Internet Basics - A Technical Overview

Updated: 2nd January 2008

The Internet started out as a research project over 40 years ago. It's hard to believe it's actually that old, but despite changing names and having many facelifts, it's still the same Internet.

It was first known as ARPANET - the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and although had military ties, its main purpose was research. ARPANET was nothing like what the Internet is today, there were no webpage's, no blogs, not even any email - the most it could do was access remote mainframes locked away in Universities and government establishments. Customized programs were designed to communicate with other 'nodes' on ARPANET however almost every device was different in design - creating the first big hurdle towards global communication. Somewhere along the line, things had to be standardized.

This challenge took up most of the 1970's for programmers working on ARPANET or attending UCLA or Berkeley at the time, however it wasn't long after that the first signs of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) came about - the protocol that is still used on the Internet to route traffic. The short version of the story is that the two main host-to-host protocols NCP and IMP were replaced with TCP/IP around 1984, and the Internet began to emerge, the rest is history.

However, what we have now hasn't changed all that much since the 1980's. Granted the Internet is (arguably) faster, and pages look nicer, the underlying technology is still the same as it has been for a long time. The benefit to this is of course learning about the web is far easier, as there is an abundance of information available, and the technology to implement it is relatively cheap. But the downside is that the current Internet implementation has struggled to keep up with demand, and won't last long.

Now you have a little knowledge about where the Internet came from, and where it's going… it's time to unravel what it actually is. Feel free to check the right hand box for a glossary of terms commonly used on the Internet.

Chances are if you're reading this, somewhere, someone has connected you to the Internet. However the Internet is a rather ambiguous term, it's not something you can physically touch, or see. You can't simply turn off the Internet or treat it as a whole entity anymore… it's simply too big. It's now just a generic term for all the network devices that share a public network to access each other.

The Internet is a public network. Meaning it crosses paths which almost anyone in the world can use. These generally are phone networks, however since the mid 90's; Telco's have installed dedicated data lines across oceans and continents purely to aid the growth of the Internet. Because it spans so many countries and borders - no one owns the Internet, it's simply a name.

That's not to say no one is in control of it. There are various groups in place who oversee the health and welfare of this massive network, IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) is one such organisation who ensure the Internet protocols function correctly, and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) ensure all devices that want to communicate can do so by speaking the same language (among other things). If it wasn't for these organisations, the Internet would only be half of what it is today.

The ones with the real power though are the ISP's (Internet Service Providers). They control the connections between their networks and others - and that's all the Internet really is; a vast internetwork. ISP's own and operate the public telephone networks which the Internet started piggy-backing on in the late 80's, so it made sense that they would eventually become the soul- beneficiaries of the physical cabling that makes up the Internet. It also came with a lot of responsibility, and ISP's are slowly becoming more and more liable for Internet content.

But where is this content?

Almost all web traffic (not including spam and viruses!) is web traffic. Every page you visit is a file on another machine, and you are simply requesting to view that file, For example, the text your reading now is stored in a file on The Serpent which is in turn hosted by 1and1 Internet. Physically 1and1 Internet has a server (or mainframe) with a hard drive in that contains this file and your browser simply downloads, interprets and handles the displaying of that file. It all sounds so simply, and it really is on the surface, the true power of the Internet shines when you request a file that's physically located thousands of miles away...

A to B, Via C, D, E, F...

Internet routing is the topic of many books, so we'll just give you a quick glance over! In order for the Internet to span the distance it does, corporation from many different companies is required. It's less of an issue nowadays then it was ten years ago, but in order to reach far out lands, phone companies need to make deals with each other so that data can be routed properly.

Generally speaking, each ISP is known as an autonomous system - an entity that deals with its own internal structure and only advertises to the world the services it has. To make this simple - each device, weather that is a server or client needs its own unique IP address that is usable on the Internet. ISP's advertise the IP addresses that they host to their neighbouring ISP's, creating a mesh of routes which allow data to traverse the planet. Since the choice of communication is TCP/IP - IP addresses form the basis for any interconnected device. IP addressing deserved its own article which is available on The Serpent, so we won't cover it here.

Getting on the Internet is simple. You simply choose an ISP, choose a package that suits you and start paying. Most ISP's will send you the equipment needed which simply plugs into your phone line and then into your computer. Or you can opt to buy your own hardware (almost all modern ADSL Broadband hardware is standardized, so you don't have to use your ISP's choice). Weather you choose wireless, cable, Ethernet over Power etc - you'll still be getting a speed depending on your distance from the exchange and the amount of subscribers on your segment.

The Internet can get a lot more technical. This is the absolute most basic introduction I can think of. Most people would opt to leave out the entire TCP/IP section, however despite it's complicated nature - the Internet wouldn't exist without it, and we all use it in one form or another, even at home.

Check out the rest of the guides in this section to view more broken down material.

© 2008 John Payne, The-serpent.co.uk