The Internet and ‘The Web’ PDF Print E-mail
Written by Praem Rambharak   
Saturday, 03 March 2012 12:52
MANY people use the terms Internet and World Wide Web (aka. the Web or www) interchangeably, but this usage is technically incorrect. The Internet and the Web are two separate but related things. The ‘NET’
This is a massive hardware combination of millions of personal, business, and governmental computers, all connected like roads and highways. The Internet started sometime in the 1960s under the original name ‘ARPAnet’ which was originally an experiment in how the US military could maintain communications. As personal computers (PC) became more mainstreamed in the 1980s and 1990s, the Internet grew exponentially as more users plugged their computers into the massive network. Today, the Internet has grown into a public spider web of millions of computers and devices, all connected by cables and by wireless signals.
WWW: What is it?
The World Wide Web, or simply The Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet, and support specially formatted documents in a script called Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML). It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet. The Web uses the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) as one of its languages spoken over the Internet. The Web also utilizes browsers such as the Internet Explorer or Firefox to access Web documents, called Web pages, which also contain graphics, sounds, and video. However, not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.

Common types of Internet services
Technology changes at a rapid pace, so do Internet connections. There is a NEED for SPEED.

Dial-up (up to 56k): Both economical and slow, this type sends 56,000 bits (0 or 1) through the copper (telephone) wire in one second.  Using a dial-up modem connected to their PC, users connect to the Internet when the computer dials a phone number and connects to the network. Dial-up is an analog connection; if you surf on the Internet, nobody can call you, because the line is busy. As dial-up access uses ordinary telephone lines, the data rates are limited and the quality of the connection is not always good. It’s one of the first Internet services used in Guyana.

ISDN: Integrated services digital network (ISDN) is an international communications standard for sending voice, video, and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires. Typical ISDN speeds range from 64 Kbps to 128 Kbps.

B-ISDN: Broadband ISDN is similar in function to ISDN, but it transfers data over fibre-optic telephone lines, not normal telephone wires. This is much faster than ISDN.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is also called “always on connection” because it uses existing 2-wire copper telephone lines connected to the premises and will not tie up your phone as a dial-up connection does. There is no need to “dial-in/up”, as DSL is always on. The two main categories of DSL for home subscribers are called ADSL and SDSL. Using a router or network switch, multiple computers can access the Internet from the same DSL modem. 

Cable: Cable Internet works by using TV channel space for data transmission. Because the coaxial cable used by cable TV provides much greater bandwidth than telephone lines, a cable modem can be used to achieve extremely fast access.Cable speeds range from 512 Kbps to *20 Mbps. Now we’re talking speed!

Wireless broadband: This type of Internet uses radio frequency instead of telephone or cable. Wireless Internet can be accessed from anywhere as long as your WIFI adaptor is located within a network coverage area. It also provides an always-on connection.
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) works similarly to WiFi in that it transmits information via airwaves, but it handles network traffic more efficiently. This technology penetrates building walls much more effectively, and can be used across larger distances than WiFi. This technology is still considered to be relatively new in Guyana.

Fibre-Optic: cables convert electrical signals carrying data into light, and send this light through tiny transparent glass fibres. This method is extremely quick and has little interference. It is more expensive than others. Its speed is dependent on how close the fibres are to one's computer, the amount of bandwidth available, and how the service is configured.

Satellite broadband:Satellites in geostationary orbits are able to relay broadband data from the satellite company to each customer. Satellite Internet is usually among the most expensive ways of gaining broadband Internet access, but in rural areas it may be the only choice.

Who owns the Internet?
There are many organizations, corporations, governments, schools, private citizens and service providers that all own pieces of the infrastructure, but there is no one body that owns it all.

The Internet has the potential to make your life simple and convenient; it can also wreak havoc in your life. Its influence is mostly dictated by the choices you make while you are online. With clever use, you can manage to harness its unlimited potential. It can be constructively or destructively used…the choice lies at your fingertips!
Question of the week: What is Bandwidth?
Email answers to: computer.resources@rocketmail.com
 

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