How the Internet Works

Large providers are assigned large IP blocks for them and for their customers. When accessing an IP address outside the provider's network, the data must travel through certain routers to get to the destination IP. The Internet Protocol is responsible for routing the packet to the destination.

Providers have some large, carrier-class routers located at the edge of their network where they interconnect to other providers. Every provider that has at least two interconnections with two different other providers must have an Autonomous System (AS) number to be identified in the exchange of routing information.

All the Internet is based on BGP (Border Gateway Protocol), which is a dynamic routing protocol used to exchange information ...

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