Internet

The Internet is generally defined as a global network connecting millions of computers.

More than 190 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions.
Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, by design, the Internet is
decentralized. Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Operators can
choose which Internet services to use and which local services to make available to the
global community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well. There
are a variety of ways to access the Internet. Most online services offer access to some
Internet services. It is also possible to gain access through a commercial Internet
Service Provider (ISP).

It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and

government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic,
wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of
information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents
and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file
sharing.

The origins of the Internet date back to the development of packet switching and
research commissioned by the United States Department of Defense in the 1960s to
enable time-sharing of computers. The primary precursor network, the ARPANET,
initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military
networks in the 1970s. The funding of the National Science Foundation Network as a
new backbone in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial extensions,
led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and
the merger of many networks. The linking of commercial networks and enterprises by
the early 1990s marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet, and
generated a sustained exponential growth as generations of institutional, personal,
and mobile computers were connected to the network. Although the Internet was widely
used by academia in the 1980s, commercialization incorporated its services and
technologies into virtually every aspect of modern life.

A 21st Century entrepreneur understands the benefits of using the internet for
business development and conducting daily business operations. He knows the
importance of the internet in business, internet marketing, and customer data
management. Following are the benefits business owners can get by executing
internet application in business:-

1. Internet marketing and advertising is the most accessed part of the internet
by Businesses:
The Internet plays an important role to advertise & market products and services
around the world to get more customers. The Internet is important to
communicate with customers about products and services. The internet is a
global village and gives a chance for business owners to take benefits of online
advertising that is less costly. Internet advertising and marketing is affordable for
 all kinds of small and big business as compared to traditional marketing costs.
Businesses can reach a wider audience and geographical locations by the use of
Google AdWords, Facebook ads, content marketing, YouTube video ads, etc.

2. Internet is an essential tool for business to do product survey and testing:

Business research is really important to get data related to target customers,
trends in market, interest, and information about the competition. The Internet
helps the business to obtain data and analyses the information to create better
and effective products, marketing plan before investing money in product
development. The Internet helps businesses to test and collect the data behind
the idea of products and services.

3. Internet platforms helping the business to sell products and services

online:
Selling online is the biggest benefit of the Internet for big and small businesses.
Selling online is less costly with a high level of value marketing. The cost of
setting up an online shop or e-commerce website is less expensive than a
physical store. Internet helps business and eCommerce website to automate
selling and transactions process. Selling products via the online store is not only
beneficial for one business but it helps third-party business services such as
couriers, content marketers, graphic designers, payment gateway service
providers, etc. e-commerce industry is growing day by day and even small
business owners are generating high revenues for business in few months.

4. Internet helping business to execute employee training and development

programs:
Online employee training and web-based training programs are providing great
benefits to manage and execute tasks effectively. The success of a business is
dependent on the creativity and analytical thinking of its employees. The Internet
plays an important role in business to create multiple types of employee learning
and training programs. Learning and training explore creativity in employees.
Also, e-commerce websites, advertising agencies, email marketing companies
and all kinds of Internet-connected businesses always need to manage data and
secure the customer information and privacy from online attacks. Online training
and online classes for staff help them to learn from professionals related to the
business industry. The Internet helps employees to access learning materials
anywhere at the right time. Today’s business owners, companies and online
entrepreneurs are facing productivity problems.

5. Internet building business and customer relationships:

Relationship with customers is really important for business success. The
Internet helps the business to connect with customer’s communication channels
and build a strong network. Communication by Internet platforms helps the
business to get new customers and retain existing customers. The right product
for the right customers is not possible without communicating with clients or
customers about the product and their problems. The website, Social Media
 Marketing, Administrative Support, Technical Support are few examples that are
used by almost all the businesses today. 24/7 customer support on social media
increasing brand values is another example of effective business communication
and relationship-building programs. A customer wants quick information
regarding their problems. So, it’s really important for businesses to improve how
they track customer problems and provide solutions that build trust and an
honest relationship with clients.

