UNIT TEST I

1. What is E-commerce?

Electronic commerce refers to business activities conducted using electronic data

transmission via the Internet and the World Wide Web.
E-Commerce: the process of buying, selling, or exchanging products, services, and
information through computer networks.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of E-commerce?

Advantages of Electronic Commerce

• Electronic commerce can increase sales and decrease costs.
• Web advertising reaches to a large amount of potential customers throughout the world.
• Web creates virtual communities for specific products or services.
• A business can reduce the costs by using electronic commerce in its sales support and
order-taking processes.
• Electronic commerce increases sale opportunities for the seller.
• Electronic commerce increases purchasing opportunities for the buyer.
Disadvantages of Electronic Commerce
• Some business processes are difficult to be implemented through electronic commerce.
• Return-on-investment is difficult to apply to electronic commerce.
• Businesses face cultural and legal obstacles to conducting electronic commerce.

3. What are the types of Business Model?

Online direct marketing
Electronic tendering system
Name-your-own price
Find the best price
Affiliate marketing
Viral marketing
Group purchasing
Online auctions:

4. What is Intranet, Extranet and Internet ?

Intranets and Extranets
An "intranet" is the generic term for a collection of private computer networks within an
organization. An "extranet" is a computer network that allows controlled access from the outside
for specific business or educational purposes. Intranets and extranets are communication tools
designed to enable easy information sharing within workgroups.
Internet
This is the world-wide network of computers accessible to anyone who knows their
Internet Protocol (IP) address - the IP address is a unique set of numbers (such as
209.33.27.100) that defines the computer's location. Most will have accessed a computer
using a name such ashttp://www.hcidata.com. 
Intranet
This is a network that is not available to the world outside of the Intranet. If the Intranet
network is connected to the Internet, the Intranet will reside behind a firewall and, if it
allows access from the Internet, will be an Extranet. The firewall helps to control access
between the Intranet and Internet to permit access to the Intranet only to people who are
members of the same company or organisation. 
Extranet
An Extranet is actually an Intranet that is partially accessible to authorised outsiders. The
actual server (the computer that serves up the web pages) will reside behind a firewall.
The firewall helps to control access between the Intranet and Internet permitting access to
the Intranet only to people who are suitably authorised.

5. What are the types of protocols?

There are two types of protocols they are Internet Protocol and Transmission Control
Protocol. In computers a protocol is basically a principle or standard which either controls
or permits the..

6. What is Cryptography?
Cryptography is the study and practice of encoding data using transformation techniques so that it can only be
decoded by specific users. In simpler words, it is a theory of secret writing. Practitioners of cryptography are
known as cryptographers.

7. What are the information publishing technologies?

8. What is web-server?
A Web server is a software program which serves web pages to web users (browsers). A web
server delivers requested web pages to users who enter the URL in a web browser. Every
computer on the Internet that contains a web site must have a web server program. The
computer in which a web server program runs is also usually called a “web server”. So, the term
“web server” is used to represent both the server program and the computer in which the server
program runs.

9. What is hard-ware and software?

A computer system is made up from hardware and software.

Hardware is the physical medium, for example:

 circuit boards
 processors
 keyboard
A piece of software is a computer program, for example:

 an operating system
 an editor
 a compiler
 a Fortran 90 program

The software allows the hardware to be used. Programs vary enormously in size and complexity.

10. What is www?

World wide web

Part - B

11. (a) Difference between E-commerce and Physical commerce?

(b) Explain the Economy forces in E-commerce?

Economic Forces of Electronic Commerce

• Transaction costs were the main motivation for moving economic activity from markets
to hierarchically structured firms.
• Transaction costs are the total of all costs that a buyer and a seller incur for business.
• Types of economic organization:
– Market form
– Hierarchically-structured form

12. (a) What are the advantages and disadvantages of E-commerce ?

Advantages of Electronic Commerce

• Electronic commerce can increase sales and decrease costs.
• Web advertising reaches to a large amount of potential customers throughout the world.
• Web creates virtual communities for specific products or services.
• A business can reduce the costs by using electronic commerce in its sales support and
order-taking processes.
• Electronic commerce increases sale opportunities for the seller.
• Electronic commerce increases purchasing opportunities for the buyer.

