INTERNET

Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the

world with each other and to the World Wide Web. It uses standard internet
protocol suite (TCP/IP) to connect billions of computer users worldwide. It is set
up by using cables such as optical fibers and other wireless and networking
technologies. At present, internet is the fastest mean of sending or exchanging
information and data between computers across the world.
It is believed that the internet was developed by "Defense Advanced Projects
Agency" (DARPA) department of the United States and, it was first connected in
1969.
Internet is called a network as it creates a network by connecting computers
and servers across the world using routers, switches and telephone lines, and other
communication devices and channels. So, it can be considered a global network of
physical cables such as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, tv cables, etc.
Furthermore, even wireless connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi make use of these
cables to access the Internet.
Internet is different from the World Wide Web as the World Wide Web is a
network of computers and servers created by connecting them through the internet.
So, the internet is the backbone of the web as it provides the technical
infrastructure to establish the WWW and acts as a medium to transmit information
from one computer to another computer. It uses web browsers to display the
information on the client, which it fetches from web servers.
The internet is not owned by a single person or organization entirely. It is a
concept based on physical infrastructure that connects networks with other
networks to create a global network of billions of computers. As of 12 August
2016, there were more than 300 crores of internet users across the world.

Set Up and Working of Internet:

Physical copper or optical fiber data transmission cables, as well as other

networking technologies like LAN, WAN, and MAN, are used to set up the
internet. Even the 2g, 3g, and 4g services, as well as Wi-Fi, need this physical
cable arrangement in order to access the Internet connection. The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US-based
organization, is in charge of overseeing the management of the Internet and its
related protocols, including IP addresses.
 When you turn on your computer and type a domain name in the browser
search bar, your browser sends a request to the DNS server to get the
corresponding IP address. After getting the IP address, the browser forwards the
request to the respective server.
Once the server gets the request to provide information about a particular
website, the data starts flowing. The data is transferred through the optical fiber
cables in digital format or in the form of light pulses. As the servers are placed at
distant places, the data may have to travel thousands of miles through optical fiber
cable to reach your computer.
The optical fiber is connected to a router, which converts the light signals
into electrical signals. These electrical signals are transmitted to your laptop using
an Ethernet cable. Thus, you receive the desired information through the internet,
which is actually a cable that connects you with the server.
Furthermore, if you are using wireless internet using wifi or mobile data, the
signals from the optical cable are first sent to a cell tower and from where it
reaches to your cell phone in the form of electromagnetic waves.
The data transfer is very fast on the internet. The moment you press enter
you get the information from a server located thousands of miles away from you.
The reason for this speed is that the data is sent in the binary form (0, 1), and these
zeros and ones are divided into small pieces called packets, which can be sent at
high speed.
Uses of the Internet:
 E-mail: E-mail is an electronic message sent across a network from one
computer user to one or more recipients. It refers to the internet services in
which messages are sent from and received by servers.
 Web Chat: Web chat is an application that allows you to send and receive
messages in real-time with others. By using Internet chat software, the user
can log on to specific websites and talk with a variety of other users online.
Chat software is interactive software that allows users to enter comments in
one window and receive responses from others who are using the same
software in another window.
 World Wide Web: The World Wide Web is the Internet’s most popular
information exchange service. It provides users with access to a large
number of documents that are linked together using hypertext or hyperlinks.
 E-commerce: E-commerce refers to electronic business transactions made
over the Internet. It encompasses a wide range of product and service-related
online business activities.
 Internet telephony: The technique that converts analog speech impulses
into digital signals and routes them through packet-switched networks of the
internet is known as internet telephony.
 Video conferencing: The term “video conferencing” refers to the use of
voice and images to communicate amongst users.
Difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet:
 The World Wide Web (also known as the Web) and the Internet are
fundamentally dissimilar from one another because the Web is a collection
of information that can be accessed using the Internet, whereas the Internet
is a global network of networks that offers access to almost all types of
information.
 The Web is the part of the Internet that gets the greatest traffic. One unique
