ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the basic issues of computer networking. The computer, an electronic device, was first invented as a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically perform a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, which were generally termed computing. The elements could be computers, switches, routers, hubs, printers, phones, and other communications devices. Each computing device is termed a host or node, which is assigned at least one Internet Protocol address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers or computing devices on the Internet. Transmission Control Protocol provides reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of bytes from a program on one computer to another program on another computer. An Ethernet switch or network switch is used to connect multiple computers with each other. Internet Protocol routing is the process of selecting a path for network packets based on the destination IP addresses.
