Internet Basics
Background:
The Internet is nothing more than a global WAN - Wide Area Network. The Internet evolved out of the older DARPA Net project - Defense Advance Research Projects Agency Network, after the Cold War ended. DARPA Net was used to connect hundreds of computers at various military sites around the United States together, via the existing phone line grid between them.
Function:
The Internet relies on the TCP/IP protocol to carry information between computers that are connected to it. Programs on computers which use the TCP/IP protocol first break up the information into small pieces, referred to as "packets" of information. These packets are marked with a destination address and a return address
Each computer involved in getting packets of information from your computer to a remote computer on the Internet is referred to as a Hop in the Internet connection. The entire collection of hops in a connection between you and a remote computer is called a Route. Each hop on each route through the Internet can be referenced by an IP address, and a canonical name associated with that IP address. The canonical name for a particular IP address is referred to as a Domain Name. When you type a URL - Uniform Resource Locator into a web browser, you are telling the browser to check with the internet and find the IP address for the computer which corresponds to the domain name in the URL.
Structure:
The structure of the Internet is much more complicated than a basic LAN, or WAN. There are several collections of organizations and companies that work together to bring you your Internet connection. At the most basic level there are the Internet Backbone Providers. These companies and organizations own the cables, satellites, and microwave towers that the information of the Internet is sent over. The Internet Backbone Providers also charge for access to these cables, satellites, and microwave towers. At the next level, there are companies and organizations that are collectively called ISPs - Internet Service Providers. These are the companies like AOL, and Earthlink, who provide the means to connect with computers they operate, which are connected to the Internet Backbone connection they lease from the Internet Backbone Providers.
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