IP Address

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique numerical identifier for every

device or network that connects to the internet. Typically assigned by an
internet service provider (ISP), an IP address is an online device address used
for communicating across the internet.

Let us understand it with another example, like if someone wants to send you
a letter then he/she must have your home address. Similarly, your computer
too needs an address so that other computers on the internet can
communicate with each other without the confusion of delivering information
to someone else’s computer. And that is why each computer in this world has
a unique IP Address. Or in other words, an IP address is a unique address that
is used to identify computers or nodes on the internet. This address is just a
string of numbers written in a certain format. It is generally expressed in a set
of numbers for example 192.155.12.1. Here each number in the set is from 0
to 255 range. Or we can say that a full IP address ranges from 0.0.0.0 to
255.255.255.255. And these IP addresses are assigned by IANA(known as
Internet Corporation For Internet Assigned Numbers Authority).

Types of IP Address

IP Address is of two types:

1. IPv4: Internet Protocol version 4. It consists of 4 numbers separated by the

dots. Each number can be from 0-255 in decimal numbers. But computers do
not understand decimal numbers, they instead change them to binary
numbers which are only 0 and 1. Therefore, in binary, this (0-255) range can be
written as (00000000 – 11111111). Since each number N can be represented
by a group of 8-digit binary digits. So, a whole IPv4 binary address can be
represented by 32-bits of binary digits.

IPv4 can be written as:

189.123.123.90
For easier management and assignment IP addresses are organized in numeric
order and divided into the following 5 classes :

Address
IP Class Range Maximum number of networks

Class A 0-127 127 (27-1)

Class B 128-191 16384

Class C 192-223 2097152

Class D 224-239 Reserve for multitasking

Class E 240-254 Reserved for Research and development

2. IPv6: But, there is a problem with the IPv4 address. With IPv4, we can
connect only 4 billion devices uniquely, and apparently, there are much more
devices in the world to be connected to the internet. So, gradually we are
making our way to IPv6 Address which is a 128-bit IP address. In human-
friendly form, IPv6 is written as a group of 8 hexadecimal numbers separated
with colons(:). But in the computer-friendly form, it can be written as 128 bits
of 0s and 1s. Since, a unique sequence of binary digits is given to computers,
smartphones, and other devices to be connected to the internet. So, via IPv6 a
total of (2^128) devices can be assigned with unique addresses which are
actually more than enough for upcoming future generations.
IPv6 can be written as:

2011:0bd9:75c5:0000:0000:6b3e:0170:8394

The following is a list of differences between IPv4 and IPv6:

1.IPv4 is 32-bit, whereas IPv6 is 128-bit.

2.In IPv4, binary bits are separated by a dot (.); IPv6 separates binary bits by a
colon (:).

3.IPv4 follows the numeric addressing method and IPv6 is alphanumeric.

DNS

Domain names make the internet easy to use for everyone. Without domain
names, you’ll have to enter long strings of numbers called IP addresses to visit
websites.Domain names solve this problem by allowing websites to choose
addresses using easy to remember words, for example, wpbeginner.com or
google.com.
A DNS service (such as Amazon Route 53) is a globally distributed service that
translates human readable names like www.example.com into the numeric IP
addresses like 192.0.2.1 that computers use to connect to each other. The
Internet’s DNS system works much like a phone book by managing the
mapping between names and numbers. DNS servers translate requests for
names into IP addresses, controlling which server an end user will reach when
they type a domain name into their web browser. These requests are
called queries

Web page

A web page is a document, commonly written in HTML, that is viewed in an

Internet browser. A web page can be accessed by entering a URL address into a
browser's address bar. A web page may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks
to other web pages and files.

Web pages can either be static or dynamic. Static pages show the same
content each time they are viewed. Dynamic pages have content that can
change each time they are accessed. These pages are typically written in
scripting languages such as PHP, Perl, ASP, or JSP. The scripts in the pages run
functions on the server that return things like the date and time, and database
information. All the information is returned as HTML code, so when the page
gets to your browser, all the browser has to do is translate the HTML. The
Internet consists of millions of web pages, with more being added every day.

Website

A website is a collection of publicly accessible, interlinked Web pages that

share a single domain name. Websites can be created and maintained by an
individual, group, business or organization to serve a variety of purposes. Users
can access websites on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets,
and smartphones

Together, all publicly accessible websites constitute the World Wide Web.
Websites are hosted on servers, and require a web browser such as Chrome,
Firefox, or Internet Explorer to be visited (either on a computer or mobile
device).A website can be accessed directly by entering its URL address or by
searching it on a search engine such as Google or Bing.

