History of the Origin of the Internet and Operational Principles

It is impossible to imagine the modern world without the Internet and computer networks. With their help, people have fun, relax, shop, study, work and do other things. An example is receiving state, municipal and banking services remotely - online. All this makes a person's life more comfortable, and opportunities broad.

Only a few people think about where the Internet comes from and how it functions. For the user, everything is easy and simple on the screen after connecting the device to the network: pressing a button activates the operation, confirming the request, searches for data, and so on.

Today we will get to know the Internet more deeply. It is necessary to study the history of its emergence, as well as some of the principles of network operation and the nuances of data transmission over them. With the help of published materials, it will be possible to understand the features of network functioning.

• Definition

The Internet is a global network. It connects devices all over the world into one whole, and also allows people to perform various actions: study, work, relax, play, do business, and so on. Almost everything depends on the Internet in the 21st century. If people do not have a network connection, many “usual” actions will no longer be possible.

The Internet is a set of computers, servers, and routers that are connected to each other. They allow information to be stored, displayed, and exchanged.

The Internet consists of:

° Local area networks (LANs)

They connect devices that are physically close to each other and provide shared access to files and software.

° Wide Area Networks (WANs)

They are used to connecting devices located at great distances from each other.

° Wireless networks

A modern connection option. It allows you to connect equipment to each other without using cables.

All the networks presented above are connected to each other by optical fiber, satellite channels, and radio waves. They are interconnected and create a unified entity – the World Wide Web. This is what the Internet is called.

• History of Appearance

When thinking about where the Internet comes from, it is important to study its history. A little more than fifty years ago, this type of technology was virtually nonexistent. The development of the network began in the 1960s. Then, computer scientist Leonard Kleinrock published a book called "Communication Networks." There he explained how information could be divided into small packets and sent using computers. This led to the emergence of the mathematical theory of packet switching.

Nine years later, the described technologies formed the basis of the ARPANET network. It was created by order of the US Department of Defense by the Advanced Research Projects Agency ARPA. The related development marked the initial prototype of the contemporary Internet. With its help, research centers and universities received the opportunity to exchange data remotely. ARPANET remained closed for a long time. Only in 1973 did different countries begin to connect to it.

Due to the increasing number of end users, the technology needed to be refined and improved. In 1983, Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn created the TCP and IP protocols. The first was responsible for ensuring that data reached recipients in full, and the second acted as an identifier and assigned the device an exact network address. This ushered in the modern technology known as the Internet.

Ideas about the global network web were voiced in 1989. Tim Berners Lee and Robert Cailliau suggested that one day there would be a "web" that would connect everyone on the planet and allow for the rapid exchange of data over a distance. And so it happened. In 2024, about 66% of the world's population are Internet users.

• Device

Connecting to the World Wide Web requires the possession of some equipment that are specific. These include:

° Cables

They transmit data over wires via optical signals. Cables cover the entire surface of the earth. The exception is Antarctica.

° Routers

They are needed for direct transmission of information. They act as a kind of "navigators" that determine the optimal route from user to user.

° Browsers

This is the name given to special software for working with the global network. These are applications that process web addresses and display digital materials on the device screen. They can be desktop or mobile. The most popular are Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox, as well as Yandex and Edge. Browsers receive a signal in the form of an encrypted code, translate it into a human-readable language and load the pages.

° Internet providers

They are responsible for providing access to the Internet telecommunications network. There are several levels. The first-level providers own intercontinental cables, the second-level ones have their own equipment and cables. They are able to provide direct access to the World Wide Web. The second-level providers buy "transit" from the first-level providers. The third-level providers sell connections to the World Wide Web, but do not have their own network equipment.

Now that the basic network components are known, we can take a closer look at some of the significant components of the Internet in another study.