The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP)

to serve several billion users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the interlinked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support email, and peer-to-peer networks. Technology 1. Protocols The communications infrastructure of the Internet consists of its hardware components and a system of software layers that control various aspects of the architecture. While the hardware can often be used to support other software systems, it is the design and the rigorous standardization process of the software architecture that characterizes the Internet and provides the foundation for its scalability and success. The responsibility for the architectural design of the Internet software systems has been delegated to the Internet [31] Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IETF conducts standard-setting work groups, open to any individual, about the various aspects of Internet architecture. Resulting discussions and final standards are published in a series of publications, each called a Request for Comments (RFC), freely available on the IETF web site. The principal methods of networking that enable the Internet are contained in specially designated RFCs that constitute the Internet Standards. Other less rigorous documents are simply informative, experimental, or historical, or document the best current practices (BCP) when implementing Internet technologies.

networks buy Internet transit from other providers to reach at least some parties on the global Internet, though they may also engage in peering. An ISP may use a single upstream provider for connectivity, or implement multihoming to achieve redundancy. Internet exchange points are major traffic exchanges with physical connections to multiple ISPs. 4. Computers and routers use routing tables to direct IP packets to the next-hop router or destination. Routing tables are maintained by manual configuration or by routing protocols. End-nodes typically use a default route that points toward an ISP providing transit, while ISP routers use the Border Gateway Protocol to establish the most efficient routing across the complex connections of the global Internet. 5. Large organizations, such as academic institutions, large enterprises, and governments, may perform the same function as ISPs, engaging in peering and purchasing transit on behalf of their internal networks. Research networks tend to interconnect into large subnetworks such as GEANT, GLORIAD, Internet2, and the UK's national research and education network, JANET.

2. Routing 3. Internet service providers connect customers, which represent the bottom of the routing hierarchy, to customers of other ISPs via other higher or same-tier networks. At the top of the routing hierarchy are the Tier 1 networks, large telecommunication companies which exchange traffic directly with all other Tier 1 networks via peering agreements. Tier 2

General structure The Internet structure and its usage characteristics have been studied extensively. It has been determined that both the Internet IP routing structure and hypertext links of the World Wide Web are examples of scale-free [34] networks. Many computer scientists describe the Internet as a "prime example of a large-scale, highly engineered, yet [35] highly complex system". The Internet is heterogeneous; for instance, data transfer rates and physical characteristics of connections vary widely. The Internet exhibits "emergent phenomena" that depend on its large-scale organization. For example, data transfer rates exhibit temporal self-similarity. The principles of the routing and addressing methods for traffic in the Internet reach back to their origins in the 1960s when the eventual scale and popularity of the network could not [36] be anticipated. Thus, the possibility of developing [37] alternative structures is investigated. The Internet [38] structure was found to be highly robust to random [39] failures and very vulnerable to high degree attacks.

demonstrations. Through keyword-driven Internet research using search engines like Yahoo! and Google, users worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to printed media, books, encyclopedias and traditional libraries, the World Wide Web has enabled the decentralization of information on a large scale. 2. Communication Email is an important communications service available on the Internet. The concept of sending electronic text messages between parties in a way analogous to mailing letters or memos predates the creation of the Internet. Pictures, documents and other files are sent as email attachments. Emails can be cc-ed to multiple email addresses.

APPLICATION 1. World Wide Web the internet and the web may be used interchangeably but they are not synonymous. The web is only one of the hundreds of services used on the internet. The Web is a global set of documents, images and other resources, logically interrelated by hyperlinks and referenced with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). URIs symbolically identify services, servers, and other databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. Web servicesalso use HTTP to allow software systems to communicate in order to share and exchange business logic and data. World Wide Web browser software, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple's Safari, and Google Chrome, lets users navigate from one web page to another via hyperlinks embedded in the documents. These documents may also contain any combination of computer data, including graphics, sounds, text,video, multimedia and interactive content that runs while the user is interacting with the page. Client-side software can include animations, games, office applications and scientific

