SNBP INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL & KIDZONE

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

MORWADI , PIMPRI, PUNE
CBSE AFFILIATION NO. 1130522
Grade 12

Informatics Practices

Unit 3: Introduction to Computer Networks

A Computer network is a collection of interconnected autonomous

computing devices so as to exchange information or share resources.

Advantages

1. Share resources

2. Cost Saving

3. Time saving

4. Increased Storage

5. Collaborative User Interaction

Applications of Network
Some of the applications of network are discussed below:

1. Sharing of Information In a network, the users can share

information, data and text easily to other users. Different users can
share the same database, having different levels of access control.
2. Sharing of Peripherals The computers, in a network, can share
common peripherals, e.g. one highly speed common printer can be
used for all computers in a network.
3. Communication In a network environment, communication
between different users or computers is possible. By which we can
 send messages, documents (text), data files, graphics, videos,
images or an e-mail to different users over the network.
4. Accessing Remote Database We can access the remote database and
retrieve information according to our requirement in a network. We can
booked tickets for airlines and trains or even we can book a room in a
hotel at any destination by a network.

Components of Computer Network

1. Host
2. Server
3. Clients
4. Network hardware : NIC, hub,switch, router
5. Communication channel

a. Wired Communication channel

b. Wireless Communication channel

6. Software

7. Network Services

Host
In networking parlance, a Host is a computer that is connected to other
computers or machines through a connection. A host has its unique IP
address. The host is responsible for storing data so that it can be
transmitted to other computers or machines. These end computers are
called as Remote Terminals.
A host may also have programs, processing power, data or other
resources which may be used by Remote Terminals as per their
needs. This way a Host serves the needs of many computers at once,
thereby increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the resources
involved.
In the case of web hosting, a Host is a web-server. This server stores
website files, various programs and applications etc. In this context, a
Host refers to the bundle of hardware, software and communication
lines required for the hosting service to run smoothly.

Server
In a network when a computer shares resources with other client
machines, then it is considered as a server. So, it can be said that a
server is a computer which provides resources, data, services or
programs to other computers. Whenever the computers on a network
share resources with client machines, they are considered as servers.
Servers may be of various kinds: web servers, mail servers and virtual
servers.
Also, a single system may use and provide resources on a network at
the same time. This implies that the machine could act as a server and
client at the same time.
Client
On a network, a client is a computer that is connected to and uses the
resources of a remote-computer or server. Many networks have client
computer nodes connected to a main Server. The server provides
resources like files, information, internet and intranet access and
processing power. When the processing is done on the local client,
then it is called as “client-side”.
Also, a client may be referred to as a program that runs on a local
machine which requests some service from the server. A client
program is a finite program, which means that a service started by the
user is terminated when the service is completed.

Transmission Media
A communication channel which carries the information from a sender
to a receiver is called a Transmission Media. Here, the data is
transmitted in the form of electromagnetic signals.
A transmission media mainly provides a physical path through which
information is carried in the bit form through a LAN. It is therefore, a
physical path between a transmitter and receiver in the field of data
communication.
The signals can be sent through copper wire, fibre optics, atmosphere,
water and vacuum. Basically, transmission media is of two types, wired
and wireless. In wired media, medium characteristics are important. In
wireless media, signal characteristics are important.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

A hardware component which helps a computer in connecting to a
network. It is a circuit board installed inside a computer which provides
dedicated network connection to a computer. A NIC is also called a
LAN adapter or a network adapter.
A NIC helps in both, wired and wireless communication. NIC allows
communication between computers connected via LAN as well as
communications over large scale networks through Internet
Protocol(IP).
In the OSI Model, NIC acts as both, a Physical Layer and Data-Link
Layer device. In this way, it provides the necessary hardware circuitry
so that physical layer processes and some data link layer processes
could run it.

Hub
In networking, a hub is a networking device which connects various
Ethernet devices together enabling them to act as a single network
element. A hub contains multiple input/output ports. A signal
introduced at the input of any port appears as the output at every port.
In simple words, a hub simply broadcasts an input signal to all of its
output ports. This way, the bandwidth is distributed amongst the ports,
even if a port might be in use or not.

A hub cannot filter data, i.e. all data packets are sent to all connected
devices. They don’t have the capability to find out best paths on a
network to transmit the data; this leads to inefficiencies and wastage.
Switch
A switch is also like a hub, but it takes in packets being sent by
devices that are connected to its physical ports and sends them out
again, but only through the ports that lead to the devices the packets
are intended to reach. This way, inefficiency and wastage as was
noted in the case of hub is avoided in the case of a switch.

Network Switch
A network switch operates at the Layer 2 (the data link layer) of the
OSI Model. They also occur at the Layer 3 (the network layer) of the
OSI Model where the routing takes place.
There are many ports in a switch. Computers are plugged-in in these
ports. Upon arrival of a data-packet to the port of a network switch, the
switch examines the destination address, performs required checks on
them and sends the frame to corresponding devices. A switch allows
unicast, multicast and also broadcast communications.

