Maarg Manthan · Topic 14.8

Internet, WWW, IP, URL, HTTP

Science & Technology › IT, Telecommunications and Computers · Topic 14.8

The internet is a global network of networks that connects billions of computers using a common set of rules called TCP/IP. It began as ARPANET, a project of the United States Defense Department that carried its first message in 1969, and TCP/IP was adopted in 1983. The World Wide Web is a service that runs on the internet, a system of linked pages and resources, proposed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989 with the first website going online in 1991. An IP address is the numerical address of a device on the network, a URL is the address of a web page, and HTTP, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the rule by which browsers ask servers for pages, with HTTPS adding encryption. The Domain Name System turns names into IP addresses.

5 min read · UPSC Prelims · Science & Technology · IT, Telecommunications and Computers

At a Glance

ARPANET 1969
TCP/IP adopted 1 January 1983
WWW proposed 1989, Tim Berners-Lee
India’s public internet 15 August 1995, VSNL
Secure web HTTPS
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Science & Technology: IT, Telecommunications and Computers

Where Does It Fit?

This topic follows the account of mobile generations. It explains the network on which phones, apps and cloud services work, and defines the common terms of web addresses and protocols. Previous topic: Evolution of Telecommunication and Mobile Generations (3G, 4G, VoLTE, 5G). Next topic: Internet of Things (IoT).

What Are the Key Terms and Their Differences?

Term	Meaning
Internet	The global system of interconnected networks that use TCP/IP to exchange data
World Wide Web	A collection of web pages and files linked by hyperlinks and accessed with a browser. One service among many on the internet, others being email and file transfer
TCP/IP	Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. IP addresses and routes packets, TCP makes sure they arrive correctly and in order
IP address	A number that identifies a device. IPv4 has 32 bits, about 4.3 billion addresses, written like 192.168.1.1. IPv6 has 128 bits, written in hexadecimal, allowing a vast number of addresses
URL	Uniform Resource Locator, the full address of a resource, with a scheme such as https, a domain name, a path and sometimes a query
HTTP and HTTPS	Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the set of rules for requesting and sending web pages. HTTPS uses TLS encryption to protect data in transit
DNS	The Domain Name System, the phonebook of the internet, which translates names such as example.in into IP addresses

How Did the Internet Develop?

ARPANET: first message sent between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute in October 1969
Email: Ray Tomlinson sent the first network email in 1971 and used the @ sign
TCP/IP: designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in the 1970s and adopted on ARPANET on 1 January 1983
World Wide Web: Tim Berners-Lee wrote the proposal in 1989, built the first browser and server in 1990 and the first website went live in 1991
Browsers: Mosaic in 1993, then Netscape and Internet Explorer
Commercial internet: opened in the 1990s, with search engines and e-commerce following
India: ERNET began in 1986 for education and research, and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited launched public internet service on 15 August 1995
Mobile internet: the 3G and 4G era, as in Evolution of Telecommunication and Mobile Generations (3G, 4G, VoLTE, 5G)

What Else Should You Remember?

Packet switching: data is split into small packets that travel separately and are put together at the destination
Router: a device that forwards packets between networks
ISP: internet service provider, which connects users to the internet
Domain names: top level domains include .com, .org and country codes such as .in managed by the National Internet Exchange of India
Port: a number that identifies a service on a computer, such as 80 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS
Web browser and server: a browser requests pages and a web server sends them
HTML: HyperText Markup Language, the language in which web pages are written
Search engine: a tool that indexes web pages and finds them for users
Deep web and dark web: the deep web is content not indexed by search engines, such as bank accounts, and the dark web is a part that needs special software such as Tor
IPv6 adoption: IPv4 addresses ran out, and India has a high share of IPv6 traffic because of mobile networks
Users: India has hundreds of millions of internet users, mostly through mobile phones
Governance: the internet is managed by bodies discussed in Global Internet Governance
Cookies: small files stored by a website in the browser to remember sessions and preferences, and subject to privacy rules
Static and dynamic pages: static pages are fixed files, while dynamic pages are made on request using databases and programs
Bandwidth: the amount of data that a connection can carry per second, usually in megabits per second

Why Does It Matter for the Exam?

Persons and years: Berners-Lee 1989, Cerf and Kahn
Difference: internet versus web
Address terms: IPv4 and IPv6, URL, DNS
Current affairs link: internet users and IPv6
Common errors: treating internet and WWW as the same, or saying HTTP is encrypted

As an analytical point, the web is only one use of the internet, and open common protocols made global growth possible. Secure and local-language access are the next needs in India.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Terms Internet versus web
History ARPANET to WWW
India VSNL 1995

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the Internet of Things. Next topic: Internet of Things (IoT).

Key People and Terms

TCP/IP Internet protocol suite
IP address Device address
URL Web address
HTTP Web transfer protocol
DNS Name to address system
ISP Internet service provider

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

ARPANET: 1969.
WWW proposed: 1989, Tim Berners-Lee.
IPv4: 32 bits; IPv6: 128 bits.
Public internet in India: 15 August 1995.
HTTPS port: 443.

Do Not Confuse With

Internet and WWW Network versus service on it
HTTP and HTTPS Plain versus encrypted
IPv4 and IPv6 32 bits versus 128 bits

Memory Hook

Sixty-nine ARPA, eighty-nine Web; IPv4 is thirty-two, IPv6 is one-twenty-eight.

Mains Angle

Questions ask for definitions, differences and dates. These points help.

History ARPANET to web
Terms Protocols
India Growth and access

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Explain the difference between the internet and the World Wide Web and describe the basic protocols and addressing system.”

How to Answer

Internet Network of networks.
Web A service on it.
Protocols TCP/IP, HTTP.
India 1995 onward.

GS Relevance

Prelims: internet versus web, IPv4 and IPv6, DNS, HTTP and HTTPS, key persons and years. GS Paper 3: science and technology, IT.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the internet and the World Wide Web?

The internet is the global network of connected computers and networks that use TCP/IP to exchange data. The World Wide Web is one service that runs on it, a system of linked web pages accessed with a browser using HTTP. Email, file transfer and messaging apps also use the internet without being part of the web.

Who invented the World Wide Web?

Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist at CERN in Switzerland, proposed the World Wide Web in 1989 and developed the first web browser, server and web page language in 1990. The first website went online in 1991, and CERN made the technology free for all to use in 1993.

What is an IP address?

An IP address is a numerical label given to each device on a network that uses the Internet Protocol, used to identify the device and route data to it. IPv4 addresses are 32 bits long and are about 4.3 billion in number, while IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long and are practically unlimited.

What is the Domain Name System?

The Domain Name System is the internet's directory that converts human-friendly names, such as a website's domain, into numerical IP addresses that computers use. When a user types a web address, a DNS server looks up the matching IP address so that the browser can connect to the right server.

What is the difference between HTTP and HTTPS?

HTTP is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that browsers use to request pages from web servers, but it sends data in plain form. HTTPS is the secure version that uses Transport Layer Security encryption, so data such as passwords and card details cannot be easily read by others while travelling over the network.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 The World Wide Web was proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.

True

At CERN.

2 IPv6 addresses are 32 bits long.

False

They are 128 bits.

3 The internet and the World Wide Web are the same thing.