How the Internet Works

‘Google’ means to perform a fast internet search. The Internet contains information about almost everything you could think of. People of all ages use the Internet. If you want to know how to build a wall, bake a cake, or cut a pineapple all you have to do is type the question in Google and you will get lots of solutions from different websites.

Sending an email is one of the most popular uses of the internet. An email message has a delivery address just like any mail. The internet has special computer devices called routers that can ‘read’ email addresses. It tells the routers where the email should be routed or sent on the internet.

An email message travels fast from router to router (a router is a computer switching program that transfers incoming messages to outgoing links through the most efficient route possible e.g. over the internet) until it is delivered to the email address. The owner of the message may reply to it, forward it, delete it or store it.

The web uses the internet to send information from one computer to another. There are very powerful computers called servers that store the information that is contained on websites (A server is a computer that supplies services or data to other machines on a LAN or WAN. Computers that request services from a server are known as clients.)

When you click on a link to a website, these servers send the information to your computer in a matter of seconds.