Router
A router is a networking device which forwards data packets between
computer networks. It performs the task of directing traffic on the
internet. Any data which is sent over the internet is in the form of data
packets. A packet is typically forwarded from one router to another
until it reaches its destination node or port.

A router reads the network address information in the packet header to

determine the ultimate destination. Then, using the information in the
routing table, the packets are directed to the next network on its
journey.
A router has two major functions, Forwarding and Routing.

Cables: It is the medium through which data and information are

carried from one device to another device. The wires which are used
as a medium are coaxial cable, shielded twisted pair cable, unshielded
twisted pair cable, and fiber optics cable.

Communication Media
Communication media of a network refer to the connecting media,
through which different computers in a network are interconnected
together. The communication media can also be referred as
communication channels. The communication media can be grouped
into two categories:

Wired Technologies (Guided Media)

When the computers in a network are interconnected through a wire or
cable, then such a medium is categorised under wired technologies.
Among wired technologies, ethernet cable, co-axial cable, optical fiber,
etc., are included.

1. Ethernet Cable It is also known as twisted pair cable. There are two
identical wires wrapped together and twisted around each other.
Advantages of Ethernet Cable

• It is simple and physically flexible.

• It is inexpensive and easy to install and maintain.

Disadvantages of Ethernet Cable

• Using ethernet cable, signals cannot be transported over long

distances without using repeaters.
• It is not suitable for broadband applications as it has low
bandwidth capabilities.

2. Co-axial Cable It consists of a solid core wire surrounded by foil

shield, each separated by some insulator. The inner solid core wire
carries the signal through the network and the shield is used to provide
earthing or ground. Co-axial cable is commonly used in transporting
multi-channel television signals in cities.

Advantages of Co-axial Cable

• The data transmission quality in co-axial cable is better than

twisted pair cable, yet it is affordable.
• Co-axial cables can be used successfully in shared cable
network.
• It can be used effectively for broadband transmission.

Disadvantages of Co-axial Cable

• Co-axial cable is more costly than twisted pair cable.

• The co-axial cable is not compatible with twisted pair cable.
So, both of these cables cannot be used together in a
network.

3. Optical Fiber It consists of thin strands of extruded glass silica or

plastic, slightly thicker than human hair, which are capable of carrying
light signals from a source at one end to another end. At the source,
there is a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a Laser Diode, which
modulates the data into light beam using frequency modulation
techniques. At the receiving end, the data are demodulated into
computer readable form.
An optical fiber cable contains following three parts:

• Core It is the innermost part, which is made up of glass or

plastic through which the light signals travels.
• Cladding The cladding covers the core and reflects the light
beam back into the core.
• Protective Coating The protective coating is outside the
cladding for the protection of the optical fiber.

Advantages of Optical Fiber

• It is immune to electrical and magnetic interference i.e. noise

in any form cannot harm the data because, the information is
travelling on a modulated light beam.
• It is highly suitable for rigid industrial environments.
• Optical fiber cables can be used for broadband transmission,
where several channels (i.e. frequency bands of) are handled
 in parallel and there is possibility of mixing up of data
transmission channels with other channels.

Disadvantages of Optical Fiber

• Connecting either two fibers together or a light source to a

fiber is a difficult process.
• Because of noise immunity, optical fibers are virtually
impossible to tap. In order to intercept the signal, the fiber
must be cut and a detector must be inserted which is not
possible.
• Optical fiber cables are more difficult to solding (joint of one
or more cable).

Wireless Technologies (Unguided Media)

When the computers in a network are interconnected and transmitted
through waves, which are travelled through air, water or vacuum, then
such a medium is categorised under wireless technologies. Among
wireless technologies are bluetooth, infrared, microwave, radio link,
satellite, etc., are included.
1. Bluetooth It is a wireless technology, which is used for exchanging
data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices. Such types of
networks are categorised under personal area network. Bluetooth was
developed by telecom vendor Ericsson in 1994. Today, bluetooth is
managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which has more
than 14000 member companies in areas of computing,
telecommunication, electronics and networking. This occurs mostly on
your cell phone but also occurs in other technology such as music
players.

Advantages of Bluetooth

1. It allows you to stay cord or cable free. So, you do not have
to worry about finding the correct place to connect that extra
long cord.
2. Even though you are able to exchange data across your cell
phones, you still have the ability to keep your information
private.
3. As it is already, but most likely it will be more dominant. You
can use bluetooth on laptops, cell phones, music players,
headsets, printers and many more other products.
Disadvantages of Bluetooth

1. You are using up more battery power, when you leave your
bluetooth enabled on your phone all day.
2. Throughout all devices, when using bluetooth Internet, the
connection can sometimes run very slow, so bluetooth
Internet is not highly suggested for that cases

2. Infrared In this type of transmission, infrared light signals are used.

Infrared signal are used in TV remotes, infrared wireless speakers,
etc., as a mode of transmission.
In infrared transmission, signals are transmitted through the air but
these signals cannot penetrate the walls.

