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The TCP/IP Guide

The TCP/IP Guide 1 Introduction To The TCP/IP Guide

Chances are pretty good that even before you started reading this Guide, you had heard of “TCP/IP”—even if you didn't know exactly what it was or even what all those letters stood for. The reason for this is simple: TCP/IP is everywhere! It is today by far the most commonly-used internetworking protocol suite. It has gained prominence in large part due to its role in operating the global Internet, which has in a few short years transformed our society in so many ways. Millions of people use TCP/IP and the Internet without really knowing how they work. For those in the technology field, however, understanding TCP/IP is becoming more important with each passing year.

As we journey together through this TCP/IP Guide, we will explore many hundreds of pages of material that will explain both the generalities and specifics of TCP/IP in a way that I hope you will find educational and interesting. Before diving into the actual technology, however, I felt that I should provide you with some introductory material to help frame the discussions that follow. Thus, I have included this section, to serve as an introduction to this Guide and to provide some information that will help you use it to its full potential.

I begin with some material that will be of interest to those who want to know the background of The TCP/IP Guide. I provide a general introduction to the Guide, describing its history, and how it came about. I then describe the goals of this Guide and what I was trying to accomplish in writing it. I also discuss the scope of the Guide, so you know what it covers and what it does not.

The rest of the section contains more practical information to help you best utilize this rather large site. I introduce the Guide, and explain how it is structured and organized. I then explain its special features and how they can help you learn about TCP/IP. I then provide some specific tips to help you navigate the Guide using your Web browser. I conclude with a notice about copyright, some important acknowledgments, and a bit of information about me.

The TCP/IP Guide 1 Introduction To The TCP/IP Guide