Introduction to TCP/IP

Microsoft TCP/IP

Microsoft TCP/IP on Windows 2000 enables enterprise networking and connectivity on Windows 2000 and Windows NT–based computers. Adding TCP/IP to a Windows 2000 configuration offers the following advantages:

A standard, routable enterprise networking protocol that is the most complete and accepted protocol available. All modern network operating systems offer TCP/IP support, and most large networks rely on TCP/IP for much of their network traffic.
A technology for connecting dissimilar systems. Many standard connectivity utilities are available to access and transfer data between dissimilar systems, including File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Telnet, a terminal emulation protocol. Several of these standard utilities are included with Windows 2000.
A robust, scalable, cross-platform client/server framework. Microsoft TCP/IP offers the Windows Sockets interface, which is ideal for developing client/server applications that can run on Windows Sockets–compliant stacks from other vendors.
A method of gaining access to the Internet. The Internet consists of thousands of networks worldwide, connecting research facilities, universities, libraries, and private companies.

Note

The word internet (lowercase i) refers to multiple TCP/IP networks connected with routers. References to the Internet (uppercase I) refer to the worldwide public Internet. References to the intranet refer to a private internetwork.