Welcome to "The Big Picture" of connecting through the Internet to reach online resources.  The purpose of this page is to answer the question: "What are the major pieces of the Internet, and who are the major players in each segment?" If some of these links don't make sense, it's because you are not an "alumni" of my internet courses ;-)

This page displays the main pieces of the Internet from a User's PC... extending all the way through to the online content. Each section mentions the most significant parts of the Internet's architecture. I also provide links to the top "couple of vendors" in each category, and then an external link to a more extensive lists of vendors.

In creating this one web page to describe the "entire Internet", I split the diagram based on the function being performed. I recognize that a company may perform several of these functions. I've included several "leading edge" components as well, such as LMDS for the local loop (This page is intended to be forward-looking). I also recognize that there are many additional details that could be added to this page, but I am trying to adhere to a 90/10 rule. If this page identifies 90% of the mainstream pieces and players, that should be sufficient to convey "the big picture". (The remaining 10% details would probably triple the size & complexity of this one meta-diagram.) I welcome any comments you have to improve this page - especially if I've omitted anything significant. Russ Haynal . http://navigators.com