P  R  E  N  T  I  C  E     H  A  L  L

FINANCE
====== AND ======
ACCOUNTING
INTERNET GUIDE

BRENDA MIZGORSKI, CPA

 

Chapter 1 - In the Beginning . . .
>  Introduction  >  What Is the Internet?  >  History of the Internet-Who Invented It?
>  Internet History Resources > Who Owns & Runs the Internet?  
>  How the Internet Works-Just the Basics
 
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How the Internet Works-Just the Basics

The Internet Infrastructure

The current infrastructure of the Internet is a Web page that gets you from point A to B. When you request to see a Web page on your computer, the data travels through a maze (or web-hence the term World Wide Web) of connections. This section explores each of the "pit-stops" a Web page travels through to complete your requested task.

The Pit-Stops of an Internet Web Page

Stop #1-Your Internet Service Provider Server  Your Internet Service Provider, or ISP, is the company that provides you with access to the Internet. The majority of ISPs lease equipment to have access to Points of Presence (POP) on the Internet. These POPs are geographically based and, depending on your ISP's size, the number of POPs it possesses will vary.

Each POP has its own IP (Internet Protocol) address. The actual POP may reside at rented space owned by telecommunications carriers. The larger ISPs, such as UUNet (http://www.uunet.net/), PSINet (http://www.psinet.com/), and Netcom (http://www.netcom.com/), have their own lines and aren't as dependent on telecom carriers.

Stop #2-The ISP's Regional Network  Some of the major ISPs skip this stop since they have direct access to one of the four network access points (NAPs-addressed in Stop #3). However, for the majority of the five thousand ISPs worldwide, they are required to band together with other geographically central ISPs. Some of the major U.S. regional networks are CERFnet (Western U.S.), BARRNet (Northern California), NEARRNET (Northeastern U.S.), and SURAnet (Southeast U.S.).

Stop #3-Network Access Points  Originally there were four NAPs: New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Francisco. They were established by the National Science Foundation to transition ARPAnet into the commercially operated Internet. Several new NAPs have been established, such as WorldCom's MAE West and ICS Network Systems' Big East.

Stop #4-U.S. Commercial Backbone  Based on the formal definition of a backbone as it relates to the Internet, the U.S. Commercial Backbone is "a set of paths that local or regional networks connect to for long-distance interconnection. The connection points are known as network nodes or telecommunication data switching exchanges (DSEs)" (source: whatis.com). The backbone carries your Web page request across the U.S. or internationally until it is ultimately received by the computer that houses the requested data.

Stop #5-Process on Other End  Once your Web page request is received by the appropriate server, data is processed and the page is served up and sent back to your computer through the same process: through the NAPs, regional networks, your ISP, and to your computer.

The Internet Protocol

The Internet Protocol is the protocol used to transport data (Web pages, E-mail messages, etc.) over the Internet. When data is transported, either sent or received, it travels in a series of packets. Each packet may take an entirely different physical route. The protocol has no desire to connect the packets of information, it is merely transporting a single packet. It's up to the TCP protocol to put the packets back in the right order which together create the entire TCP/IP language process among computers.

Resources to Help You Understand How the Internet Works

Atlas of Cyberspaces
http://www.cybergeography.org/
To view the Internet Infrastructure visit Martin Dodge's Atlas of Cyberspaces, which contains an extensive collection of maps for graphical depictions such as ISP and Internet backbone networks, three-dimensional information spaces, and information landscapes.

How the Internet Works
http://www.whatis.com/tour.htm
This is a great detailed guide about how the Internet works, complete with illustrations. This guide has many hyperlinks within its text to take you to term definitions of other sections within the Web site. Many whatis.com definitions are featured in this book's glossary.

End of Chapter 1
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