Electronic commerce benefits the general welfare of society because:

• electronic payments of tax refunds and welfare cost less to issue and arrive
securely.
• electronic payments can be audited easily.
• electronic commerce enables people to work from home.
• electronic commerce makes products and services available in remote areas.
Disadvantages of Electronic Commerce
• Some business processes are difficult to be implemented through electronic commerce.
• Return-on-investment is difficult to apply to electronic commerce.
• Businesses face cultural and legal obstacles to conducting electronic commerce.

(b) What are the myths available in E-commerce?

3. (a) Explain the various business models in details with suitable diagram ?

Types of business models in EC

Online direct marketing: selling online from a manufacturer to a customer (e-tailing)

Electronic tendering system: (tendering, reverse auction) buyers request would be sellers to
submit bids for an item/service/project and the lowest bidder wins

Name-your-own price: a buyer sets the price he wants to pay for a product/service
Find the best price: a buyer submits its needs and an intermediate matches it against a database
of sellers, locates the lowest price and submit it to the buyer to accept or reject.
Affiliate marketing: marketing partner refers consumers to a selling company’s web site for a
commission (virtual commissioned sales force)

Viral marketing: Web-based word-of-mouth marketing in which a customers promotes a

product or service to friends or other people
Group purchasing: quantity purchasing that enables groups of purchasers to obtain a discount
price on the products purchased (demand aggregation)
Online auctions: bidding for products and services with the highest bidder getting the item.
Product and service customization: creation of a product or service to meet the buyers
specifications.
Electronic marketplaces and exchangers: a space in which sellers and buyers exchange goods
and services for money (or for other goods and services) electronically

Business model is something that almost every business needs; it can be used to sell an idea, to
get the attention of clients or customers and to generally be a business. Even in the beginning,
when your business is new, still having a business model is a must. But what kind of business
model is right for your business? Well, that is just what this is about.
There are nine different Business Models to expand or create your business. You can choose
whichever suits you best.

1. Utility Business Model: The utility business model is for businesses that are on a pay as you
go type of plan, like the popular cell phone parents buy for their teenagers Go Phone. This
type of model explains how you will attract customers to use you service.
2. Community Business Model: The Community business model is a model that explains how a
business that uses a community to earn money works. For example an MLM uses this type of
business model to explain how you can earn residual income by having people below you
working for you.
3. Direct Manufacturer Model: The Direct Manufacturer model that shows how an independent
producer of a certain product can reach niche of prospects interested in the related product.

4. Brokerage Business Model: Brokerage Models should show how a broker plans to make the
most commissions/money conducting a certain type of business like consumer to consumer
relations.

5. Advertising Business Model: The Advertising model should demonstrate how a provider of a
website or store plans on generating revenues for both the store and the advertiser.

6. Merchant Business Model: Merchant models are models that show how a merchant is going to
reach sellers and buyers alike and make money while doing so.

7. Affiliate Business Model: An Affiliate model should show a potential affiliate how much
money they can potentially earn by advertising their product or services.

8. Infomediary Business Model: The Infomediary model should prove a given market to be
highly profitable.

9. Subscription Business Model: And last but not least is the Subscription model which should
show how a subscription based business plans on getting participants and also how much it plans
to make per month per subscriber.
Your business should fall into one of these categories and making sure that your business model
meets the business world properly you should do some selective research on your specific
business model type

Explain the various internet protocols in details with suitable examples?

Protocols
A protocol is a set of rules for the exchange of data across communication lines.

