When you type islandclass.org into your browser and a page appears, many web technologies work together: the World Wide Web, web browsers, web servers, URLs, HTTP and HTML. In CSEC IT you need to explain how these concepts are related.

This builds on Network Components and Transmission Media – the Web runs on top of the Internet’s networks.

Build on what you learned in Forms 1–3

These Lower School ICT posts cover the basics of this topic:

• Introduction to the Internet, WWW and Hyperlinks – your first look at the Internet and the Web
• Hyperlinks – how links connect web pages
• Search engines – finding information on the Web
• Blogs (Weblog) – an example of a website anyone can publish

In this post:

• The Internet vs the World Wide Web
• Web pages, web servers and web browsers
• URL, HTTP and HTML
• Hyperlinks
• Upload, download, FTP and email

The Internet and the World Wide Web

The Internet is the worldwide network of networks (the hardware and connections). The World Wide Web (WWW) is a service that runs on the Internet: a huge collection of linked web pages. Email and file transfer are other services that also use the Internet.

Video: What is the world wide web? – Twila Camp – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8hzJxb0rpc

Image source: File:First Web Server.jpg

Key web technology concepts

Concept	Meaning
Web page	A document on the Web, written in HTML, that can contain text, images, video and links
Website	A collection of related web pages under one domain, e.g. islandclass.org
Web server	A computer that stores websites and sends (serves) web pages to users who request them
Web browser	Software used to request, display and navigate web pages, e.g. Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)	The unique address of a web page or file, e.g. https://islandclass.org/csec-it-solutions/
HTTP / HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)	The set of rules for requesting and sending web pages between browser and server; HTTPS is the secure, encrypted version
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)	The language used to create web pages; tags tell the browser how to display the content
Hyperlink	Clickable text or an image that takes you to another page, another part of a page, a file or an email address
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)	Rules for transferring files between computers, often used to upload website files to a server
Upload / download	Upload: send a file from your computer to a server. Download: copy a file from a server to your computer
Email	Sending electronic messages over the Internet using an address such as name@example.com

How they work together

What happens when you click a link to a web page:

1. You click a hyperlink (or type a URL) in your web browser.
2. The browser sends an HTTP/HTTPS request across the Internet to the web server named in the URL.
3. The web server finds the web page and sends back its HTML (plus images and other files).
4. The browser reads the HTML and displays the page. Links on that page lead to more pages – that is the “web”.

Image source: File:Client-server model example (Web browsing) – en.png

Video: SSL, TLS, HTTP, HTTPS Explained – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hExRDVZHhig

Parts of a URL

Take https://islandclass.org/csec-it-solutions/:

• https – the protocol (how to transfer the page)
• islandclass.org – the domain name (which web server)
• /csec-it-solutions/ – the path (which page or file on that server)

Want to build your own web pages? See Creating a website and choosing a design using wordpress.com and Setting up your homepage and adding links.

Paper 1 practice (multiple choice)

Choose the best answer for each question. Try them all before you check.

1. Which of the following is a web browser?
(A) HTML
(B) Google Chrome
(C) HTTP
(D) A web server

2. The language used to create web pages is
(A) HTTP
(B) FTP
(C) HTML
(D) URL

3. In the URL https://islandclass.org/csec-it-solutions/, “islandclass.org” is the
(A) protocol
(B) domain name
(C) path
(D) file type

4. Copying a file FROM a web server TO your computer is called
(A) uploading
(B) downloading
(C) browsing
(D) emailing

5. Which protocol is used mainly to transfer files to a web server?
(A) FTP
(B) HTML
(C) URL
(D) WWW

Show answers

1. B
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. A

Paper 2 practice (structured question)

Anya wants to set up a website to advertise her family’s roti shop.

(a) Distinguish between the Internet and the World Wide Web. (2 marks)

(b) Explain the role of EACH of the following when a customer views Anya’s website:

(i) web browser (1 mark)

(ii) web server (1 mark)

(iii) HTTP (1 mark)

(c) Identify the protocol, domain name and path in the URL https://anyasroti.com/menu.html (3 marks)

(d) Anya uses FTP to put her web pages on the server. Is this uploading or downloading? Explain. (2 marks)

Total: 10 marks

Show answers

(a) The Internet is the worldwide network of interconnected computers/networks (1); the WWW is a collection of linked web pages/a service that runs on the Internet (1).

(b)

(i) Browser – requests and displays the web pages (1 mark)

(ii) Server – stores the website and sends the pages when requested (1 mark)

(iii) HTTP – the rules/protocol used to request and transfer the pages between browser and server (1 mark)

(c)
• Protocol: https (1)
• domain name: anyasroti.com (1)
• path: /menu.html (1)

(d) Uploading (1) – files are being sent from her computer to the server (1).

Next: Computer Security, Cybersecurity and Computer Misuse: Vulnerability, Threat, Attack and Countermeasure

Syllabus link: This post is relevant to the CSEC® Information Technology Syllabus (CXC 30/G/SYLL 17), Section 2: Computer Networks and Web Technologies, Specific Objective 4 (“explain the interrelationship among key Web technology concepts”).

Attributions to media used in this post:

• First Web Server.jpg – User:Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia – CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
• Client-server model example (Web browsing) – en.png – Michel Bakni – CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.