Where does the internet live?

Question

For a long time I've been content to use the internet and not really care or know much about it. But a random thought in my head was wondering where the internet actually exists. I mean, I know it's there when I press the appropriate button on my computer, but it doesn't all live in my little lap top, surely? Is it based somewhere? If not and we all turn off every computer in the world, would it cease to be?
Please answer without using too much computer jargon, I think my question has made it clear how little I know about these things!
Ta :>)

Answer 1

The first two are both correct.

Another thing you can do is go to a command prompt (go to the run box and type "cmd") then type the command "tracert www.yahoo.com" where www.yahoo.com could be any website. It will then show you the steps it takes for the data to get from you to the server and back. For example, for me it took 16 hops to www.yahoo.com. In the process, I see a hop that was a router, a couple with my ISP (internet service provider - Roadrunner, AOL, Earthlink, etc), a server in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Washington, then a couple of servers at Yahoo. So, you can see how many people you are going through to get to where you want to go.

A good analogy would be like a the post office. When you send a letter, it first goes to your mailbox. Then, the postman picks it up, takes it to the local post office. Then it's sorted and sent to the regional post office. Then it's sent along the way to where you intend it to go, but it might end up changing trucks once or twice along the way. Then, it finally gets to the regional and local post offices at the destination. Then, the postal carrier takes it to the house of your dear Aunt Betty so that she can see the pictures of the kids playing in the backyard. Then she replies....

When you communicate on the internet you send many little packets back and forth. Each packet is like a small envelope. Maybe the message is really long in which case you must send multiple envelopes. But, eventually they get there and Aunt Betty can join them together and read what you wrote. This process repeats many times per second to make the internet work the way it does... a constant exchange of information.

Answer 2

In laymens terms, the internet doesn't reside in a single location. The internet (invented by Al Gore, as well as denim ;P) is a series of computers (servers) networked all over the world that service client-based terminals (your computer at home) and from your access point you are passed to other servers based on where the information you seek is residing.

In XP go to your MS-DOS prompt (click START>RUN and type CMD) this will open another terminal window typically all black with text (C:/documents and settings/windows....etc etc)
type in NETSTAT and you can see a snapshot of all the servers your computer has established connections to. Some one else can probably explain that a bit better than I.

Answer 3

Basically the internet lives in all running computers that is interconnected with each other so you are right that if you turn all of them at the sime time then the internet will seize to exist, but if you want it back just turn all the computers back on. ;-)

Answer 4

basically, your isp (the people you pay for internet) gives you a connection through the "internet" to another computer to return you information. for example, when you type in "answers.yahoo.com", your isp translates that into the address of whatever machine is hosting "answers.yahoo.com", and tells that computer that you want whatever page it is that they're hosting. Then a file that your web browser (internet explorer, firefox, safari, etc) can display is sent back to your computer from "answers.yahoo.com".

Answer 5

The net was originally created and funded by the military to keep all of their nukes connected and coordinated.

Answer 6

It lives in a net,called the inter,hence why its called internet!!!

Answer 7

the same like electricity...