The History of the Internet

The History of the Internet(Internet的历史)

The Beginning -ARPAnet   译：起源——ARPAnet

The Internet started as a project by the US government. The object of the project was to create a means of communications between long distance points, in the event of a nation wide emergency or, more specifically, nuclear war. The project was called ARPAnet, and it is what the Internet started as. Funded specifically for military communication, the engineers responsible for ARPANet had no idea of the possibilities of an "Internet."

译：Internet是被美国政府作为一项工程进行开发的。这项工程的目的，是为了建立远距离之间点与点的通信，以便处理国家军事范围内的紧急事件，例如核战争。这项工程被命名为ARPAnet，它就是Internet的前身。建立此工程的主要应用对象就是军事通讯，那些负责ARPAnet的工程师们当时也没有想到它将成为“Internet”。

By definition, an 'Internet' is four or more computers connected by a network.

译：根据定义，一个“Internet”应该由四或者更多的计算机连接起来的网络。

ARPAnet achieved its network by using aprotocol called TCP/IP. The basics around this protocol was that if information sent over a network failed to get through on one route, it would find another route to work with, as well as establishing a means for one computer to"talk" to another computer, regardless of whether it was a PC or aMacintosh.

译：ARPAnet是通过一种叫TCP/IP的协议实现连网工作的。此协议最基础的工作原理是：如果信息在网络中的一条路径发送失败，那么它将找到其他路径进行发送，就好象建立一种语言以便一台计算机与其他计算机“交谈”一样，但不注意它是PC，或是Macintosh。

By the 80's ARPAnet, just years away from becoming the more well known Internet, had 200 computers. The Defense Department, satisfied with ARPAnets results, decided to fully adopt it into service, and connected many military computers and resources into the network.ARPAnet then had 562 computers on its network. By the year 1984, it had over 1000 computers on its network.

译：到了20世纪80年代，ARPAnet已经开始变成目前更为有名的Internet了，它拥有200台在线主机。国防部很满意ARPAnets的成果，于是决定全力将它培养为能够联系很多军事主机，资源共享的服务网络。到了1984年，它就已经超过1000台主机在线了。

In 1986 ARPAnet (supposedly) shut down, but only the organization shut down, and the existing networks still existed between the more than 1000 computers. It shut down due to a failied link up with NSF, who wanted to connect its 5 county wide supercomputers into ARPAnet.

译：在1986年ARPAnet关闭了，但仅仅是建立它的机构关闭了，而网络继续存在与超过1000台的主机之间。由于使用NSF连接失败，ARPAnet才被关闭。NSF是将5个国家范围内的超级计算机连入ARPAnet。

With the funding of NSF, new high speed lines were successfully installed at line speeds of 56k (a normal modem nowadays) through telephone lines in 1988. By that time, there were 28,174 computers on the (by then decided) Internet. In 1989 there were 80,000 computers on it. By 1989, there were 290,000.

译：随着NSF的建立，新的高速的传输介质被成功的使用，在1988年，用户能通过56k的电话线上网。在那个时候有28，174台主机连入Internet。到了1989年有80，000台主机连入Internet。到1989年末，就有290，000台主机连入了。

Another network was built to support the incredible number of people joining. It was constructed in 1992.

译：另外还有其他网络被建立，并支持用户以惊人的数量接入。于1992年正式建立。

Today - The Internet    译：现状——Internet

Today, the Internet has become one of the most important technological advancements in the history of humanity. Everyone wants to get 'on line' to experience the wealth of information of the Internet.Millions of people now use the Internet, and it's predicted that by the year2003 every single person on the planet will have Internet access. The Internet has truly become a way of life in our time and era, and is evolving so quicklyits hard to determine where it will go next, as computer and network technology improve every day.

译： 如今，Internet已经成为人类历史上最先进技术的一种。每个人都想“上网”去体验一下Internet中的信息财富。成千上百的人都用Internet。预计，到了2003年世界上的每个人，都将拥有Internet接入。Internet已经真正成为我们这个年代生活的一部分。由于计算机技术和网络技术每天都在改变，我们很难想象Internet下一步将发展成什么样子。

HOW IT WORKS:      译：工作原理：

It's a standard thing. People using the Internet. Shopping, playing games,conversing in virtual Internet environments. 

译：现在，人们用Internet是一件很平常的事。他们通过Internet进行购物、玩游戏、聊天等娱乐活动。

The Internet is not a 'thing' itself. The Internet cannot just "crash." It functions the same way as the telephone system, only there is no Internet company that runs the Internet.