Advantages of Infrared

• Low power requirements therefore ideal for laptops,

telephones, personal digital assistants.
• Low circuitry costs $2-$5 for the entire coding/decoding
circuitry.
• Simple circuitry no special or proprietary hardware is
required, can be incorporated into the integrated circuit of a
product.

Disadvantages of Infrared

• Blocked by common materials: people, walls, plants, etc., can

block transmission.
• Line of sight: transmitters and receivers must be almost
directly aligned (i.e. able to see each other) to communicate.
• Short range: performance drops off with longer distances.

3. Microwave In this type of transmission, signals are transmitted in

the same way as the radio and television transmission. The
requirement for microwave transmission is transmitter, receiver and
the atmosphere. Under this mode of transmission parabolic antennas
are mounted on the towers. These antennas send the signals in the
atmospheric air. These signals are received by the receiver.

Advantages of Microwave
 • Using microwave, signals can be transmitted in the air
without using cables.
• Using microwave, communication is possible even in difficult
terrain or over oceans.

Disadvantages of Microwave

• It is not a secured mode of communication.

• Microwave communication is affected by weather conditions
such as rain, thunderstorms, etc.

4. Radio Link When two terminals are connected by using radio

frequencies, then such type of communication is referred as radiowave
transmission or radio link. Any radio transmission set-up has two parts
viz., the transmitter and the receiver. Both the transmitter and the
receiver use antennas to send and receive the radio signals.

Advantages of Radio Link

• It is a cheaper means of transmission than wired

communication.
• It provides mobility and makes communication easy over
difficult terrain.

Disadvantages of Radio Link

• It is not a secured mode of transmission.

• These signals are affected by the weather conditions like
rain, thunderstorms, etc.

5. Satellite In this type of communication, data are transmitted through

satellite. Under this arrangement, there is an earth station and a
satellite placed in the stationary orbit, which is about 22300 miles
above the earth’s surface. In satellite communication, the earth station
transmits data towards the satellite and the satellite accepts these
signals, amplifies them and then retransmits them towards the earth.
These signals are captured by the receiver.

Advantages of Satellite

• In satellite communication, large area could be covered.

 • This mode of transmission is very useful in multimedia
transmission.

Disadvantages of Satellite

• Satellite communication is very costly. So, it is not suitable for

personal or low budget communication.
• There is atmospheric loss of transmitted signals.

Types of Network
On the basis of coverage or geographical spread, a network can be
divided into following types:
1. Local Area Network (LAN) When the network of computer is
confined to a small or localised area such as school, office or building,
it is known as Local Area Network (LAN). Computers or users in a
local area network can share data, information, software and common
hardware devices such as printer, modem, hard disk, etc.

3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) A metropolitan area network

is the network which is spread over a city. The functions of a MAN
is similar to LAN. Like a LAN, computers in a MAN are also
capable of sharing data, information, software and hardware. The
difference is only on the basis of geographical area coverage.
3. Wide Area Network (WAN) The network of computers which is
spread across the countries probably over the entire world is known as
a Wide Area Network (WAN).

• A WAN can be a group of several LANs interconnected

together.
• The largest WAN is the Internet.
• The functions of WAN are also similar to a LAN or MAN.

4. Personal Area Network (PAN) The PAN refers to a computer

network, which is used for communication among computer
devices spread over a few meters. PAN may be wired (i.e. with
the use of computer buses such as USB) or wireless using
wireless network technologies such as bluetooth, wireless USB,
Z-wave and ZigBee. Bluetooth personal area network(PAN) is
also called a piconet. It can be composed of upto eight devices in
 a master slave relationship. The first bluetooth device is master
and other devices are acting as slaves. Normally, its range is upto
10 m.

Network Topologies
The network topology refers to the arrangement or pattern of
computers (i.e. nodes or workstations), which are interconnected in a
network. Commonly used network topologies are as follows:

1. Bus Topology Bus topology is also referred as linear topology.

Under this arrangement, all nodes in the network are connected by a
single length of transmission medium, which is normally a co-axial
cable. Both ends of the cable are terminated by terminators. Data
transmission from any workstation can travel in both directions.
Advantages of Bus Topology

1. In bus topology, all nodes are connected through a single

length of cable, so very short cable length is used.
2. Extension of network is very easy in bus topology. We can
connect new nodes along its length.

Disadvantages of Bus Topology

1. When there is any problem in data communication with any

node, whole network stops functioning.
2. In case of any fault in data transmission, fault isolation is very
difficult. We have to check the entire network to find the fault.

2.Star Topology In star topology, there is a direct and dedicated

connection of every . node of the network with the central node or
server. In star topology, the server is directly connected with each and
every node in the network via a hub.

