The Internet is the largest network in the world, connecting millions of computers, servers and devices across the globe. The word Internet comes from "interconnected networks". It allows people to share information, communicate, shop, learn and entertain themselves from anywhere in the world. The Internet was originally developed by the United States Department of Defense as ARPANET in 1969, and it later grew into a worldwide network. Today the Internet is an essential part of education, business, banking and daily life.
To use the Internet, we need a computer or smartphone, a connection such as broadband or Wi-Fi, and software like a web browser. The Internet gives us the World Wide Web (WWW) for viewing web pages, email for sending messages, and many other services such as social media, online shopping and video calls. This chapter explains what the Internet is, how to connect to it, the web browser, websites and web pages, URLs, web browsers and search engines, downloading and uploading, and the services offered by the Internet.
A network is a group of two or more computers connected together to share data and resources. The simplest network is a LAN (Local Area Network), which connects computers in a small area like a school, office or home. A MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) covers a city, and a WAN (Wide Area Network) covers a large area such as a country or the whole world. The Internet is the biggest WAN, connecting billions of computers. Networks allow users to share files, printers and an Internet connection, and to communicate with each other.
To connect to the Internet we need an Internet Service Provider (ISP), which is a company that provides Internet connections, such as Jio, Airtel or BSNL. The common ways of connecting are broadband, which uses a cable or optical fibre and is fast and always on; Wi-Fi, which connects devices wirelessly through a router; and mobile data, which uses the mobile phone network. The connection can be wired using cables or wireless using radio signals. The speed of the Internet is measured in bits per second, and faster connections are measured in Mbps (megabits per second).
The World Wide Web is a collection of billions of web pages that can be viewed using the Internet. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 at CERN. The Web is often confused with the Internet, but they are different: the Internet is the physical network of computers, while the World Wide Web is the collection of pages we view through that network. We access web pages using a web browser, which is software such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Safari. Each web page has a unique address called a URL.
A web page is a single document on the Web that can contain text, pictures, videos and links. A website is a collection of related web pages belonging to one organisation or person, such as www.school.com. The first page of a website is called the home page. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a resource on the Web. A URL has several parts: the protocol (http or https), the domain name (like google.com), and the path to a specific page. The parts of a URL are separated by symbols such as :// and /. The domain name identifies the website, and its extension tells the type, such as .com for commercial, .org for organisations and .in for India.
A web browser is software used to display web pages, and a search engine is a website that helps us find information on the Web. Google, Bing and Yahoo are popular search engines. When we type a word or phrase, called a search query, the search engine shows a list of matching websites called search results. A hyperlink (or link) is text or an image that, when clicked, takes us to another page or website. Browsers also have a bookmark or favourite feature to save the addresses of pages we visit often.
Downloading means copying a file from the Internet to our computer, such as downloading a photo or a document. Uploading means sending a file from our computer to a server on the Internet, such as uploading a photo to social media or a project to the school portal. Both are done through the browser or dedicated software. Files downloaded from the Internet should be scanned with antivirus software before use, because they may contain viruses.
The Internet offers many services. Email lets us send messages instantly. The World Wide Web provides information. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram let us connect with friends. E-commerce websites let us shop online, and online banking lets us manage money. E-learning sites and video calling tools help us study and meet people. Online games, music and movies provide entertainment, and cloud storage lets us save files on remote servers. All these services have made the Internet the most powerful tool of the modern world.
| Network | Area covered | Example |
|---|---|---|
| LAN | Small area like a school or office | Computer lab network |
| MAN | A city | City-wide network |
| WAN | A country or the world | The Internet |
| Part | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | https:// | Rules for transferring data |
| Domain name | google.com | Address of the website |
| Extension | .com, .org, .in | Type or country of site |
| Path | /search | Specific page on the site |
The Internet is the world's largest network, connecting billions of computers and devices. We connect to it through an ISP using broadband, Wi-Fi or mobile data. On the Internet we use the World Wide Web, invented by Tim Berners-Lee, to view websites and web pages that have unique addresses called URLs. Browsers and search engines help us find and display information, and downloading and uploading move files in and out. With services like email, social media, e-commerce and e-learning, the Internet has transformed communication and learning, which leads naturally to the study of email in the next chapter.