译：Internet不仅仅是一件事物。Internet也会崩溃。它的工作原理如同电话通信系统，只不过没有专门的Internet公司来经营Internet。

The Internet is a collection of millioins of computers that are all connected to each other, or have the means to connect to each other. The Internet is just like an office network, only it has millions of computers connected to it.

译：Internet是成千上万台计算机互相连接的集合。Internet就像是办公网络一样，不同的是，它有成千上万台计算机相连接。

The main thing about how the Internet worksis communication. How does a computer in Houston know how to access data on a computer in Tokyo to view a web page?

译：其中最主要的是Internet是如何进行通信的。位于Houston的一台计算机是如何通过浏览网页而能与位于Tokyo的计算机进行数据通信的呢？

Internet communication, communication among computers connected to the Internet, is based on a language. This language is called TCP/IP. TCP/IP establishes a language for a computer to access and transmit data over the Internet system.

译：Internet信息，拥有信息的计算机连接到Internet，是基于语言。这种语言叫做TCP/IP。TCP/IP建立了一种语言，能使计算机在Internet系统中传送数据。

But TCP/IP assumes that there is a physical connecetion between one computer and another. This is not usually the case.There would have to be a network wire that went to every computer connected to the Internet, but that would make the Internet impossible to access.

译：但是TCP/IP的取得也必须具备两台电脑之间的物理连接。当然也未必都是这样。但也必须存在一根网络线将主机与Internet连接起来，但做到这样，还是不可能与Internet连接的。

The physical connection that is requireed is established by way of modems,phonelines, and other modem cable connections(like cable modems or DSL). Modems on computers read and transmit data overestablished lines,which could be phonelines or data lines. The actual hard coreconnections are established among computers called routers.

译：物理连接要求通过MODEM，电话线和其他类似MODEM的连接（如DSL）来建立。计算机上的MODEM通过已建立的通信线进行收发数据，通信线可以是电话线或是数据线。事实上计算机之间建立连接的硬核被成为路由器。

A router is a computer that serves as a traffic controller for information.

译：路由器就是计算机中进行信息交互的管理器。

To explain this better, let's look at how a standard computer might view a webpage.

译：为了更好的对它说明，让我们来看看一台标准的计算机是怎样浏览网页的？

1. The user's computer dials into an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The ISP might in turn be connected to another ISP, or a straight connection into the Internet backbone.

译：用户计算机拨号进入ISP。而此ISP可能还要连接入其他ISP，或是直接进入Internet主干。

2. The user launches a web browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer and types in an internet location to go to.

译：用户打开网页浏览器如NETSCAPE或是IE。

3. Here's where the tricky part comes in.First, the computer sends data about it's data request to a router. A router is a very high speed powerful computer running special software. The collection of routers in the world make what is called a "backbone," on which all the data on the Internet is transferred. The backbone presently operates at a speed of several gigabytes per-second. Such a speed compared to a normal modemis like comparing the heat of the sun to the heat of an ice-cube.

译：接下来是进入Internet的棘手部分。首先，用户计算机向路由器发出请求。路由器是一种高速高效的计算机运行的专门软件。世界上所有路由的连接便形成了Internet的主干，在这里传送Internet上的所有数据。目前主干网上的处理速度为每秒几千兆字节。这样的速度分配到一只MODEM上，就好比太阳光的热量分配到一块冰上的热量一样。

Routers handle data that is going back and forth. A router puts small chunks of data into packages called packets, which function similarly to envelopes. So, when the request for the webpage goes through, it uses TCP/IP protocols to tell the router what to do with the data,where it's going, and overall where the user wants to go.

译：路由器发送或接受数据。它将一小段数据分别打包，形成数据报，就像包裹一样。因此，当请求网页浏览是，就用TCP/IP协议告诉路由器如何处理这些数据，将这些数据发送去哪里，用户主要想去哪里。

4. The router sends these packets to other routers, eventually leading to the target computer. It's like whisper down thelane (only the information remains intact).

译：路由器将这些数据报发送给其他的路由器，最终转到目标主机上。就像传耳语的游戏一样（当然，只有完整的信息才能被传送）

5. When the information reaches the target webserver, the webserver then begins to send the web page back. A webserver is the computer where the webpage is stored that is running a program that handles requests for the webpage and sends the webpage to whoever wants to see it.

译：当信息到达目标网页的服务器是，服务器就开始将网页信息发送回去。一台网页服务器，就是网页存储所在的计算机，它能对网页进行编辑，并将它发送给用户。网页被分成数据报，通过路由器，最终到达用户计算机，这样，用户就能浏览网页了。数据报中含有相关的数据以及一些必须的信息让路由器或其他计算机知道如何将数据报按正确的顺序重新组装成原始的数据段。

6. The webpage is put in packets, sent through routers, and arrive at the users computer where the user can view the webpage once it is assembled.The packets which contain the data also contain special information that lets routers and other computers know how to reassemble the data in the right order.

