Currently in the 21st century, one would think they could answer what seems to be a simple question such as, "What is the Internet?" Initially my reaction would be "Are you kidding me?" Although now thinking about it, I ask myself the question, suddenly realizing it is not so easy to answer. According to the online Wikipedia, the "Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that interchange data by packet switching using the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies."
Often confused with the Internet is known as the World Wide Web, the two are used frequently without realizing they are different. The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing. The Internet is a global data communications system. It is a hardware and software infrastructure that provides connectivity from computer to computer. According to the online Wikipedia, the Web is one of the services communicated from the Internet. It is a collection of interconnected documents and other resources such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfers and sharing linked by hyperlinks and URLs.
Explaining that the Internet interchanges data by packet switching using the standardized Internet Protocol Suite, may be some what confusing. So packet switching simply put is referring to protocols in which messages are broken up into small packets before they are sent. Each packet is transmitted individually across the net and the packets may even follow different routes to the destination. Therefor, each packet has header information in which enable to route the packet to its destination. At the destination the packets are reassembled into the original message. To prevent unpredictably long delays and ensure that the network has a reliably fast transit time, a maximum length is allowed for each packet. It is for this reason that a message submitted to the transport layer might first have to be divided by the transport protocol entity into a number of smaller packet units before transmission. In the end they will be reassembled into a single message at the destination. This also usually prevents the message from being blocked in anyway because there are an unlimited amount of routes it can take. Today the switches are getting faster and faster, with optical switches providing large advances in speed with practically zero switching time. Packets are moving from one network to another at almost the speed of light.
What is known as the standardized Internet Protocol Suite is what makes packet switching possible. It defines a set of rules to enable computers to communicate over a network. The transmission control protocol (TCP) and the Internet protocol (IP).were the first two protocols in the suite to be developed. TCP/IP provides end-to-end connectivity specifying how data should be formatted, addressed, shipped, routed and delivered to the right destination. The specification defines protocols for different types of communication between computers and provides a framework for more detailed standards. Basically with out the standardized protocol the networks would not all speak the same language, thus making it near impossible to understand each other and transmit with each other.
According to the Wikipedia, Internet Protocol Suite, like many protocol suites, may be viewed as a set of layers. Each layer solves a set of problems involving the transmission of data, and provides a well-defined service to the upper layer protocols based on using services from some lower layers. Upper layers are logically closer to the user and deal with more abstract data, relying on lower layer protocols to translate data into forms that can eventually be physically transmitted.
With these and many other features of the Internet the world would be a totally different place. The World Wide Web is a huge set of inter-linked documents, images and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. Personally, the Internet is one of my main ways of communication. I use it all the time to email my friends, family and professors. I communicate with people I do not even know through forums and blogs, discussing things we have in common or asking and answering questions about anything. It is great for lazy people who would rather shop, sell and advertise online for anything imaginable, including online grocery shopping which my mother loves to do. It is great for sharing pictures and videos, even live video conferencing with someone very close to you who might be half way around the world.
The Web is like a huge encyclopedia of information, in some ways it's even better. The volume of information you'll find on the Web is amazing. For every topic that you've ever wondered about, there's bound to be someone who's written a Web page about it. The Web offers many different perspectives on a single topic. One of the great things about the Web is that it puts information into your hands that you might otherwise have to pay for or find out by less convenient means. It can simply be used for fun, playing interactive games and even multi-players with other people online. Anything you could ever imagine can be done as a result of the Internet.
Bibliogrophy
Internet. (2008, September 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:06, September 4, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet&oldid=235792055
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