The Internet: A Practical Guide for Beginners

By Keith Fong

Want to learn about the Internet but not sure where to start?

This accessible guide offers a crash course on every topic you need to know to get up to speed with the modern Internet, balancing theory and application.

Following a brief history of the Internet, you’ll learn the basics of computer networking before diving into major topics like security, blockchain, and the Internet of Things. Particular focus is given to contemporary technologies like 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and decentralized computing.

A perfect first book for beginners and a succinct reference for professionals, this is a no-nonsense, “nothing you don’t need” guide to the world’s biggest computer network.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fong Pak Hung
• Release date: Mar 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9789887620921

Book preview

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The

Internet

The

Internet

A Practical Guide for Beginners

Keith Fong

The Internet: A Practical Guide for Beginners

1st Edition

Copyright © 2022 Fong Pak Hung

Illustrations by Joshua Kwan

Edited by Eldes Tran

Layout by Awadhesh Yadav

Published by Fong Pak Hung

Published in Hong Kong

ISBN: 978-988-76209-2-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner.

Contents

Introduction

1: A Brief History of the Internet

Before the 1960s

1961–1972: The emergence of packet-switched networks

1972–1989: The development of the modern Internet

The 1990s: The birth of the World Wide Web

The 2000s: Going wireless, blockchain, and the cloud

The 2010s: The Internet of Things

2: A Crash Course in Networking and Protocols

What is the Internet?

A rough picture of the Internet

The protocol stack

The application layer

HTTP

DNS

The transport layer

TCP

UDP

The network layer

BGP

IP

DHCP

The data link layer

LANs, WANs, and MAC addresses

ARP

Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth

The physical layer

The basics of connecting to the Internet and a web request

Connecting to an access network

Getting an IP address: DHCP

Finding the IP of the resource: DNS (and ARP, OSPF, and BGP)

Connecting to the resource: TCP

Requesting the resource: HTTP

3: Going Mobile

Wireless vs. mobile Internet access

Wireless local area networks: Wi-Fi

Wireless personal area networks: Bluetooth

The evolution of mobile networks

1G

2G

3G

4G

5G

Mobile IP

4: Internet Security

Six aspects of security

Cryptography and the basics of encryption

Cryptographic applications for message integrity

Cryptographic hash functions

Message authentication codes

Digital signature

Digital certificate

Cyberattacks

Malware

Denial of Service attacks

Malicious code attacks

Spoofing attacks

Social engineering

Other security measures

TLS (and SSL)

IPsec

Firewall

IDS and IPS

VPN

5: Blockchain and Web 3.0

What is blockchain?

How does a blockchain work?

Achieving consensus in blockchain

Blockchain in action: Bitcoin

Bitcoin transactions

Bitcoin and double spending

Other blockchain applications

Ethereum and smart contracts

Records management and non-fungible tokens

Decentralized computing and Web 3.0

The Internet of Things

6: The Internet of Things and Cloud Computing

What is the Internet of Things?

Components of the IoT

Sensors and endpoints

Intermediate networks and protocols

Cloud computing

Edge and fog computing

The future of the IoT

Transportation

Healthcare and well-being

Agriculture

Workplace and industry

A word on security

A word on privacy

7: 21 Questions about the Internet

Further Reading

Acknowledgments

There are many people I’d like to thank for making this book happen.

Firstly my wife, Nicole, for all of your love and support throughout. Thank you for encouraging me to pursue a longtime dream and giving the draft a critical eye as it neared completion.

My parents, Kenny and Jessie, for nurturing my sense of curiosity and for always giving me the love and freedom to pursue whatever I wanted. Thank you both.

My sister, Jacqueline. I’ve always been proud of and impressed by your art, and I hope this book encourages you to keep pursuing the things you love.

Professor Lawrence Yeung, for your top-notch teaching and guidance in ICOM 6012, and for taking time out of your schedule to help an ex-student with his pet project.

Dr. Pete Membrey, for superbly insightful edits and comments throughout, continually challenging me to make this book more reader friendly, and giving me some great advice for publishing.

Leo W., for being the first reviewer of this book, offering your unparalleled expertise on blockchain (and everything else, really), and answering round after round of questions.

Fionn F., for helping me understand the trickier concepts in this book, giving excellent pointers on the images, and answering round after round of questions.

Jidesh V., for sense-checking the veracity of key points and making sure I cross my T's and dot my I’s.

Josh K., for your incredible illustrations and even more incredible patience, working through multiple iterations of each graphic, and not letting glitchy Google Meet calls get in the way of our catch-ups.

Eldes T., for your comprehensive edits and guidance on formatting and publication. Thank you also for introducing me to Scribus and making this book much more readable than it otherwise would be.

Awadhesh Y., for laying this book out and being a top professional throughout. I’m very glad we got to work together.

Roberta B., Justina C., Laura P., Candice A., and Cedric M., for inspiring me with your own passion projects. Roberta, for transforming your passion for dance into a career. We always hear about people taking the leap to chase their dreams and I’m so happy I know someone who’s living that out. Justina, for your delightful comics (and knitting and writing and songwriting!). Peggy Pointer may be all the rage for other people, but I think the world could use a little more Underwear Tiger. Laura, with your beautiful paintings and prints. As someone who would struggle to even finish a coloring book, I’m always amazed to see the ideas you bring to life with a paintbrush and watercolors. Candice, with your social work initiatives and the cheer you bring to those around you. Emphasizing and affirming are hard things to master, but I think I speak for many when I say you do them really well. Cedric, with your game design, art, and (so many) memes. My daily productivity would probably be a lot higher in a world where I didn’t know you, but you make living in this one just a bit more funny. Just a bit though. :howdy:

Introduction

This book was written to be a beginner’s first book on the Internet. It’s meant to give interested readers the foundation they need to speak Internet and be a basis for further learning and research.

As an undergraduate student, I did not study a STEM subject and occasionally wished I had more of a technical background when I began my professional career. In many ways, this is the sort of book I would’ve loved to have access to all those years ago.

In that spirit, this book is designed to give a succinct but comprehensive treatment of must-know Internet topics. We begin with a brief history of the Internet, looking at the motivations that birthed this transformative technology and some key milestones to date. Chapter 2 is a crash course on computer networking and the basic architecture of the Internet. We explore some of the rationale behind its design and look at what happens under the hood when you access a simple web page. Chapter 3 is an introduction to mobile Internet access and the five generations of mobile Internet technology.

Chapter 4 is on Internet security. We begin with the fundamentals of security and cryptography before diving into common attacks and how to defend against them. This part of the book also introduces concepts needed to understand Chapter 5, which is a primer on blockchain and its many applications. Chapter 6 is about the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and what might happen in a future where more devices are going online and talking to one another. Chapter 7 concludes the book with a selection of the most popular questions about the Internet.

Beyond giving definitions to Internet buzzwords, I’ve tried to outline the principles underpinning the Internet and give practical advice where possible, particularly in the chapter on security.

I hope