Protocols need to handle the following tasks:

• Format messages
• Order Data in message
• Compress message
• Provide Error checking on message
Most Popular Internet Protocols The most popular Internet protocols include:

• TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

• FTP: File Transfer Protocol
• HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
• E-mail protocols: SMTP, POP, IMAP
Each protocol is used for a different purpose, but all of them are important.
TCP/IP
• The protocols that underlie the basic operation of the Internet are TCP (transmission
control protocol) and IP (Internet protocol).
• Establish rules about how data are moved across networks and how network
connections are established and broken.
Purposes of Each
• TCP controls the assembly of a message into smaller packets before it is transmitted over
the network. It also controls the reassembly of packets once they reach their destination.
• The IP protocol includes rules for routing individual data packets from their source to
their destination. It also handles all addressing details for each packet. More on
addressing later.

File transfer protocol

• FTP (file transfer protocol) is a part of TCP/IP that allows files to be transferred between
computers connected using TCP/IP.
• It uses the client/server model.
• FTP permits files to be transferred in both directions, that is, from the client to the server
or from the server to the client.
• It can transfer files one at a time or many files simultaneously.

Files types and FTP

FTP allows the transfer of two types of files:

1. ASCII text: files containing only characters available through the keyboard and
containing no formatting information.
Example: Files created using Notepad
1. Binary data: files containing word processed documents, worksheets, graphics, etc.

Other Functions of FTP

FTP has other useful functions:

• Displaying remote and local computers’ directories
• Changing the current client’s or server’s active directories
• Creating and removing local and remote directories.

Accessing with FTP

There are two ways to access remote machines:
1. Full privilege FTP access: This requires that you have an account on the remote computer
and that you supply your username and password.
1. Anonymous FTP: If you do not have an account on the remote computer, you can type
anonymous as the username and your e-mail address as the password and obtain limited
 access to the remote computer. You can use an FTP client program or Web browser
interface for FTP.

Browsing Through Files

Once you have logged into your account using FTP you can browse through the files located in
your account. You do this by double clicking on the folders that appear.

HTTP

• HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is the protocol responsible for transferring and
displaying Web pages.
• It has continued to evolve since being introduced.
• Like other Internet protocols, HTTP uses the client/ server model of computing. Thus, to
understand how HTTP works, we need to first discuss the client/server model.

Client/Server model
• In the client/server model there are two roles: the client and the server.
• The client process makes requests of the server. The client is only capable of sending a
request to the server and then waiting for the reply.
• The server satisfies the requests of the client. It usually has access to a resource, such as
data, that the client wants. When the resource that the client wants becomes available, it
sends a message to the client.
• This model simplifies communication.

Client/Server Model

HTTP and Client/Server

• With HTTP the client is the user’s Web browser and the server is the Web server.
• To open a session, the browser sends a request to the server that holds the desired web
page.
 • The server replies by sending back the page or an error message if the page could not be
found.
• After the client verifies that the response sent was correct, the TCP/IP connection is
closed and the HTTP session ends.
• Each new page that is desired will result in a new HTTP session and another TCP/IP
connection.

Mail protocols
• Electronic mail is managed and stored by programs and hardware collectively known as
mail servers.
• It is displayed and created using mail programs such as Eudora, Pine, Unix mail,
Outlook, Web interface mail programs.
• Protocols are necessary for the mail programs to construct requests to receive e-mail and
for the mail servers in downloading and/or deleting e-mail.
• The e-mail protocols we will discuss use the client/ server model.

SMTP
• SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) is used by client mail programs to make requests
about mail delivery.
• A wide variety of mail programs such as Eudora, Unix mail, and PINE, use SMTP to
send mail to a mail server.
• The SMTP specifies the exact format of a mail message and describes how mail is to be
administered.

POP
• POP (post office protocol) is responsible for retrieving e-mail from a server.
• It requests that the mail server either retrieve mail from the mail server and then delete
it, retrieve mail from the server without deleting\ it, or simply ask whether new mail has
come but not retrieve it.
• When e-mail is read, POP specifies that it must be downloaded to your computer from
the server. Read e-mail is not kept on the server.

IMAP
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a newer protocol that, like POP, can ask if there is
new mail, download e-mail, and delete e-mail.

IMAP has capabilities that POP does not:

• It defines how a client program asks a mail server to present available mail.
• It can allow you to manipulate and manage e-mail without downloading it from the
server.

