Task5

History and Evolution of the Internet

The history suggests that the Defense Advanced Project Agency developed the internet in the USA. The first connection to set up was in 1969 but after that, the technology revolutionized globally giving us what we have today.

Multiple researchers and scientists developed the internet together, it was not a one-person job. After DARPA, commercialization of the internet began with transmitters and transistors fitting in small devices in the 1970s. Moving towards satellite and wireless communication, DARPA came with satellite-based radio packets for mobile networks.

Then came the Transmission Control Protocol enabling machines to assemble data packets in the 1980s. With the idea of the personal computer came the commercial use of the internet and thus came the Ethernet. The web browser entered the frame in 1993 bringing in the point-and-click approach with it.

By the 1990s, the US being the leader had a large number of internet service providers. The 21st century brought together technology accessibility and wireless services together as a treat for the users. Now is the era of artificial intelligence and the future scopes are even wider.

How does the internet work?

The server and the client make up the internet connection. The connected device is the client while the server is not connected physically to anything but virtually to the internet service provider. The IP address is the device’s address and every server needs to have one to exist. The data center is where you find several servers.

These servers receive the client request on which they respond accordingly. The domain name is mandatory to access the internet as it consists of the IP address number. They are difficult to remember but not for the computer. The Domain Name server has a list of all the registered IP numbers which allows computers to find them very easily.

To make it simple, when the user searches for anything online, the browser is sending a request to the DNS for the IP address. Once the IP address is sorted, the browser reaches the respective server completing the search. The server then accepts the request resulting in the flow of data. The optical fiber facilitates data transfer in digital form from one device to another.

There is a connection between the router and the fibers allowing the conversion of light signals into electric ones. This transmission is by the ethernet cable allowing users to get the needed information. In the case of wireless networks, the signal reaches the cell tower first in the form of electromagnetic waves.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers of the USA manages the internet, IP address allocation, domain name registration, and more.

Ways To Connect To Internet

1. Dial-Up

The dial-up connection uses the phone line to its computer and then gets internet access. And during this time the calling services of the mobile phone are temporarily suspended.

2. Broadband

Many cable and phone companies are providing broadband connection. It is a high-speed connection for the internet massively used around the world.

3. Wireless Connection

Smartphones and wifi are classic examples of wireless connection. Internet connectivity in this is through radio waves and is accessible anywhere despite the location.

4. Satellite

The places that do not have an access to broadband connection settle for satellite wireless internet connectivity instead.

5. Integrated Services Digital Network

Integrated Services Digital Network is for users to send out audio and video data through telephone lines.

Internet Connection Protocols

The internet protocols are to monitor if a particular set of technology is functioning correctly or not. There are three major protocols –

1. TCP/IP Network Model

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) are the widely used protocols in the world. They divide the message or the information into packets which are then sent from the sender to the receiver.

2. File Transfer Protocol

The File Transfer Protocol allows one device to share multimedia files, text files, documents, etc. with another device.

3. Hypertext Transfer Protocol

This protocol allows devices to transfer hypertexts to one or more devices. The link creation is by the HTML tags and they are usually in text or image form.