What is the Internet in a nutshell (your guide to understanding the Web)
The Internet is no longer only a part of our lives, but has become our entire life. Every activity we do is online, from communicating with others through Facebook and WhatsApp to working and building projects.
Although it is not necessary to know exactly what the
Internet is or how it works to use it, this knowledge will give us a very great
advantage and power to understand more deeply what is happening around us.
In this short and simplified guide, I will provide you with everything you need to know about the Internet, from its statistics and history, to how it works, and the most important terms related to it.
Now let's start our very important and interesting topic
as well.
What exactly is the Internet?
The Internet is simply a network like any computer network,
but it is a somewhat large network connected to more than 21 billion devices
around the world, according to statistics in the year 2020, imagine how many
devices are connected to it now!
It is the huge infrastructure that all people around the
world connect to, through which they communicate with each other, send files
and emails, watch their favorite movies, and even monitor their health.
As within the huge web that you are reading this article
through, there are many other networks that connect individuals, companies,
organizations and governments.
But imagine with me the vast size of the Internet that we
can access, as it constitutes only 5 or 6 percent of the Internet, while the
rest requires powers and other tools to access it.
In order for you to understand me, you can imagine the
global network as an onion plant consisting of several layers, specifically 3
layers: the first that we will focus on is the Surface Web, the second is the
Deep Web, and the third is the Dark Web.
Here are some important points about the Internet:
1. The Internet is a decentralized network, that is, no one
controls it, and any computer can enter this network.
2. Any group of computers can create their own network, and
they can connect to the Internet parent network or not at will. Therefore, we
can call the Internet a network of networks or Network of Networks.
3. In fact, the Internet can be used by many types of
devices, not just traditional computers. Therefore, the concept of the Internet
of Things has recently appeared, which enables any device to enter the network
and connect it with other devices in one private network.
4. The Internet operates according to a set of protocols,
the most famous of which are IP, TCP, and FTP, which is a set of laws and rules
according to which the Internet operates, and every device connected to the
network must agree to them.
5. Every device that connects to the Internet must have a
special and non-repetitive IP ADDRESS, through which the flow and sharing of
data between devices is organized without mixing or confusion, and this is one
of the most important Internet protocols.
6. The Web, in its current development, is similar to the
World Wide Web, as it is a huge group of threads (wires) connected together.
Destroying a part of this network does not mean the failure
of the whole system, because the communication process here will take other
paths around the destroyed part in order to reach its desired goal.
Important statistics about the Internet
The size of the web and its use are very large, so imagine
that in one minute, according to Statista statistics for the year 2021:
- 69 million messages are sent on Messenger and WhatsApp.
- 500 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube.
- 197.8 million emails are sent around the world.
- $1.6 billion worth of products and services are purchased
online.
- 695 thousand stories are shared on Instagram.
- 28,000 people are watching their favorite shows on
Netflix.
These and other numbers confirm to us that the Internet is
so huge, it has become so huge that even our human minds can't comprehend it.
And all
this leads us to the question about how exactly does the Internet work?
How does the internet work?
The
Internet, like any network, consists of two main parts:
The first
part: Hardware, which is any device connected to the Internet such as your
computer or mobile phone and other routers, servers, communication towers, and
satellites.
The second
part: protocols, which are the rules that govern the work of the web, such as
IP, TCP, HTTP, and FTP, which you must have heard or seen while surfing the
Internet.
To
understand exactly how the Internet works, imagine the Internet as a
traditional post office. You go to it and give it a letter to pass on to
someone far away.
In order to
be able to send the message, and in order to reach the correct person, you must
write your address and the address of the person you want the message to reach.
This address
on the Internet is called the Internet Protocol or the IP, and it is a unique
number for every device on the Internet that is similar to the device's unique
address.
But it is
not that simple because your letter will not be taken from the mailbox and sent
to the addressee immediately, as it will go to your post office first, then
enter the national postal network, and then go to the addressee's post office
and then reach it.
This is
exactly what happens on the World Wide Web, but the post office in this case is
called the ISP or Internet Service Provider and it is the service provider you
connect to.
There is
usually more than one service provider, for example you are connected to the
router in your home, the router is connected to your home cabin and the cabin
is connected to the district exchange, the area exchange is connected to the
public exchange, and the public exchange is connected to the main service
provider.
The primary
service provider may be WE in Egypt, STC in Saudi Arabia, AT&T in the
United States, or others depending on where you live.
This service
provider is connected to the Back Bone Of The Internet, which connects all data
centers in the world.
