Introduction to Internet

• The Internet is a short form for an interconnected network.

• It has become a vital part of our lives, helping us connect with
people worldwide.
• The Internet is made of a large number of independently
operated networks.
• It is fully distributed with no central control.
• Each independently-operated system is motivated to ensure
that there is end-to-end connectivity of every part of the
network.
• A network is a group of 1 or extra computer systems
(Multiple gadgets, additionally called hosts), which are related
through a couple of channels for the motive of sending and
receiving records or media in a shared environment.
• The Internet is simply a wire that runs
underground and allows two computers to
communicate with each other.
• When we talk about specific web pages, they
are simply files that are stored on the server’s
hard drive.
• Every server has a unique protocol address or
an IP address. IP addresses are essential for
computers to find each other.
The Internet is a worldwide connectivity of hundreds of
thousands of computers of various types that belong to
multiple networks.

History of Internet
• The Internet was developed by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf in the
1970s. They began the design of what we today know as the
‘internet’.
• It was the result of another research experiment which was called
ARPANET, which stands for Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network.
• This was initially supposed to be a communications system for the
Defense Team of the United States of America - a network that
would also survive a nuclear attack.
• It eventually became a successful nationwide experimental packet
network.
• January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the
Internet.
• Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a
standard way to communicate with each other.
• A new communications protocol was established called
Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP).
• This allowed different kinds of computers on different
networks to "talk" to each other.
• ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially
changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983, hence
the birth of the Internet.
• In the year 1991, a user-friendly internet interface was
developed. Delphi was the first national commercial
online service to offer internet connectivity in July 1992.
• Later in May 1995, all restrictions on commercial usage
of the internet are lifted. As a result, the internet has been
able to diversify and grow swiftly.
• Wi-Fi was first introduced in 1997. In 1998 Windows 98
was released.
• Smartphone use was widespread in 2007.
• The 4G network was launched in 2009. The internet is
used by 3 billion people nowadays.
• By 2030, there are expected to be 7.5 billion internet
users and 500 billion devices linked to the internet.
How Does the Internet Work?
• Computers that we use every day are called
clients because they are indirectly connected
to the Internet through an internet service
provider.
• When you open a webpage on your computer,
you connect to the webpage, and then you can
access it.
• Computers break the information into smaller
pieces called packets, which are reassembled
in their original order.
• If we put the right address on a packet and send it to any
computer which is connected as part of the internet, each
computer would figure out which cable to send it down
next so that it would get to its destination.
• With several computers on a network, it may create
confusion even with unique addresses. This transfer of
messages is handled by the Packet Routing Network,
and hence a router is required to set up.
• The Transfer Control Protocol is another system that
makes sure no packet is lost or left behind because it
might create a disrupted message at the receiving end.
The below are the steps for how the message is transferred.
• First, Computer1 sends a message by IP address to
Computer2
• The message sent by Computer1 is broken into small
pieces- packets.
• These small pieces- packets are transferred concerning
Transfer Protocol so that the quality is maintained.
• Finally, these small pieces- packets reach Computer2 and
are reassembled at their IP address.

• The Internet works in a more complex manner than these

above-given steps, but this might give a basic idea of how
the internet works.
Father of the Internet: Tim Berners-Lee

• Tim Berners-Lee was the man, who led the development of

the World Wide Web, the defining of HTTP (HyperText
Transfer Protocol), HTML (hypertext markup language)
used to create web pages, and URLs (Universal Resource
Locators). The development of WWW, HTTP, HTML and
URLs took place between 1989 and 1991.
• Tim Berners-Lee was born in London and he graduated in
Physics from Oxford University in 1976. Currently, Tim
Berners-Lee is the Director of the World Wide Web
Consortium, the group that sets technical standards for the
web.
• Vinton Cerf is also named as father of the
internet other than Tim Berners-Lee. After
being out for 10 years from high school, he
began co-designing and co-developing the
protocols and structure of what became the
internet.
Advantages of Internet
• The internet has become a popular name since the introduction of its easy
installation and setup.
• The Internet was first invented for only military and government uses.
But now, it is found in every house across the world.

