<b> Internet </b>

Internet

The Internet is the most commonly used term in today’s world and plays a very important role in the everyday life of people. But there are many questions, answers to which people need to know. In this article, we shall help you find answers to these questions; discuss the evolution of the Internet, its usage, benefits, history and how the Internet works.

Question: What is the Internet?

Answer: A global system of interconnected computers, using a standardised Internet Protocol suite for communication and sharing information is called the Internet.

Question: What is ISP?

Answer: ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. This helps in providing direct access for using the internet from your office or home, connected through landlines. With the introduction of Wi-fi and broadband, connecting to the Internet has become wireless.

Question: What is the World Wide Web?

Answer: World Wide Web or ‘www’ is a collection of webpages which can easily be published on the Internet and read by millions of its users. To know the difference between World Wide Web (www) and Internet, candidates can visit the linked article.

Question: What is an IP address?

Answer: The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identification code assigned for any device connected to a network. It acts as an identification interface for Internet users.

Question: What is a Web Browser?

Answer: A web browser is a software application for accessing the information on the World Wide Web. The commonly used web browsers include Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.

History and Evolution of the Internet

The Internet completely revolutionised communication and technology across the Globe. Initially, computerised devices were only used for large industries but later its usage increased massively.

It is also mandatory for people to know that it is not possible for a single person to develop something as broad and wide as the Internet all by himself/herself. It was a combined effort of multiple researchers and programmers that the Internet was discovered.

Given below are a few important points which played an extremely important role in the development of the Internet and making it one of the most widely used resources across the world.

The first development was the introduction of host-to-host network interactions. This was first observed in ARPANET in 1969. It was developed by Advanced Research Projects Agency (APRA) of the Department of Defence, U.S. It was one of the first general usage of computer networks.
Next step was commercialising the usage and making the transistors and transmitters fit in smaller devices for convenient Internet usage for the general public. This was introduced in the 1970s
Moving forward, satellites and wireless communication was the main target. Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (formerly ARPA), supported satellite-based radio packets for mobile usage of networks
The next was the development of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). This enabled different machines and networks across the world to assemble data packets. It was in the 1980s that the TCP/IP approach was adapted by researchers and technologists, following the footsteps of the U.S. Department of Defence
With the introduction of personal computers, the demand for commercial Internet usage increased. This was the time when Ethernet and other Local Area Networks cam in the foreground
In 1993, the web browser was introduced, which followed the point-and-click approach and is now a widely used operation for Internet users
The late 1990s was the time when thousands of Internet Service Providers has taken up the market and most of them were from the U.S.
And then the 21st century brought in an amalgamation of technology and wireless Internet accessibility for its users. Wherein, wireless broadband services came in as a boon for Internet users.

Ways To Connect To Internet

The different ways in which one can connect to the Internet are discussed below in brief:

Dial-Up – In such connections, users are required to link their phone line to a computer to access the Internet. Under this connection, the user cannot make or receive phone calls through tier home phone service

Broadband – Provided either through cable or phone companies, Broadband is a high-speed internet connection which is widely used today

Wireless Connection – Wi-fi and Mobile service providers fall under this category. Internet connectivity is made via radio waves and the Internet can be connected anywhere, irrespective of the location. Given below are a few examples of wireless connection:
- Wi-fi – Wireless Fidelity or wi-fi allows high-speed internet connectivity without the use of wires
- Mobile Phones – All smartphones are now equipped with an option for Internet connectivity which can be availed using Internet vouchers and packs. No external connection or wire is required for these
- Satellite – Where broadband connections are unavailable, satellites are used for wireless Internet connectivity
- Integrated Services Digital Network – ISDN allows users to sent audio or video data using telephone lines.

Internet Connection Protocols

Protocols are a set of rules that help in governing the way in which any particular body or technology works.

