organization for Standardization (ISO) and provides a rigorous description for wayering protocow functions from de underwying hardware to de software interface concepts in user appwications. Internetworking is impwemented in de Network Layer (Layer 3) of de modew.

The Internet Protocow Suite, awso cawwed de TCP/IP modew of de Internet was not designed to conform to de OSI modew and does not refer to it in any of de normative specifications in Reqwests for Comment and Internet standards. Despite simiwar appearance as a wayered modew, it uses a much wess rigorous, woosewy defined architecture dat concerns itsewf onwy wif de aspects of wogicaw networking. It does not discuss hardware-specific wow-wevew interfaces, and assumes avaiwabiwity of a Link Layer interface to de wocaw network wink to which de host is connected. Internetworking is faciwitated by de protocows of its Internet Layer.

See awso[edit]


  1. ^ Teare, Diane (Juwy 1999). 'Designing Cisco Networks'. Indianapowis: Cisco Press.