For example,
in the case of the Internet, when you enter a site, this request is sent
through all these intermediaries until it reaches the data center or hosting on
which the site is stored, and then the site data returns to you to find it
opens on your web browser (and this all happens in parts of a second ).
Of course,
this is a very simplification, as there are many protocols that are used other
than IP, for example, there is the DNS that you use when entering websites, and
there is TCP and others, but we tried to explain to you how the internet works
in the simplest and uncomplicated way possible.
History of the Internet (stages of development)
Necessity is
the mother of invention, and there is no motive for invention more than fear.
The most important example of this is the invention of the Internet. The
Internet was invented during the Cold War between the United States and the
Soviet Union.
After the
Soviet Union launched the first satellite “Sputnik” into space, the United
States was worried, and therefore began pumping large investments into the
technology sector under an agency called ARPA.
In the
fifties, this agency created computer networks, which were then called ARPANET,
which then evolved to include many other devices and networks.
Then the
year 1990 came and the World Wide Web was invented, which is the means through
which we have accessed the network since then.
Thus, the
Internet is not an invention of one person, but rather a very long series of
inventions that stretched from the fifties of the last century to the present
day.
The Internet
also does not belong to anyone, but rather it belongs to everyone. If you
understand this article well, you will realize that the Internet is nothing but
the sum of the devices that every person in this world owns.
The most
frequently asked questions around the Internet
1. What
is the Internet?
The Internet
is a large network that brings together all the networks and devices in the
world, and it works through a number of protocols that control the
communication of these devices with each other.
The surface
layer of the Internet is often referred to as the Surface Web, but there are
two other layers of the Internet, namely the Dark Web and the Deep Web.
2. How
big is the internet?
The Internet
is so huge that it consists of all the devices in the world, which number in
the tens of billions.
It also
consists of all the cables, servers, and data centers around the world, so its
size is so huge it's almost unimaginable.
3. How
did the Internet begin?
The Internet
began as a government network used by the United States to transfer data
between mainframe computers in the 1950s and 1960s.
And then
this network began to merge with many other networks until the invention of the
WWW, which made it easier for the public to access the Internet.
4. What
is the center of the Internet?
There is no
center for the Internet, it is a group of devices scattered around the world
that communicate with each other through wires and protocols.
Therefore,
we can say that every device connected to the Internet can be the center of the
Internet, yes, even your device through which you are reading the article.
5. What
is the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW)?
There are
many who confuse the Internet with the Web, and use the two terms to mean the
same thing. But in fact, the concept of the Internet is more general and older
than the concept of the Web, or let's say that the Web falls under the
Internet.
The Internet
is the network that brings together billions of devices around the world, while
the World Wide Web (WWW) is the means or way we access and navigate the
Internet through it.
We can
simplify and say that the Internet is the ocean while the World Wide Web (WWW)
is the ship through which we navigate the ocean.
6. What
is an IPS?
The IPS or
Internet Provider Service is an Internet service provider, and the companies responsible
for delivering Internet service to customers are usually large leading
companies in the field of telecommunications or government-affiliated
companies.
These
companies are responsible for the infrastructure of the Internet, and serve as
the mother network in every country, to which the individuals of this country
are connected.
7. Who
invented the Internet?
There is no
single inventor of the Internet, rather it is a long series of inventors and
inventions that led to the existence of the Internet as we know it.
Dozens of
scientists and researchers throughout history have contributed to the Internet
as we know it today and use it in all aspects of our lives.
But if you
are names, we can say that the inventors of the Internet are Vint Cerf and Robert
E. Kahn in 1970 when they created the first Internet for the US Department of
Defense.
Which was
called ARPANET for the term Advanced Research Project Agency Network, and this
was the seed of the emergence of the Internet.
8. Who
controls the internet?
No one
controls the internet and no one has a button that can stop it around the
world, we can all control it as we want.
But you may
have more powers if you are the IPS service provider as you can control the
clients, but controlling the internet globally is impossible.
9. How
does the Internet work?
The Internet
works like any other small network that transfers data between its constituent
devices using a number of protocols.
But in the
case of the Internet, there are many devices connected to each other, in
addition to the presence of many complex protocols.
Conclusion
The Internet
is indispensable in any aspect of our lives, we use it on a daily basis for
everything from communication and entertainment to work.
The Internet
has become a part of our daily lives and most of our time today has become, in
one way or another, connected to and present on the Internet.
In this
article, we have clarified and explained everything that interests you about
the Internet, starting with what it is and the parts it consists of. From how
it works, the different protocols that are used, and even the history of the
Internet and how it came to be as we know it today.