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Can you imagine going more than a day without using the internet (which not only includes web surfing but also, checking e-mail, gaming, downloading anything, tweeting, and Facebooking). We are so much more dependent on internet service than we think. Given that Fact, it is amazing how little we know about this service that powers our everyday activities so much. It all has to start somewhere:
- Computers are our gateway to the internet (which includes other computer related devices like smartphones and tablets). Computers are considered a piece of hardware which also encompasses things like modems, Ethernet cables, and wireless routers. When you access the internet, there are two computers communicating with each other. There is your computer known as the ‘client’ which is requesting information. By that I mean when you open a browser and it takes you to a website like this blog , that is your computer asking the internet to find that web address. That request is being sent to another computer which has the information for that website stored. Those computers are known as servers. Server computers are like storage facilities that hold the information for a website and when someone looks for that website, the server computer sends it out to the client computer. Hopefully, I haven’t confused you.
- Protocols are needed to regulate how computers communicate with each other. Protocols are basically rules that computers and other internet enabled devices follow in order to be able to share information. If protocols where not used, then computers (clients and servers) would have to be directly/ physically connected to each other in order for for information to be passed. Protocols create a common language between computers which allows us to find a website housed on a server without having to be directly connected to it. You have seen protocols at work many many times. Look up at the address bar…. Do you notice that at very first letters of this URL (url is another name for web address) are http? Those first four letters are an example of a protocol. This protocol creates that common language that allows any client computer (like yours) to request and access a website housed on a server computer (like the one that holds the information for this post you are reading). You have probably also heard of an IP address. This is used to give your computer a unique address that allows servers to send you the information you are requesting. Think of it this way, if you didn’t have an IP address to identify your client computer, server computers would get the request that you want to access a website but they wouldn’t know where to send the website information. Protocols also tell your computers how to display a website. Its like a puzzle. They way this blog site is laid out is all do to protocols (and coding).
The complexity of the internet is far and beyond my realm of understanding but you can always use the internet to find more information about it. One last piece of information: your ISP (internet service provider) plays a big role in not only connecting you to the internet cloud but also in how fast you can surf through it. Fiber optic technology brings the bestr out of ISPs and Uverse is AT&Ts best attribute to date.
Related articles
- World Wide Web (techenglish.wordpress.com)
- Servers: The Content Providers of The Internet (computersight.com)
- A Cloudy Forecast for Libraries. By Marshall Breeding. THE SYSTEMS LIBRARIAN: 6 September 2011 (infotoday.com)