Internet Addresses
Internet addresses are represented in several ways, but all the formats are translated to a 32-bit
number called an IP address; a function of Internet Protocol (IP) The increased demand for IP
addresses will soon make 32-bit addresses too small, and they will be replaced with 128-bit
addresses (IP v6.0) in the near future. How does increasing the number of bits in the address help
with increasing demand?

A URL deconstructed

http://www.daschmelzer.com/ect250/hw/h1/h1.htm

HTML
 HTML – Hypertext Markup Language
 One of the languages with the parent SGML – Standard Generalized Markup Language
 HTML provides Web page designers with a fixed set of markup “tags” that are used to
format a Web page

HTML TOOLS

4. (a) Describe about Cryptography in detail with suitable diagram ?

Definitions

Cryptography is the study and practice of encoding data using transformation techniques so that
it can only be decoded by specific users. In simpler words, it is a theory of secret writing.
Practitioners of cryptography are known as cryptographers.

Why cryptography is important?

Cryptography allows people to carry over the confidence found in the physical world to the
electronic world, thus allowing people to do business electronically without worries of deceit and
deception. Every day hundreds of thousands of people interact electronically, whether it is
through e-mail, e-commerce (business conducted over the Internet), ATM machines, or cellular
phones. The perpetual increase of information transmitted electronically has lead to an increased
reliance on cryptography.
Cryptography on the Internet
The Internet, comprised of millions of interconnected computers, allows nearly instantaneous
communication and transfer of information, around the world. People use e-mail to correspond
with one another. The World Wide Web is used for online business, data distribution, marketing,
research, learning, and a myriad of other activities.
Cryptography makes secure web sites and electronic safe transmissions possible. For a web site
to be secure all of the data transmitted between the computers where the data is kept and where it
is received must be encrypted. This allows people to do online banking, online trading, and make
online purchases with their credit cards, without worrying that any of their account information
is being compromised. Cryptography is very important to the continued growth of the Internet
and electronic commerce.
E-commerce is increasing at a very rapid rate. By the turn of the century, commercial
transactions on the Internet are expected to total hundreds of billions of dollars a year. This level
of activity could not be supported without cryptographic security. It has been said that one is
safer using a credit card over the Internet than within a store or restaurant. It requires much more
work to seize credit card numbers over computer networks than it does to simply walk by a table
in a restaurant and lay hold of a credit card receipt. These levels of security, though not yet
widely used, give the means to strengthen the foundation with which e-commerce can grow.

Available technologies

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) – a hybrid encryption technology

– Message is encrypted using a private key algorithm (IDEA)
– Key is then encrypted using a public key algorithm (RSA)
– For file encryption, only IDEA algorithm is used
– PGP is free for home use
– MD4 and MD5 (Message Digest)
– SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm version 1)
– DSA (The Digital Signature Algorithm)
– ECDSA (Elliptic Curve DSA)
– Kerberos
– OPS (Open Profiling Standard)
– VeriSign Digital IDs

Benefits & problems

The benefits of cryptography are well recognized. Encryption can protect communications and
stored information from unauthorized access and disclosure. Other cryptographic techniques,
including methods of authentication and digital signatures, can protect against spoofing and
message forgeries. Practically everyone agrees that cryptography is an essential information
security tool, and that it should be readily available to users. I take this as a starting assumption
and, in this respect, have no disagreement with the crypto anarchists
• Data secrecy
• Data integrity
• Authentication of message originator
 • Electronic certification and digital signature
• Non-repudiation

Potential Problems with Cryptographic Technologies?

The drawbacks of cryptography are frequently overlooked as well. The widespread availability
of unbreakable encryption coupled with anonymous services could lead to a situation where
practically all communications are immune from lawful interception (wiretaps) and documents
from lawful search and seizure, and where all electronic transactions are beyond the reach of any
government regulation or oversight. The consequences of this to public safety and social and
economic stability could be devastating.

