What is the internet?
INTERNET: the hardware; the physical connections of cords and cables that connect servers together. (The cable management for this thing must be insane)
- In better wording, it’s the “technical infrastructure.”
- Computers can be connected physically or wirelessly in order to communicate with each other.
- This communication is not limited to two computers only.
How is data sent from one computer to another?
Computer #1 → router → modem → internet service provider (ISP) → modem → router → Computer #2
Communication terminology
ROUTER: a tiny computer that a computer / multiple computers can connect to; it allows messages to be sent from one computer to another.
- A router based in one network (a collection of computers connected to each other) can connect to another router based in another network.
- Routers also use modems in order to more effectively connect to other networks outside of your own.
MODEM: a “translator” that translates information from one network into information more accessible by the telephone infrastructure and send it outward to an internet service provider
- Telephone infrastructure is relevant here as these already physically connect one house to another, so to speak.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP): a provider that has its own network of routers that has the ability to connect to other ISPs’ routers
INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP) ADDRESS: the unique combination of numbers that identifies a specific computer connected to a network
DOMAIN NAME: aliases that IP addresses can have for human readability
- Example → IP address 142.250.190.78 = Domain name google.com
PACKETS: information broken down in order for it to travel through the internet and reassembled once it reaches its destination.
What is the web?
WORLD WIDE WEB: the software, so to speak; uses the internet to present information to the user in the form of wepbages, documents, etc.
INTRANET: a private network restricted to members of an organization, meaning that it’s inaccessible from the outside via conventional means.
- Example → the Sharepoint page at work
EXTRANET: a more open version of an intranet that allows different organizations to collaborate with each other in one network, as opposed to the network being closed to only one organization (aka intranet)
External links + sources
- How Does The Internet Work? - BBC Click
- How does the Internet work? - Learn web development | MDN
- How the Internet Works in 5 Minutes - YouTube