Summary

This hour describes what networks are and why networks need protocols. You learned that TCP/IP began with the U.S. Defense Department’s experimental ARPAnet network and that TCP/IP was designed to provide decentralized networking in a diverse environment.

This hour also covers some important features of TCP/IP, such as logical addressing, name resolution, and application support. It describes some of TCP/IP’s oversight organizations and discusses RFCs—the technical papers that serve as the official documentation for TCP/IP and the Internet.