The Internet: A Primer

Most people don't put a lot of thought into what exactly the internet is. It is, after all, a series of tubes, and that's all we need to know. But what exactly is happening behind the scenes when you visit a webpage? This is a bit fuzzier. Most people don't think about it, and that's fine. However, if they had to draw a map of what happens beyond their computer, it would most likely look something like this:



Click the picture to see it in its full glory.

Somehow, when a computer is plugged into an outlet or modem, beams are sent though time and space, propelled by gremlins or something extremely sci-fi, to end up at the Internet Building. In it are lots of little tubes, like so:



This tube in particular has that Dramatic Chipmunk video on Youtube, but it could easily be anything. Amazon, Google, even this blog! Nobody knows where the Internet Building is (Probably somewhere in the Pentagon), but it's the reason we can stay connected.

That's the general idea that most people have, and while it isn't true, it's at least plausible. Hell, it'd probably be simpler to have just a huge Internet Building somewhere. I'd offer to administrate it. In reality, the Internet isn't in a central location. It's just a bunch of servers, workstations, and personal computers linked together, with no regard for location. When you view a web page, a request is sent out to some server in Bumfuck, Wherever, and a reply is sent back, containing the requested information. It's that simple.

Of course, you may be wondering, "That's all fine and good, Oh Mighty Bringer of Knowlege, but how do you connect to that server?" and while I appreciate the title, it's a bit long, so please just call me "Your Awesomeness." Well, that's slightly more complicated, and it has to do with this little guy:

This is a router, which is probably one of the more important pieces of equipment in networking. More on that later, though. Suffice to say, this little guy's important.

Now you know the basics of the Internet. Until next time, I'll be here, defending the Internet Tubes from those vicious LAN Dragons.