A Presentation about how information is sent and received on the internet. Includes packet data and routers.

1. ELT 2
COMPUTING
HOMEWORK

2. WHAT IS THE
INTERNET?
The internet is what makes up
part of our everyday lives, be
that at work or school. its how
we shop, listen to music,
communicate, apply for jobs
and find out about what's
happening in the world.
without it our society would be
a very different place. the
internet is made up of millions
of computers all over the world
that are digitally connected to
each other by cable, fibre or
wireless links.

3. DOMAIN NAMES AND IP ADDRESSES
Domain name
(www.bbc.co.
uk)
IP address
(232.17.43.
22)
The domain name is a website for example
www.bbc.co.uk. This is used because it can
easily be recognised by a human, but not as
easily by a computer. So…
Website/Webser
ver (bbc.co.uk)
It gets transferred into the IP address, which
is a set of numerical data that the computer
can understand and use to find the website
or webserver…
Allowing us to use the
website to our hearts content
(until the wireless crashes
that is!)

4. DOMAIN NAMES AND IP ADDRESSES
The Domain
Name is a link to
the IP address
which allows the
computer to
effectively locate
the webserver
on the internet.
Although the
link does not
contain any
actual
information it
points to the
place where the
IP address
comes from ( a
To summarize The
domain name is part
of the Url but points
to the IP address.
Each part of the
domain name
provides specific
information which
enables the web
browser to locate the
web page. This is why
all domain names and
IP addresses must be
individual. We pay for
our own domain
name for our email,
but we don’t actually
own it, however there

5. DATA PACKETS AND PACKET SWITCHING
When you want to receive
information online (for example
googling something) your computer
sends a request to the web server for
the information. This request for
information is sent in what we call a
packet, and is done through the
process packet switching. This is like
a little parcel that carries important
information; this information being
the IP address of your computer and
the IP address of the web server that
the information is stored on! Some
special computers called routers
direct the packet from your computer
to the web server, whether its close
by in Lancashire or the other side of
Request for
information
(packet)
Comput
er IP
Webserver
IP
Webserver (to retrieve
information)!

6. DATA PACKETS AND PACKET SWITCHING
Once the packet
has arrived the
webserver opens
it and reads the
request sent by
your computer
(please send me
this information).
Sometimes
chunks of
information are
quite large so the
packet of
information gets
split up into lots
of packets, which
all include
information about
how they should
be put back
Often it is quicker
to get the
information back
to your computer
by taking different
routes so they
don’t always
arrive in the same
order they were
sent. All the while
routers and
switches direct
them just like a
postman! Once
the packets have
reached your
computer they can
easily be put back
together and this
whole process can

7. ROUTERS
When you make a phone
call to someone there is
a line between you
which doesn’t have any
other phones attached
to it. This is why phone
calls can only be made
between two people.
But when your are surfing the internet if only two people could assess
something life would be ridiculously complicated. This is why all the
computers can send information to each other down different routes.
The information being sent is directed around the internet by
Routers. So when a data packet arrives the router reads the IP address
and sends the information along the best route to its destination.

8. LIST OF SOURCES
• http://whatismyipaddress.com/domain-name gave me a really clear
understanding of what a domain name is
• The internet Handbook– this was a book we originally bought for my
grandma but came in pretty “handy” as it offered simple explanations
of most but not all areas of this presentation
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3tbgk7 - the video on data packets
was so useful, if anyone is still confused about them they should
defiantly watch this video
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z8nk87h/revision/3 - gave
me a really good introduction and over view of the internet
• The Oxford Dictionary – as crazy as it sounds this was so useful as it
helped explain difficult terminology I found on websites