Internet telephony is another common communications service made possible by the creation of the Internet. VoIP stands for Voice-over-Internet Protocol, referring to the protocol that underlies all Internet communication. The idea began in the early 1990s with walkie-talkie-like voice applications for personal computers. In recent years many VoIP systems have become as easy to use and as convenient as a normal telephone. The benefit is that, as the Internet carries the voice traffic, VoIP can be free or cost much less than a traditional telephone call, especially over long distances and especially for those with always-on Internet connections such as cable or ADSL. VoIP is maturing into a competitive alternative to traditional telephone service. Interoperability between different providers has improved and the ability to call or receive a call from a traditional telephone is available. Simple, inexpensive VoIP network adapters are available that eliminate the need for a personal computer. 3. Data transfer File sharing is an example of transferring large amounts of data across the Internet. A computer file can be emailed to customers, colleagues and friends as an attachment. It can be uploaded to a website orFTP server for easy download by others. It can be put into a "shared location" or onto a file server for instant use by colleagues. The load of bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "mirror" servers or peer-to-peer networks. In any of these cases, access to the file may be controlled by user authentication, the transit of the file over

the Internet may be obscured by encryption, and money may change hands for access to the file. The price can be paid by the remote charging of funds from, for example, a credit card whose details are also passed usually fully encrypted across the Internet. The origin and authenticity of the file received may be checked by digital signatures or by MD5 or other message digests. These simple features of the Internet, over a worldwide basis, are changing the production, sale, and distribution of anything that can be reduced to a computer file for transmission. This includes all manner of print publications, software products, news, music, film, video, photography, graphics and the other arts. This in turn has caused seismic shifts in each of the existing industries that previously controlled the production and distribution of these products.

company's switching facilities or central office (CO) where it is switched to another phone line that connects to another modem at the remote [22] end of the connection. 3. Broadband Access - The term broadband includes a broad range of technologies, all of which provide higher data rate access to the Internet. These technologies use wires or fiber optic cables in contrast to wireless broadband Under broadband access are the following: a. Multilink dial up - provides increased bandwidth by bonding two or more dial-up connections together and treating them as a [23] single data channel. It requires two or more modems, phone lines, and dial-up accounts, as well as an ISP that supports multilinking and of course any line and data charges are also doubled. This inverse multiplexing option was briefly popular with some high-end users before ISDN, DSL and other technologies became available. Diamond and other vendors created special modems to support multilinking b. Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a switched telephone service capable of transporting voice and digital data, is one of the oldest Internet access methods. ISDN has been used for voice, video conferencing, and broadband data applications. ISDN was very popular in Europe, but less common in North America. Its use peaked in the late 1990s before the availability of DSL and cable [25] modemtechnologies. c. Leased lines - Leased lines are dedicated lines used primarily by ISPs, business, and other large enterprises to connect LANs and campus networks to the Internet using the existing infrastructure of the public telephone network or other providers. Delivered using wire, optical fiber, and radio, leased lines are used to provide Internet access directly as well as the building blocks from which several other forms of Internet [26] access are created. d. Cable internet access - Cable Internet or cable modem access provides Internet access via hybrid fiber coaxial wiring originally developed to carry television

Application on internet Access Aside from the three given applications for the internet system there are also many applications where the internet is used where individual computer terminals, computers, mobile devices, and computer networks are connected to the internet enabling users to access internet services. Internet service providers (ISPs) offer Internet access to the public through various technologies that offer a wide range ofdata signalling rates (speeds). Examples of these technologies used for internet acess are: 1. Local Area Networks (LAN) - Local area networks (LANs) provide Internet access to computers and other devices in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building, usually at relatively high datarates that typically range from 10 to 1000 [21] Mbit/s. There are wired and wireless LANs. Ethernet over twisted pair cabling and WiFi are the two most common technologies used to build LANs today, but ARCNET, Token Ring, Localtalk, FDDI, and other technologies were used in the past. 2. Dial-up access - Dial-up access uses a modem and a phone call placed over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to connect to a pool of modems operated by an ISP. The modem converts a computer's digital signal into an analog signal that travels over a phone line's local loop until it reaches a telephone

signals. Either fiber-optic or coaxial copper cable may connect a node to a customer's location at a connection known as a cable drop. In a cable modem termination system, all nodes for cable subscribers in a neighborhood connect to a cable company's central office, known as the "head end." The cable company then connects to the Internet using a variety of means usually fiber optic cable or digital satellite and microwave [29] transmissions. Like DSL, broadband cable provides a continuous connection with an ISP. e. Digital subscriber line (DSL, ADSL, SDSL, and VDSL) - Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service provides a connection to the Internet through the telephone network. Unlike dialup, DSL can operate using a single phone line without preventing normal use of the telephone line for voice phone calls. DSL uses the high frequencies, while the low (audible) frequencies of the line are left free for regular [8] telephonecommunication. These frequency bands are subsequently separated by filters installed at the customer's premises. DSL originally stood for "digital subscriber loop". In telecommunications marketing, the term digital subscriber line is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), the most commonly installed variety of DSL. The data throughput of consumer DSL services typically ranges from 256 kbit/s to 20 Mbit/s in the direction to the customer (downstream), depending on DSL technology, line conditions, and service-level implementation. In ADSL, the data throughput in the upstream direction, (i.e. in the direction to the service provider) is lower than that in the downstream direction (i.e. to the customer), hence the [31] designation of asymmetric. With a symmetric digital subscriber line (SDSL), the downstream and upstream [32] data rates are equal. f. DSL Rings - DSL Rings (DSLR) or Bonded DSL Rings is a ring topology that uses DSL technology over existing copper telephone wires to provide data rates of up to [37] 400 Mbit/s.

