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5.8: The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets

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    The Internet

    The Internet is an overall assortment of interconnected networks (internetworks or web for short).

    A portion of the LAN models is associated with one another through a WAN association. WANs are then associated with one another. The WAN association lines speak to all the assortments of ways we interface networks. WANs can connect through copper wires, fiber optic cables, and wireless transmissions.

    No individual or group doesn't own the Internet. Guaranteeing compelling correspondence over this various framework requires the use of steady and generally perceived advances and norms, just as the collaboration of many network organization offices. Some associations have been produced to keep up the structure and normalization of Internet conventions and procedures. These organizations incorporate the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), in addition to numerous others.

    Have you ever wondered how your smartphone can function the way it does? Have you ever wondered how you can search for information on the web and find it within milliseconds? The world’s largest implementation of client/server computing and internetworking is the Internet.

    The world’s largest implementation of client/server computing and internetworking is the Internet. The internet is also a system, which is the most extensive public way of communicating. The internet began in the 20th century; it initially started as a network for the U.S Department of Defense to globally connect university professors and scientists. Most small businesses and homes have access to the internet by subscribing to an internet service provider (ISP), a commercial organization with a permanent connection to the internet, which sells temporary connections to retail subscribers. For example, AT&T, NetZero, and T-Mobile. A DSL (Digital subscriber line) operates over existing telephone lines to carry data, voice, and video transmission rates. The base of the internet is TCP/IP networking protocol suite. When two users on the internet exchange messages, each message is decomposed into packets using the TCP/IP protocol.

    Have you ever wondered what happens when you type a URL in the browser and press enter? The browser checks a DNS record in the cache to find the corresponding IP address to the domain. First, you type in a specific URL into your browser. The browser then checks the cache for a DNS record to find the website's corresponding IP address. If the URL is not in the cache, ISP’s (Internet Service Provider)’s DNS server starts a DNS query to find the server's IP address that hosts the website. The browser then starts a TCP connection with the server. Then, the browser sends an HTTP request to the webserver. After that, the server handles the request and sends an HTTP response back. Finally, the browser shows the HTML content. For example, www.Wikipedia.org/ has an IP address, that specific IP address could be searched starting with http:// on a browser/ The DNS contains a list of URLs, including their IP addresses.

    The DNS (Domain Name System) changes domain names into IP addresses. The domain name is the English name of the thing, and that has 32-bits which are unique and numeric to that English name. To access a computer on the internet, they only need to specify the domain name.

    Intranets and Extranets

    There are two different terms which are like the term Internet: Intranets and Extranets.

    Intranet is a term frequently used to describe a private association of LANs and WANs that has a place with an association. It is intended to be available only for approved individuals, workers, or others of an organization.

    An extranet is a term used to describe the case when an organization wants to give secure and safe access to people who work for another organization yet expect access to the association's information. Examples of extranets include:

    • An organization that is giving access to outside providers and temporary workers.
    • An emergency clinic gives a booking system to specialists so they can make arrangements for their patients.
    • A nearby office of training gives spending plans and staff data to the schools in its region.

    This page titled 5.8: The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets is shared under a CC BY 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ly-Huong T. Pham, Tejal Desai-Naik, Laurie Hammond, & Wael Abdeljabbar (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)) .