译：有了成千上万的网页和成千上万的用户，对于初学者来说使用Internet将不再那么容易，尤其是那些不太精通电脑的人。接下来，你将能找到一些上网的小技巧和使用Internet主要服务的帮助

With millions of web pages, and millions of users, using the Internet is not always easy for a beginning user, especially for someone who is not entirely comfortale with using computers. Below you can find tips tricks and help on how to use main services of the Internet.

译：有了成千上万的网页和成千上万的用户，对于初学者来说使用Internet将不再那么容易，尤其是那些不太精通电脑的人。接下来，你将能找到一些上网的小技巧和使用Internet主要服务的帮助。

Before you access webpages, you must have aweb browser to actually be able to view the webpages. Most Internet Access Providers provide you with a web browser in the software they usually give to customers; you. The fact that you are viewing this page means that you have a web browser. The top two use browsers are Netscape Communicatorand Microsoft Internet Explorer. Netscape can be found atwww.netscape.com and MSIE can be found at www.microsoft.com/ie.

译：在你打开网页之前，你必须有一个网页浏览器用于浏览网页。大部分网络服务商都会给用户提供一个网络浏览器。当你在浏览网页时，其实就是在使用浏览器。目前使用最广泛的网页浏览器是Netscape和MSIE。Netscape能自动连接到www.netscape.com，MSIE能自动连接www.microsoft.com。

Next you must be familiar with actually using webpages. A webpage is a collection of hyperlinks, images, text, forms, menus,and multimedia. To "navigate" a webpage, simply click the links it provides or follow it's own instructions (like if it has a form you need to use, it will probably instruct you how to use it). Basically, everything about a webpage is made to be self- explanetory. That is the nature of a webpage, to be easily navigatable.

译：接下来你就必须熟悉如何使用网页。网页是超链接、图片、文本、表格、按钮以及多媒体的集合。只需点击网页提供的连接或是按照网页的步骤（比如，如果你需要用网页中的一张表，旁边就会有使用这张表的帮助）做，你就可以进行网上冲浪了。基本上，网页中的每个元素都可以自我移植。

"Oh no! a 404 error! 'Cannot find webpage?'" is a common remark made by new web-users.

译：“哦，不！又是404出错！‘不能找到相关网页’”这是上网初学者中很普通的言论。

Sometimes websites have errors. But an error on a website is not the user's fault, of course.

译：有时网站也会出错。当然网站的错误跟用户的操作没有关系。

A 404 error means that the page you tried to go to does not exist. This could be because the site is still being constructed and the page hasn't been created yet, or because the site author made a typo in the page. There's nothing much to do about a 404 error except for e-mailing the site administrator (of the page you wanted to go to) an telling him/her about the error.

译：404出错意思是你想找的那个网页不存在。这有可能是因为网站仍在建设中，页面还没有被创建，或者是因为网站的制作者正在对页面进行修改。当出现404出错时，除了对网站管理发电子邮件，告诉他/她关于出错的问题，就别无他法了。

A Javascript error is the result of a programming error in the Javascript code of a website. Not all websites utilize Javascript, but many do. Javascript is different from Java, and most browsers now support Javascript. If you are using an old version of a web browser(Netscape 3.0 for example), you might get Javascript errors because sites utilize Javascript versions that your browser does not support. So, you can try getting a newer version of your web browser.

译：Javascript出错是由于网站中的Javascript的程序代码出错造成的。并非所有的网页都使用Javascript，但有很多是用Javascript的。Javascript不同于JAVA，目前大部分浏览器都支持Javascript。如果你现在用的是旧版的网页浏览器，那么就有可能出现Javascript出错，那是因为你的浏览器的版本低于站点使用的Javascript版本。所以，你应该为你的浏览器升级到新的版本。

E-mail stands for Electronic Mail, and that's what it is. E-mail enables people to send letters, and even files and pictures to each other.

译：电子邮件即电子方式的邮件。电子邮件能使人们互相收发信件，甚至是文件和图片。

To use e-mail, you must have an e-mail client, which is just like a personal post office, since it retrieves and stores e-mail.

译：要使用电子邮件，那你就必须拥有一个电子邮件客户端，它就像是邮递员，为你收发电子邮件。

Secondly, you must have an e-mail account.Most Internet Service Providers provide free e-mail account(s) for free. Some services offer free e-mail, like Hotmail, and Geocities.

