The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.

The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.

The Internet is a network of networks. It works by using a technique called packet switching, and by relying on standardized networking protocols that all computers can interpret.

Wires, Cables & Wi-Fi

A tangible, physical system made to move information. The Internet is a lot like the postal service, but the physical stuff that gets sent is a little bit different. Instead of boxes and envelopes, the Internet ships binary information. Information is made of bits.

A bit can be described as any pair of opposites: on or off, yes or no. We typically use a 1 meaning on, or a 0 meaning off. Because a bit has two possible states we call it binary code. 8 bits strung together makes 1 byte. 1000 bytes all together is a kilobyte. 1000 kilobytes is a megabyte. A song is typically encoded using about 3-4MB. It doesn't matter if it's a picture, a video, or a song, everything on the Internet is represented and sent around as bits. These are the atoms of information. But it's not like we're physically sending 1s and 0s from one place to another or one person to another.

IP Address & DNS

The fact that the DNS is an internet service that translates domain names/hostnames to IP addresses (forward DNS) and IP addresses to their associated domain names/hostnames (Reverse DNS) with the help of a DNS server.

This is one of the crucial services on the Internet, greatly facilitating the access of users to websites, by helping each visitor refer to the desired website only by typing its alpha-numeric name (domain name) in the browser instead of its real numeric system name (IP address).

Each machine, which is connected to the Internet, has its own IP address. The IP address is used to identify it to the world and plays an important part in the TCP/IP protocol. Usually, an IP address is displayed as a group of numbers, separated by dots(:).

Packets, Routing & Reliability

The way information gets transferred from one computer to another is pretty interesting. It need not follow a fixed path, in fact, your path may change in the midst of a computer to computer conversation. Information on the internet goes from one computer to another in what we call a packet of information and a packet travels from one place to another on the internet a lot like how you might get from one place to another in a car.

Depending on traffic congestion or road conditions, you might choose or be forced to take a different route to get to the same place each time you travel. And just as you can transport all sorts of stuff inside a car, many kinds of digital information can be sent with IP packets but there are some limits.

What if for example, you need to move a space shuttle from where it was built to where it will be launched. The shuttle won't fit in one truck so it needs to be broken down into pieces, transported using a fleet of trucks. They could all take different routes and might get to the destination at different times. But once all the pieces are there, you can reassemble the pieces into the complete shuttle and it will be ready for launch.

On the internet, the details work similarly. If you have a very large image that you want to send to a friend or upload to a website, that image might be made up of 10s of millions of bits of 1s and 0s, too many to send along in one packet.

That was all about how the internet works. Drop a like and share it if you found it informative.

Have a productive day, let's meet in the next blog!