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How The Internet Works

The current incompatibilities of the platforms and tools make it impossible to access existing information through a common interface, leading to waste of time, frustration and obsolete answers to simple data lookup. There is a potential large benefit from the integration of a variety of systems in a way which allows a user to follow links pointing from one piece of information to another one.

- Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau; WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project; 1990.

The Internet is managed by a roughly democratic group of policy and technical organizations. The technical structure of the Internet is made up of a mix of hierarchical systems, like IP addresses and domain names, and network systems, like packet switching and routing. The following sections provide more information: