Is Your Internet Connection Coming from the Digital Cloud or Beneath the Ocean?
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Hi folks ☀️
Today, if you were to ask someone - What is Internet and where it comes from ? , they might respond by saying it’s something stored in the "digital cloud"—a magical space that lets us Search, stream YouTube videos, send messages, and interact online. When you ask them further, where this cloud actually exists, they’ll likely give you a vague answer, mentioning satellites or something up in the sky—general, but far from accurate.
Read on, and I’ll reveal surprising insights that might completely change the way you think about the internet—starting with where it really comes from, and ending with a bonus info you won’t want to miss!
Internet
Brief History of the Internet.
The internet has come a long way since its early days. It began with ARPANET, developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the late 1960s. On October 29, 1969, the first data transmission happened between four locations: UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), SRI (Stanford Research Institute), UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara), and the University of Utah. The initial attempt was to send the word "LOGIN," but the system crashed after the letter "L" was transmitted.
This groundbreaking moment marked the beginning of data transfer across computers, eventually leading to the development of the internet as we know it today. This was the beginning of sharing information over networks, eventually leading to the global internet we use today.
What is Internet ?
Let’s start with what the internet actually is—because most people have this vague idea that it’s this magical thing floating in the “cloud.” But here’s the truth:— the internet isn’t some invisible space up in the sky. It’s a massive global network made up of physical stuff—servers, routers, and cables—that work together to transfer data from one device to another. Whether you’re sending an email, streaming a video, or simply browsing a website, your data doesn’t just magically appear—it travels through physical connections—cables running underground and even beneath the ocean!
Now , you know Internet is just the travel of data from on device to another —— the device which request information (data) is called Client and the device which responds is called Server.
Likewise , when multiple devices communicate with each other, that’s called the internet—simple as that! But , here’s something most people don’t realize: the data we send and receive doesn’t magically float through the air. Instead, it travels through physical connections—fiber-optic cables that run beneath cities, across countries, and even under the ocean. These cables carry huge amounts of data at incredibly fast speeds, using light signals to transmit information.
You might be wondering, who lays down these undersea cables? Well, major telecommunications companies like Amazon, SubCom, TE Subcom, and Alcatel-Lucent (now part of Nokia) are the ones responsible for building and maintaining these networks. They’re the ones connecting continents and making global communication possible.
You could ckeck 👉https://www.submarinecablemap.com/ website and trace how each country is connected with one another.
Journey of Data: From Browser to Server🖇️
Journey of data starts when you type a URL into your browser, like www.google.com, your request sets the journey of data in motion to fetch the data from the servers of Google.
Typing a URL
It all starts when you type a web address into your browser. This could be anything from a search query to accessing a specific webpage. Here we are writting google.com.
DNS Resolution
First, your browser needs to figure out where to send the request. It sends a request to the DNS (Domain Name System), which translates the user-friendly web address (
www.google.com) into a specific IP address (like172.217.11.142).
Data Packets Traveling
Once the IP address is found, your browser sends the request through the internet. Data is not transmitted in one smooth line. Instead, it’s broken down into packets—small pieces of data that travel independently across different networks, cables, and servers. These packets bounce through routers, switches, and various physical pathways—underground cables, across cities, countries, and even beneath the ocean
Server Respons
The request travels through all these physical connections until it reaches the appropriate server—a powerful computer that stores and processes your request. The server processes your query (like pulling up search results or loading a webpage) and sends back the requested data in response
Back to Your Browser
The data packets carrying the server’s response follow the same physical pathways, returning to your browser, reconstructing the webpage you wanted to see
The World Wide Web : What It Is and Isn’t🌐
The internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) are often thought to be the same, but they serve different purposes:
The Internet— is like the system of roads that connect cities and towns—without it, communication and sharing information would be impossible. It’s the network of cables, servers, and systems that allow devices to talk to each other across the globe.
The World Wide Web (WWW)— is more like a giant library full of books, articles, and information. It’s built on top of the internet and consists of all the web pages, images, videos, and content you can access online.
Example:
Let’s say you want to find a recipe online using Google Search. The internet is like the highway system, allowing your request to travel to Google’s servers. Once your query reaches Google, the World Wide Web (WWW) is like the library full of recipes, articles, videos, and cooking tips. Google helps you navigate through this collection, providing you with links, articles, and websites that match what you searched for.
When you type “Butter Chicken recipe” into Google, the internet connects your device to Google’s servers, and the WWW is the treasure trove of content—web pages, recipes, images, and videos—that Google brings back to you in the search results
Bonus Info :-
First Ever WWW Page:
You could actually visit the very first webpage was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 at CERN, marking the birth of the World Wide Web.
You can visit it 👉 here .
In the early days of the World Wide Web, there was no way to search for information easily—users had to navigate between individual pages using hyperlinks. It wasn’t until 1990 that the first search engine, Archie , was introduced later in the same year , which allowed users to search through files on FTP servers. Later, more advanced search engines like Google transformed how we access and discover information online.
Conclusion ☀️
In simple terms, the internet is the physical network that connects devices all around the world—made up of cables, servers, and systems that allow data to travel from one place to another. The World Wide Web (WWW), on the other hand, is the huge library of interconnected web pages and content we access online, where we find information, videos, articles, and more. Every time you type a URL into your browser or search for something on Google, it’s all thanks to these physical networks—underground cables, servers, and routers—that work together to make global communication happen. It all started with the creation of the very first webpage by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1990, paving the way for the internet as we know it today.
If you want to learn more about how data travels and the history behind the web, there’s a lot to explore—this is just the beginning 😊