A Brief Overview of Internet Architecture

The Internet is an international high-speed data link that links computer systems around the globe. It contains a number of high-speed data lines which contain the Internet “backbone.” These lines are linked to various Internet hubs that transmit data to other areas, including user sites, servers, and ISPs. Because of the large amount of bandwidth available to users, Internet connections are fast and provide for a large variety of uses.

Broadband internet connection is usually via a telephone line. The Internet backbone also consists of digital packet transmission via radio waves. Packet protocols determine how Internet connections work and are subject to change with technology. An IP (Internet Protocol) address identifies computers on the networks. The IP address is assigned by the host computer when it is connected to the Internet and remains until either the host computer transfers it to a different location or the connection is broken.

As an example, the most popular types of protocols are TCP/IP, HTTP, and SMTP. Each type of protocols has its own purpose and is widely used in the world wide web. Some popular examples of these protocols are as follows: TCP/IP, Hypertext Transfer Protocol, JavaServer Pages, NetELYAP, ICMP, POP/SMTP, and XML. There are other protocols that are not commonly used, however they may be in development and be ready to use by the masses sometime in the near future.

The Internet backbone is not the only thing that makes the Internet work. Other things that make the Internet work include web browsers, access to email servers, and access to various websites. Web browsers refer to software programs that allow a user to access a web page through the Internet. Email servers allow users to send and receive emails. Web mail servers act as a way to deliver messages from a web browser to a specific recipient, while websites allow a user to view web pages through the World Wide Web.

All of these different types of servers and web pages are connected together through a web search engine. The web search engine takes the files that are linked together and makes them available for users to search for information on. The results that are returned from the search are based on the popularity of each link, and are also often personalized to show the preferences of the person doing the searching.

The Internet backbone and all the different protocols that make up the Internet are governed by a set of standards known as IP packets. These packets of data are transferred along the Internet using a transfer protocol. Transfer protocols are required so that all the different protocols can work properly, and so that the protocols can follow and work correctly when sent through the Internet. An example of a transfer protocol is the HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language.