The following are the advantages of the internet.

• It is a great medium of sharing and has increased connectivity.
• With the internet, banking has now become easier. Long tiresome waiting
lines have been eliminated since the introduction of e-banking platforms.
• E-commerce websites are one of the great advantages of the internet. One
can buy groceries, clothes, household items, and much more with the
internet.
• The Internet is also a great source of entertainment. One can watch
videos and movies, listen to music, and play games, without any hassle.
• Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
have brought the world closer.

• The education system has also transformed. With the internet,

any student across the world can attend online classes.

• The most powerful motivator for the Internet to work is the

fact that knowledge and information have to be shared
amongst people.
• Computer networks represent a particular case of
distributed computing systems in which a group of
computers operate in a coordinated manner to perform a
set of interrelated tasks by exchanging data in an
automated manner.
• Computer networks can be considered as a means for
transmitting information over long distance.
Uses of Computer Network:
• It allows you to share resources such as printers,
scanners, etc.
• We can share expensive software and database among
network users.
• It facilitates communications from one computer to
another computer.
• It allows the exchange of data and information among
users through a network.
Popular Computer Networks:
• Local Area Network (LAN)
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
• Wide Area Network (WAN)
Local Area Network (LAN):
• As the name suggests, the local area network is a computer
network that operates in a small area, i.e., it connects computers
in a small geographical area like within an office, company,
school, or any other organization.
• So, it exists within a specific area, e.g. home network, office
network, school network, etc.
• A local area network may be a wired or wireless network or a
combination of both.
• The devices in a LAN are generally connected using an Ethernet
cable, which offers an interface to connect multiple devices like
router, switches, and computers.
• For example, using a single router, few Ethernet cables, and
computers, you can create a LAN at your home, office, etc.
• In this network, one computer may act as a server and other
computers, which are part of the network, may serve as clients.
Advantages of LAN
• Many computer resources can share local area networks reducing
hardware purchase costs.
• The licensed software can also work on multiple devices reducing
the cost again.
• One hard disk can store the data of all of the computers in the
network.
• Transfer of data and information is instant and easier between
networked computers.
• Data is secure as it is in one place only.
• One internet connection works for all the networked computers.
Disadvantages of LAN
• The installation charges of the setting cost quite high.
• The admin has access to all the files reducing the privacy of the
user.
• An unauthorized person can access all the data in one go.
• It needs daily administration as there are many setup-related
Topologies of LAN:
• Topology: It refers to the arrangement of
computers (nodes) in a computer network. The
main topologies of a local area network are as
follows:
• Ring Topology:
• As the name suggests, in a ring topology, the
computers are connected in a circular and
closed loop.
• The message in this topology moves only in
one direction around the ring from one node to
another node and is checked by each node for
a matching destination address.
• So, the data keeps moving until it reaches its
destination.
• All nodes are equal; a client-server
relationship does not exist between them.
Star Topology
• In this topology, all the computers are separately connected to
a central node or connection point, which can be a server, a
hub, a router, or a switch.
• This topology offers an advantage that if a cable does not
work, only the respective node will suffer, the rest of the nodes
will work smoothly.
• All data or messages that one node sends to another passes
through the central hub.
• This topology is easy to design and implement as well as it is
easy to add additional nodes to the central node.
• The major drawback of this topology is that it is prone to
bottleneck or failure at the central connection point, i.e.,
failure at the central node will affect the entire
communication.
Bus Topology
• In this arrangement, the nodes (computers) are
connected through interface connectors to a single
communication line (central cable) that carries the
message in both the directions.
• The central cable to which all the nodes are
connected is the backbone of the network. It is
called a bus.
• The signal in this arrangement travels in both
directions to all the machines until it finds the
recipient machine.
• It is easy to set up than other topologies as it uses
only a single central cable to establish the network.
Full Mesh Topology