Internet Connection Protocols can be divided into three major types:

TCP/IP Network Model – Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) are the most widely used protocols for connecting networks. It divides any message into a series of packets which are sent from source to destination
File Transfer Protocol – Program files, multimedia files, text files, documents, etc. can be transferred from one device to another, using FTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol – Used for transferring a hypertext from one device to two or more devices. HTML tags are used for creating links and these links may be in the form of text or images

Pros and Cons of Using the Internet

Intentionally or unintentionally, Internet usage is a part in the day to day lives of every individual. The Internet has made lives easy and comfortable, but at the same time made human being dependable for the smallest or biggest of information. Discussed below are the uses of the internet, along with a few cons that it brings along.

Pros of Internet

Easy Access to Information – Information on anything and everything are available online. The Internet makes it convenient to learn about new things at any point in time and get details on various subjects, irrespective of time and place
Platform for Online Education – With the advanced technology, even students and adults wish to learn new things and gaining knowledge at various online portals has become more accessible
Job Hunting – Employers can look for employees on the internet and the job seekers can apply online for jobs using the Internet
Platform to become an Entrepreneur – Today, thousands of people have started their own websites and getting good business and users/customers by making their own websites and selling products or services. This has become accessible due to Internet connectivity
Visual and Graphical Representation of Things – Various researches have shown that a person tends to get more engaged with a graphical representation of things. Internet has made this facility also convenient for both user and creator
Reduced the parameter of Distance – Social media has reduced the distance between people as communication has become much easier because of Internet connection

With the Internet being an extremely essential part of daily life, it is important that a person is well aware of the disadvantages of the Internet and its excess usage.

Cons of Internet

Dependency – The dependency of people for looking things and information online has increased massively since the introduction of Internet and its easy access
Cyber Crime – People do not just use internet for learning purposes, cybercrime has also been at a distinctive high because of effortless availability of resources
Distraction – People can easily find online games, interesting information, etc. online which may be a cause of distraction for may
Bullying and Trolls – Online platforms are being used for unethical practises like bullying people and trolling them.

Difference Between WWW and Internet

WWW (World Wide Web)	Internet
The World Wide Web is the common system for navigating the internet. It is not the only system that can be used for such access, but it is by far the most common one.	The internet is a public network of network with a maze of wired and wireless connections between separate groups of servers computers and countless devices from around the world
The World Wide Web is distinguished from other systems through its use of HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). It can be safely said that the HTTP is the language of the World Wide Web	Along with Internters, there also exist the Intranets, which is the same type of information network but more privatized in order to control access.
WWW is more software-oriented as compared to the Internet	Internet is primarily hardware-based.
The HTTP along with being the language of the World Wide Web also governs it by dealing with linking of files, documents and other resources	The internet is governed by a set of rules and regulations collectively known as Internet Protocol (IP). The IP deals with data transmitted through the internet.
The invention of the World Wide Web can be credited to Sir Tim Berners Lee. During his work at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in 1989, he had developed the basic idea of the WWW to merge the evolving technologies of computers, data networks and hypertext into a powerful and easy to use global information system.	The first workable prototype of the Internet was the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network) in the late 1960s. After its adoption on January 1st 1983, researchers began to develop a “network of networks” which evolved into the modern form of the Internet

Differences between Firewall and Antivirus

Firewall	Antivirus
A firewall is a security network designed to protect computer systems and networks from malicious attacks.	Antivirus is is a software utility program designed to protect a system from internal attacks from viruses, trojan horse, spyware etc
The general term used for a firewall is “packet filter” because it filters any incoming data packets for suspicious contents.	Antivirus identifies and corrects any weaknesses found in the computer system.
The main purpose of a firewall is to monitor network traffic and restrict any unauthorized entry	The main function of an antivirus is to scan, detect, prevent and remove any existential threat to the computer system
A firewall works at a network protocol level to safeguard against any unwanted intrusion	An antivirus will only scan for any harmful programs that are present in the system such as viruses, worms, Trojans etc
One of the limitations of a firewall is that it cannot block any internal attacks and also those attacks that bypass its network coverage	One of the limitations of an antivirus is that it is cannot check read-only files.
DEC SEAL was the first commercially viable firewall program that came out in 1992. Its creation was spearheaded by American computer scientists Brian Reed and Jeff Mogul.	The first documented removal of a computer virus was by an actual antivirus software was in 1987 when a German computer security expert, Bernard Robert Fix, created a programme to remove a virus that had infected files in a DOS-based system

Web Browser : A software application used to access information on the World Wide Web is called a Web Browser. When a user requests some information, the web browser fetches the data from a web server and then displays the webpage on the user’s screen.

