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7 Internet Access: T.O.P. Businessinteractive GMBH Page 1 of 12

The document discusses internet access and security. It describes how the internet functions on a client-server model and uses TCP/IP protocols. Common internet protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and SMTP are explained. The document also discusses important security components for connecting a private network to the internet securely, including network address translators (NATs) that allow communication from private to public networks, proxy servers that allow sharing of public IP addresses, and firewalls that prevent unauthorized external access to private networks.

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Daniel Cafu
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36 views

7 Internet Access: T.O.P. Businessinteractive GMBH Page 1 of 12

The document discusses internet access and security. It describes how the internet functions on a client-server model and uses TCP/IP protocols. Common internet protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and SMTP are explained. The document also discusses important security components for connecting a private network to the internet securely, including network address translators (NATs) that allow communication from private to public networks, proxy servers that allow sharing of public IP addresses, and firewalls that prevent unauthorized external access to private networks.

Uploaded by

Daniel Cafu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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7 Internet Access

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T.O.P. BusinessInteractive GmbH

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7 Internet Access......................................................................1
7.1 The Internet (1/2).................................................................3
7.1 The Internet (2/2).................................................................4
7.2 Internet Protocols (1/2) ......................................................5
7.2 Internet Protocols (2/2) ......................................................6
7.3 Security Aspects ................................................................7
7.3.1 Network Address Translator - NAT................................8
7.3.2 Proxy Servers (1/2) ..........................................................9
7.3.2 Proxy Servers (2/2) ........................................................10
7.3.3 Firewalls (1/2).................................................................11
7.3.3 Firewalls (2/2).................................................................12

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7.1 The Internet (1/2)

The Internet enables users all over the world to exchange information, like text, graphics,
video, audio and computer programs, over their computers. Although some organizations
develop tools or applications for the Internet, no individual or organization is in control of it.
However, the Internet's backbone, i.e. the physical medium carrying the Internet traffic, is
owned by private companies.

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7.1 The Internet (2/2)

The computers on the Internet are organized in a client-server architecture. This means that
a remote server provides files and services for the user's local client computer. The speed
with which the client computer can access the services provided by the server depends on
technology available. Thanks to continuous technical progress, the access speeds and
mechanisms have been improved, and enable the fast download of large amounts of data
from a server.

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7.2 Internet Protocols (1/2)

TCP/IP is the standard protocol stack used for communication over the Internet. The TCP/IP
protocol stack consists of simpler protocols like e.g. TCP and IP, and the more complex
Application layer protocols for Internet access. TCP and IP provide the base functionality
many applications require, whereas the Internet protocols provide access to more
sophisticated services, like the exchange of files between computers, the sending of e-mails,
or the identification of a user who has logged on to a computer.

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7.2 Internet Protocols (2/2)

The most frequently used protocols that provide access to the Internet are HTTP, HTTPS,
FTP and SMTP. Furthermore, the languages HTML and DHTML define the format of the web
pages displayed on the Internet. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP, is deployed to
transfer messages from a server to a client using TCP/IP. HTTP communication is not
encrypted.
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, HTTPS, is used to establish secure webserver
connections with the help of SSL, or Secure Socket Layer.
The protocols FTP and SMTP have been discussed in the previous chapter. They are used
to transfer files or e-mails over the Internet. The Hypertext Markup Language, HTML, is the
standard language used to build and format web pages. HTML defines how texts are
represented on the Internet. Dynamic HTML, finally, comprises HTML extensions supporting
animation and interactive web pages.

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7.3 Security Aspects

Network security is a very important aspect when a network is linked to the Internet. When a
user tries to connect to the Internet, other computers can, under certain circumstances, gain
access to his computer. Within a corporate intranet, the security risks are limited, since this
network is not easily accessible to the public. Among the physical components used to
connect a network or an individual computer to the Internet securely, are the Network
Address Translators, or NATs, the proxy servers, and the firewalls.

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7.3.1 Network Address Translator - NAT

Private addresses cannot receive traffic from computers on the Internet. To enable
communication between a network which uses private addresses for internal data transfer,
and computers on the Internet, a Network Address Translator, NAT, is required. An NAT is a
component which translates private IP addresses into public ones.
The NAT is a router placed between the public and the private network. It translates the
outgoing packet's private IP addresses into public IP addresses, and does the reverse with
incoming packets.
To guarantee the security of the transmission, the private IP address is masked during this
process.

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7.3.2 Proxy Servers (1/2)

Most of the private user and corporate networks use dial-up networking or a modem to
connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), which in turn connects them to the Internet.
For Internet access, the ISP assigns one IP address to each network. Furthermore, each
computer on a network requires an IP address for the Internet connection. Instead of giving
each computer its own IP address, it is more cost-efficient if several computers share one IP
address. This is just what the proxy server does.

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7.3.2 Proxy Servers (2/2)

Proxy servers mainly carry out two functions: First, they reduce the time needed to reply to
users' requests. To do this, a proxy server saves the results of all requests for a certain
period of time. If a user opens a page that has been requested before, the proxy server
simply displays it again, instead of forwarding the request to the web server and downloading
the page a second time. Furthermore, proxy servers can be used to filter the clients' requests
for certain Internet connections. For example, an organization can deny its employees
access to certain web pages.

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7.3.3 Firewalls (1/2)

Each network that is connected to the Internet should send its traffic over a firewall. A firewall
is a combination of hardware and software, and prevents unauthorized external users from
accessing the internal network. All incoming and outgoing messages pass through the
firewall, which examines each message, and stops all those that do not meet the security
requirements.
A firewall filters out the data traffic which must not be exchanged between the Internet and
the private network.

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7.3.3 Firewalls (2/2)

A firewall prevents the direct communication between a network and external computers by
routing the connection over a proxy server which is located outside the network. The firewall
determines whether a file can be routed to or from the network, and is also known as a
"security gateway".

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