The internet is one of the most revolutionary inventions of the modern era. It has transformed the way we communicate, access information, and conduct business. But what exactly is the internet, how did it come to be? And most importantly, how does the internet work? Let’s find out.
What is the internet?
The internet is a global network of computers, servers, and other electronic devices that are interconnected and communicate with one another through standardized protocols.
Simply put, the internet allows one device to connect to any other device in the world.
The history of the internet
In the 1960s, the United States Department of Defense initiated a research project to develop a communication network that could withstand a nuclear attack. This network was called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network).
The purpose of ARPANET was to enable researchers and scientists to share information and resources, even if they were located in different parts of the country. This was the precursor to the modern-day internet.
In the 1970s, a team of researchers led by Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn developed a set of protocols called the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or the Internet Protocol Suite. This was basically a set of ground rules of network communication which was standardized and agreed upon. This protocol formed the foundation of the internet.
The internet continued to evolve in the following decades, with the creation of new protocols and technologies that made it faster, more reliable, and more accessible. In the 1990s, the World Wide Web was created, which enabled users to access and share information through a graphical interface. This was a major turning point in the history of the internet, as it made the internet much more user-friendly and accessible to the general public.
How it work?
At its core, the internet is a network of devices all interconnected and communicating with each other using standardized protocols. These protocols are basically standardized rules that every device involved knows and agrees upon. These rules define how the data is transmitted, received, and processed by devices on the network.
Let’s look at some of the basic rules:
Any device connected to the internet is identified by a unique sequence of numbers. This sequence is called an IP address. This IP address is provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Now, suppose you open your laptop which is connected via cable or wifi (using a router). You open your Web Browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, etc) and type in a “Google.com”.
In this case “Google.com” is a domain name. This is basically a human-readable name used to identify a website. The issue is that your browser, being a machine, can’t read it.
This is where DNS (Domain Name System) comes into play. DNS is like an address book. It matches each domain name to its corresponding IP address.
So your browser goes to the DNS, looks up “Google.com” and is given the corresponding IP address. The IP address is of the given server.
The browser then sends the request to the Google web server.
The web server responds by sending the Google back to your browser, which displays it on your screen.
Now, you might be asking how this data is transmitted? Do we use satellites?
No, we do not usually use satellites to transmit our data as it’s bandwidth is very limited. This can lead to long delays. (Satellites maybe used in some particular use-cases. However, they are not the common transmitting media.)
The TCP/IP protocol is responsible for transmitting your data. This is a five layered protocol comprising of both hardware and software layers.
The physical layer of the TCP/IP protocol is one of the hardware layers. It comprises of Optical Fibers, Internet Cable, Wi-Fi and electromagnetic waves. So, depending on your device and the server location one or more of these may be used.
The TCP/IP protocol forms the backbone of the internet. Understanding it would help you understand how the data is transmitted over the internet.
You can read more about the TCP/IP protocol here. To read about the Physical Layer in the TCP/IP Protocol, check this article.