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Using Network Tools

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Computers at the University of Washington are connected to a computer network known as the Internet. The Internet connects millions of computer users across the country and around the world. All Uniform Access computers are linked to the Internet, giving you the power to communicate with people worldwide and to access the resources of other Internet computers.

Computer Addresses

Every computer on the Internet has a unique address. Before you can connect and interact with a particular computer, you must know its address. The first part of an address represents the computer's name called the host name. This is followed by a hierarchical naming structure know as the domain name.
mead.u.washington.edu   (host.subdomain.subdomain.domain)
nri.reston.va.us   (host.subdomain.subdomain.domain)

Connect to a Different Computer

Once you know a computer's address, you can connect to that remote computer with communications software. On Uniform Access computers, you can use ssh to connect to University computers.

For more information on ssh, enter:

    man ssh

To connect to a remote computer, enter:

    ssh  address

When you connect to a remote computer with telnet, you must then log in to that computer (see Logging In and Out). Most computers require you to have an account before you can log in. Type quit to exit ssh.

Transfer Files Between Computers

You can also connect to a remote computer with "sftp" (Secure File Transfer Protocol). Sftp lets you quickly transfer files between computers connected to the Internet. If you have an account on several Uniform Access computers, you can use Sftp to transfer files between them.

For more information on sftp, enter:

    man sftp

To connect to a different computer, enter:

    sftp  address

This connects you to the computer address that you specify. Type quit to exit FTP and return to the system prompt.