What is Internet

Posted on June 1, 2009 | What at mybiginfo.com | What is Internet | | View all What | |

The Internet, sometimes called simply “the Net,” is a worldwide system of computer networks – a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). It was conceived by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. government in 1969 and was first known as the ARPANET. The original aim was to create a network that would allow users of a research computer at one university to be able to “talk to” research computers at other universities. A side benefit of ARPANet’s design was that, because messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one direction, the network could continue to function even if parts of it were destroyed in the event of a military attack or other disaster. The Internet is essentially a global network of computing resources.

Internet Explained

You can think about the Internet in relation to its common protocols (ways of exchanging information between computers), as a physical collection of routers and circuits, as a set of shared resources, or even as an attitude about interconnecting and intercommunication. Some common definitions given in the past include:

* A network of networks based on the TCP/IP communications protocol
* A community of people who use and develop those networks
* A collection of resources accessible from those networks

The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web (often abbreviated “WWW” or called “the Web”). Its outstanding feature is hypertext, a method of instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or phrases appear in text of a different color than the rest; often this text is also underlined. When you select one of these words or phrases, you will be transferred to the site or page that is relevant to this word or phrase. Sometimes there are buttons, images, or portions of images that are “clickable.” If you move the pointer over a spot on a Web site and the pointer changes into a hand, this indicates that you can click and be transferred to another site.

Using the Web, you have access to millions of pages of information. Web browsing is done with a Web browser, the most popular of which are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. The appearance of a particular Web site may vary slightly depending on the browser you use. Also, later versions of a particular browser are able to render more “bells and whistles” such as animation, virtual reality, sound, and music files, than earlier versions.

History of the Internet
The Internet evolved from a 1960s US Defense Department experiment in computer networking called ARPAnet. Its goal was to allow different kinds of computers to interconnect so that researchers could share data.

While ARPAnet was growing in size, other networks were being developed. Soon the architects of ARPAnet recognized the need to communicate with these other networks. For these disparate computers and networks to communicate with one another, there had to be agreement on how that should occur. The agreements are called communication protocols, and the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols defined how Internet computers were to communicate.

By the close of the 1970s, links developed between ARPAnet and counterparts in other countries. The world was now tied together in a computer “web”.

In the 1980s, this network of networks, which became known collectively as the Internet, expanded at a phenomenal rate. By 1985, approximately one hundred networks were connected. By 1987, the number had grown to two hundred; in 1989, it exceeded five hundred. According to tables kept at the Defense Data Net Network Information Center (DDN NIC), 2,218 networks were connected to the Internet as of January 1990.

In the 1990s, the Internet grew at exponential rates. With the popularity of the World Wide Web, the number of networks connected to the Internet jumped to a world wide total of more than 50,000 by the end of the decade.

Top Used Application on the Internet
Unlike many computer networks, the Internet consists of not one but multiple data systems that were developed independently. The most popular and important systems are:

* E-mail, for exchange of electronic mail messages.
* USENET newsgroups, for posting and responding to public “bulletin board” messages. Look it up!
* File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a system for storing and retrieving data files on large computer systems. Look it up!
* Gopher, a method of searching for various text-based Internet resources (largely obsolete). Look it up!
* TELNET, a way of connecting directly to computer systems on the Internet. Look it up!
* Internet Relay Chat (IRC), a system for sending public and private messages to other users in “real time”—that is, your message appears on the recipient’s screen as soon as you type it.Look it up!
* CU-SeeMe, a videoconferencing system that allows users to send and receive sound and pictures simultaneously over the Internet. Look it up!
* The World Wide Web.

The Internet viewed on mobile devices
The Internet can now be accessed virtually anywhere by numerous means. Mobile phones, datacards, handheld game consoles and cellular routers allow users to connect to the Internet from anywhere there is a cellular network supporting that device’s technology.

Within the limitations imposed by the small screen and other limited facilities of such a pocket-sized device, all the services of the Internet, including email and web browsing, may be available in this way. Service providers may restrict the range of these services and charges for data access may be significant, compared to home usage.

Internet access
Common methods of home access include dial-up, landline broadband (over coaxial cable, fiber optic or copper wires), Wi-Fi, satellite and 3G technology cell phones.

Public places to use the Internet include libraries and Internet cafes, where computers with Internet connections are available. There are also Internet access points in many public places such as airport halls and coffee shops, in some cases just for brief use while standing. Various terms are used, such as “public Internet kiosk”, “public access terminal”, and “Web payphone”. Many hotels now also have public terminals, though these are usually fee-based. These terminals are widely accessed for various usage like ticket booking, bank deposit, online payment etc. Wi-Fi provides wireless access to computer networks, and therefore can do so to the Internet itself. Hotspots providing such access include Wi-Fi cafes, where would-be users need to bring their own wireless-enabled devices such as a laptop or PDA. These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A hotspot need not be limited to a confined location. A whole campus or park, or even an entire city can be enabled. Grassroots efforts have led to wireless community networks. Commercial Wi-Fi services covering large city areas are in place in London, Vienna, Toronto, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago and Pittsburgh. The Internet can then be accessed from such places as a park bench.

Apart from Wi-Fi, there have been experiments with proprietary mobile wireless networks like Ricochet, various high-speed data services over cellular phone networks, and fixed wireless services.

High-end mobile phones such as smartphones generally come with Internet access through the phone network. Web browsers such as Opera are available on these advanced handsets, which can also run a wide variety of other Internet software. More mobile phones have Internet access than PCs, though this is not as widely used. An Internet access provider and protocol matrix differentiates the methods used to get online.

Who Controls the Internet?
No one. The Internet is a kind of anarchy. Everyone looks after their own little Internet ‘patch’, but no one is responsible for looking after it as a whole. It would be nearly impossible to control the Internet now – and trying to would certainly destroy it.

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