The homepage (or simply “home”) represents the main page of the site itself.
Frequently, the homepage is a sort of “hub” from which all other pages can be
accessed. A web page to which several other pages are linked in a coherent
structure is instead called a “parent page.”

Every page is a single HTML document, and all of them are connected through
hyperlinks (or simply “link”) which can be combined in a navigation bar for
ease of use.The navigation bar is displayed on every page rather than just the
homepage, and allows the user to quickly move across the main website’s
structure.
 Websites come in a nearly endless variety, including educational sites, news
sites, forums, social media sites, e-commerce sites, and so on.

Websites are categorized by domains. Some examples include:

 Government agency websites = .gov

 Educational institutions’ websites = .edu

 Nonprofit organizations’ websites = .org

 Commercial websites = .com

There are many other country-specific extensions

 .in – India
 .it – Italy
 .sa - Saudi Arabia
 .sa - Saudi Arabia

The first website was created in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist .

Home page

The home page is the name of the main page of a website. A home page is a
webpage that serves as the starting point of website. It is the default webpage
that loads when you visit a web address that only contains a domain name.
The home page is located in the root directory of a website.
There is no standard home page layout, but most home pages include a
navigation bar that provides links to different sections within the website.
Other common elements found on a home page include a search bar,
information about the website, and recent news or updates. Some websites
include information that changes every day.

Web browser

A web browser, or simply "browser," is Software application program

that allows user to view and explore information on the web. User can request for
any web page by just entering a URL into address bar.
The primary function of a web browser is to render HTML, the code used to
design or "mark up" WebPages. Each time a browser loads a web page, it
processes the HTML, which may include text, , audio, video, animation, links,
and references to images and other items, such as cascading style
sheets ,JavaScript functions and more. The browser processes these items, and
delivers the information in the browser window. It is the responsibility of a web
browser to interpret text and commands contained in the web page.

Common web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome,

Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
The first web browser was called WorldWideWeb and later changed its name
to Nexus. Created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, it was released in 1990 and gave
people a basic way to view web pages.
Browser Vendor

Internet Explorer Microsoft

Google Chrome Google

Mozilla Firefox Mozilla

Netscape Navigator Netscape Communications Corp.

Opera Opera Software

Safari Apple

Sea Monkey Mozilla Foundation

K-meleon K-meleon
 URL

Also known as a internet address or web address, a URL . URL (Uniform

Resource Locator) is the address of a specific webpage or file on the Internet.
Every URL is made up of multiple parts which includes the protocol (ex. HTTP,
FTP), the domain name (or IP address), and additional path information
(folder/file).

http://www.whatever.com:80/whatever/whatever.html?
this=that&that=this#fn2
 http:// — this is the scheme, or protocol substring, and it indicates which
protocol must be used to fetch the desired file or document. While HTTP is the
most common but Other protocols include HTTPS (the secured version of
HTTP), mailto: (to open a mail client), ftp: (to handle a basic file transfer), and
others.
 The colon (:) is the URI scheme separator, and the paired forward slashes (//)
define the start of the local host name.
 www. — this part of the URL defines the content, in this case the world wide
web.
 whatever.com — this is the domain name, and is used to indicate the
targeted host or web server. The last part of our domain name, the .com, is the
domain suffix and is used to identify the type or location of the website in
question. Other domain suffixes include .org, .net, and region specific suffixes
such as .co.uk. There are over 500 domain suffixes (or gTLDs) in existence.
 :80 — this is the port, and it indicates the "gate" used to access resources on
the intended web server. This part of a URL is often omitted when the web
server is using standard ports for the HTTP or HTTPS protocols. If a non-
standard port is in use, this section must be included in the URL. Again, the
colon (:) acts as a separator.
 whatever/whatever.html — this indicates the path to the resource on the
server. Originally this section pointed to a physical location on a specific server,
though now it more typically indicates an abstract location of the data being
fetched. The forward slash again acts as a separator to maintain the integrity
of the URL hierarchical syntax.
 ?this=that&that=this — this is the query string. It consists of a question mark
followed by one or more parameters which a web server can use to return
specific content, or a specific version of the requested content. URLs with
query strings are commonly referred to as "dynamic URLs." The parameters
 used in dynamic URLs are not necessarily universal, and every web server has
its own rules regarding their use.
 #fn2 — the last part of URL is the optional fragment or "anchor." It is indicated
by a hash (#) and is followed by some text. This is used by the browser to
position that webpage at a particular location.

