a cooperatively-run collection of computer networks that span the globe.

A world wide system consisting of people, information & computers Huge source of practical and enjoyable information Allows millions of people to communicate and share information It never closes, anyone can have access at any time

Roots of internet lie in a project called ARPANET(US dept. of defense) -its goal was to build a network that could maintain itself under adverse conditions so that it could ensure communication with its forces.

Hosts or servers Routers

-a host is any computer that is directly connected to the internet -specialized computers that regulate the traffic on the internet -it picks the the most efficient route for the information -connect networks that follow the same protocol

Gateways

-connect networks that follow different protocols

The Internet uses two main protocols (developed by Vicent Cerf and Robert Kahn) TCP/IP handles network communications between network nodes (computers, or nodes, connected to the net). Transmission control protocol (TCP)- manages the movement of data between applications
Controls disassembly of message into packets at the origin Reassembles at the destination

handles the movement of data between host computers

Specifies the addressing details for each packet
Each packet is labeled with its origin and destination

There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control . The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies. eg:InterNIC(Internet Network Information Center) is responsible for world wide allocation of domain names and IP addresses. IETF(Internet Engineering Task Force)is responsible for resolving technical and operational problems on the Internet and in developing Internet standards and protocols.

IP addresses are assigned by:

American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

North America, South America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa

Resaux IP Europens -French for "European IP Networks" (RIPE)

Europe, Middle East and the rest of Africa

Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC)

Asia-Pacific area

Companies which provide you access to the internet -in order to access internet through phone line,you have to establish an account with an ISP

Eg: Airtel,BSNL

The part of the internet that keeps track of address is called DNS(Domain name system) is a database that contain information about domain names and their corresponding IP addresses. Domain name servers are computers that translate domain names to IP addresses.

To make Internet addresses easier to remember an alternative, domain names, was provided which used words Domain names
May have two or more groups separated by a period, e.g. www.cavehill.uwi.edu Edu an education institution Cavehill and uwi the computers name www part of the world wide web

 Top-level

domain names

ac org com edu gov net mil

academic Non-profit organization commercial educational government Large ISP / networking organizations Military

IP Address

Every machine on the Internet has a unique identifying number, called an IP Address.

A typical IP address looks like this : 216.27.61.137 But computers communicate in binary form. Look at the same IP address in binary: 11011000.00011011.00111101.10001001

IP addresses are considered 32-bit numbers. Since each of the eight positions can have two different states (1 or zero), the total number of possible combinations per octet is 28 or 256. So each octet can contain any value between zero and 255

A Network ID is assigned to an organization by a global authority.

Host IDs are assigned locally by a system administrator.

Both the Network ID and the Host ID are used for routing.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), a protocol for transferring e-mail across the Internet. You send e-mail with SMTP and a mail handler receives it on your recipient's behalf.

Post Office Protocol (POP)

POP can be thought of as a "store-and-forward" service.