(FTTx) family that includes Fiber-to-thebuilding or basement (FTTB), Fiber-to-thepremises (FTTP), Fiber-to-the-desk (FTTD), Fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), and Fiber-to-the[38] node (FTTN). These methods all bring data closer to the end user on optical fibers. The differences between the methods have mostly to do with just how close to the end user the delivery on fiber comes. All of these delivery methods are similar to hybrid fibercoaxial (HFC) systems used to provide cable Internet access.

h. Power-line Internet - Power-line Internet, also known as Broadband over power lines (BPL), carries Internet data on a conductor that is also used for electric power transmission. Because of the extensive power line infrastructure already in place, this technology can provide people in rural and low population areas access the Internet with little cost in terms of new transmission equipment, cables, or wires. Data rates are asymmetric and generally [45] range from 256 kbit/s to 2.7 Mbit/s. i. ATM and Frame Relay - Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay are wide area networking standards that can be used to provide Internet access directly or as building blocks of other access technologies. For example many DSL implementations use an ATM layer over the low-level bitstream layer to enable a number of different technologies over the same link. Customer LANs are typically connected to an ATM switch or a Frame Relay node using leased lines at a wide range of data [47][48 rates.

4. Wireless broadband access - Wireless broadband is used to provide both fixed and mobile Internet access. Under wireless broadband access are the following: a. Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi is the popular name for a "wireless local area network" that uses one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. It is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Individual homes and businesses often use Wi-Fi to connect laptops and smart phones to the

g. Fiber to the home - Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is one member of the Fiber-to-the-x

Internet. Wi-Fi Hotspots may be found in coffee shops and various other public establishments. Wi-Fi is used to create campus-wide and city-wide wireless [49][50][51] networks. b. Wireless ISP - Wireless ISPs typically employ low-cost 802.11 Wi-Fi radio systems to link up remote locations over great distances, but may use other higher-power radio communications systems as well. Traditional 802.11b is an unlicensed omnidirectional service designed to span between 100 and 150 m (300 to 500 ft). By focusing the radio signal using a directional antenna 802.11b can operate reliably over a distance of many km(miles), although the technology's line-of-sight requirements hamper connectivity in areas with hilly or heavily foliated terrain. In addition, compared to hard-wired connectivity, there are security risks (unless robust security protocols are enabled); data rates are significantly slower (2 to 50 times slower); and the network can be less stable, due to interference from other wireless devices and networks, weather and line-of-sight problems.[53] c. WiMAX - WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a set of interoperable implementations of the IEEE 802.16 family of wireless-network standards certified by the WiMAX Forum. WiMAX enables "the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable [55] and DSL". The original IEEE 802.16 standard, now called "Fixed WiMAX", was published in 2001 and provided 30 to 40 [56] megabit-per-second data rates. Mobility support was added in 2005. A 2011 update provides data rates up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations. WiMax offers a metropolitan area network with a signal radius of about 50 km (30 miles), far surpassing the 30-metre (100foot) wireless range of a conventional WiFi local area network (LAN). WiMAX signals also penetrate building walls much more effectively than Wi-Fi.

areas. Data rates range from 2 kbit/s to 1 Gbit/s downstream and from 2 kbit/s to 10 Mbit/s upstream. Satellite communication typically requires a clear line of sight, will not work well through trees and other vegetation, is adversely affected by moisture, rain, and snow (known as rain fade), and may require a fairly large, carefully aimed, directional antenna.

[57]

e. Mobile broadband - Mobile broadband is the marketing term for wireless Internet access delivered through mobile phone towers to computers, mobile phones (called "cell phones" in North America and South Africa), and other digital devices using portable modems. Some mobile services allow more than one device to be connected to the Internet using a single cellular connection using a process called tethering. The modem may be built into laptop computers, tablets, mobile phones, and other devices, added to some devices using PC cards, USB modems, and USB sticks or dongles, or [59] separate wireless modems can be used. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_access

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

d. Satellite broadband - Satellites can provide fixed, portable, and mobile Internet access. It is among the most expensive forms of broadband Internet access, but may be the only choice available in remote