Internet is a global platform formed by connecting millions of computers to make worldwide communication. In this chapter, we will discuss Internet and its various services that have made our modern day life easier, faster and more comfortable.

Summary

  • Internet is the largest network of networks.
  • Internet is an example of Wide Area Network (WAN).
  • Email, Video Conferencing, Search Engine, World Wide Web, and Chat are some very popular services of the Internet.

Internet

Internet is the largest network of networks formed by connecting millions of computers around the world to create a common and globally accessible platform where people can share resources and communicate with each others.

The acronym of Internet is International Network. TCP/IP are the mandatory protocols required for a computer to be connected to the Internet.

Both guided and unguided transmission media like cables, communication satellites, etc. are used to establish the Internet connection. Internet is the example of Wide Area Network (WAN).

Services of Internet

Internet has been providing numerous services. We too are utilizing almost all its services in our everyday life. Following are the essential services of Internet:

☞ World Wide Web

The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) is the essential service of the Internet. Without it, other services may not even have existed. It links the users with the servers and facilitates the exchange of data in the form of hypertext documents.

WWW was developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research).

☞ Chat (Internet Relay Chat)

Messaging in real time using different sorts of messaging software like Facebook Messenger, etc. is the application of Internet Relay Chat - a service of the Internet. You can chat in multiple ways like text, audio, or video.

☞ Usenet (Newsgroups)

Reading articles, blogs, news, posts, etc. which are written and submitted by the general people at a common portal (like websites) is the application of Usenet (User network). The NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) guides the use of Usenet.

☞ File Transfer Protocol

FTP helps to transfer files such as images, graphics, videos, etc. It is basically used in uploading and downloading files.

☞ Telnet

TelNet (Telecommunication Network) helps to communicate to a remote device. With TelNet, you can use the remote (which is located far away) computer from your own computer as long as you both are interconnected to each other.

☞ Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is a full-duplex mode of audio and video communication with the help of telecommunication technologies. People can talk to each other virtually in real-time using this service of the Internet.

Depending on the number of nodes interconnected, it is categorized into two types:

  1. Point-to-point mode: Only two locations or two nodes are interconnected.
  2. Multi-point mode: More than two locations (or nodes) are interconnected.

☞ Search Engine

Search Engine is a web-based program that retrieves and displays the data and information stored in the Internet to the user, on demand. Basically, it analyses the input keywords then searches its directories for related contents and then displays them to the users. This is an automated and extremely fast service of the Internet. Some popular search engine are Google, Yahoo, etc.

☞ Email

E-mail (Electronic mail) is a service of the Internet which allows the users to send and receive mails in an easy, economic, fast and electronic way.

Read more about Email and Email accounts.