• False sense of security if badly implemented

• Government regulation of cryptographic technologies/export restrictions
• Encryption prohibited in some countries

Future of cryptography

Quantum cryptanalysis
• A quantum computer can perform practically unlimited number of simultaneous
computations
• Factoring large integers is a natural application for a quantum computer (necessary to
break RSA)
• Quantum cryptanalysis would render ALL modern cryptosystems instantly obsolete
• 2004 – 10-qubit special purpose quantum computer available
• 2006 – factoring attacks on RSA algorithm
• 2010 through 2012 – intelligence agencies will have quantum computers
• 2015 – large enterprises will have quantum computers
Quantum encryption
– No need for a quantum computer
– A key cannot be intercepted without altering its content
– It is theoretically unbreakable
– Central problem is transmitting a quantum message over a significant distance

Houston resources

University of Houston
− Crypto courses
− Ernst Leiss
Rice University: Computer Science Dept
− Crypto research and offers crypto training
− Dan Wallach (security of WAP, WEP, etc.)

Companies
− EDS
− RSA Security
 − Schlumberger
− SANS Institute

(b) Explain the various information publishing technologies available in E-commerce?

15 (a) Explain about the web server in detail?

What is a web server?

A Web server is a software program which serves web pages to web users (browsers).
A web server delivers requested web pages to users who enter the URL in a web browser. Every
computer on the Internet that contains a web site must have a web server program.
The computer in which a web server program runs is also usually called a “web server”. So, the
term “web server” is used to represent both the server program and the computer in which the
server program runs.

Characteristics of web servers

A web server computer is just like any other computer. The basic characteristics of web servers
are:
- It is always connected to the internet so that clients can access the web pages hosted by the web
server.
- It has an application called ‘web server’ running always.
In short, a ‘web server’ is a computer which is connected to the internet/intranet and has a
software called ‘web server’. The web server program will be always running in the computer.
When any user try to access a website hosted by the web server, it is actually the web server
program which delivers the web page which client asks for.
All web sites in the internet are hosted in some web servers sitting in different parts of the world.

Web Server is hardware or software?

From the above definition, you must have landed up in confusion “Web server is a hardware or a
software”
Mostly, Web server refers to the software program, which serves the clients request. But as we
mentioned earlier in this chapter, the computer in which the web server program is also called
‘web server”.

Web Server – Behind the Scene

Now that you are reading this page, have you ever had a thought how the page is made available
to the browser?
Your answer would be, “I typed in the URL http://www.aspspider.com and clicked on some link,
I dropped into this page.”
But what happed behind the scenes to bring you to this page and make you read this line of text.
So now, lets see what is actually happening behind the scene. The first you did is, you typed the
URL http://www.aspspider.com in the address bar of your browser and pressed your return key.
We could break this URL into two parts,
1. The protocol we are going to use to connect to the server (http)
2. The server name (www.aspspider.com)
The browser breaks up the URL into these parts and then it tries to communicate with the server
looking up for the server name. Actually, server is identified through an IP address but the alias
for the IP address is maintained in the DNS Server or the Naming server. The browser looks up
these naming servers, identifies the IP address of the server requested and gets the site and gets
the HTML tags for the web page. Finally it displays the HTML Content in the browser.

Where is my web server?

When you try to access a web site, you don’t really need to know where the web server is
located. The web server may be located in another city or country, but all you need to do is, type
the URL of the web site you want to access in a web browser. The web browser will send this
information to the internet and find the web server. Once the web server is located, it will request
the specific web page from the web server program running in the server. Web server program
will process your request and send the resulting web page to your browser. It is the responsibility
of your browser to format and display the webpage to you.

How many web servers are needed for a web site?

Typically, there is only one web server required for a web site. But large web sites like Yahoo,
Google, MSN etc will have millions of visitors every minute. One computer cannot process such
huge numbers of requests. So, they will have hundreds of servers deployed in different parts of
the world so that can provide a faster response.

How many websites can be hosted in one server?

A web server can host hundreds of web sites. Most of the small web sites in the internet are
hosted on shared web servers. There are several web hosting companies who offer shared web
hosting. If you buy a shared web hosting from a web hosting company, they will host your web
site in their web server along with several other web sites for a Fee. Examples of web server
applications 1. IIS, 2. Apache
(b) What are the hardware and software used for E-Commerce?

