Back to Index Page

Web Report

Introduction.

In this report “The importance of protocols in the working of the Internet.” I hope to convey why these protocols are not just important but vital in the development and working of the Internet. Without protocols different parts of the system would not be able to communicate and the system would be just a set of independent units.
To this end we will look at.
What the Internet is. It as been described as a network of networks that is a group of linked computers linked to another group of linked computers, although as you will see a single computer can be linked to the network and then is able to be connected to any other computer that is online. But it is the people that use the Internet that defines what the Internet is.
How the Internet works. We will see how each message whether it is a picture, a file or a programme is chopped into small segments called packets and how these packets are given extra information so that they can all reach their final destination via the best possible route.
What protocols are. These are the rules that allow different parts of the network to talk the same language. When you meet someone you say “hello” and shake hands this is a very basic but a very important protocol. (Computers need to shake hands too)

What is the Internet?

The T171 team describes the Internet as "a global network of computer networks" or as the introduction says a network of networks. If you link the computer in your home or office to another computer you have a small network as you add more computers the network grows, you can share printers, disk drives etc. But you are limited to within the home or office. Now add a modem or one of the other communication devices (cable, satellite dish) and you can go beyond your home/office and onto the Internet. You do not need to have a network in your home/office you can link a single computer known as a client with a modem to the Internet. The modem links you via a telephone line to another modem belonging to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) examples are BT Internet and Virgin.net. These company's use servers and routers to provide links to other ISP's and onto what is known as the backbone, this is a set of cables and satellites that link not just towns but countries together. So when you press send on your email or request a web page you are potentially connected at the speed of light to every other connected computer in the world.

An example of a client/server connection from the T171 web site

 

How does it work?

Now we know what it is physically we need to know how it works. Each email you send or receive, each web page you request every thing you download (receive from someone) or upload (send to someone) is treated in just the same way. A set of programmes in your computer takes the information you want to send cuts it into small uniform lengths and forms what are called packets. So large files will have lots of packets and smaller files fewer packets, each packet as some extra information added so that it can be sent to the right destination and reassembled in the right order.

Here is an example from the (T171 web site) of a packet and an explanation of some of the terms used.

Source IP Address           So if any packets are missing they can be requested again.
Destination IP Address     So it can be sent to the right address.
Total Length                     So it can be determined if any packets are missing.
Identification                     So individual packets can be identified.
Time To Live                    So that packets can be removed after a given time (32 to 255 seconds) or the net would just fill up.

These packets are then sent via your modem and the telephone line to your ISP and on to their destination through routers. Routers are terminals that read the information that as been added to the packet; using this information it will send the packet to the next node on rout to the final destination (IP Destination) or if any are missing it will request a packet to be resent from the originator (Source IP address) the same process is gone through at each node until the packet reaches its final destination, where the TCP/IP programme reassembles all the packets in the right order and gives them to the relevant programme to process (a sound file to a player, a document to a word processor etc.)

Here is an example of packet transmission from the T171 web site

 

More than the some of its parts.

But the Internet is much more than cables, modems and computer screens. It's people that use the Internet and because of this it takes on a whole new meaning.
To some it's a communication device allowing families that might be separated to keep in touch via email or even see each other as they chat using video conferencing. (When my grand daughter was born (in New York) I saw my first pictures and a short video of her via the Internet).
To others it's a vast source of information, to a student looking for a reference to put in there work its a library, its an encyclopaedia to a schoolboy doing his home work or its just a recipe for jam sponge. What ever the information you want its available via the net.
Groups of people around the world use it as a vast discussion forum (known as news groups) what ever your interest you will be able to find like-minded people to share in your interest, or even argue and debate with.
It's a shopping mall; it's a business and an education tool.
It's as diverse as the people that use it.
 

Protocols.

But none of this would work without protocols. Protocols are sets of rules or standards that have been agreed to allow more than one party to communicate. Software and hardware have to follow the same rules and because computers vary in make and specification (this was even more relevant when the Internet was been developed) these rules or protocols define what action each party will take. For example when you connect your computer to the Internet it is just one of millions so your ISP allocates it a unique address in the form of a set of numbers (62.6.90.85 is mine at the moment) this is known as the Internet Protocol or IP. As you my have noticed above IP is normally associated with TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and wrote together as TCP/IP. While the IP protocol looks after the addressing the TCP protocol takes care the packets. By adhering to these two protocols any computer no mater what make or operating system it is using can send/receive these packets of information to or from any other computer that is connected to the Internet.
An aspect of the Internet that is talked about a great deal these days is the World Wide Web (WWW) and here too protocols play an essential role, from the address of the page the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) through the make-up of the page HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) to the way the page is sent from machine to machine HTTP (Hypertext Transport Protocol).
Amazingly all these WWW protocols were invented by one man working at CERN (The European Centre for Nuclear research) laboratory in Geneva his name is Tim Berners-Lee and he did it in just over a year.
(John Naughton 1999) describes this achievement in his book "A Brief History of the Future" in these glowing terms.

"Looking back, it is not so much the elegance of Burners-Lee's creation which makes one gasp at its blinding comprehensiveness. In just over a year he took the Web all the way-from the original conception, through the hacking out of primitive browsers and servers, to the creation and elaboration of the protocols needed to make the whole thing work. And on the seventh day he rested."
 
 
 

Conclusion.

The importance of protocols in the working of the Internet.
We have seen that the Internet is a global network of networks allowing every connected computer to connect to every other connected computer and that each message or piece of information no mater what its form is chopped in to byte sized pieces called packets. These packets then travel at the speed of light too or from their destination.
But it is the protocols; these rules that govern how each party communicate that allow different systems to join seamlessly together. With out these protocols the Internet could not have grown as quickly or to the vast size it is today and to simply click on an icon to receive your desired information would be just a dream.
With the increasing use of the Internet for online shopping and e-commerce (business activities and share dealing) protocols are going to be even more important for a safe, secure and stable environment.
The Internet may be as diverse as the people that use it, but the protocols are the same for everyone and it's these protocols that makes the Internet work.
 

References.


Top
Back to Index Page