译：其次，你必须有一个电子邮件帐户。大部分网络服务供应商都会提供给用户一个免费的电子邮件帐户。有的网站也提供免费的电子邮箱，如Hotmail和Geocities。

After configuring your e-mail client withyour POP3 and SMTP server address (your e-mail provider will give you that information), you are ready to receive mail. 

译：配置好电子邮件客户端，包括POP3和SMTP服务器地址（电子邮件供应商会给你相关信息）之后，你就可以准备收邮件了。

An attachment is a file sent in a letter. If someone sends you an attachment and you don't know who it is, don't run the file, ever. It could be a virus or some other kind of nasty programs. You can'tget a virus just by reading e-mail, you'll have to physically execute some form of program for a virus to strike.

译：附件是与信一起发过来的文件，如果有人发给你带有附件的邮件，但你不知道他是谁，就不要打开那个附件。它有可能是病毒或是其他恶意的程序。用户不会通过阅读邮件而被传染病毒，你不得不运行杀毒软件来防止病毒感染。

A signature is a feature of many e-mail programs. A signature is added to the end of every e-mail you send out. You can put a text graphic, your business information, anything you want.

译：签名是很多电子邮件程序的一个特征。签名加在邮件的末尾。你可以将生动的文本，你职业信息或是其他你喜欢的东西作为签名。

Imagine that a computer on the Internet is an island in the sea. The sea is filled with millions of islands. This is the Internet. Imagine an island communicates with other island by sending ships to other islands and receiving ships. The island has ports to accept and send out ships.

译：设想在国际互联网中的电脑就像海中的岛屿。那么海洋中就充满了数百万的岛屿。这就是国际互联网。设想岛与岛之间是通过发送和接收船只来联络的。那么岛屿就有接收和发送船只的港口。

A computer on the Internet has access nodescalled ports. A port is just a symbolic object that allows the computer to operate on a network (or the Internet). This method is similar to the island/ocean symbolism above.

译：在国际互联网中的电脑有被叫做“港口”的端口。端口只是一个象征性的对象，它使得电脑能在网络（或是国际互联网）上运转。这种方法与上面提到的“岛屿、海洋”形象论类似。

Telnet refers to accessing ports on a server directly with a text connection. Almost every kind of Internet function, like accessing web pages,"chatting," and e-mailing is done over a Telnetconnection. 

译：远程登陆涉及到在服务器上直接用文本连接来使用端口。几乎每种互联网活动，如访问网页、聊天、以及发电子邮件都是依托远程登陆来实现的。

Telnetting requires a Telnet client. A telnet program comes with the Windows system, so Windows users can access telnet by typing in "telnet" (without the "'s) in the run dialog. Linux has it built into the command line; telnet. A popular telnet program for Macintosh is NCSA telnet.

译：远程登陆需要一个远程登陆客户服务器。远程登陆程序兼容于Windows系统，所以Windows用户可以通过在对话窗口键入telnet（不加's）来接入远程登陆软件。Linux系统则将它创建在命令行里：键入telnet。用于Macintosh的普通远程登陆程序是NCSA远程登陆软件。

Any server software (web page daemon, chat daemon) can be accessed via telnet, although they are not usually meant to be accessed in such a manner. For instance, it is possible to connect directly to a mail server and check your mail by interfacing with the e-mail server software, but it's easier to use an e-mail client (of course).

译：任何一个服务软件（网页端口监督程序，聊天端口监督程序）都可以通过远程登陆被接入，即使这些软件不经常以这种方法被接入。举例来说，直接与邮件服务器连接并通过与邮件服务软件交流来校对你的邮件是可能的，但用电子邮件客户服务器却更简单（当然如此）。

There are millions of WebPages that come from all over the world, yet how will you know what the address of a page you wantis?

译：世界各地有数百万的网页，那么你如何知道哪个网页的地址是你需要的呢？

Search engines save the day. A search engineis a very large website that allows you to search it's own database of websites. For instance, if you wanted to find a website on dogs, you'd search for "dog" or "dogs" or "dog information." Here are a few search-engines.

译：搜索工具能节约时间。搜索工具是一个非常庞大的网站，它使你能够搜寻它自有的网站数据库。举例来说，如果你要找关于“狗”的网站，你可以搜索“狗”或“狗的信息”。这里有一些搜索引擎：

1. Altavista(http://www.altavista.digital.com) - Web spider & Indexed

2. Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) - Web spider& Indexed Collection

3. Excite (http://www.excite.com) - Webspider & Indexed

4. Lycos (http://www.lycos.com) - Web spider& Indexed

5. Metasearch (http://www.metasearch.com) -Multiple search

A web spider is a program used by search engines that goes from page to page, following any link it can possibly find.This means that a search engine can literally map out as much of the Internet as it's own time and speed allows for.

