The Internet – A Complete Network Topology

The Internet, a unique system architecture that has revolutionized worldwide communications and monetary systems by enabling various computer networks around the globe to connect. Sometimes called a global network of computers, the Internet actually emerged out of the United States during the early 1970s but did not come into view to the public until sometime later, in the late eighties. In fact, during its first decade, it was largely ignored by the public due to its technological complexity and slow speed and was largely considered a theoretical technology with little practical application.

To this day, despite the fact that the Internet has become a vital part of our everyday lives, many people are still unfamiliar with how the Internet actually functions. Understanding how the Internet works is critical for Internet users as well as Internet providers, as it allows for the easy provision of various services and communication between various computers. Basically, an Internet system consists of a number of components that all work together in order to transmit packets of information from their source to their destination on the Internet. In the initial days, the Internet used a simple layer 2 protocol along with modems and other forms of network technologies. Layers in the protocol make up a hierarchy in which the higher level protocols determine how data is transmitted and routed through the Internet while lower level protocols determine the specific functionality of each component of the network.

Network topologies also define how Internet connections are established and how they work. Among the most common topologies are the Ethernet, BPL, ISCOE, OSP, FTP and SSL networks. There are still a number of computer network topologies which can be found in use today such as ATM, WAN, SOHO and VPN. The major part of the Internet’s architecture is actually the Network itself, which consists of a collection of nodes, or computers, that form a collection of computers and linked together with high-speed Internet connections. In the past, many people considered the Internet to be one big system, but it actually works in large part as individual computer networks which function independently of each other.