How the Internet Works

Internet

How the Internet Works

The Internet is basically a worldwide network consisting of different high-speed data lines which make up the Internet “backbone”. In layman’s terms, the Internet refers to the World Wide Web or the Web as a collection of computers all linked through various connection protocols such as those used in telecommunication. The Internet was established by some of the early users as a place where people can exchange information on a particular subject or topic, usually through the use of electronic mail or other interactive means. As time went by, with the help of various researchers and developers, the Internet grew to become what it is today.

Although the Internet was primarily developed as a system for disseminating information, it has also been used as a method for paying for goods and services through the Internet. One example of this is the World Wide Web (WWW) which is an interconnected internet using various protocols such as TCP/IP. The major part of the Internet is composed of different networks such as those controlled by governments such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or International Standard Organization (ISN). The Internet also includes many international communication networks such as those run by the U.S. Department of State, the British Royal Mail, Canadian government and the Australian government among others. With the help of these international communication networks, the Internet was able to gain more exposure which lead to its wide usage especially by commercial enterprises.

To fully grasp how the Internet works, one should know the basic protocols that make up the Internet. One of the most commonly used protocols is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTML) which is used by the web browser to display web pages. The next protocol is the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTP) which is used by the web browser to exchange textual information. The third and the most popular protocol is the Extensible Markup Language (XML) which is also known as the language of the World Wide Web or simply the World Wide Web. In order to surf the internet, the user does not need to know or understand any of these three protocols since the user’s Internet service provider or proxy server will take care of it.