GCSE Computer Science (AQA)

Topic Summaries

COMPUTER SYSTEMS: The internet

The internet and the world wide web

  • Internet: a global network of networks, connecting millions of devices using standard communication protocols (TCP/IP).
    • It uses Internet Protocol (IP) addressing to send data, and routers move packets across interconnected networks.
    • You can think of it as a road network where the internet is the physical infrastructure (i.e. cables, routers, wireless connections) that carry many types of traffic (i.e. web pages, emails, file transfers, streaming). Without the internet’s roads, no digital data could move between devices. 
    • Uses of the internet include:
      • Hosting websites 
      • Email and secure file transfers 
      • Voice and video calls (Skype, Facetime) 
      • Streaming services (video/music) 
      • Cloud computing and storage
  • World wide web: a collection of websites and web pages hosted on servers and accessed via the internet using web browsers. 
    • It uses HTTP/HTTPS to communicate. 
    • You can think of this as the vehicles that use the highways (cars, trucks, and buses) each carrying content (text, images, videos) to and from destinations. The Internet provides the pathways for information to move, and the world wide web provides the content that travels along those pathways.
    • Web hosting: websites are stored on web servers, and hosting companies charge fees based on bandwidth usage. They provide security, backups, and uptime guarantees.
  • Functions of a web browser:
    • Bookmarks/favourites: save and access sites quickly.
    • User history: record of visited sites.
    • Multiple tabs: open multiple sites in one window.
    • Cookies: store data like login info or preferences.
    • Navigation tools: back, forward, refresh buttons.
    • Address bar: enter and display URLs.

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