Advantages of Star Topology

1. The star topology is the most reliable as there is a direct

connection of every node in the network with the central node
or server.
2. If there is any problem in connection with any node, other
nodes in the network are not affected.

Disadvantages of Star Topology

 1. Since, every node is directly connected with the central node
or the server, so a large quantity of the cable is required.
2. There is dependency on the central node. If there are some
problems with the central node, entire network stops
functioning.

3. Mesh Topology A network set-up where each computer and

network device is interconnected with one another to provide an
alternative route in case of the host is down or busy.

Advantages of Mesh Topology

1. Excellent for long distance networking.

2. Communication is also possible through the alternate route, if
one path is busy.

Disadvantages of Mesh Topology

1. Long wire/cable length, hence increase in the cost of

installation and maintenance
2. There are high chances of redundancy in many of the
network connections.
3. Set-up and maintenance of this topology is very difficult. Even
administration of the network is tough.

4. Tree Topology The tree topology is an extension and variation in

bus topology. Here, the shape of a network is like an inverted
tree, where the central node is at the root which is branching out
 as the network extends. Tree topology is suitable for the
applications which have a hierarchical flow of data and control.
Since, it is a modified form of bus topology, hence it is a hybrid
topology.

Advantages of Tree Topology

1. The tree topology simulates hierarchical flow of data. So, it is

suitable for applications, where hierarchical flow of data and
control is required.
2. We can easily extend the network whenever required.

Disadvantages of Tree Topology

1. There is a requirement of long cable length.

2. In tree topology, there is dependency on the root node.

Network Devices
Network devices are the components used to connect computer and
other electronic devices together, so that they can share files or
resources like printers or fax machines. The most common type of
network devices used by the public to set-up a Local Area Network
(LAN) are hub, switch, repeater and if online access is desired, a high-
speed modem.

1. Modem (Modulator/Demodulator) Modem is a device that converts

digital signal to analog signal (modulator) at the sender’s site and
converts back analog signal to digital signal (demodulator) at the
receiver’s end, in order to make communication possible via telephone
lines.
Functions of Modem The essential function of a modem is to create an
easily transmitted and decode signal. Modem divides the information
into packets called frames. They minimise the error that occur while
the transmission of signals. Modems are of two types:

• Internal Modem It refers to the modem that is fixed within a

computer, e.g. dial-up and wireless.
• External Modem A modem that resides in a self-contained
box outside the computer system, e.g. USB modem,
Cable modem.

2. Hub Hub is a device used to connect several computers together. It

provides a centralised connection to several computers with the central
node or server.
It is multi-slot device in which multi-port cards can be inserted to
provide access to computers in the network.
Functions of a Hub A hub is a device that interconnects a number of
computers or users. Whenever any data packet is received by any port
in a workstation which may be an e-mail, graphics or any document, is
forwarded to all remaining ports. Thus, the required data packet is
transported to desired user or device.
There are two types of hub:

• Active Hub It amplifies the signals and passes from one

connected device to another. These hubs are working as
repeaters to boost up the signals.
• Passive Hub It simply passes signals from one connected
device to another without making any changes.

3. Switch The switch is a hardware device used to divide or segment

the network into smaller subnets or LAN segments. The main purpose
of segmenting a large network into smaller segments is to prevent the
traffic overloading in a network.
A switch forwards the data packet in a specific way over the network. It
means the switch filters the data packet, when the same is passed to it
and for the packet to the desired LAN segment.

Functions of a Switch
The switch is responsible for forwarding a data packet to a specific
route or segment. For this purpose, the switch establishes a temporary
connection between the source and the destination, when the data
packet is transported the connection is terminated.
4. Repeater The repeater is a hardware device used in a network to
amplify the weak signals, when they are transported over long
distances. When the signal is transmitted over a line, then due to
resistance and other causes it accumulates noise. Due to this noise,
the quality of signal degrades.
So, to improve the quality of signals, repeaters are needed to be
installed.

Functions of a Repeater
It receives an incoming signal from one device and retransmits it,
forwarding it on to other.
There are two types of repeaters:

• Amplifier Repeaters It amplifies or boosts the incoming

signals. So, it amplifies both the signal and any concurrent
noise.
• Signal Repeaters These repeaters remove or filter the noise
from incoming signals and retransmit the same, in the same
way as it was starting from the source.

5. Gateway The gateway is a network device which is used to connect

dissimilar networks. The gateway establishes an intelligent connection
between a local network and external networks, which are completely
different in structure.
Infact, the gateway is a node that routes the traffic from a workstation
to outside network. The gateway also acts as a proxy server and a
firewall, which prevents the unauthorised access.