• This network has each computer
interconnected with one another.
• This allows for transmissions and distribution
even if one connection goes down.
• It is commonly used in wireless networks.
• There are many wires in this connection which
may lead to confusion.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):
• MAN is a high-speed network that spreads over a
large geographical area such as a metro city or
town.
• It is set up by connecting the local area networks
using routers and local telephone exchange lines.
• It can be operated by a private company, or it may
be a service provided by a company such as a local
telephone company.
• MAN is ideal for the people of a relatively large
area who want to share data or information.
• It provides fast communication via high-speed
carriers or transmission media such as copper, fiber
optics, and microwaves.
• The area covered by MAN is larger than the LAN
but smaller than a WAN.
• Its network ranges from 5 to 50 km.
• Furthermore, it also provides uplinks for connecting
LANs to WANs and the internet.
• An organization can use a MAN to connect all of its
LANs located at its different offices across the city.
• Examples of MAN:
– Cable TV Network
– Telephone service provides that provide high-speed
DSL lines
– Connected fire stations in a city
– Connected branches of a school in a city
Advantages of MAN:
• Less Expensive: It is less expensive to set up a MAN and
to connect it to a WAN.
• High Speed: The speed of data transfer is more than
WAN.
• Local Emails: It can send local emails fast.
• Access to the Internet: It allows you to share your
internet connection, and thus multiple users can have
access to high-speed internet.
• Easy to set up: You can easily set up a MAN by
connecting multiple LANs.
• High Security: It is more secure than WAN.
Disadvantages of MAN
• The cable requirement is very high due to the larger space.
• The large setting invites more hackers.
Wide Area Network
• WAN extends over a large geographical area. It is not confined within
an office, school, city, or town and is mainly set up by telephone lines,
fiber optic, or satellite links.
• It is mostly used by big organizations like banks and multinational
companies to communicate with their branches and customers across
the world.
• Although it is structurally similar to MAN, it is different from MAN in
terms of its range, e.g., MAN covers up to 50 Kms, whereas WAM
covers distances larger than 50 Km, e.g., 1000km or more.
• A WAN works by using TCP/IP protocol in combination with
networking devices such as switches, routers, firewalls, and modems.
• It does not connect individual computers; rather, they are designed to
link small networks like LANs and MANs to create a large network.
• The internet is considered the largest WAN in the world as it connects
various LANs and MANs through ISPs.
• The computers are connected to the wide area network through public
networks, such as telephone systems, leased lines or satellites.
• The users of a WAN do not own the network as it is a large setup
connecting the remote computer systems. However, they are
required to subscribe to a service provided by a telecommunication
provider to use this network.
Advantages of a WAN:
• Large Network Range: It spans a large geographical area of 2000
km or more, e.g., from one country to another countries.
• Centralized data: It allows your different office branches to use
your head office server for retrieving and sharing data.
• Get updated files and data: It provides an ideal platform for
companies who need a live server for their employees to exchange
updated files within seconds.
• High bandwidth: It offers high bandwidth than a normal broadband
connection. Thus, it can increase the productivity of your company
by offering uninterrupted data transfer and communication.
• Workload Distribution: It helps distribute your workload to other
locations. You can hire employees in different countries and assign
them to work from your office.
Examples of WAN:
– Internet
– US defense department
– Stock exchanges network
– Railway reservation system
– Big Banks' cash dispensers' network
– Satellite systems
Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:
• There is a security problem due to all technologies
coming together.
• Needs expensive antivirus and firewall software to secure
sensitive information about the organizations.
• The setup cost is very high due to the large geographic
area.
• And due to the same reason, it becomes tougher to
troubleshoot problems.
Search Engines
• A search engine is an online answering machine,
which is used to search, understand, and organize
content's result in its database based on the search query
(keywords) inserted by the end-users (internet user).
• To display search results, all search engines first find the
valuable result from their database, sort them to make
an ordered list based on the search algorithm, and
display in front of end-users.
• The process of organizing content in the form of a list is
commonly known as a Search Engine Results Page
(SERP).
• Google, Yahoo!, Bing, YouTube,
