How the Internet Works: A Story for Everyone
Explaining the Internet in Simple, Relatable Terms for All Ages
Table of contents
We use the internet in so many ways today and everyone will benefit from it. Yet the internet has become essential to us, but a lot of us still don’t know how it works.
Most people think of the internet as just a digital world—a virtual space where Instagram reels, YouTube videos, and emails exist. But in reality, the internet is not just virtual. It relies on a physical system.
I often wonder 🤔
What happens when I send a photo(data) from my phone to a friend? 📸📲
How does that image travel across the world and appear on their screen?
These questions spark my curiosity 🔥 and inspire me to explore how the internet truly works.
Let’s break the Internet into three parts:
First and Last Mile
Internet Hubs
Internet Backbone
1. First and Last Mile
We’re on this outer ring they call the “last mile,” but it’s really both the first and last mile. We use wireless technology like Wi-Fi, routers, and cell towers to send and receive information, such as texts, notifications, or apps. Everything we do to connect with the internet happens in this "first and last mile" using wireless technology like radio waves.
Now, let’s look at what happens when I send a photo from my phone to a friend.
When I send a photo from my phone to a friend, my phone cuts the image into smaller pieces called packets. Each packet is like a letter in an envelope, with a header that holds information about where the data is coming from and where it's going, and the body containing the image(data). These packets follow rules called protocols (like HTTP or TCP), which make sure the data is sent correctly. You can think of these protocols as rules in a postal system. Everything sent over the internet is turned into binary, which is just 1s and 0s that the computer understands. These packets travel as radio waves and pass through routers, which act like traffic police to guide them to the right place and convert data into binary.
2. The Internet Hub
Your router connects to another router using wires owned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Airtel or Jio. ISPs read the packet headers to figure out the best and most efficient path to send the packets to the next location, which is often an internet hub.
An internet hub is like a regional post office where data packets are sorted and forwarded to the next part of the journey.
For example, an Airtel ISP can connect with a Jio ISP to ensure the data reaches its destination. To send the photo from my phone to my friend, all the networks involved work together to send those 1s and 0s across wired pathways. This entire process is called packet switching.
3. The Internet Backbone
But a question arises: how does the entire world connect through wires?
This is where the internet backbone comes into play. The internet backbone is a global network of high-speed cables (optic fiber) that connect countries and continents. These cables run under the ocean, linking major cities and data centers around the world. They are like highways for data, allowing huge amounts of information to travel quickly over long distances.
For example, when you send a photo to a friend in another country, the packets might travel from your local ISP to an internet hub, then through these undersea cables to reach a hub in your friend’s country. From there, the data makes its way to their ISP and finally to their phone.
The backbone also includes powerful servers and data centers that store, process, and forward data. These systems ensure that even when millions of people are using the internet at the same time, everything runs smoothly.
They all work together to make the internet possible.
So, the next time you send a photo, watch a video, or check your email, think about the incredible journey your data takes to bring the world closer!