Functions of a Gateway The gateway is a node in a network which

serves as a proxy server and a firewall system. It is associated with a
router and a switch. Its main function as proxy server is to hold the
information from a website temporarily so that the repeated access to
the same website or web page could be directed to the proxy server
instead of actual web server, thus helps in reducing the traffic load. As
a firewall system, it prevents the unauthorised access to and from a
private network.

Internet
 The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking
infrastructure. It connects million of computers together globally,
forming a network in which any computer can communicate with
another computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet.
The World Wide Web, or simply Web is a way or medium of accessing
information over the Internet. It is an information sharing model that is
built on top of the Internet.

The Internet provides a capability so powerful and general that it can

be used for almost any purpose that depends on information, and it is
accessible by every individual who connects to one of its associated
networks.

Advantages of Internet

 Information, knowledge, and learning

 Connectivity, communication, and sharing

 Address, mapping, and contact information

 Banking, bills, and shopping

 Selling and making money

 Collaboration, work from home, and access to a global workforce

WWW

The Internet is a huge network of computers all connected together.

The term WWW refers to the World Wide Web or simply the Web. The
World Wide Web Consortium was founded to develop common
standards for web. The World Wide Web is a collection of web pages
found on this network of computers.
 • The main goal of the Web is to organize and retrieve information
over Internet. The World Wide Web (WWW) is an Internet
service, based on a common set of protocols or set of rules.
These protocols allow a particularly configured server computer to
distribute documents across the Internet in a standard way. The
protocol used in this exchange is called Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP).

• The World Wide WEB (WWW), commonly known as the ‘Web’. It

is an information system all the web resources are identified by
Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Tim Berners-Lee invented the
WWW in 1989. He wrote the first web browser in 1990.

WWW (World Wide Internet

Web)

The World Wide Web is The internet is a public network of

the common system for network with a maze of wired and
navigating the internet. It wireless connections between separate
is not the only system that groups of servers computers and
can be used for such countless devices from around the world
access, but it is by far the
most common one.

WWW is more software- Internet is primarily hardware-based.

oriented as compared to
the Internet

The HTTP along with The internet is governed by a set of

being the language of rules and regulations collectively known
the World Wide Web as Internet Protocol (IP). The IP deals
also governs it by with data transmitted through the
dealing with linking of internet.
files, documents and
other resources
Network Protocols
Protocol refers to the set of rules and regulations applicable for a
network. The protocol defines standardised format for the data packet
to be transmitted through the network, techniques for detecting the
errors whenever they arise and methods to correct these errors and so
on.
Some of the commonly used protocols are as follows:
1. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) HTTP is an application level
protocol and it is widely used for viewing information of a web page
over Internet. It is a generic, stateless and object oriented protocol.
HTTP consists of a set of requests from the browser of a local
computer to the web server and a set of responses going back to the
other way.
Though HTTP is designed for the use in the web application but it has
scope to be used in future object oriented applications.

2. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) FTP is designed to transfer files from

one system to another. Using FTP, different people locating in different
geographical locations can cooperate and work on a common project.
FTP is designed to promote sharing of files and to encourage the
indirect use of remote computers. Using FTP, any type of file can be
transferred from one computer to another. Though for transferring files,
we have to specify whether the file is in ASCII format or in binary
format.

3. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) TCP/IP is

a set of two protocols, i.e. TCP and IP. The Internet Protocol (IP) tells
how packets of information are sent out over networks. IP has a packet
addressing method that lets any computer on the Internet forward a
packet to another computer that is a step closer to the packet’s
recipient. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) ensures the
reliability of data transmission across Internet connected networks.
TCP checks packets for errors and submits requests for
retransmission if errors are found.

4. PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) The PPP is used with dial-up Internet

connections including ISDN. It is a layered protocol, which is used for
transmitting the data over usual telephone lines. It can provide
connection authentication, transmission, encryption and compression.

.
URL
It stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is nothing more than
the address of a given unique resource on the Web or address of a
website. The URL is an address that matches users to a specific
resource online, such as webpage.

• URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which means it is a

uniform (same throughout the world) way to locate a resource (file
or document) on the Internet.

• A URL is the unique address of a specific website or file on the

Internet. A URL is also called a Web address.

• The actual URL is a set of four numbers separated by periods. An

example of this would be 164.100.107.32 but as these are difficult
for humans to use, addresses are represented in alphanumeric
form that is more descriptive and easy to remember. Thus, the
URL of a site 164.100.107.32 can also be written as
http://cbse.nic.in/. The Internet Domain Name System translates
the alphanumerical address to numeric.

A URL normally takes the form:

Protocol://site address/path/filename
For example;
http://www.cbse.nic.in/newsite/index.html
Here, it specifies a Web page that should be fetched using the HTTP
protocol.