and DuckDuckGo are some popular examples of search
engines.
Advantages of Search Engine
• Searching content on the Internet becomes one of the most popular
activities all over the world.
• In the current era, the search engine is an essential part of
everyone's life because the search engine offers various popular
ways to find valuable, relevant, and informative content on the
Internet.
List of advantages of search engines is given below -
Time-Saving
Search engine helps us to save time by the following two ways -
• Eliminate the need to find information manually.
• Perform search operations at a very high speed.
Variety of information
• The search engine offers various variety of resources to obtain
relevant and valuable information from the Internet. By using a
search engine, we can get information in various fields such as
education, entertainment, games, etc. The information which we
get from the search engine is in the form of blogs, pdf, ppt, text,
Precision
• All search engines have the ability to provide more precise
results.
Free Access
• Mostly search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo allow
end-users to search their content for free. In search engines, there
is no restriction related to a number of searches, so all end users
(Students, Job seekers, IT employees, and others) spend a lot of
time to search valuable content to fulfill their requirements.
Advanced Search
• Search engines allow us to use advanced search options to get
relevant, valuable, and informative results. Advanced search
results make our searches more flexible as well as sophisticated.
For example, when you want to search for a specific site,
type "site:" without quotes followed by the site's web address.
• To search about education institution sites (colleges and
universities) for B.Tech in computer science engineering, then
use "computer science engineering site:.edu." to get the
Disadvantages of Search Engine
• There are the following disadvantages of Search
Engines -
• Sometimes the search engine takes too much
time to display relevant, valuable, and
informative content.
• Search engines, especially Google, frequently
update their algorithm, and it is very difficult to
find the algorithm in which Google runs.
• It makes end-users effortless as they all time use
search engines to solve their small queries also.
Components of Search Engine
• There are the following four basic components of Search
Engine -
1. Web Crawler
• Web Crawler is also known as a search engine bot, web
robot, or web spider. It plays an essential role in search
engine optimization (SEO) strategy. It is mainly a software
component that traverses on the web, then downloads and
collects all the information over the Internet.
• The following web crawler features that can affect the search
results -
– Included Pages
– Excluded Pages
– Document Types
– Frequency of Crawling
2. Database
• The search engine database is a type of Non-relational database.
It is the place where all the web information is stored. It has a
large number of web resources. Some most popular search engine
databases are Amazon Elastic Search Service and Splunk.
• The following are two database variable features that can affect the
search results:
– Size of the database
– The freshness of the database
3. Search Interfaces
• Search Interface is one of the most important components of
Search Engine. It is an interface between the user and the database.
It basically helps users to search for queries using the database.
• The following features are Search Interfaces that affect the search
results -
– Operators
– Phrase Searching
– Truncation
4. Ranking Algorithms
• The ranking algorithm is used by Google to rank web
pages according to the Google search algorithm.
• The following ranking features that affect the search
results -
– Location and frequency
– Link Analysis
– Clickthrough measurement
How do search engines work
The following tasks done by every search engines
1. Crawling
• Crawling is the first stage in which a search engine uses web
crawlers to find, visit, and download the web pages on the
WWW (World Wide Web). Crawling is performed by software
robots, known as "spiders" or "crawlers." These robots are used
to review the website content.
2. Indexing
• Indexing is an online library of websites, which is used to sort,
store, and organize the content that we found during the
crawling. Once a page is indexed, it appears as a result of the
most valuable and most relevant query.
3. Ranking and Retrieval
• The ranking is the last stage of the search engine. It is used to
provide a piece of content that will be the best answer based on
the user's query. It displays the best content at the top rank of the
Types of search engines
Mainstream search engines like Google might be top of mind when we think
about search engines, but there are other types of search engines that allow
us to navigate the internet.
• Mainstream search engines. Mainstream search engines like Google, Bing,
and Yahoo! are all free to use and supported by online advertising. They all
use variations of the same strategy (crawling, indexing, and ranking) to let
