In this section of Beginners Central we will explore using Telnet as a means of connecting to various services on the Internet. Telnet is a character based terminal application and is one of the granddaddy services available on the Internet for what seems like eons. Before we begin, lets backtrack a little and talk about the Internet first. The Internet is basically a network of thousands of computer systems. There are two basic types of computers connected to the Internet, Hosts and Clients.
Clients are machines which access the Internet on a part time basis.
They have no permanent connection to the Internet, but instead are capable of hooking to the Internet via a dial up modem, or some similar method. The odds are very good that you are reading this tutorial right now using a Internet client computer. It's the HOST computers which we are going to be concerned about. Host computers are always connected to the Internet, and in most cases rarely are disconnected from the network. Host computers are where web pages reside, where your email is stored until you retrieve it, where chats and mud's are played.