How Does the Internet Work?
The Internet is a worldwide network that adheres to specific methods of data transfer in order to establish a standardized communication highway. Anyone with access can send and receive information over the Internet by using Internet-enabled software, which understands the online protocols or language of the Internet. But how exactly does it work? The backbone of the Internet consists of a powerful set of telephone lines including T3 lines, capable of transferring data at a very fast rate of about 45 megabytes per second. The lines link metropolitan cities and include national access points or feeds. If you imagine a geographic map, they are equivalent major highways, explaining why the Internet is often referred to as the Information Superhighway. The backbone of the Internet is operated and maintained by various companies and organizations working cooperatively without centralized ownership. Redundancy is built into the backbone of the Internet so that if one or more major lines go d
The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to: • connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers; • exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet; • post information for others to access, and update it frequently; • access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video; and • access diverse perspectives from around the world. An additional attribute of the Internet is that it lacks a central authority in other words, there is no “Internet, Inc.” that controls the Internet. Beyond the various governing boards that work to establish policies and standards, the Internet is bound by few rules and answers to no single organization. In
If you connect to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you are usually assigned a temporary IP address for the duration of your dial-in session. If you connect to the Internet from a local area network (LAN) your computer might have a permanent IP address or it might obtain a temporary one from a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server. In any case, if you are connected to the Internet, your computer has a unique IP address.
Every so often, you get offered a behind-the-scenes look at the cogs and fan belts behind the action. Today’s your lucky day. I’m going to usher you behind the scenes of one of the hottest technologies that you might already be familiar with: the World Wide Web. Cue theme music. This article covers the underlying technologies that power the World Wide Web: • Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) • Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) • Domain Name System (DNS) • Web servers and web browsers • Static and dynamic content It’s all pretty fundamental stuff—while most of what’s covered here won’t help you to build a better web site, it will give you the proper language to use when speaking with clients and with others about the web. It’s like a wise nun-turned-nanny once said in The Sound of Music: “When we read we begin with ABC. When we sing we begin with Do Re Mi.”. In this article I will briefly look at how computers actually communicate using HTTP and TCP/IP, then go on to look at the differe