A computer system is made up from hardware and software.

Hardware is the physical medium, for example:

 circuit boards
 processors
 keyboard

A piece of software is a computer program, for example:

 an operating system
 an editor
 a compiler
 a Fortran 90 program

The software allows the hardware to be used. Programs vary enormously in size and complexity.

Module Objectives
 Describe the appropriate use of operating systems, software applications, and networking
components. 
 Compare and contrast the use of various input, processing, output, and primary/secondary
storage devices.
 Explain the differences between analog and digital technology systems and give
examples of each type of system.
 Delineate and make necessary adjustments regarding compatibility issues and cross-
platform connectivity.

Types of Devices

Digital versus Analog

 A digital device uses discrete data.
 Discrete data is distinct or separate.
 Ex: Numbers or digits.
 Most computers today are digital. Their circuits have only two possible states, such as
“Off” and “On” or “0” and “1”.
 An analog device operates on continuously varying data.

 Continuously varying data has an infinite number of possible states.

  A digital thermometer will give a specific numerical reading when used to measure
someone’s body temperature.
 An old fashioned mercury thermometer’s reading of someone’s body temperature could
be interpreted differently by different users.

Computer Hardware

 Central Processing Unit - also called “The Chip”, a CPU, a processor, or a

microprocessor
 Memory (RAM)
 Storage Devices
 Input Devices

Output Devices

 Central Processing Unit - also called “The Chip”, a CPU, a processor or a

microprocessor

Memory (RAM)

 Storage Devices
 Input Devices
 Output Devices
 Central Processing Unit - also called “The Chip”, a CPU, a processor or a
microprocessor
 Memory (RAM)
Storage Devices
 Input Devices
 Output Devices
 Central Processing Unit - also called “The Chip”, a CPU, a processor or a
microprocessor
 Memory (RAM)
 Storage Devices
 Input Devices
 Output Devices

CPU Types

 CPU or microprocessor is often described as the brain of a computer.

 CPU is an integrated circuit or “chip” which processes instructions and data.
 CPU types.
 Intel Pentium II, III, IV
 Intel Celeron
 AMD Athlon
 CPU speed is measured by the number of completed instruction cycles per second
Currently, CPU speeds range from 600 megahertz (MHz or million cycles per second) to 4
gigahertz (GHz or billion cycles per second).
 Always check new software’s requirements for CPU type and speed before purchasing

Storage Technology

 Electronic devices that store, retrieve, and save instructions and data.
 Today’s microcomputers or PCs include several types of storage devices.
 Capacity and speed are important considerations when selecting a new storage device
for a PC.
 Magnetic storage devices store data by magnetizing particles on a disk or tape. They
have a limited life-span of 1 to 5 years, depending on the device.
 Optical storage devices store data as light and dark spots on the disk surface. They have
an unlimited life-span.

Hard Disk Drives

 Capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB or billions of bytes).

 Typically permanently installed.
 Used to store operating system, application software, utilities and data.
 Magnetic storage device.

Floppy Disk Drives

 Capacity is 1.44 to 2.0 megabytes (MB or millions of bytes).

 Storage device with the smallest capacity
 Most portable storage media
 Magnetic storage device.

