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The Internet

08.08.06 - 04:10pm

Every day people use the Internet to gather information, pay bills, and entertain themselves. The Internet is a huge and marvelous thing but have you ever wondered exactly what the Internet is? How does the Internet work and how do computers know what to send to you? I am going to try and clear up some of the magic of the Internet and perhaps learn a few things while I am at it.

History

One common misconception is that CERN, the research community between France and Switzerland, developed the Internet. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) actually created the first connected network of computers. This primitive Internet was named ARPANET and was the prototype module for what would eventually evolve into the Internet that we know today. The first TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) network was NSFnet which was created by the United States National Science Foundation. This TCP/IP network would form the original backbone for the modern Internet. In the early 1990’s CERN gave the Internet a visual face with the introduction of HTML(Hypertext Markup Language) and HTTP(Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

Since those early days the Internet has evolved into a huge relatively un-organized monster. Since the Internet is formed through voluntarily connected networks, there is no governing body or police. There are a however some groups that issue various mandates and maintain some sense of order over the Internet. Most importantly is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN) who keeps track of all the IP addresses and domain names. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the governing body that validates all Internet Protocols. The IETF is responsible for managing many of the protocols that we use every day including FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, POP3, and IMAP.

Here and Now

Now you can use the Internet to do literally anything. With the ability to stream audio and video it is possible to hold conversations around the world, watch videos uploaded to servers, listen to Internet radio stations, and get the news 24/7. With the Internet being so robust nearly anything can be created and new protocols pop up all the time. The popular BitTorrent protocol is one such example. This protocol enables multiple computers to form ad-hoc networks to transfer files amongst each other. While BitTorrent has been commonly associated with illegal filesharing, it has also been helpful by decentralizing legal downloads and taking the load off of corporate servers.

The Future

The Internet is quickly invading our lives with everyone carrying multiple access points to the Internet. Cell phones, PDAs, Laptops, and even wrist watches have the ability to connect to the Internet to chat via instant messaging, check email, and receive condensed news articles. Soon traditional networks like phone and television will be incorporated into the Internet network so that all our data will be streamed over a single connection. This is already a possibility however it is very rare and not a commonly accepted means. I can’t wait till I can request the TV shows I want to watch while having a conference call with a few of my friends.

Next up will be a post about the Internet backbone itself, how DNS servers work, and why it takes so long for domain names to propagate and become useful. Hope that answered a few questions and possibly raised a few more.

Category: Articles