What is the internet, and how is it different from the World Wide Web?
Explain what the internet is, how it differs from the World Wide Web, and the roles of IP addresses, DNS and the client-server model.
A focused answer to the WJEC GCSE Digital Technology content on the internet, covering the internet versus the World Wide Web, IP addresses, the Domain Name System and the client-server model.
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What this dot point is asking
WJEC asks you to explain what the internet actually is, to distinguish it clearly from the World Wide Web (a very common exam question), and to describe the behind-the-scenes parts that make it work: IP addresses, the Domain Name System and the client-server model. You need precise definitions, because marks are lost by treating "the internet" and "the Web" as the same thing.
The internet versus the World Wide Web
This distinction is the headline point.
Other services also run on the internet, such as email and video streaming, so the Web is not the whole internet, just its most visible part.
IP addresses
Devices need a way to identify each other.
The Domain Name System
People prefer names; computers use numbers, and DNS bridges the gap.
The client-server model
Most internet services work as a request and a response.
Following a request
The pieces fit together each time you load a page.
The cloud as an internet service
A major use of the internet today is cloud computing, which is worth understanding here because it builds on the client-server model. The cloud means using remote servers, reached over the internet, to store data or run software, instead of doing everything on your own device. Cloud storage keeps your files on the provider's servers so they can be reached from any device; cloud applications run in a browser so there is nothing to install. The benefits are access from anywhere, automatic backup, easy sharing and no need for powerful local hardware; the drawbacks are the need for an internet connection, ongoing costs, and reliance on the provider for security and availability. The cloud is simply the client-server model applied at large scale across the internet.
Why this matters
Understanding the internet as infrastructure, and the Web as a service on top of it, is the conceptual core of how connected systems work and is repeatedly examined. IP addresses and DNS explain how billions of devices find each other, and the client-server model describes how websites, apps and cloud storage all operate. This also underpins the security and reliability topics: knowing that requests travel across many networks helps explain why data can be intercepted, and why you must judge the reliability of the sources you reach.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC-style2 marksExplain the difference between the internet and the World Wide Web.Show worked answer →
The internet is the global network of interconnected computers and the infrastructure (cables, routers and so on) that links them together, allowing them to communicate.
The World Wide Web is a service that runs on the internet: it is the collection of websites and web pages, linked by hyperlinks, that you access using a web browser.
Markers award one mark for the internet as the network/infrastructure and one mark for the Web as a service (websites and pages) that uses the internet. The key idea is that the Web is one of many services that run on the internet, not the same thing.
WJEC-style3 marksDescribe the role of the Domain Name System (DNS) when a user types a web address into a browser.Show worked answer →
A web address (domain name) such as a site's name is easy for people to remember, but computers locate each other using numerical IP addresses.
The DNS acts like a directory: the browser sends the domain name to a DNS server, which looks up and returns the matching IP address.
The browser then uses that IP address to contact the correct web server and request the page.
Markers award one mark for the idea that DNS translates a domain name into an IP address, one mark for it being looked up on a DNS server, and one mark for the browser then using the IP address to reach the server. The analogy of a phone book or directory is acceptable.
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Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCSE Digital Technology specification — WJEC (2021)
- WJEC GCSE Digital Technology Unit 1 guide — WJEC (2020)