Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cica!iuvax!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies
From: gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: where can I learn more?
Message-ID: <70200002@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 20 Oct 90 18:20:00 GMT
References: <13331@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Lines: 60
Nf-ID: #R:sdcc6.ucsd.edu:13331:m.cs.uiuc.edu:70200002:000:3157
Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Oct 20 13:20:00 1990


To get highly technical information on ARPAnet networking, you could
try looking at the ARPANET RFC's (Requests for Comments).  They are
stored on NIC computers (Network Information Centers) throughout the
internet.  To access a NIC, type "telnet sri-nic.arpa".  (telnet
192.67.67.20).

The best thing to do would be to use the ftp command to retrieve an
index of the RFC's.  There are over 1000 RFC's, but only about the
last 100 of them are relevant.  Recently, a "hitchhiker's guide to the
internet" RFC was written -- this might be a good place to start
learning.

As for the exact terms you mentioned ---

IP -- ARPA Internet Protocol (IP).  Specifies the sequence of bytes in
an arpanet packet (a packet is the smallest unit of transmission
possible).  The sequence contains things like source computer (32
bits), destination computer (32 bits), time to live (4 bits), number
of bytes in packet (? bits), options (variable length), splitting /
reconstruction information (for networks that dislike long packets),
then data bytes...

UDP -- ARPA User Datagram Protocol (UDP).  An extended IP packet for
request-response protocols, like the "Time" protocol (reads the time
from a remote machine), the "Fortune" protocol (reads a fortune cookie
from the remote machine), etc.  A UDP packet is an IP packet with a
source + destination port, and user-data. 

TCP -- ARPA Transmission Control Protocol.  A "virtual circuit"
protocol (simulates an RS232 connection).  A TCP packet is an IP
packet with extra data.  TCP information such as checksum,
"ACK"nowledgement numbers, "FIN"ished bit, "SYN"chronize bit, etc.
The user data of a TCP packet contains a virtual stream index, and
then a sequence of bytes that belong to that portion of the virtual
stream.  TCP is the type of protocol used for "rlogin", "telnet",
"mail (SMTP)", and "ftp" protocols.

Ethernet -- A type of computer network hardware patented by Xerox,
where everyone transmits data on the same wire.  A unique thing about
ethernet is that each computer can begin talking at once, causing a
"collision".  When this happens, the computers do exactly what people
do in their daily conversation -- they wait a random amount of time
and then begin transmitting (talking) again.  This solves the
contention time (mostly).  10Mb/second Ethernet (where each computer
interface can transmit/receive 10 million bits per second) is an
industry (IEEE 802.3) standard.

UUCP -- the UNIX to UNIX Copy Protocol (UUCP).  An AT&T UNIX protocol
that allows two machines, connected via phone lines, to copy files
amongst themselves.  UUCP transmissions are often queued until
nighttime, when phone rates are cheaper.  UUCP has spawned many new
things, "UUCP mail", a mail protocol that allows a UUCP unix machine
to send mail to any other machine that also speaks UUCP, "News" and
"Notesfiles" (what you're reading now), and in general, "Usenet", the
resulting conglomeration of thousands of UUCP Unix machines that all
speak UUCP and are all interconnected by these periodic phone calls
(some are connected by LANs or the Internet, not just by phone calls).

I hope that most of this is correct.  Good luck!