ELT 2 COMPUTING HOMEWORK

 The internet is what makes up part of our everyday lives, be that at work or school. its how

we shop, listen to music, communicate, apply for jobs

and find out about what's happening in the world.

without it our society would be a very different place. the

internet is made up of millions of computers all over the

world that are digitally connected to each other by cable, fibre or wireless links.

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

DOMAIN NAMES AND IP ADDRESSES

Domain name (www.bbc.co.uk)

IP address (232.17.43.22)

Website/Webserver (bbc.co.uk)

The domain name is a website for example www.bbc.co.uk. This is used because it can easily be recognised by a human, but not as easily by a computer. So…

It gets transferred into the IP address, which is a set of numerical data that the computer can understand and use to find the website or webserver…

Allowing us to use the website to our hearts content (until the wireless crashes that is!)

The Domain Name is a link to the IP address which allows the computer to effectively locate the webserver on the internet. Although the link does not contain any actual information it points to the place where the IP address comes from ( a bit like a sign post)!

DOMAIN NAMES AND IP ADDRESSES

To summarize The domain name is part of the Url but points

to the IP address. Each part of the

domain name provides specific

information which enables the web

browser to locate the web page. This is

why all domain names and IP

addresses must be individual. We pay

for our own domain name for our email,

but we don’t actually own it, however

there is no other domain name the

same as ours.

Domain

Name

Webserver

DATA PACKETS AND PACKET SWITCHING

When you want to receive information online (for example googling something) your computer sends a request to the web server for the information. This request for information is sent in what we call a packet, and is done through the process packet switching. This is like a little parcel that carries important information; this information being the IP address of your computer and the IP address of the web server that the information is stored on! Some special computers called routers direct the packet from your computer to the web server, whether its close by in Lancashire or the other side of the world!

Webserver (to retrieve information)!

Request for information (packet)

Computer IP

Webserver IP

DATA PACKETS AND PACKET SWITCHING

Once the packet has arrived the webserver opens it and reads the request sent by your computer (please send me this information). Sometimes chunks of information are quite large so the packet of information gets split up into lots of packets, which all include information about how they should be put back together (like an instruction Manuel) .

Often it is quicker to get the

information back to your computer

by taking different routes

so they don’t always arrive in the same order they were sent.

All the while routers and

switches direct them just like a postman! Once

the packets have reached your

computer they can easily be put

back together and this whole

process can take less than a

second!

ROUTERS

But when your are surfing the internet if only two people could assess something life would be ridiculously complicated. This is why all the computers can send information to each other down different routes. The information being sent is directed around the internet by Routers. So when a data packet arrives the router reads the IP address and sends the information along the best route to its destination.

When you make a phone call to someone there is a line between you which doesn’t have any other phones attached to it. This is why phone calls can only be made between two people.

LIST OF SOURCES

• http://whatismyipaddress.com/domain-name gave me a really clear understanding of what a domain name is

• The internet Handbook– this was a book we originally bought for my grandma but came in pretty “handy” as it offered simple explanations of most but not all areas of this presentation

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3tbgk7 - the video on data packets was so useful, if anyone is still confused about them they should defiantly watch this video

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z8nk87h/revision/3 - gave me a really good introduction and over view of the internet

• The Oxford Dictionary – as crazy as it sounds this was so useful as it helped explain difficult terminology I found on websites