you search the entirety of the internet.
• Private search engines: have risen in popularity recently due to privacy
concerns raised by the data collection practices of mainstream search
engines. These include anonymous, ad-supported search engines
like DuckDuckGo and private, ad-free search engines like Neeva.
• Vertical search engines. Vertical search, or specialized search, is a way of
narrowing your search to one topic category, rather than the entirety of the
web. Examples of vertical search engines include:
– The search bar on shopping sites like eBay and Amazon
– Google Scholar, which indexes scholarly literature across publications
– Searchable social media sites and apps like Pinterest
• Computational search engines. WolframAlpha is an example of a
computational search engine, devoted to answering questions related to math
and science.
Internet Architecture
• The TCP/IP model defines how devices should transmit data between
them and enables communication over networks and large distances.
• The model represents how data is exchanged and organized over
networks.
• It is split into four layers, which set the standards for data exchange
and represent how data is handled and packaged when being delivered
between applications, devices, and servers.
The four layers of the TCP/IP model are as follows:
• Data link layer: The data link layer defines how data should be sent,
handles the physical act of sending and receiving data, and is
responsible for transmitting data between applications or devices on a
network.
• It is also referred to as the link layer, network access layer and it is the
combination of the physical and data link layers of the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model, which standardizes communications
functions on computing and telecommunications systems.
Internet layer: The internet layer is responsible for sending packets from a
network and controlling their movement across a network to ensure they
reach their destination.
-It provides the functions and procedures for transferring data sequences
between applications and devices across networks.
Transport layer: The transport layer is responsible for providing a solid and
reliable data connection between the original application or device and its
intended destination.
-This is the level where data is divided into packets and numbered to create a
sequence.
-The transport layer then determines how much data must be sent, where it
should be sent to, and at what rate.
-It ensures that data packets are sent without errors and in sequence and obtains
the acknowledgment that the destination device has received the data
packets.
Application layer: The application layer refers to programs that need TCP/IP
to help them communicate with each other.
-This is the level that users typically interact with, such as email systems and
messaging platforms.
-It combines the session, presentation, and application layers of the OSI model.
Internet Applications
• Communication is one of the most used applications of the Internet
because today it is very easy to talk through the Internet and today
almost everyone is communicating with each other through the Internet.
• It is very cheap to communicate through the Internet, as compared to
other mediums, so people today are using Internet applications to
communicate.
• There are thousands of such Internet applications for communication,
through which we can communicate with others.
• For example, we can talk to someone through chat, you can talk through
voice call, you can talk through video call, etc.
• There are some popular communication internet applications, which are
given below.
– Email
– Skype
– Google Meet
– Zoom
– WhatsApp
– Facebook Messenger
Online Shopping
• Everything is possible in today's era, in earlier times people could not even
imagine that without going to the market, anything could be bought, but in
today's time, it is possible.
• Today the whole world is doing online shopping through the internet, that too
sitting at home and you can also shop online from home through the internet.
• Today there are many such applications on the Internet, through which you can
buy anything online. Such as - Mobile, Tablet PC, Computers, Watch, Smart
Watch, Television, Fan, Table Fan, LED Bulb, Glasses, Ring, Jewellers,
Camera, Home Appliances, clothes, etc.
• Through these shopping applications, you can order any item of your need
sitting at home. We have given below the names of some shopping
applications, from which you can shop.
– Amazon
– FlipKart
– Paytm Mall
– ShopClues
– Myntra
– Snapdeal
Web Browser
• It is also an important Internet application, in earlier times, any user
used to have a lot of trouble to do Internet travel, because at that time
there were no good browsers so that people could do web browsing.
• But today there is more than one web browser, which you can use to
search anything on the Internet.
• Today's web browsers come with more features than the earlier
browsers, because today's web browsers are made of the latest
technology, which has many advantages to use such as - saving
