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As we all know, the government don't want us to know where the internet is but a friend of mine told me that there are some theories, based on strong facts, that it could be located in Elm creek, Nebraska.
I have looked on google maps and with the satelite images, I can't seem to find it. I would imagine it to be big and obvious. Maybe the governement forced google to hide it?
So do any one of you know where the internet could be if it is not in elm creek?
I understand that it is accessible accros the world but my question is: where is the place where the internet that we access is located? Like, all of you that are answering to my questions, where are you located?
The "internet" is not located in one particular place. Neither are all we who use it.
You use an internet browser program.. Every request you make via that browser, goes through to your ISP, whose DNS servers try to figure out what site you are looking for. If they figure it out, an IP address of the server you seek, is returned to your browser, which then directly connects to that IP address; the result: whatever that server at that IP address has to offer to internet users who connect to it, is presented to you, in your browser.
Where your ISP is located, and where any given server/IP is located, around the world, is not really important. Regardless where something is located, it's the DNS system that allows/enables one piece to find another.
For what it's worth, I'm located in eastern Canada.
Oh, and yes, a large number of the servers connected to the internet, are running Linux. But that doesn't really matter in the context of this discussion. They could be running Windows and the system would work the same way- just maybe not so efficiently.
Last edited by GrapefruiTgirl; 10-18-2010 at 09:02 AM.
Thank you. So it is like a company that would have several remote offices then.
But then where is the fiber optic? I tought it was used to connect the internet computers together. Can they be connected together (ie: from yours) to the one in elm creek? It seems like a long distance.
Thank you. So it is like a company that would have several remote offices then.
But then where is the fiber optic? I tought it was used to connect the internet computers together. Can they be connected together (ie: from yours) to the one in elm creek? It seems like a long distance.
It's not like a company at all. It's a whole load of individual servers, all connected to a party line. DNS acts like the operator, and routes individual requests to the server where the desired information is located.
Fibre-optic cabling is used in a lot in IT and telecommunications areas. It connects major centers, or runs across the ocean, or connects one country to another; it transmits internet traffic, phone calls, etc., just like regular wires did, and still do. Fibre-optic can handle MUCH more traffic than most any other means, so it is used where there are a LOT of connections, and/or where traffic has to go a long way, and/or for higher transmission speeds..
Individual computers are connected via CAT5 cable or similar, which is just small wire. Your house connects to your ISP, probably using copper wire. Your ISP may connect to the larger internet via a fibre-optic trunk-line.
Sure, computers can be very far apart, but by hopping along from one point to the next to the next to the next, one computer can reach another computer miles away.
I haven't a clue about this thing/place in "Elm Creek". Never heard of it.
You've got this theory about 'the internet' all twisted. The internet is decentralized.
This meaning, if say the entire Elm Creek were to be without internet for an entire year, the rest of the world would still have internet. If 50% of the world would drop from the internet, the other 50% would still have internet. (Well, if the root DNS servers were to go down I think we would have an issue, but lucklily DNS itself is not 'the internet')
Think of it this way, you have 8 computers connected in a mesh where every computer is connected to every other computer. If computer 1 were to go down, then computer 2-8 would still work properly.
And yes, there are some pretty long cables out there, stretching over huge oceans.
If you have a Linux OS at your disposal there, try this command in a console:
Code:
traceroute linuxquestions.org
It will show you the "hops" your computer connection has to make, to get from your house, to linuxquestions.org. Here's mine:
Code:
traceroute to linuxquestions.org (75.126.162.205), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 192.168.xx.x (192.168.xx.x) 130.781 ms 145.668 ms 146.076 ms
2 blk-222-54-xx.eastlink.ca (xx.222.54.xx) 146.611 ms 148.621 ms 148.964 ms
3 ns-hlfx-dr002.eastlink.ca (xx.215.102.xx) 149.277 ms 149.641 ms 150.067 ms
4 ns-hlfx-br002.eastlink.ca (xx.215.102.xx) 150.455 ms 150.789 ms 159.702 ms
5 ns-hlfx-br001.eastlink.ca (24.215.102.9) 160.102 ms 160.440 ms 160.779 ms
6 xe-11-0-0.bar2.Boston1.Level3.net (4.79.2.89) 161.142 ms 130.924 ms 64.862 ms
7 ae-8-8.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.140.98) 65.200 ms 66.228 ms 67.231 ms
8 ae-81-81.csw3.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.74) 75.465 ms ae-61-61.csw1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.66) 91.547 ms 84.876 ms
9 ae-82-82.ebr2.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.148.41) 75.076 ms 74.685 ms ae-72-72.ebr2.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.148.37) 91.810 ms
10 ae-3-3.ebr2.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.137.121) 132.392 ms 130.676 ms 132.728 ms
11 ae-3-80.edge3.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.145.136) 129.586 ms ae-1-60.edge3.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.145.8) 139.607 ms ae-3-80.edge3.Dallas1.Level3.net (4.69.145.136) 139.937 ms
12 te2-1.cer01.sr01.dal01.networklayer.com (4.71.198.18) 106.364 ms 99.286 ms 105.329 ms
13 po2.fcr02.sr04.dal01.networklayer.com (66.228.118.182) 105.915 ms 106.305 ms 105.916 ms
14 www.linuxquestions.org (75.126.162.205) 126.465 ms 125.896 ms 126.468 ms
root@reactor:
So you see, when I request a page served by the servers at linuxquestions.org, my computer connection is routed from my province in Canada, through different chunks of "the internet", equipment owned and operated by different parties in Boston, New York, Dallas, and some other places, until finally I get connected to linuxquestions.org at the end.
Like links in a chain, each switch or hub along the route, connected together, makes a complete route for my request to travel to linuxquestions.org. If one of the pieces in the chain breaks, then some other piece would step in to fill the void, or I would have to manually create some other route to LQ, such as using a proxy.
If you haven't got a Linux OS to try this, I haven't a clue what Windows command would do the same thing.
If you haven't got a Linux OS to try this, I haven't a clue what Windows command would do the same thing.
In earlier versions of windows, the command 'traceroute' works, and gets you a BSD acknowledgement message. Latterly, I think Microsoft have written their own utility which they have called 'pathping'. Traceroute is a better name, though....
Thank you all for your replies. It seems more complicated than what I thought it was. I will read more on the wiki and who knows.. maybe someday I will be part it!
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