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.

 


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