译：网络蜘蛛是一种搜索引擎使用的程序，它随着可能找到的任何链接从一个网页到另一个网页。

An indexed collection uses hand-added links.For instance, on Yahoo's site. You can click on Computers & the Internet.Then you can click on Hardware. Then you can click on Modems, etc., and alongthe way through sections, there are sites available which relate to what section you're in.

译：这意味着只要它自己的时间和速度允许，搜索引擎就能尽可能多地在网络上逐字搜寻信息。编入索引的收集使用手动附加链接。比如雅虎网站。你可以点击“电脑和网络”，再点击“硬件”，然后点击“猫”（调制解调器）等等。那么通过分类的过程，与你要的类别相关的网站就找到了。

Metasearch searches many search engines at the same time, finding the top choices from about 10 search engines, making searching a lot more effective.

译：Metasearch同时搜索许多搜索引擎，从十个引擎中找出最上面的搜索结果，使得搜索变得有效很多。

Once you are able to use search engines, you can effectively find the pages you want.

译：一旦你能够使用搜索引擎，你就能有效的找到你要的网页。

With the arrival of networking and multi user systems, security has always been on the mind of system developers and system operators. Since the dawn of AT&T and its phone network, hackers have beenknown by many, hackers who find ways all the time of breaking into systems. It used to not be that big of a problem, since networking was limited to big corporate companies or government computers who could afford the necessary computer security.

译：伴随着网络系统和多用户系统时代的来临，安全总是系统开发和系统操作人员考虑的问题。从美国电报电话公司和它的电话网组建开始，黑客已为许多人所知。黑客就是一直寻找途径侵入系统的人。这过去不是一个大问题，因为网络系统对于那些能够提供必要的电脑安全措施的大型法人公司和政府的电脑来说是有限的。

The biggest problem now-a-days is personal information. Why should you be careful while making purchases via a website?Let's look at how the internet works, quickly.

译：现今最大的问题是个人信息。为什么当你通过网络购物时应该小心？让我们快速地看一看国际互联网时如何工作的。

The user is transferring credit card information to a webpage. Looks safe, right? Not necessarily. As the user submits the information, it is being streamed through a series of computers that make up the Internet backbone. The information is in little chunks, in packages called packets.

译：用户将信用卡的信息传递到网页上。看起来安全，对吗？其实未必。当用户提交信息时，它就会流过组成互联网主干网的一系列的电脑。信息是小块的一包包的，被称作信息包。

Here's the problem: While the information is being transferred through this big backbone, what is preventing a "hacker" from intercepting this data stream at one of the backbone points?

译：这里有个问题：当信息通过这巨大的支柱被传递时，怎样防止黑客在支柱的某一点上拦截数据流？

Big-brother is not watching you if you access a web site, but users should be aware of potential threats while transmitting private information. 

译：你接入网站时哥哥不会看着你，但用户在传递私人信息时应该清楚潜在的威胁。

There are methods of enforcing security, like password protection, an most importantly, encryption.

译：加强安全有很多方法，如密码保护，一种最重要的措施：加密。

Encryption means scrambling data into a code that can only be unscrambled on the "other end." Browser's like Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer feature encryption support for making on-line transfers. 

译：加密指将数据搅乱成只能在另一终端才能译出的密码。像Netscape Communicator和Internet Explore这样的浏览器为在线传递提供了特色的加密支持。

Some encryptions work better than others. The most advanced encryption system is called DES (Data Encryption Standard), and it was adopted by the US Defense Department because it was deemed so difficult to 'crack' that they considered it a security risk if it would fall into another countries hands.

译：一些加密措施比其他工作地更好。最先进的加密系统被称作DES（数据加密准则），且它被美国安全局采纳，因为它被认为是如此难以非法侵入以至他们认为如果它落入其它国家手中会有安全风险。

 A DES uses a single key of information to unlock an entire document. The problem is,there are 75 trillion possible keys to use, so it is a highly difficult system to break. One document was cracked and decoded, but it was a combined effort of 14,000 computers networked over the Internet that took a while to do it, so most hackers don't have that many resources available.

译：DES用单独的信息钥匙来开启一整个文件。问题是有75万亿可能的钥匙可用，所以它是一个很难破坏的系统。一个文件被侵入并被解码，但这是一个需14000台电脑进入互联网系统的综合的努力过程，并需要花一段时间来做。所以大部分黑客没有那么多的资源。