The Internet

Internet: World Wide Web:

• A worldwide network of interconnected networks • A collection of digital pages and resources which
• A physical communication infrastructure (over are stored in various locations on the internet
land, under the sea and wireless) • The WWW is accessed using a web browser

Internet Service Provider (ISP):

• Companies that provide users and organisations with access to the internet
• A monthly fee is usually charged for the service
• The ISP issues a username and password (this goes into your router)

Wireless Router:
• Connects one network to another, e.g. your home to your ISP (and the internet)
• Provides a wireless access point for devices to connect to
• Capable of ensuring that data arrives at the correct device when many are connected
• Most wireless routers also offer wired connections, allowing a flexible local area network (LAN)

Internet Protocol (IP) Address:

• A unique address given to every device on the internet
• Allows each machine on the internet to be located, and successfully communicate with others
• It is often a 32-bit number, expressed like 109.123.123.1
• Each home router is given a unique IP address by the ISP when it connects to the internet
• Each home router will then assign internal IP addresses for the devices connected to it in that location – but the
outside world (internet) only sees the IP issued by the ISP
• This means that the internal IP addresses will be unique for that LAN, but may seem the same as a device within
another LAN. This is ok.
• An IP address is often temporary (dynamic) for that internet session – it’s usually not yours to keep
• Web servers have dedicated IP addresses that remain unchanged – this costs more

Media Access Control (MAC) Address:

• Identifies the actual device connected to the network or internet
• All network devices have a unique and permanent MAC address manufactured into their network cards (both
wireless and wired)
• Expressed as hexadecimal pairings, e.g.
00 1A 3B F1 4C C2
 The Internet (2)

CSS:
• CSS code is used to control the presentation
(styling) of an HTML document
• Can be stored separately or inside the HTML
Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML): • Browsers will interpret CSS styling data
• Used when writing web pages alongside the HTML content
• HTML uses <tags> to apply meaning, e.g. • Works by specifying an HTML tag and the styles
<p>This is a short paragraph.</p> you would like applied to it, e.g.
• Provides the content and structure (layout) of a h1 {
web page, not the styling or presentation color: #2020DE;
• HTML is interpreted and translated by browsers font-size: 12px;
}

Web Server:
• Special computers that keep web pages secure and delivers them to users when requested
• They are available 24/7
• Usually have fast/dedicated internet access, needed to cope with the expected level of traffic
• Every web server has an IP address

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP):

• A set of rules (protocol) for the transmitting of Domain Name System (DNS):
data on the WWW • Like an internet phonebook
• HTTPS is the secure encrypted version of HTTP • Computers use IP addresses but humans prefer
domain names as they are easier to remember
• DNS servers allow the browser to lookup an IP
address for a web server based on the domain
Web Browser:
name in the URL
• Software application which allows a user to
retrieve and display resources from the world
wide web, such as web pages
• Web browsers interpret and translate website Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
HTML/CSS code and present the results in a • Typed directly into a web browser or forms part a
way we can understand link that can be clicked
• Usually include: bookmarks, history, back button, • A URL has three mains parts:
refresh button, address bar, home button, tabs, http:// (the protocol)
privacy options www.bbc.com (web server / domain name)
/index.html (file or resource)

Cookies:
• A small text file sent by a web server and stored on the user’s computer by the web browser
• Able to carry out user tracking, maintain user preferences, and facilitate shopping baskets etc
• Cookies are not programs and therefore cannot perform any operations
• They are not viruses or malware
• Cookies can be used to create an anonymous user profile which could be used for targeted adverts

© 2018 Computer Science GCSE GURU. This resource is protected by copyright. It may be freely copied by the
purchaser for use in a single institution on a single site only. You are not permitted to share this resource with
any third party and must ensure no unauthorised third party access via a VLE or website.