History of Web Browser

Today web browsers are easily accessible and can be used on devices like computer, laptops, mobile phones, etc. but this evolution of making browsers available for easy use took many years.

Given below are some salient points which one must know with regard to the history of web browsers:

“WorldWideWeb” was the first web browser created by Tim Berners Lee in 1990. This is completely different from the World Wide Web we use today
In 1993, the “Mosaic” web browser was released. It had the feature of adding images and an innovative graphical interface. It was the “the world’s first popular browser”
After this, in 1994, Marc Andreessen (leader of Mosaic Team) started working on a new web browser, which was released and was named “Netscape Navigator”
In 1995, “Internet Explorer” was launched by Microsoft. It soon overtook as the most popular web browser
In 2002, “Mozilla Firefox” was introduced which was equally as competent as Internet Explorer
Apple too launched a web browser in the year 2003 and named it “Safari”. This browser is commonly used in Apple devices only and not popular with other devices
Finally, in the year 2008, Google released “Chrome” and within a time span of 3 years it took over all the other existing browsers and is one of the most commonly used web browsers across the world.

Functions of Web Browser

Our dependency on the Internet has massively increased. Stated below are functions of web browsers and how are they useful:

The main function is to retrieve information from the World Wide Web and making it available for users
Visiting any website can be done using a web browser. When a URL is entered in a browser, the web server takes us to that website
To run Java applets and flash content, plugins are available on the web browser
It makes Internet surfing easy as once we reach a website we can easily check the hyperlinks and get more and more useful data online
Browsers user internal cache which gets stored and the user can open the same webpage time and again without losing extra data
Multiple webpages can be opened at the same time on a web browser
Options like back, forward, reload, stop reload, home, etc. are available on these web browsers, which make using them easy and convenient.

Types of Web Browser

The functions of all web browsers are the same. Thus, more than the different types there are different web browsers which have been used over the years.

Discussed below are different web browser examples and their specific features:

1. WorldWideWeb

The first web browser ever
Launched in 1990
It was later named “Nexus” to avoid any confusion with the World Wide Web
Had the very basic features and less interactive in terms of graphical interface
Did not have the feature of bookmark

2. Mosaic

It was launched in 1993
The second web browser which was launched
Had a better graphical interface. Images, text and graphics could all be integrated
It was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
The team which was responsible for creating Mosaic was lead by Marc Andreessen
It was named “the world’s first popular browser”

3. Netscape Navigator

It was released in 1994
In the 1990s, it was the dominant browser in terms of usage share
More versions of this browser were launched by Netscape
It had an advanced licensing scheme and allowed free usage for non-commercial purposes

4. Internet Explorer

It was launched in 1995 by Microsoft
By 2003, it has attained almost 95% of usage share and had become the most popular browsers of all
Close to 10 versions of Internet Explorer were released by Microsoft and were updated gradually
It was included in the Microsoft Windows operating system
In 2015, it was replaced with “Microsoft Edge”, as it became the default browser on Windows 10

5. Firefox

It was introduced in 2002 and was developed by Mozilla Foundation
Firefox overtook the usage share from Internet Explorer and became the dominant browser during 2003-04
Location-aware browsing was made available with Firefox
This browser was also made available for mobile phones, tablets, etc.

6. Google Chrome

It was launched in 2008 by Google
It is a cross-platform web browser
Multiple features from old browsers were amalgamated to form better and newer features
To save computers from malware, Google developed the ad-blocking feature to keep the user data safe and secure
Incognito mode is provided where private searching is available where no cookies or history is saved
Till date, it has the best user interface