password, incognito mode, history, zoom, Print, Bookmark etc.
• Today there are many types of web browsers, using which you can
access the Internet. The names of those web browsers are given below.
– Internet Explorer.
– Google Chrome.
– Mozilla Firefox.
– Safari.
– Opera.
Travel
• Today, there are many such Internet applications, so they
make your journey even easier. You can book travel
tickets, hotels, taxis, etc. through these internet
applications.
• This internet application gives you all the facilities, some
applications are given below.
– MakeMyTrip.
– Cleartrip.
– Goibibo.
– Agoda.
– Booking.com.
Research
• Research means to do deep research about a subject or to know everything about
that subject.
• Doing research is no small task, it takes a lot of time and effort to do research about
anything.
• Research is not done by common people, but by scientists or Ph.D. students.
• If you are a Ph.D. student and you have to do research on any topic, then you do not
need to worry, because with the use of the internet you can do your research very
easily, but you will have to work hard.
• Today there are many such internet applications that make your research easier and
you do not have to work harder too. If you are a Ph.D. student then this internet
application is very useful for you.
• All you have to do is use these applications to complete your research. The names
of some search applications are given below.
– Mendeley
– Flipboard
– Researcher
– Google Keep
– Curiosity
– Paperity
– Slack
Disadvantages of Internet
• Although the Internet has various benefits and is one of the most
powerful creations, it also contains many disadvantages.
1. Addiction, time-waster, and causes distractions
• If any person is spending much time on the Internet connected
devices, he can be addicted to the Internet. An Internet addictive
person can lead to spending his precious time on the Internet, rather
than doing something productive. Thus, anyone who is addicted to
surf the Internet can hamper workplace productivity as well.
2. Bullying, trolls, stalkers, and crime
• A person who uses the Internet very frequently can face abusive or
trolls' people. Another issue cyber-bullying is also increasing
rapidly over the years. Sometimes, you can be tracked on the
Internet by hackers or unauthorized persons; they can be harmful to
you by stealing your personal information.
• If you are spending your more time on the Internet, so it will be
easier for hackers to find your personal information through various
means.
3. Spam and advertising
• The Internet is the best place to advertise any service or product as
compared to traditional advertising methods (for example, TV, newspaper,
and radio). But you might see more spam and junk mail in your inbox than
in real life because digital advertising can be sent on a massive scale.
4. Never being able to disconnect from work
• The Internet is the best creation to offer connectivity and enable people to
work from anywhere. Therefore, anyone can expect you to be available any
time to work, even if you are not available to work there. For instance, you
have received an important work-related e-mail while you may be at home
and then without getting paid, end up working on the content of that e-mail.
5. Identity theft, hacking, viruses, and cheating
• There are various malicious users and computer hackers that can steal your
personal information and hack accounts, which can be used for identity
theft and can be harmful to you personally. As the Internet connects all
computers to each other, so hackers can quickly identify what computers
are vulnerable to attack by scanning millions of computers. Additionally,
the Internet also enables students to find others to do their homework and
offers ways to cheat on their studies.
6. Health issues and obesity
• If you are surfing the Internet frequently, playing games and spending too much
time on the computer, it can also lead to obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.
• Also, a person who spends too much time on the computer can face a problem like
carpal tunnel syndrome as a computer requires a lot of repetitive movement.
• You are required to move your body parts to operate the computer, for example,
typing and moving hand to the mouse are repetitive actions that can cause injuries
7. Depression, loneliness, and social isolation
• The Internet also becomes a reason lead to depression as many people tend to
compare their lives with others on social networking sites. Social networking sites
provide users the option to make thousands of friends and communicate with each
other.
• Although social networking sites can give you benefits to find new connections
all over the world, you may find yourself disconnected from your real-life friends.
8. Buying things that you don't need
• The Internet provides advantages for consumers to make purchasing, so users can
purchase products frequently without putting much thought into whether they
should. Also, some people can be addicted to buying items on the Internet that can
cause serious debt.