Introduction to Internet

A network is a group of two or more computer systems, which are connected through a
couple of channels with the aim of sending and receiving data (records/media) in a shared
environment.
The Internet
The Internet is a global network of billions of computers. It is a group of computer systems
connected from all around the world. It is a worldwide interconnected network of hundreds
of thousands of computers of various types that belong to multiple networks.

Uses of the Internet

Some of the important usages of the internet are:
 Online Businesses (E-commerce): Online shopping and advertising; searching and
applying for jobs, Online interviews,
 Cashless Transactions: Paying home or company bills and online shopping
payments.
 Communication: E-mail and other forms of communication, such as Internet Relay
Chat (IRC), Internet telephony, instant messaging, video conferencing.
 Education: Online classes, Research platforms, E-Books, degree programs, online
courses and workshops.

 Social Networking: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, (social media) and other
content sharing platforms.

 Entertainment: Netflix (Watching movies), gaming, listening to music, online dating,

 Information: Reading electronic newspapers and magazines

What physical infrastructure makes the Internet work?

A lot of different kinds of hardware and infrastructure go into making the Internet work for
everyone. Some of the most important types include the following:

 Routers forward packets to different computer networks based on their destination.

Routers are like the traffic cops of the Internet, making sure that Internet traffic goes
to the right networks.
  Switches connect devices that share a single network. They use packet switching to
forward packets to the correct devices. They also receive outbound packets from
those devices and pass them along to the right destination.

HOW THE INTERNET WORKS

There are two main concepts that are fundamental to the way the Internet
functions: packets and protocols.

Packets

In networking, a packet is a small segment of a larger message. Each packet contains both data
and information about that data.

When data gets sent over the Internet, it is first broken up into smaller packets, which are
then translated into bits. The packets get routed to their destination by various networking
devices such as routers and switches. When the packets arrive at their destination, the
receiving device reassembles the packets in order and can then use or display the data.

Packets are sent across the Internet using a technique called packet switching. Intermediary
routers and switches are able to process packets independently from each other, without
accounting for their source or destination. This is by design so that no single connection
dominates the network. If data was sent between computers all at once with no packet
switching, a connection between two computers could occupy multiple cables, routers, and
switches for minutes at a time. Essentially, only two people would be able to use the Internet
at a time — instead of an almost unlimited number of people, as is the case in reality.

Protocols

Connecting two computers, both of which may use different hardware and run different
software, is one of the main challenges that the creators of the Internet had to solve. This
problem is solved with standardized protocols. In networking, a protocol is a standardized way
of doing certain actions and formatting data so that two or more devices are able to
communicate with and understand each other.

There are protocols for sending packets between devices on the same network (Ethernet), for
sending packets from network to network (IP), for ensuring those packets successfully arrive in
order (TCP), and for formatting data for websites and applications (HTTP).
Internet Protocol (IP)

Every device connected to the internet is assigned a unique IP address which serves as its
virtual identifier. When a device connects to the internet, it is assigned an IP address, either
dynamically (temporary assignment) or statically (fixed assignment). The IP address allows
other devices and servers to locate and communicate with the new device on the network. An
IP address serves two main functions: network interface identification and location
addressing . In simpler terms, an IP address is like a phone number for your computer or
device. It allows devices to communicate with each other over the internet or a local network .

World Wide Web (WWW)

The world wide web is a collection of all the web pages, and web documents that you see on
the Internet by searching their URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) on the Internet. In other
words, the world wide web is an information retrieval service of the web.

The internet works with the help of clients and servers. A device such as a laptop, which is
connected to the internet is called a client, not a server as it is not directly connected to the
internet. However, it is indirectly connected to the internet through an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) and is identified by an IP address, which is a string of numbers. Just like you have
an address for your home that uniquely identifies your home, an IP address acts as the
shipping address of your device. An IP address is provided by your ISP.

A server is a large computer that stores websites. It also has an IP address. A place where a
large number of servers are stored is called a data center. The server accepts requests send by
the client through a browser over a network (internet) and responds accordingly.

To access the internet we need a domain name, which represents an IP address number, i.e.,
each IP address has been assigned a domain name. For example, youtube.com,
faceboo`k.com, paypal.com are used to represent the IP addresses. Domain names are created
as it is difficult for a person to remember a long string of numbers. However, internet does not
understand the domain name, it understands the IP address, so when you enter the domain
name in the browser search bar, the internet has to get the IP addresses of this domain name
from a huge phone book, which is known as DNS (Domain Name Server)
Difference Between World Wide Web and the Internet
World Wide Web Internet

All the web pages and web documents are stored

The Internet is a global network of
there on the World wide web and to find all that
computers that is accessed by the
stuff you will have a specific URL for each
World wide web.
website.

The world wide web is a service. The Internet is an infrastructure.

The Internet is the superset of the

The world wide web is a subset of the Internet.
world wide web.

The world wide web is software-oriented. The Internet is hardware-oriented.

The world wide web uses HTTP. The Internet uses IP Addresses.

The world wide web can be considered as a book The Internet can be considered a
from the different topics inside a Library. Library.

URL

URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator and is a reference (an address) to a
resource on the Internet. A URL has two main components: Protocol identifier: For the
URL http://example.com , the protocol identifier is http . Resource name: For the URL
http://example.com , the resource name is example.com .

HTTP/HTTPS
HTTP is unsecured while HTTPS is secured. HTTP sends data over port 80 while HTTPS
uses port 443. HTTP operates at application layer, while HTTPS operates at transport
layer. No SSL certificates are required for HTTP; with HTTPS, it is required that you have
an SSL certificate and a CA signs it.
 HTTPS is HTTP with encryption and verification. The only difference between the two
protocols is that HTTPS uses TLS (SSL) to encrypt normal HTTP requests and responses,
and to digitally sign those requests and responses. As a result, HTTPS is far more secure
than HTTP.

HTTP HTTPS

 HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol
 Default port number is 80, for
communication.
 HTTP works at application layer
 No encryption is present in HTTP websites
 HTTPS stands for Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol Secure
 Default port number is 443
 HTTPS works at transport layer
 Both encryption and decryption exists on
HTTPS websites