In this Article, We will discuss what is the Internet, the History of the Internet, How does Internet Works, who governs the Internet and how computers connect to the Internet.
What is the Internet?
Table of Contents
Internet stands for International network of computers, it is the largest information base and has become a vital part of our lives. The Internet is changing the world even in a more radical way than we ever think.
Tasks that were once done mostly through personal interaction, such as banking, shopping, or communication can now be done online. Using the Internet, we can share data and information across the globe instantly. The Internet has made the world a smaller and better place to live in.
Today the buzz world is only the Internet. The network on the Internet is getting wider with every passing day. To analyze how fast the use of the Internet is growing, just pick any newspaper or magazine and carefully observe the advertisements given in them.
You would realize that almost every newspaper single company has its website listed in addition to its address and telephone numbers. Every organization is making its presence felt on the Internet.
What is Network?
A network is a collection of computers that are connected to each other with the help of cables or satellites to share information around the world.
Internet is a network of the network which consists of Interconnected networks. it is a worldwide network of computers that uses common communication standards and interfaces to provide the physical backbone for several interesting applications.
History Of Internet
The Internet originated with the development of computers during 1950 to the 1960s.
- In 1957, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. In response to this technological achievement, the US department of Defense established the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA). This agency facilitated technical research.
- In 1969, the advanced Research Project Agency designed a network of four computers to exchange and share their data. The first official network nodes were UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), SRI (Standford Research Insitute), UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara), and the University of Utah. The first node-to-node message was sent from UCLA to SRI. This network was called ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network).
The purpose was to distributed information between geographically dispersed computers. Later on, US department of Defence allowed the University to Join this network for sharing Hardware and software resources. The INternet grew in the leaps and bounds during the 1970.
- In 1971, more needs nodes joined the network. These new nodes included Harvard and NASA.
- In 1974, Data was transmitted more efficiently with the development of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) then later on IP technology was developed.
- In 1982, Internet Technology protocols were commonly known as TCP/IP. This led to one of the first definitions of the Internet being a connected set of Networks.
- Tim Berners-Lee developed the WWW (World Wide Web) in 1991.
- Earlier, the Internet was used by engineers, scientists, and computer experts for research purposes. Gradually, The network was made accessible to private agencies and the general public. People started using it for sending message files between the computers.
- The Organizational Structure of the Internet has steadily evolved after around four decades of Internet Activity. Thus, making it a modern age Marvel. As of 2011, there are approximately 65 million internet users in India alone and 1.3 billion users around the World.
- In India, Internet service started on 15th August 1995 through a government-owned company VSNL. Private Internet Providers likes Airtel. Reliance, Sify has also been allowed also to provide internet services.
How Does Internet Work?
There are two approaches to understand the working of Internet. The First approach analyzes the concepts with respect to a standalone computer while the second focuses on the concept from the perspective of a network.
Approach 1:
Client- Server Model/ Architecture: In order to understand the functioning of the Internet, we must know the client-server architecture on which the Internet is based.
Client: Clients are PCs or workstations on which users run applications. It carries out the user’s client’s request to the server and displays the results sent by the server.
Server: Servers are powerful computers, which provide data on information resources available on the Internet to the client. They are called a server because they serve the client with services that are available on the Internet.
Clients and Server Communicate over a computer network on separate hardware. A server is a host that runs one or more server programs to share its resource with a client.
The communication session between a client and a server is initiated by the client. The server responds to the request from the client to be sending desire information to the client.
For example, In banks, all information related to our account is stored on the server, and we can get information at any ATM or branch of the bank. This is an example of a central Powerful computer, In which all the files are stored, is a server, and all computers in banks and ATM acts as client.
APPROACH 2:
It is amazing that whatever we send through the Internet is received currently at the desired destination, This process might seem very simple, but the reality it is very complicated.
Let us understand the process into a simple way-
All the computer which have an access to the internet are connected. either through cable or satellites. All these computers used a networking protocol to understand each other in a network configuration, Like LAN, MAN or WAN.
Internet Provide common Language called Protocols to all the attached computers for communication different computers on different networks communicate with each other. Using the same protocol while using the Internet, The most common protocols are-
- TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
- IP (Internet Protocol)
Usually, they are collectively known as the TCP/IP protocol. The information that we send through the Internet is broken into Packets by TCP using the technique of Packet switching. Packet Switching is a digital networking communication method which breaks the large data into suitably sized blocks known as Packets.
The IP is responsible for sending these packets to right address by assigning them a sequence number. The packet are send to a local Network service provider( ISP). From Here the packets travel through multible levels of networks, computers and communication lines before recahing the destination.
This destination may be our own town or anywhere across the globe. When the information packet reaches the destination computer, the TCP, with the help of Packets switching, again assembles the packets into a single message.
At regular Intervals in the network, we have many Repeaters which amplify the data and prevent it from becoming weak during its long Journey.
Routers are the key players in managing the Internet Traffic the always ensure the data should reach at the correct address. Internet is also known as a Packets Switched Network because it’s used TCP/IP.
How Does a Computer Connect to the Internet?
it is clear that the Internet is the Network of Networks and millions of computers are connected to it worldwide. Now the question arises how these computers are connected.
For this we have understand three very importance term:- Gateway, Backbone and ISP.
Gateway:
A Gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network. It is a shared connection between a LAN and a Large system. A Gateway has it’s own processor and memory and can perform protocol Conversesions.
Protocol Conversion allows a gateway to connect to two dissimilar networks, where data is converted and formatted before it is forwarded to the New Network.
BACKBONE:
It is the central HUB that controls all Networks. It provides a strong base to all the Networks, where they can communicate with each other. It is the central location where all networks connected to share data and are the most important part of the Internet.
Internet Service Providers (ISP)
These are the organizations that provide Internet connection to users. Some common ISPs providing Internet Service in India are BSNL, Airtel, JIO, etc.
To connect to the Internet, Individual computers are connected to small networks, such as the local Area Network of school or office. Small Networks are then connected to big networks of ISP, and then with the help of Gateways, these big networks connected to the Backbone. This is how our computers become a part of the global Network.
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