Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast array of information resources and services, most notably the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail.


The Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage; each constituent network sets its own standards. Only the overreaching definitions of the two principal name spaces in the Internet, the Internet Protocol address space and the Domain Name System, are directed by a maintainer organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols (IPv4 and IPv6) is an activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise.


What is Internet?

The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as protocols.

What is The Web (World Wide Web)?

The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The Web uses the HTTP protocol, only one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. Web services, which use HTTP to allow applications to communicate in order to exchange business logic, use the Web to share information. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, to access Web documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.

Internet vs. Web

The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used in everyday speech without much distinction. However, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not one and the same. The Internet is a global data communications system. It is a hardware and software infrastructure that provides connectivity between computers. In contrast, the Web is one of the services communicated via the Internet. It is a collection of interconnected documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs.


The Domain Name System

Domain Name System (DNS) is a database system that translates a computer's fully qualified domain name into an IP address. Networked computers use IP addresses to locate and connect to each other, but IP addresses can be difficult for people to remember. For example, on the web, it's much easier to remember the domain name www.amazon.com than it is to remember its corresponding IP address (207.171.166.48). DNS allows you to connect to another networked computer or remote service by using its user-friendly domain name rather than its numerical IP address.



Education - EDU

Government - GOV

Military - MIL

International - INT

Network - NET

(Non-Profit) Organization - ORG

Commercial – COM


Intranet

An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.

Intranets utilize standard network hardware and software technologies like Ethernet, Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, Web browsers and Web servers. An organization's intranet typically includes Internet access but is firewalled so that its computers cannot be reached directly from the outside.



Extranet

An extranet is a private network that uses Internet protocols, network connectivity. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company, usually via the Internet.

An extranet uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses.



Advantages

• Exchange large volumes of data using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

• Share product catalogs exclusively with trade partners

• Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts

• Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies

• Provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies, such as an online banking application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated banks

• Share news of common interest exclusively

Disadvantages

• Extranets can be expensive to implement and maintain within an organization (e.g., hardware, software, employee training costs), if hosted internally rather than by an application service provider.

• Security of extranets can be a concern when hosting valuable or proprietary information.

Application of Internet

1. Blogging: A blog is used as a communication platform to interact with people. The owner of the blog can create the blog about anything of their preference

2. Shopping: Internet can be used for online shopping.

3. Networking: Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information from all around the world. A social network service creates online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others

4. E-Mail: Electronic mail or E-Mail is a electronic way of keeping in touch with someone. E-mails can be read anywhere and sent from anywhere.

5. World Wide Web. The World Wide Web is not a physical place, not a set of files, nor even a network of computers. The heart of the WEB lies in the protocols (common communication rules and languages) that define its use. The WWW uses hypertext transfer protocols (http) to transport files from one place to another.