What does Internet mean?
The internet is a globally connected network system that uses TCP/IP to transmit data via various types of media. The internet is a network of global exchanges – including private, public, business, academic and government networks – connected by guided, wireless and fiber-optic technologies.
The terms internet and World Wide Web are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same thing; the internet refers to the global communication system, including hardware and infrastructure, while the web is one of the services communicated over the internet.
As computing advanced, peer-to-peer (P2P) communication was gradually delivered and enhanced. Since the 1990s, the internet has greatly influenced and upgraded networking to global standards. Billions of internet users rely on multiple application and networking technologies, including:
Internet Protocol (IP): The internet’s primary component and communications backbone. Because the internet is comprised of hardware and software layers, the IP communication standard is used to address schemes and identify unique connected devices. Prominent IP versions used for communications include Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
Communications: The internet is the most cost-effective communications method in the world, in which the following services are instantly available:
- Web-enabled audio/video conferencing services
- Online movies and gaming
- Data transfer/file-sharing, often through File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- Instant messaging
- Internet forums
- Social networking
- Online shopping
- Financial services
The internet originated with the U.S. government, which began building a computer network in the 1960s known as ARPANET. In 1985, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) commissioned the development of a university network backbone called NSFNET.
The system was replaced by new networks operated by commercial internet service providers in 1995. The internet was brought to the public on a larger scale at around this time.
History of the Internet
The ARPANet, the predecessor of the Internet, was first deployed in 1969. In 1983, the ARPANet transitioned into using the TCP/IP open networking protocol suite and in 1985, the National Science Foundation Network (NSFN) designed the network to connect university computer science departments around the country.Communications over the Internet greatly improved in 1989 when the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) was created, giving different computer platforms the ability to connect to the same Internet sites. In 1993, the Mosaic Web browser was created.
The Internet has continued to grow and evolve over the years of its existence. IPv6, for example, was designed to anticipate enormous future expansion in the number of available IP addresses. In a related development, the IoT is the burgeoning environment in which almost any entity or object can be provided with a unique identified (UID) and the ability to transfer data automatically over the Internet.
Difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet
The key difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW or the Web) is that the Internet is a global connection of networks while the Web is a collection of information that can be accessed using the Internet. In other words, the Internet is the infrastructure and the Web is a service on top.
The Web is the most widely used part of the Internet. Its outstanding feature is hypertext, a method of instant cross-referencing. In most Web sites, certain words or phrases appear in text of a different color than the rest; often this text is also underlined. When a user selects one of these words or phrases, they will be transferred to the related site or page. Buttons, images, or portions of images are also used as hyperlinks.
The Web provides access to billions of pages of information. Web browsing is done through a Web browser, the most popular of which are Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. The appearance of a particular Web site may vary slightly depending on the browser used. Later or more updated versions of a particular browser are able to render more complex features, such as animation, virtual reality, sound and music files.

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