| Revision as of 23:17, 5 September 2026 by OpenWiki (Imported from the OpenWiki starter corpus) | Revision as of 00:19, 6 September 2026 by OpenWiki (Updated from the starter corpus) | ||
| {{Infobox | {{Infobox | ||
| | title = Internet | | title = Internet | ||
| − | | image = | + | | image = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Internet%20map%201024.jpg?width=320 |
| | caption = A network of networks: no centre, many paths | | caption = A network of networks: no centre, many paths | ||
| | label1 = Type | | label1 = Type | ||
| … | |||
| ; Packet switching : Data is divided into packets, each carrying a destination address and travelling independently. Routers forward each packet towards its destination one hop at a time. No circuit is reserved in advance, so a link is shared by every conversation crossing it, and traffic can route around a failure without any central controller noticing. | ; Packet switching : Data is divided into packets, each carrying a destination address and travelling independently. Routers forward each packet towards its destination one hop at a time. No circuit is reserved in advance, so a link is shared by every conversation crossing it, and traffic can route around a failure without any central controller noticing. | ||
| − | ; The end-to-end principle : The network's job is to move packets. Reliability, ordering, encryption and everything else belong at the endpoints. A network that promises little is one that a new application can use without asking | + | ; The end-to-end principle : The network's job is to move packets. Reliability, ordering, encryption and everything else belong at the endpoints. A network that promises little is one that a new application can use without asking permission. The Web, voice calls and video were all deployed without changing the network itself. |
| ; Layering : Protocols are stacked. IP moves packets between hosts; TCP adds reliable ordered delivery on top; applications sit above that. Each layer can be replaced without disturbing the others, which is how the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 can proceed without rewriting applications. | ; Layering : Protocols are stacked. IP moves packets between hosts; TCP adds reliable ordered delivery on top; applications sit above that. Each layer can be replaced without disturbing the others, which is how the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 can proceed without rewriting applications. | ||
| … | |||
| == Structure == | == Structure == | ||
| − | The Internet has no centre and no owner. It consists of tens of thousands of independent networks, called autonomous systems, that exchange traffic under bilateral | + | The Internet has no centre and no owner. It consists of tens of thousands of independent networks, called autonomous systems, that exchange traffic under bilateral agreements: peering, where two networks swap traffic at no charge, and transit, where one pays another for onward delivery. The Border Gateway Protocol propagates the routes between them. |
| Certain coordination functions must be global, because names and numbers have to be unique. Addresses and domain names are allocated through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and the regional registries, and protocol standards are published as Requests for Comments by the Internet Engineering Task Force, an open body that works by rough consensus and running code. | Certain coordination functions must be global, because names and numbers have to be unique. Addresses and domain names are allocated through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and the regional registries, and protocol standards are published as Requests for Comments by the Internet Engineering Task Force, an open body that works by rough consensus and running code. | ||
| … | |||
| == Social effects == | == Social effects == | ||
| − | The Internet lowered the cost of distributing information to near zero, which redistributed influence away from those who previously owned the means of distribution | + | The Internet lowered the cost of distributing information to near zero, which redistributed influence away from those who previously owned the means of distribution (publishers, broadcasters, record labels) and towards platforms that aggregate attention. The same property that lets a dissident publish without a printing press lets a fraud reach millions. Debates over moderation, surveillance, network neutrality and the concentration of platform power are all, at bottom, arguments about who gets to decide what a permissionless network carries. |
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| … | |||