How Does the Internet Work? 4/10/10

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail

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What is Internet Protocol (IP Address)?

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams (packets) across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite. Responsible for routing packets across network boundaries, it is the primary protocol that establishes the Internet.
IP is the primary protocol in the Internet Layer of the Internet Protocol Suite and has the task of delivering datagrams from the source host to the destination host solely based on their addresses. For this purpose, IP defines addressing methods and structures for datagram encapsulation.

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What is the OSI model?

The Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI model) is a product of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at the International Organization for Standardization. It is a way of sub-dividing a communications system into smaller parts called layers. A layer is a collection of conceptually similar functions that provide services to the layer above it and receives services from the layer below it. On each layer an instance provides services to the instances at the layer above and requests service from the layer below.
For example, a layer that provides error-free communications across a network provides the path needed by applications above it, while it calls the next lower layer to send and receive packets that make up the contents of the path. Conceptually two instances at one layer are connected by a horizontal protocol connection on that layer.

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What is internet infrastructure?

With the growth of the Internet for personal use (e.g. Facebook, Amazon, Google, Gmail) and business purposes (i.e.file storage, web applications, collaboration and communication, VOIP) I thought it would be useful to talk about what actually powers all these things. I have a secondary reason for this too – when a non-technical person asks me what I do for a living, I have yet to come up with a short simple answer that actually explains it!

First of all, let me define what I mean by ‘Internet Infrastructure’. All the hardware and services required to make this web page appear in your browser, or an RSS feed download into your reader, or VOIP calls / emails get to your desktop. All the underlying technologies that are unseen, but ‘make the Internet go’.

I see Internet Infrastructure consisting of a ‘Top 5′ areas :

• Data Centres
• Network Connectivity
• Computer Equipment
• Storage Services
• Server Applications

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What is domain name?

A domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control on the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS).
Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and addressing purposes. They are organized in subordinate levels (subdomains) of the DNS root domain, which is nameless. The first-level set of domain names are the top-level domains (TLDs), including the generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as the prominent domains com, net and org, and the country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Below these top-level domains in the DNS hierarchy are the second-level and third-level domain names that are typically open for reservation by end-users that wish to connect local area networks to the Internet, run web sites, or create other publicly accessible Internet resources. The registration of these domain names is usually administered by domain name registrars who sell their servic

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