Internet users are a lot like car owners. They know the basics of how to use it, but they don’t really understand what goes on under the hood. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We do not have to be internet experts to make the most of our online experiences. But there are times when a little bit of extra knowledge would help.
You may be intimidated by the internet in the sense that you think it is highly complicated. It is complicated to some degree, but its core principles are pretty easy to understand. This post will attempt to explain those principles in simple English. By the time you finish reading, you should have a basic understanding of how the internet actually works.
A Huge Group of Computers
This post assumes that you have a computer or tablet at home. If not, perhaps you at least have a mobile phone. From a technical standpoint, all three types of devices are computers. They store data. That data can be shared with other computers by way of a network.
The simplest way to understand the internet, as a physical entity, is to imagine a huge group of computers all connected by wires. That is really it in a nutshell. The internet is just a global network of computers all connected.
Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses
Having hundreds of millions of computers all connected leads to a big problem: figuring out a way to get them to communicate individually rather than collectively. In other words, you only want those computers talking with one another when necessary. You don’t want them constantly chattering when they don’t have to. How is this accomplished? Through the internet protocol (IP) address.
Think of an IP address as the internet equivalent of your home address. Your home address tells the post office where to find you. It tells Amazon where to deliver your packages. In the internet world, an IP address tells one computer where to find another. This enables them to communicate only when necessary.
Domain Name System
IP addresses are perfect for computers that don’t have trouble remembering data. They are impractical for human beings. Thus, we rely on domain names like Amazon.com or Google.com. Every domain name is connected with an IP address by way of something known as the Domain Name System (DNS).
The website you are on right now has a domain name that is listed in a global registry. When you type that domain name into your browser, your browser sends a request to the registry in order to retrieve the website’s IP address. The browser is then redirected to that address.
Getting Online
Finely, your computer needs an on-ramp to gain access to the internet. That is where your internet service provider (ISP) comes in. Whenever you go online, your device connects to your ISP’s computer. From there, your computer can send and receive data.
Blazing Hog, a Texas company that provides wireless 4G internet to rural customers, explains that it is no longer necessary to have a wired connection to get online. Their service doesn’t involve wires or cables of any kind. It all functions on the same 4G technology that powers cell phones.
Hopefully you now have a basic understanding of how the internet works. It is really just a system of hundreds of millions of computers all interconnected on a network. Using the internet is nothing more than telling your computer to communicate with another computer. That communication results in web pages loading, videos being streamed, bills being paid, and whatever else you do online.
