P1

Describe how the internet

operates

Lesson objectives

To understand how the internet

operates
To describe and understand how the
Worldwide Web operates
Be able to understand what a
network and wireless network is and
how they work

How the internet

works

Introduction
One of the greatest things about the Internet
is that nobody really owns it. It is a global
collection of networks, both big and small.
These networks connect together in many
different ways to form the single distinct
that we know as the internet. In fact, the
name comes from this idea of
interconnected networks.

Internet as a network
The Internet is simply a network of networks. The internet
began in 1969, it started with only 4 hosts of computer
systems and now has more than tens of millions of users.
There is a committee called THE INTERNET SOCIETY
established in 1992 because nobody owns the internet
therefore they monitor and maintain in different ways to
oversee the formation of the policies & protocols that define
how we use and interact with the internet.
Every computer that is connected to the Internet is part of a
network, even the one in your home. For example, you may
use a modem and dial a local number to connect to an
Internet Service Provider (ISP). At work, you may be part
of a local area network (LAN), but you most likely still
connect to the Internet using an ISP that your company has

Servers and clients

The Internet works on the basis that some computers act
as servers. These computers offer services for other
computers that are accessing or requesting
information; these are known as clients.
So, sitting in your room at home, or at school, you are able
to access the Internet because the PC you are using
has a connection to a server. Your PC will have a
piece of software (often Internet Explorer, but possibly
Netscape or Mozilla Firefox) takes your request for
Internet access and services, and then displays the
results on your PC. To do this, your browser mainly
reads Hypertext Mark-up language (HTML); this is the
simple code created by Tim Berners-Lee.
You might require different types of information or services
from the Internet . You might want a written document
from a website, or a catalogue, multimedia
presentation, photograph, video, piece of music or
email.
Different kinds of servers can deliver different services.
Server types include:

Web servers

Email servers

Types of connections to the

internet
There are many different ways to connect to the internet.
As Technology keeps grows so does our need for
things to go faster. Ten years ago, websites just
included images, coloured text and some melodies.
Now flash websites, animation & high resolution
pictures have been introduced and they are getting
more popular for people who demand faster internet
connection. The internet connection has changed and
the one which everyone uses all around the world is
Wireless Internet Connection, this has been recently
introduced to increase the speed of the internet
connection. The internet connection started with PCI
modem, DSL, cable, optic fibre and now everyone

Internet service providers

(ISPs)
An internet service provider is a business
that offers Internet access services for
both businesses and individuals. The main
function of an ISP is to provide a link to
the worldwide web. Many ISPs these days
also host websites and offer email
services. Examples of ISPs are Wanadoo,
BT Internet, Tiscali and Pipex.

Wordwide web (WWW)

The term WWW refers to the World Wide Web or
simply the Web. The World Wide Web consists of
all the public Web sites connected to the Internet
worldwide, including the client devices (such as
computers and cell phones) that access Web
content. The WWW is just one of many
applications of the Internet and computer
networks. Researcher Tim Berners-Lee led the
development of the original World Wide Web in
the late 1980s and early 1990s. He helped build
prototypes of the above Web technologies and
coined the term "WWW." Web sites and Web

Protocols
A protocol is a particular way of doing
something.
When computer scientists in America were first
developing the Internet, there hade to be
common agreement about how computers
would speak to each other. What has
emerged is a set of protocols that everyone
using the Internet must follow. Important ones
are:
Internet Protocol (IP)
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Three types of Protocols:

Internet Protocols (IP)
Internet Protocols establish a unique
name for every computer on the Internet.
This is a ten-digit or eight-digit number, for
example, 216.24.62.133; each number
separated by the point is called an octet.
This identifies every network, host and
organisation on the internet.

Transmission Control Protocols

(TCP)
IP addresses let the Internet find the right route for messages, so that
they get to where you want them to go (get me in touch with Yahoo!
Please). But it is Transmission Control Protocols (TCP) that takes
the overall piece of data (whatever it is), breaks it down into
packets (units of data routed between an origin and a destination
on the Internet or any other packet switched network) and checks
for errors, reassembles the packets at the other end and resends
anything that gets lost.
Imagine yourself in New York, wanting to send a message home. All
you have is four postcards, each with space for only one word. You
write Hello on one, Having on the next, Nice on the next and
Time on the last. You stick these in the post and hope for the best.
At home your folks receive, Time, Hello, Having and Nice
eventually.
It does not make much sense. TCP is the transport system of the
Internet which sorts this out. It does its best to ensure delivery of
sensible data across the inter-net. TCP takes each of your packets

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

(HTTP)
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) was created by
Tim Berners-Lee while working for CERN (a research
centre based in Geneva, Switzerland) in 1991.
Berners-Lee is therefore correctly regarded as the
creator of the Worldwide web. The function of HTTP
is to specify the way in which browsers and web
servers transmit data to each other.
The essence of this protocol is to establish which
computer speaks first, how they then speak in turn
and the format of the data they exchange, which is
HTML. Without HTTP, the Internet would be a vast
network of variable networks, all struggling to speak
with each other very limited. It would not be a