The URL consists of:

· Protocol: http
· Host computer name: www
· Domain name: cbse.nic
· Domain abbreviation: in
· Folder or Path: newsite
· File name: index.html

There are mainly three types of URLs as follows:

1. Absolute URL It is the type of URL, which uses the complete web
path of a file to provide the location of the resource, i.e. they provide
the actual domain name.
e.g. “http://www.oracle.sun.com/en/index.html”

2. Relative URL It is the type of URL that defines the path of an URL
on a domain, without including the domain name. Relative URLs are
more convenient because they are short in length, more portable in
website maintenance.

e.g. we specified only “.../images/house.png”

Domain Name
Domain name is a unique name or identification that helps to create
the path to open a particular website. All the domain names have IP
addresses. IP address can be remembered by the computer, but it is
difficult to remember for a human being. If you know that URL (Uniform
Resource Locator) of a website, you can access it. The URL is actually
the domain name of website, so the domain name is unique name of a
website. Every time we enter a domain name it will be converted into
an IP address and the website will be opened, e.g. www.Mybook.com
A domain name contains three parts:

1. Host name as, www

2. Name describing the website purpose as, Mybook
3. Top level domain as .com, .net, .edu, etc.

Domain Name Resolution

Domain name resolution refers to the process of getting the
corresponding IP address from a domain name. Infact the content of a
website is stored on some server anywhere in the world and to access
the information or content the IP address is required. When we enter
the domain name in a browser by typing on the address bar, the
browser issues a command to the operating system to provide the
corresponding IP address.

Thereafter, the operating system searches the host file in which IP

address of some domains are stored. If the corresponding domain
name was not found there, then request is forwarded to Domain Name
Servers (DNS). The DNS maintains a directory of all domain names
and corresponding IP addresses registered on the Internet. When the
IP address is required, it is provided to the browser. The browser can
access the information from the respective website using the IP
address.
Internet Applications
Applications which runs by the use of Internet are given below:
1. E-Mail : - E-mail stands for Electronic Mail. It is a text message
that may contain files, images or other attachment sent through a
network to a specified individual or group of individuals. Some early e-
mail systems required that the sender and the recipient both be online
at the same time, in common with instant messaging. Today’s e-mail
systems are based on a store and forward model. E-mail servers
accept, forward, deliver and store messages. Neither the user nor their
computers are required to be online simultaneously; they need to
connect an e-mail server, for as long as it takes to send or receive
messages. Interaction between e-mail server and clients are governed
by e-mail protocol. The two most common e-mail protocols are POP3
and SMTP.

E-mail Address Format

[email protected]
• The first portion of all e-mail addresses, the part before the @
symbol, contains the alias, user, group, or department of a
company. In our above example, support is the Technical Support
department at Computer Hope.
• Next, the @ (at sign) is a divider in the e-mail address; it's
required for all SMTP e-mail addresses since the first message
was sent by Ray Tomlinson.
• Finally, computerhope.com is the domain name to which the user
belongs. The .com is the TLD (top-level domain) for our domain.
 Writing an e-mail
When writing an e-mail message, it should look something like the
example window below. As you can see, several fields are required
when sending an e-mail:
• The To field is where you type the e-mail address of the person
who is the recipient of your message.
• The From field should contain your e-mail address.
• If you are replying to a message, the To: and From: fields are
automatically filled out. If it's a new message, you'll need to
specify the recipients in the To: field, either by selecting them
from your contact list, or manually typing the full email addresses.
If you are manually specify more than one recipient (as in a group
e-mail), the addresses should be separated by a comma and a
space, or by pressing the Tab key.
• The Subject should consist of a few words describing the e-mail's
contents. The subject lets the recipient see what the e-mail is
about, without opening and reading the full e-mail. This field is
optional.
• The CC ("Carbon Copy") field allows you to specify recipients
who are not direct addressees (listed in the "To" field). For
instance, you can address an e-mail to Jeff and CC Linda and
Steven. Although the e-mail is addressed to Jeff, Linda and
Steven also receive a copy and everyone can see who received
the e-mail. This field is optional.
• The BCC ("blind carbon copy") field is similar to CC, except the
recipients are secret. Each BCC recipient will receive the e-mail,
but will not see who else received a copy. The addressees
(anyone listed in the "To" field) remain visible to all recipients.
This field is optional.
• Finally, the Message Body is the location you type your main
message. It often contains your signature at the bottom; similar
to a handwritten letter.

ADVANTAGES OF E-MAIL
There are many advantages of e-mail and the usage of e-mail versus
postal mail. Some of the main advantages are listed below.
• Free delivery - Sending an e-mail is virtually free, outside the
cost of Internet service. There is no need to buy a postage stamp
to send a letter.
 • Global delivery - E-mail can be sent to nearly anywhere around
the world, to any country.

• Instant delivery - An e-mail can be instantly sent and received by

the recipient over the Internet.
• File attachment - An e-mail can include one or more file
attachments, allowing a person to send documents, pictures, or
other files with an e-mail.
• Long-term storage - E-mails are stored electronically, which
allows for storage and archival over long periods of time.
• Environmentally friendly - Sending an e-mail does not require
paper (paperless), cardboard, or packing tape, conserving paper
resources.

