Sadia Hussain Unit 33
How the internet operates
What is the internet?
“The internet is a globally connected network system that uses TCP/IP to transmit data via
various types of media. The internet is a network of global exchanges – including private,
public, business, academic and government networks – connected by guided, wireless and
fiber-optic technologies.” The internet is the global network of computers; including private,
public, and business, academic and also government networks connected by different
technologies and is capable of exchanging complex data. Any user at any network can take
information from another computer including text, videos, voice, graphics and others. It
allows people to communicate directly to another user, simply taking information from A to
B. Many people use the internet every single day. “According to Internet Live Stats, as of
August 12, 2016 there was an estimated 3,432,809,100 Internet users worldwide. The
number of Internet users represents nearly 40 percent of the world's
population.”
Servers
A server is a computer or a device that provides service and share
resources to a client which are other computers, they are a key access
points for them. Servers allow data to be accessed hosted on its own
server or requested from another server. The computer in which the
server is programmed can also be referred as a server. Servers are
dedicated as they are often not used for other programmes other than their server tasks. “A
server is a computer, a device or a program that is dedicated to managing network
resources” There are different types of servers including mail server, web server, application
server, online gaming server, and virtual server. Large companies have server farms, which
are designed to house a large amount of servers, they generally consists of thousands of
servers, depending on the organisation. Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft all have large
server farms.
Types of connections
Before being able to use the internet, users will need to have the correct hardware and
choose their internet service providers. The different types of internet connections include
modem/dial up, broadband and fibre optic. These are the most widely known. Dial up is the
first internet connection that allows connecting to the internet through a telephone line, a
computer and a modem is required to be able to do this. The modem connects to the
internet after dialling a phone number; it uses analogue signals through the telephone line
to create a connection with the internet provider. Due to the device using the same line as
the telephone, they cannot be used at the same time, using the telephone will cut the
internet connection. This type of connection is slow but cheap. “Telephone lines are variable
in quality and the connection can be poor at times. The lines regularly experience
interference and this affects the speed, anywhere from 28K to 56K.”
The next main type of internet connection is the broadband. This type of connection uses
two lines so the telephone line is not interrupted when connected to the internet, and also
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