The Internet is probably the most complex system ever devised by humans. As such, understanding how it works can be a challenge. Most of us would rather not think about what happens between the sending and receiving of an email, or between typing in a Web address and seeing information on the screen. Fortunately, the Internet is based on a few simple core principles.

At its most basic, the Internet is a collection of thousands of computer networks, all of which have to cooperate and allow data to pass among them using defined communication protocols. The most important thing to understand is that the Internet is not a giant computer run by a giant corporation.

In fact, nobody “runs” the Internet or owns it. The Internet is completely decentralized, and it was designed that way from the beginning. However, it wasn’t always meant to be available to the public. The idea of the Internet came from the U.S. military, which wanted to create a computer network that would remain stable even in the event of a catastrophe like a nuclear attack against key communication centers. The key to developing such an invulnerable network was to develop a packet-switched network.

In a packet-switched network, data is broken into tiny pieces (about 1500 characters each) called “packets” and the packets are sent along their way. Each packet contains a header that includes (among other things) the sender’s address, the recipient’s address, and the packet order. When the data arrives at its destination, the packets are reassembled and made available for the recipient 10 use.

The common languages of the Internet are known as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which breaks apart and reassembles data packets, and Internet Protocol (IP), which routes data. Collectively they are known as TCP/IP. This protocol tells packets how to split apart, properly find their way to their destination, and get reassembled.

Websites are no more or less than a series of files (text, images, etc) that can be interpreted by a Web browser and made available to the public. These files need to be stored on a server. In this context, think of a server as a large storage device with a fairly permanent connection to the Internet. Your own computer’s hard drive could function as a server, but generally your computer will not be on all the time, nor will it have a very speedy connection to the Internet (by core networking standards). Because real commercial servers are quite expensive, with large and fast storage drives, redundant systems, firewall protection, etc, most small businesses outsource their Web storage to a Web-hosting service.

For a monthly fee, a Web-hosting service gives you a large chunk of storage space with access to the Internet. The Web-hosting account can be used for many purposes: websites, file-sharing archives (FTP), streaming media, and email. If you have a website, a Web-hosting account is good because you have much more control over the files than you have with the free website space provided with most ISP accounts. Also, if you have a Web-hosting account, you can easily set your domain name to be connected so that you receive emails, and you can distribute the Web space and email accounts among multiple users.

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