Domain names
The IP addresses containing ten-digit
numbers could never be remembered by
people. So web servers hold lists of
names made up of letters (sometimes
called symbolic names) called domain
names.
Unlike IP addresses, you will probably know
many domain names by heart, for
example, www.yahoo.com, www.google.
com, www.msn.com

WordWide Web consortium

(W3C)
Although no one actually owns the worldwide web,
there are leading bodies which try to ensure it
develops in an open and accessible way, so that it
will benefit as many people as possible. A major
contributor is the Worldwide Web Consortium
(known as W3C) and they, among others, attempt
to define web standards.
A web standard is made up of elements and
structures. The purpose of developing a core of
web standards is to ensure as far as possible that
web-based content is designed and structured in
such a way that the greatest benefit will be gained

Internet Society (ISOC)

The Internet Society is a global voluntary
group that works to co-ordinate and
develop an accessible Internet and its
underlying technology. It was founded in
1992 and is based in Virginia, USA.
http://www.internetsociety.org/

Computer
Networking

Networks and Wireless

networks
Computer networking is when two or more computers are linked
together to share data and hardware or software resources. This
allows people to communicate electronically, e-businesses to
function, and for employees to telework.
What is a network?
Imagine a fishing net and you may picture a
series of connected fine ropes forming seethrough squares.
Each of the corners of the squares is knotted and
has ropes shooting off in four different directions.
Now think of these corners of the net as being
formed of PCs. Each PC is linked using
cables/lines to form a virtual net. Some points in
the net have bigger computers feeding the
others. This is the basic structure of a computer
network. These days however, some networks
are wireless and therefore do not have cables.

Networks can be confined to an

organisation; this is known as an
intranet. Many schools and college
s have their own intranet. Some
organisations open up their intranet
to some outside partners. Entry is
protected by passwords; this creates
an extranet. On the biggest scale is
the global network, the Internet,
connecting all computer networks

Wired
network

Wireless
network

Current related technology

There are technologies forming
computer networks. These are
developing all the time. A few of the
emerging network technologies
include:
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
3G Phones
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
Smartphones

reless
Uses specified radio frequencies to
send and receive data.
More and more wireless laptops are
being used. These devices have
to be connected and enabled to
work with Wi-Fi.
A wireless-enabled laptop contains
a wireless access card that is
able to connect to other cards on
other laptops directly, creating a
point-to-point connection.
More likely, the laptop and any

delit
y

Wi-Fi has become the most popular way

of connecting to the Internet both in
home computing and when working on
the move. More and more staff carry their
own laptops while away from the office.

This is a low-speed, short range wireless protocol designed

to allow a variety of enabled gadgets to connect. Once a
device fitted with a Bluetooth chip is within a ten-metre
range of other Bluetooth devices it can connect by using a
small personal area network.

3 Generation mobile
rd

phones
These devices use WAP
(wireless application
protocol) technology to
offer always on connection
to data services as well as a
range of other features.
These phones could send and
receive data by connecting
to the internet, although at a
significantly slower rate than
modern broadband
connections.

Personal Digital Assistants

(PDAs)

A handheld computer that

runs a reduced version of
standard software.
PDA comes with personal
information management
software.
Can be used as an organiser
or portable diary planner that
is portable and is capable of
connecting (using Bluetooth
or Wi-Fi) to a PC.
It is capable of connecting to
the internet; it can act as a
GPS and run multi-media

Smartphone's
A Smartphone is either a PDA that has
mobile phone capabilities, or a mobile
phone with PDA features. A Smartphone
therefore combines the features of both.

Key words
Extrane
Softwar
t
e
Domain
Hardwar
names
e
Internet
Worldwide
3G mobile phones
Protocols
web (www)
(IP)
Smartphone
Internet Society
Personal Internet s
Wireless Worldwide
Digital
web
service
network
Assistant
consortium
providers
Teleworkin
g
Server
s
Internet

Network

EBusine
Wiss
Fi
Bluetooth

(ISP)

Intrane

(W3C)

Key words

Hardware - A computer and the associated physical equipment directly involved in the performance of dataprocessing or communications functions.
Software - The programs, routines, and symbolic languages that control the functioning of the hardware and
direct its operation. Word processing programs and Internet browsers are example.
Internet - An interconnected system of networks that connects computers around the world via the TCP/IP
protocol.
Worldwide web (www) - The complete set of electronic documents stored on computers that are connected over
the Internet and are made available by the protocol known as HTTP.
Servers higher-capacity computers that offer services to client computers that can connect to them.
Internet service providers (ISP) - a business providing its customers with connection to the Internet and other
related services
Internet Protocols (IP) agreed ways of doing things so that everyone on the internet connects in the same
way.
Domain names A name used to identify one or more IP addresses. They can also be used in URLs to identify
particular Web pages.
Worldwide web consortium (W3C) - The main standards body for the World-Wide Web. It works
with the global community to establish international standards for server protocols that enable online commerce and communications on the Internet.