2. SMS
SMS stands for Short Message Service. Short text messages are
transmitted to and from a mobile phone, fax machine, etc. Message
must not be longer than 160 alpha-numeric characters and may also
contain images or graphics. Once a message is sent, it is received by
a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC), which must get to the
appropriate mobile device. To do this, the SMSC sends a SMS request
to Home Location Register (HLR) to find the roaming customer. Once
the HLR receives the request, it will respond to the SMSC with the
subscriber’s status

• Inactive or active.
• Where subscriber is in roaming.

If the response is ‘inactive’, then the SMSC will hold on to the message
for a period of time. When the subscriber access his device, the HLR
sends a SMS notification to the SMSC and the SMSC will attempt
delivery. The system pages the device and if it responds, the message
gets delivered. The SMSC receives a verification, that the message
was received by the end user, then it is categorised as, send message
and will not attempt to send again.

3. Video Conferencing
By the name itself it is clear that it is the process of conferencing
through video talk. Basically, video conferencing is a type of
conference, which takes place between two or more participants by
using computer networks to transmit audio and video data. For such
type of video conferencing each participants should have a video
camera, microphone and speakers in his computer set-up.
There are two types of video conferencing:

• Point to Point
• Multipoint.

1. Point to Point Video Conferencing is a conferencing between two

person through video. It is like video telephonic call. The difference in a
simple telephonic call and point to point video conferencing is the
virtual appearance of user. They are able to view each other on their
computer window screen.

2. Multipoint Video Conferencing allow more than two participants to sit

in a virtual conference room can communicate with others as if they
are sitting just next to each other.

4. Voice Mail
Voice mail is basically a voice message that stores messages
electronically which can be retrieved by the intended recipients
according to their convenience. Voice mail was developed by
telephony to prevent missed calls and to facilitate call screening. Now-
a-days, voice mails are getting integrated with Internet, which allows
users to receive incoming voice message on their computers.

5. Chat
It can be defined as an informal conversation between two or more
people. In terms of computers, chat refers to the communication
between two users through computer, textually. The text is entered by
one participant through keyboard and that text is received by other on
the other side and vice versa.

Chat refers to the process of communicating, interacting and/or

exchanging messages over the Internet. It involves two or more
individuals that communicate through a chat-enabled service or
software.
• Chat is also known as chatting, online chat or Internet chat.
• Chat may be delivered through text, verbal, audio, visual or audio-
visual (A/V) communication via the Internet. If conducted through
 a desktop, chat requires software that supports Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) or an instant messenger application, where a central
server manages chat communication between different end user
clients.
• There are also online chat services that require users to sign up
with a valid email address. After signing up, a user may join a
group chat room or send a private message to another individual.
Online chat services have purpose-built chat interfaces that
manage the entire communication processes.

WebSite

A website is a collection of web pages belonging to a particular person

or organization.

• Each document on the website, which may contain only text or a

combination of text, images and multimedia, is called a web page
or simply a page.

• Typically, the URLs of these pages share a common prefix, which

is the address of the home page of the site.

• The home page is the “front door” of the site, and is set up to help
viewers to find whatever they are interested to find on that site.

• The URL of the home page also serves as the URL of the
website. For example; https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/ is a
website.

Components of Web Site

 WebHost

 Address (URL)

 Home Page

 Design
  Content

Web Page

 A Web Page is a digital document that is linked to the world wide

web and viewable.

Components of Web Page

1.Content wise

 Hypertext

 Hyperlink

2. Structure wise

 Page title

 Header

 Body of the web page

 Navigational link

 Footer

Types of Web Pages

 Static Web Page- It contains only the fixed data

 Dynamic Web Page- It contains the data that does not remains
the same everytime it is loaded.

Static Web Page

Advantages

 It is fast
  It takes minimum of resources

 It is most secure way to deliver content

Disadvantages

 It must be republished when it is changed.

 It cannot display differently to different viewers, depending on

their login status or other factors.

Dynamic Web Page

Advantages

 It is good for the content which changes too quickly.

 It is used to display viewer-specific content

Disadvantages

 It consumes more resources

 It is slow as compared to Static Pages

 Difference between Static and Dynamic Web Page

In static web pages, In dynamic web pages, Content of pages are

Pages will remain different for different visitors.
same until someone
changes it manually.

Static Web Pages Dynamic web pages are complicated.

are simple in terms of
complexity.

In static web pages, In dynamic web page, Information are change

Information are frequently.
change rarely.

Static Web Page Dynamic web page takes more time for
takes less time for loading.
loading than dynamic
web page.
In Static Web Pages, In dynamic web pages, database is used.
database is not used.

Static web pages are Dynamic web pages are written in languages
written in languages such as: CGI, AJAX, ASP, ASP.NET, etc.
such as: HTML,
JavaScript, CSS, etc.

