The internet and the world wide web

Question 1

What is meant by ‘the internet’?

Answer 1

The worldwide collection of networks that links billions of digital devices using the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)

Question 2

What is meant by the ‘world wide web’?

Answer 2

A service that can be accessed via the internet

Question 3

What is an Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

Answer 3

• A company that provides a host computer to which users can connect to
• (The host of which manages communications, stores data, and is connected to the internet)

Question 4

What is a URL (uniform resource locator)?

Answer 4

The complete web address of a particular webpage or other resource on the internet

Question 5

Recall each part of a URL.

Answer 5

Question 6

State the purpose of a domain name service (DNS).

Answer 6

To convert the domain name into an IP address

Question 7

Describe what happens during the process of searching for a webpage on the internet by using a URL.

Answer 7

• When URL is used, the ISP looks up domain name using DNS, finds matching IP address and sends it back to the client
• The web browser sends a request straight to that IP address - the webpage is sent from web server to web browser using the http or https protocol

Question 8

What is the format a webpage is typically stored in?

Answer 8

HTML

Question 9

(Exam-style question)

Explain the role of IP addresses in internet communications. (2)

Answer 9

IP addresses are used to uniquely identify every device connected to the internet, so that they can send and receive data

Question 10

(Exam-style question)

Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are used to identify devices on the internet.

Explain why IPv6 has been introduced. (3)

Answer 10

• IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, so the supply of IPv4 addresses is running out because the number of internet-connected devices has grown faster than expected
• IPv6 uses 128 bits so it can generate more unique addresses

Question 11

What is a router?

Answer 11

A device which receives data packets and sends them on through an appropriate route

Question 12

What is a switch?

Answer 12

• A device that records which computers are connected to certain ports
• (When a message is received, the switch forwards each packet of data to its intended recipient only)

Question 13

What is a modem?

Answer 13

A device, that can also be contained within a router, that allows users to connect to the internet

Question 14

What is a wireless access point (WAP)?

Answer 14

A device that uses a radio transceiver to allow wireless connections to a network

Question 15

(Exam-style question)

Answer 15