aspect of this is hypertext, a rapid cross-referencing method. The majority of
websites feature text that highlights keywords or phrases by being a different
color than the rest of the text. When a user selects one of these words or
phrases, they will be sent to the chosen website or page. Buttons, graphics,
and even particular areas of images are also utilized as hyperlinks.
 On the Internet, there are billions of pages of information. The most popular
web browsers are Google Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. A web
browser is used to surf the internet or do online browsing. A certain Web
site's look may vary slightly depending on the browser being used. A certain
 browser's later or more updated versions have the potential to render more
complicated features like music files, sound, animation, and virtual reality.
Internet Connection Protocols:
Protocols are a set of guidelines that aid in regulating the operation of any specific
organization or technology.
Three main categories of Internet Connection Protocols are discussed below:
o TCP/IP Network Model: The most popular protocols for linking networks
are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). Any
communication is split up into a number of packets that are sent from source
to destination.
o File Transfer Protocol: With the help of FTP (File Transfer Protocol), a
user can transfer documents, text files, multimedia files, program files, etc.,
from one device to another.
o Hypertext Transfer Protocol: It is used to move a hypertext between two
or more computers or other devices. Links can be made using HTML tags
and can take the form of text or graphics.
Advantages of the Internet:
o Instant Messaging: You can send messages or communicate to anyone
using internet, such as email, voice chat, video conferencing, etc.
o Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost
every place in a city, country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any
other service near your location.
o Online Shopping: It allows you to shop online such as you can be clothes,
shoes, book movie tickets, railway tickets, flight tickets, and more.
o Pay Bills: You can pay your bills online, such as electricity bills, gas bills,
college fees, etc.
o Online Banking: It allows you to use internet banking in which you can
check your balance, receive or transfer money, get a statement, request
cheque-book, etc.
o Online Selling: You can sell your products or services online. It helps you
reach more customers and thus increases your sales and profit.
o Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it
using a system with internet access. Today, many companies allow their
employees to work from home.
o Entertainment: You can listen to online music, watch videos or movies,
play online games.
o Cloud computing: It enables you to connect your computers and internet-
enabled devices to cloud services such as cloud storage, cloud computing,
etc.
 o Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and
send you CV through email if required.
Disadvantages of the Internet:
o Time wastage: Although, Internet has a lot of advantages, it also contains
some limitations. Time wasting is one of among them. It can decrease your
productivity if you are spending too much time on the Internet using social
media apps while doing nothing. Rather than squandering time, one should
use that time to do something useful and even more productive.
o Bad impacts on health: You can get health related issues if you spend too
much time online; your body needs outside activities, exercise, and many
other things. If you look at the screen for a long time, it causes negative
effects on the eyes.
o Cyber Crimes: These days, crimes including cyberbullying, spam, viruses,
hacking, and data theft are increasing day by day. Cybercriminals can
quickly break into your system, which store all of your private information.
o Effects on children: The constant watching of videos and playing games on
the Internet by young children is bad for their social and overall personality
development.
o Bullying and spreading negativity: Social media applications have
provided a free tool to all those people who regularly attempt to spread
negativity with really repulsive and humiliating comments and try to bully
each other, which is wrong and does bad impact on society.
Different ways to Connect to the Internet:
The various methods for connecting to the Internet are briefly discussed below:
o Dial-Up: Users must connect their phone line to a computer system in such
connections in order to access the Internet connection. The user is unable to
make or receive calls using the tier home phone service while connected.
o Broadband: Today's most popular high-speed internet connection,
broadband is offered either by cable or phone companies.
o Wireless Connection: This category includes Mobile and Wi-Fi services
providers. No matter where you are, you can connect to the Internet
anywhere because connectivity is made possible by radio waves. Several
instances of wireless connections are provided below:
o Wi-fi: Without the use of cables, wi-fi or wireless fidelity, enables high-
speed internet connectivity.
o Mobile Phones: In modern times, all smartphones include an Internet
connectivity option that can be availed using Internet packs and coupons.
These don't require a wire or external connection as well.
o Satellite: Satellites are utilized for wireless Internet connectivity in areas
Where broadband connections is not available.
o Integrated Services Digital Network: With the help of using telephone
lines, ISDN enables users to send audio or video data.