Static web pages Dynamic web pages contains application

does not contain any program for different services.
application program .

Static web pages Dynamic web pages require comparatively

require less work and more work and cost in designing them.
cost in designing
them.

Web Server

A web server is a computer that runs websites. A web server has an

Internet connection that runs software designed to send out HTML
pages and other file formats (such as multimedia files).
 • The basic objective of the web server is to store, process and
deliver web pages to the users using Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP). Apart from HTTP, a web server also supports SMTP
(Simple Mail transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
protocol for e-mailing, for file transfer and storage.
• When client sends request for a web page, the web server search
for the requested page if requested page is found then it will send
it to client with an HTTP response. If the requested web page is
not found, web server will the send an HTTP response :Error 404
Not found.

Web Hosting

• Web hosting is the concept to make your website visible to the

world. Web hosting is a service which allocates space for
customers to showcase their websites on computer servers that
are connected to the Internet 24/7.
• Web hosting is an online service that enables you to publish your
website or web application on the internet. When you sign up for
a hosting service, you basically rent some space on a server on
which you can store all the files and data necessary for your
website to work properly
• A server is a physical computer that runs without any interruption
so that your website is available all the time for anyone who
wants to see it.

Web Browser

A web browser, or simply "browser," is an application used to access

and view websites. Common web browsers include Microsoft Internet
Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
• A web browser is a client application that requests, receives and
displays HTML pages. However, current browsers do much more
than just render HTML pages.

• Today’s browsers display animated images, play sound and

video, each page for improved performance, provides secure
connections through encryption and much more.

• Browsers are the “window to the Web” for Internet users around
the world. At a minimum, a web browser must understand HTML
(Hyper Text Mark-up Language) and display text.

• The most popular browsers are: Microsoft Internet Explorer,

Google Chrome, Mozilla FireFox, Opera, Apple Safari, etc.

Plug- ins
 • A plug-in (or plugin, add-in, add-on) is a software component that
adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. When a
program supports plug-ins, it enables customization. Plug-ins are
commonly used in Internet browsers but also can be utilized in
numerous other types of applications.
• Plugins are software additions that allow for the customization of
computer programs, apps, and web browsers; as well as the
customization of the content offered by websites.
• While plugins continue to be used as add-ons to customize
programs and apps, their use in web browsers has decreased
somewhat, in favour of using browser extensions instead.
• Plugins are also all of the little add-ons that optimize the content
you put out as an online creator. As the content consumer,
they're the extras that allow you to experience the internet in a
myriad of ways that include images, sound, videos, and
animation.
• Plugins also help web pages and websites be more than just big
blocks of text, there are plugins to help your blog posts rank
better, to display YouTube and Vimeo videos on your website, or
even help customize your website's fonts.
• Here are a few good plugins to help customize your user
experience with web browsing, content creation, and with your
favorite apps and programs:
1. Adobe Acrobat Reader: We're all expected to view PDFs
these days. This plugin allows you to access and view those
important documents.
2. Adobe Flash Player: Sometimes, in order to view videos
online, a plugin called Adobe Flash Player has to be
enabled.

Add -on
 • An add-on is a software extension that adds extra features to a
program. It may extend certain functions within the program, add
new items to the program's interface, or give the program
additional capabilities.

• An Add-on is either a hardware unit that can be added to a

computer to increase the capabilities or a program unit that
enhances primary program. Some manufacturers and software
developers use the term add-on.

For example, Mozilla Firefox, a popular Web browser,

supports add-ons such as the Google toolbar, ad blockers, and
Web developer tools. Some computer games support add-ons
that provide extra maps, new characters, or give the player game-
editing capabilities.

Examples of add-ons for a computer include card for sound,

graphic acceleration, modem capability and memory. Software
add-ons are common for games, word-processing and
accounting programs.

Cookies

• Cookies are messages that web servers pass to your web

browser when you visit Internet sites. Your browser stores each
message in a small file, called cookie.txt. When you request
another page from the server, your browser sends the cookie
back to the server. These files typically contain information about
your visit to the web page, as well as any information you've
volunteered, such as your name and interests.

• Cookies are small files which are stored on a user’s computer

and contains information like which WebPages visited in the
past, logging details Password etc.
Examples of cookies
• Cookies are most commonly used to track website activity. When
you visit some sites, the server gives you a cookie that acts as
your identification card. Upon each return visit to that site, your
browser passes that cookie back to the server. In this way, a web
 server can gather information about which web pages are used
the most, and which pages are gathering the most repeat hits.

• Cookies are also used for online shopping. Online stores often
use cookies that record any personal information you enter, as
well as any items in your electronic shopping cart, so that you
don't need to re-enter this information each time you visit the site.
• Servers can use cookies to provide personalized web pages.
When you select preferences at a site that uses this option, the
server places the information in a cookie. When you return, the
server uses the information in the cookie to create a customized
page for you.