What is Internet?

What exactly is the Internet?

The Internet, also known as “the Net,” is a global network of computer networks — a network of networks in which users at any one computer can obtain information from any other computer if they have permission (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers).

The Internet began in the 1960s as a means for government researchers to share data. Computers in the 1960s were large and immobile, and in order to use information stored in any one computer, one had to either travel to the computer’s location or have magnetic computer tapes sent via the traditional postal system.

The escalation of the Cold War was another driving force in the development of the Internet. The Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite prompted the United States Defense Department to consider ways to disseminate information even after a nuclear attack. This eventually led to the creation of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which evolved into what we now know as the Internet. ARPANET was a huge success, but membership was limited to academic and research institutions with Defense Department contracts. As a result, other networks were formed to facilitate information sharing.

The Internet celebrated its official birthday on January 1, 1983. Prior to this, there was no standard way for computer networks to communicate with one another. Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) was created as a new communication protocol. This enabled various types of computers on different networks to “talk” to one another. On January 1, 1983, ARPANET and the Defense Data Network switched to the TCP/IP standard, resulting in the birth of the Internet. A universal language could now connect all networks.

No one person, company, organization or government runs the Internet. It is a globally distributed network comprising many voluntarily interconnected autonomous networks. It operates without a central governing body with each constituent network setting and enforcing its own policies.

HTTP, which stands for “hypertext transfer protocol” is the language of rules that controls how your browser navigates the network of linked pages known as the World Wide Web (which is where the “www” comes from). When you enter a website name into your browser’s address bar (or click on a link within a page), protocols contact the site’s hosting server and fetch the requested Web page,which then pops up on your computer screen.
Simply, HTTP is an application layer protocol that runs on top of other layers of the network protocol stack to transfer data between networked devices. A typical HTTP flow starts with a client machine sending a request to a server, which then sends a response message.

Though, www is not needed anymore. The main website url is example.com / (well, technically example.com :X, where X is the port number).