CD-ROM Drives

 Typically installed on all new computer systems. (Were add-on device until the
mid 1990’s).
 Capacity is 600 to 750 megabytes
(MB or millions of bytes).
 Most mass-produced commercial software is packaged on a CD.
 Used more often now for backup storage as CD-RW (read/write) technology has
become less expensive.
 Data is read from CD by a laser.
 Optical storage device.
 Input is all information put into a computer. Input can be supplied from a variety
of sources:
 A person
 A storage device on computer
 Another computer
 A peripheral device
  Another piece of equipment, such as a musical instrument or thermometer
 Input devices gather and translate data into a form the computer understands.
 Primary input device:
Keyboard - Most common input device; used to type in commands and data.
Mouse or trackball enhances user’s ability to input commands, manipulate text, images.
Joystick useful in education as an adaptive or assistive input device.
Scanners are peripheral input devices which allow users to import:
 Text
 Graphics
 Images
 Specialized software aids in translating information into a format the computer
can understand and manipulate.
Digital Cameras are peripheral input devices that allow users to create pictures and/or movies in
a digital format.
 Some require specialized
software to import images
into the computer.
 Some record digital images directly to a disk that can be read by the computer.
Monitors are the most commonly used output device.
 Most monitors use a bitmap display.
 Allows user to resize the display.
 Divides the screen into a matrix of tiny square “dots” called pixels.
 The more “dots” a screen can display, the higher the resolution of the monitor.
 Monitors are connected to a computer system via a port integrated on the video
adapter or graphics card.
 Graphics cards convert digital data output from software to analog data for
display on monitors.
Typically have additional memory chips on card, 4MB to 64MB.
Printers
 Dot matrix
 Seldom used in a classroom.
 Still frequently used in business.
 Bubble or ink jet
 Laser
Networks
 A collection of computers and other devices that communicate to share data, hardware,
and software.
 A stand-alone computer is called a workstation on a network.
 A workstation provides access to:
 Your computer’s local resources
 Network resources
 A server is a computer connected to a network that distributes and stores resources for
other network users.
 With proper licensing, many network users can use the same applications and data files
simultaneously and share other resources, such as storage space or a printer.
  Local Area Network (LAN)
a network located in a limited area.
 LANs are found in most businesses.
 Many campuses use LANs.
 A network interface card (NIC)
a key hardware component.
 Connects a workstation to the network.
 A circuit board that sends data between the workstation and the network.
 Wide Area Network (WAN)
a network that covers a large geographical area. TENET is a classic example.
 All types of networks require special networking hardware and networking software to
allow different computers to communicate with each other.
 The Internet - largest of all networks.
 Communication standards called protocols allow for global exchange of information.
 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
 Internet Protocol (IP)
 Intranets are LANs or WANs that use these communication standards or TCP/IP.
 Special hardware (modem) and software (browser) are required.

Software

 Instructions and associated data, stored in electronic format, that direct the computer to
accomplish a task.
 System software helps the computer carry out its basic operating tasks.
 Operating systems
 Utilities
System Software
 An Operating System (OS) is the master controller within a computer.
EX: Windows, MacOS, DOS, UNIX, Linux
 An operating system interacts with:
 All hardware installed in or connected to a computer system.
 All software installed or running from a storage device on a computer system.
 Microsoft Windows
 Most popular operating system.
 Supports a vast array of application software and peripheral devices.
 MacOS
 For Macintosh computers.
 Proprietary system.
 Does not have same functionality and support for software and peripheral devices.
 Network operating system (NOS)
 Manages network resources.
 Maintains security.
 Tracks user accounts.
 Handles communication between workstations and servers.
 Popular network operating systems
Windows NT, Novell Netware, UNIX
Utilities
 Utilities augment functionality of operating systems. Utilities includes device drivers and
Troubleshooting capabilities.
 Utilities provide file management capabilities such as copying, moving or renaming a
file.
 Norton Utilities includes an undelete function that can recover deleted files.
 Symantec and McAfee Virus checkers add protection for all system and data files.
Application Software
 Accomplishes specific tasks for users.
 Enables a computer to become a multi-purpose machine.
 Produce worksheets and reports.
 Automate record keeping like attendance and grades.
 Create flow charts and graphic organizers.
 Communicate worldwide.
 Productivity Software
 Spreadsheets
 Databases
 Presentation Software
 Document Preparation
 Word Processing
 Desktop Publishing
 Project Management Software
 Graphics Creation and Manipulation
 Animation and 3D Graphics
 Video Editing
 Internet Connectivity
 Website Creation and Management
 Groupware
 Financial Management
 Educational Games and Tutorials
 Programming Languages Basic building blocks of any software.

 Programming languages allow a programmer to write instructions that a computer can

understand.
 Programming languages have some resemblance to the English language.
 BASIC
 Pascal
 Fortran
 C++
 Java