6. Internet speedup and making the business process accurate:

The Worldwide web gives you access to data and information with high speed
and accuracy. Emails, News, file transfers, cloud storage, IRC such kind of
Internet features are really important for the business. Internet rich features and
applications not only help employees to become more productive but it also helps
to work faster and accurately by learning and using the latest technologies in the
day to day business dealings. Businesses and companies get customer data and
relationship status, feedback, comments, likes, shares, reviews in real-time and
quickly. In the business development and marketing speed really matters when
you’re competing globally. Email marketing, collecting emails address, tracking
user behaviors, page views, landing pages are few examples in which business
owners get benefits by including the internet to speed up the operations and
accuracy in the process of business development. Without the use of the internet
in business it’s impossible today to grow business and earn profits.

Differences between Internet and Intranet

Most of us get confused between the terms Internet and Intranet. Although there exist a
lot of disparity between them, one of the differences is that the Internet is open to all
and can be accessed by everyone whereas, Intranet requires authenticated login as an
organization privately owns it.The differences between internet and intranet are as
follows:

Basis for Internet Intranet

comparison

Connects different network of It is a part of Internet which is

Meaning computers together privately owned by a particular
firm

Accessible only by the

Accessibility Anyone can access the Internet organization members, having
login details.
 Safety Is not as safe as compared to Safe
Intranet

Number of users Unlimited Limited

Visitors traffic More Less

Network type Public Private

Information Unlimited, and can be viewed Limited, and circulates among

provided by everyone the members of an organization

Internet Protocols

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol in the Internet
protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function
enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.

IP has the task of delivering packets from the source host to the destination host solely
based on the IP addresses in the packet headers. For this purpose, IP defines packet
structures that encapsulate the data to be delivered. It also defines addressing methods
that are used to label the datagram with source and destination information.

The various types of internet protocols are as follows:

1. File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is a means of transferring a file from one
computer to another. FTP is commonly used for uploading a web page to a web
server so that it may be seen on the World Wide Web. A special program, called
a client, is usually needed to use FTP.

2. HTTP (World Wide Web)

HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP, is the protocol used by web server to
allow web pages to be shown in a web browser. If you look up into the address
bar of your web browser, the place where you type in the address that you want
 to visit, it has the prefix "http://" in front of the address. Because most web
browsers are capable of FTP as well as viewing web pages, the http tells the
browser what kind of information to expect.

3. News (or Usenet)

Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) is used for serving Usenet posts
Usenet is similar to the forums that many web sites have. Usenet has forums that
are dedicated to specific companies as well as forums that have a wide range of
topics. Usenet is divided into several areas. Some of the forums that are included
in Usenet are comp. for discussion of computer-related topics, sci. for discussion
of scientific subjects, rec. for discussion of recreational activities (e.g. games and
hobbies) and talk. for discussion of contentious issues such as religion and
politics.

4. Gopher
Another tool of the Internet is Gopher, a menu-based program that enables you
to browse for information without knowing where the material is located. It lets
you search a list of resources and then sends the material to you.

5. Telnet
Telnet lets you log in to a remote computer just as you would if you were there.
So any commands that you would be able to run from the remote computer if you
were sitting in front of it, you would be able to run from the computer you logged
in from.

6. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a communication protocol for
electronic mail transmission. As an Internet standard, SMTP was first defined in
1982 by RFC 821, and updated in 2008 by RFC 5321 to Extended SMTP
additions, which is the protocol variety in widespread use today. Mail servers and
other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages.

7. Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) was designed with the goal of
permitting complete management of an email box by multiple email clients,
therefore clients generally leave messages on the server until the user explicitly
deletes them. An IMAP server typically listens on port number 143. IMAP
over SSL (IMAPS) is assigned the port number 993.

Post Office Protocol 3 (POP 3)

In computing, the Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) is an application-layer Internet
standard protocol used by local e-mail clients to get e-mail from a remote mail server
over a TCP/IP connection. POP3 and IMAP4 (Internet Message Access Protocol) are
the two most widely accepted Internet standard protocols for e-mail retrieval.