What the internet is

The internet is simply a network of networks. At school, we are part of a local area network (LAN), but we connect to the Internet using an ISP or internet service provider. When we connect to our ISP, we become part of their network. The ISP may then connect to a larger network and become part of their network.

Computers network through wires or cables (although satellites and radio waves can carry information a limited distance). The Learning Centre Teacher's computer here at school (for instance) is attached by cable to our network of cables within the walls. This then goes to a modem attached to a phone line. The phone line can then "ring up" other computers attached to the internet, and see information on those computers - even if they are in China or the United States.

There are lots of different paths that this connection could take, and routers do an important job. They are like computers that send the messages from one computer to another through various pathways.

You can see that there are many different paths that messages between computers could take, and the router is what determines the best path is. What is incredible about this process is that a message can leave one computer and travel halfway across the world through several different networks and arrive at another computer in a fraction of a second!

Internet addresses

The internet is a world wide web of computers, called the World Wide Web (of course!). That is why URLs (which are the instructions of where to go on the internet, or internet addresses) often start with www. When the Internet was just starting, it consisted of a small number of computers hooked together with modems and telephone lines. You could only make connections by providing the IP address of the computer you wanted to establish a link with. For example, a typical IP address might be 216.27.22.162. This was fine when there were only a few hosts out there, but it became unwieldy as more and more systems came online. People couldn't remember the numbers, so now addresses are www.apple.co.nz and so on.

What is an intranet?

At Puhinui School we have an intranet. That means it is rather like the internet, but just within our LAN. Only people on computers at school can access our server and see the sites on our intranet. The sites on your intranet were made especially for you, mainly by Miss Currie.