Taken all together, these substrings form a full URL. It defines: the protocol
necessary to retrieve a file or document; the server; the location of that
content on that server; the gateway used to access that server; server-related
information about the content; and client-related information about the
content's display.

Web server

A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts

requests via HTTP, the network protocol created to distribute web pages, and
other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web
The basic objective of the web server is to store, process and deliver web
pages to the users. This intercommunication is done using Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP). A web server also supports SMTP (Simple Mail transfer
Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) protocol for emailing and for file
transfer and storage.

When anyone requests for a website by adding the URL or web address on a
web browser’s (like Chrome or Firefox) address bar, the browser sends a
request to the Internet for viewing the corresponding web page for that
address. A Domain Name Server (DNS) converts this URL to an IP Address (For
example 192.168.216.345), which in turn points to a Web Server.

The Web Server is requested to present the content website to the user’s
browser. All websites on the Internet have a unique identifier in terms of an IP
address. This Internet Protocol address is used to communicate between
different servers across the Internet.

Web Server Working

Web server respond to the client request in either of the following two ways:
 Sending the file to the client associated with the requested URL.
  Generating response by invoking a script and communicating with
database

Key Points
 When client sends request for a web page, the web server search for
the requested page if requested page is found then it will send it to
client with an HTTP response.
 If the requested web page is not found, web server will the send
an HTTP response:Error 404 Not found.
 If client has requested for some other resources then the web server
will contact to the application server and data store to construct the
HTTP response.
Example: Apache HTTP Server, Internet Information Services (IIS), Sun Java System
Web Server

Hypertext

Web pages written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) can be linked and
cross-referenced throughout the Web.
Hypertext is text that links to other information and by clicking on a link in a
hypertext document, a user can quickly jump to different content.
Hypertext refers to a word, phrase or chunk of text that can be linked to
another document or text. Hypertext covers both textual hyperlinks and
graphical ones.
The term was coined by Ted Nelson around 1965

ISP

ISP Stands for "Internet Service Provider." An ISP is a company that

provides Internet connections and services for access internet to individuals
and organizations.
Early ISPs provided Internet access through dial-up modems. This type of
connection took place over regular phone lines and was limited to 56 Kbps.
In the late 1990s, ISPs began offering faster broadband Internet access via DSL
and cable modems.
ISPs now offer high-speed fiber connections, which provide Internet access
through fiber optic cables.
ISP Types

ISPs can broadly be classified into six categories as shown in the following
diagram:

Access providers
They provide access to internet through telephone lines, cable wi-fi or fiber optics.
Mailbox Provider
Such providers offer mailbox hosting services.
Hosting ISPs
Hosting ISPs offers e-mail, and other web hosting services such as virtual
machines, clouds etc.
Virtual ISPs
Such ISPs offer internet access via other ISP services.
Free ISPs
Free ISPs do not charge for internet services.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company offering access to internet. They

offer various services:
 Internet Access
 Domain name registration
 Dial-up access
 Leased line access

Uploading

Uploading means data is being sent from your computer to the Internet.

When you upload something, you’re sending data from your device to the
other device. Files can be uploaded to a server, such as a website, or directly to
another device, like when using a file transfer utility.

For example, if you upload an image to Facebook, you're sending the picture
from your device to the Facebook website. The file started with you and ended
up somewhere else, so it's considered an upload

Downloading

Downloading means your computer is receiving data from the Internet.

In opposition to upload, download = save. You're taking data from somewhere

and putting it onto your device, essentially bringing it "down" from the
internet.

Downloading something from the web means that you're transferring data
from the other location to your own device, whether it be your phone,
computer, tablet, smartwatch, etc.All sorts of information can be downloaded
from the web: books, movies, software, etc.
For example, you can download movies to your phone to watch while you're
on the go, which means that the actual data that makes up the movie is
transferred from the site you got it from and saved to your phone, making it
locally available.

online offline

online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected

state, this usually refers to an Internet connection,
Online means that a computer, device, or a person is connected to a network,
and usually this means the Internet.
for example: "online shopping", "online banking", and "online learning".
While off-line means the computer, device, or person is not connected to a
network, cannot be reached, and cannot communicate with any other
computer or device.