Chapter 2: The Internet and World Wide Web

Content to be covered:

The Internet

History of Internet

How the Internet works:

 Connecting to the Internet

 Access providers
 How data travels the Internet
 Internet addresses
 Domain abbreviations

The World Wide Web:

 Browsing the web

 Web addresses
 Search engine
 Types of websites

Other Internet Services:

 Email
 FTP
 Newsgroups and Message boards
 Chat rooms
 Instant massaging
The Internet

Internet stands for International Network, which began in 1950’s by Vint

Curf. He is known as the father of Internet. The term Internet is derived
from two words – interconnections and networks, also referred to as
‘Net’.

The Internet has gained popularity and emerged as an important and

efficient means of communication. The idea of introducing the Internet
was to allow millions of people to share information and ideas, sounds,
video clips using their computers across the world. The Internet is a
worldwide network of networked computers those are able to exchange
information with each other. It consists of thousands of separately
administered network of various sizes and types

Definition: The Internet, also called the net, is a worldwide collection

of networks that links millions of businesses, government agencies,
educational institutions, and individuals.

History of Internet

The Internet started in the 1960s as a way for government researchers

to share information. Computers in the '60s were large and immobile an

d in order to make use of information stored in any one computer, one

had to either travel to the site of the computer or have magnetic
computer tapes sent through the conventional postal system.

In 1969, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of

Utah were connected as the beginning of the ARPANET (Advanced
research project agency network) using 50 kbits circuits. It was the
World’s first operational packet switching network. The goal of this
project was to connect computers at different Universities and U.S
defence.

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior

to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to
communicate with each other. A new communications protocol was
established called Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol
(TCP/IP). This allowed different kinds of computers on different
networks to "talk" to each other. ARPANET and the Defense Data
Network officially changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983,
hence the birth of the Internet. All networks could now be connected by
a universal language.

Uses and working of Internet

The computers on the Internet are connected to each other through the
small networks. These networks are connected through the gateways to
the Internet backbone.

The data move around the Internet is controlled by the

protocols. Internet is based on TCP/IP protocol suite. Under TCP/IP
protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol), a file is
broken into smaller parts by the file server called packets. All computers
on the internet communicate with one another using TCP/IP, which is a
basic protocol of the Internet.

Internet helps us in communication, information, business, social

networking, shopping, entertainment, job searching, and e-commerce.

Protocols: Define the language of the network as well as the rules that
it will follow.

Examples:

DHCP (Dynamic host configuration protocol)

FTP (File transfer protocol)

SMTP (Simple mail transfer protocol)

ARP (Address resolution protocol)

NAT (Network address translation)

UDP (User datagram protocol)

HTTP (Hyper text transfer protocol)

TCP (Transmission control protocol)

IP (Internet protocol)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet

Advantages:

1. Greater access to information reduces research times.

2. Allow you to easily communicate with other people.

3. Publishing documents on internet saves paper.

4. A valuable resource for companies to advertise and conduct business.

Disadvantages:

1. Cyber fraud may take place.

2. Unsuitable material available that sometimes is used by notorious

people such as terrorists.

3. It is a major source of computer viruses.

4. Much of the Information is not checked and may be incorrect or

irrelevant.

Connecting to Internet

Many home and small businesses users are opting for higher-speed
broadband Internet connections through DSL, cable television networks,
radio signal, or satellite.

 DSL: DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology that provides

high speed Internet connections using regular copper telephone
lines.
 A cable modem: It allows access to high-speed Internet services
through the cable television network.
 Fixed wireless: Fixed wireless high speed internet connections
use a dish-shaped antenna on your house or business to
communicate with a tower location via radio signals.
  A Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) : network uses radio signals to
provide internet connections to wireless computers and devices.
 Satellite Modem: A satellite modem communicates with a
satellite dish to provide high speed internet connections via
satellite.

Access providers

An access provider is a business that provides individuals and companies

access to the Internet free or for a fee.

 ISP (Internet Service Provider) is a regional or national access

provider. A regional ISP usually provides internet access to a
specific geographic area.
A national ISP is a business that provides internet access in cities
and towns nationwide.
 OSP( Online Service Provider) : In addition to providing internet
access, an OSP also has many members-only features. These
features include special content and services such as news,
weather, legal information, financial data, hardware and software
guides, games, travel guides, e-mail, and instant massaging. Some
even have their own built in web browser. The fees for using an
OSP sometimes are slightly higher than fees for an ISP.
 WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider): WISP is a company that
provides wireless Internet access to computers and mobile
devices, such as smart phones and PDAs, with built in wireless
capability.

How data travels the Internet

Data travels across the internet in packets. Each packet can carry a
maximum of 1500 bytes. Packets will travel from one machine to
another until they reach their destination. When a massage is sent, it
breaks up into packets that travel across the network. A label is attached
to each packet indicating its final destination. As it travel through the
network, each packet passes through a series of routers. Each router
decides which is the most efficient path for the packet to take on the
next stage of its journey. Thousands of packets which comprise a
particular massage may each take different paths through the network.
Different packets from same massage don’t have to follow the same
path. They are only re-assembled in their proper order at their final
destination. The destination will acknowledge the receipt of each packet
to the sending system. The sending system will resend any lost
information.

Internet Addresses

An internet relies on an Addressing system much like the postal service

to send data to a computer at a specific destination.

IP Address: A unique string of numbers separated by full stops that

identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate
over a network.

IP address is a string of 32 bits.

Bit =0 or 1

Byte= 8 bits

e.g 11000011 11000011 01011100 10100001

These 32 bits are split up into 4 parts, each containing 8 bits. These 4
binary are then converted into decimal number to give you your IP
address.

11000011 11000011 01011100 10100001

11000011 = 1X27 +1X26 +0X25+0X24+0 X23+ 0 X22 +1 X21

+1X20

11000011 = 1X128 + 1X64 +0X32 + 0X16+ 0X8 +0X4 + 1X2+1

11000011 = 128+64+0+0+0+0+2+1

11000011 = 195

11000011 = 195
 01011100 = 92

10100001 = 161

11000011 11000011 01011100 10100001= 195.195.92.161

For example: 216.239.39.99

The number in each group is between 0 and 255.

In general, first portion of each IP address identifies the network and

the last portion identifies the specific host.

These all numeric IP addresses are difficult to remember and use.

Thus, the Internet supports the use of a text name that represents
one or more IP addresses. A domain name is the text version of
an IP address.
 Domain name------ www.google.com

In the example, the com portion of the domain name is called the
top level domain. Every domain name contains a top level
domain(TlD),which is a last section of the domain name. Domain
name identifies the type of organization.

 DNS System: It is the method that the internet uses to store

domain names and their corresponding addresses. When you
specify a domain name , a DNS server translates the domain name
to its associated IP address.

 DNS SERVER: DNS server is an internet server that is associated

with an internet access provider.

Domain abbreviations

Domains are organised by the type of organisations and by

country.

A three letter abbreviation indicates the organization and usually

two letter abbreviations indicate the country name.
 Most common domain abbreviations for organizations are:

 Com commercial

 Gov government

 Edu education

 Net network resources

THE World Wide Web

The World Wide Web or web consists of a worldwide collection of

electronic documents.

Each document on the web is called a web page, which can

contain text, graphics, audio and video. The World Wide Web is a
way of exchanging information between computers on the
Internet; try to tie them together into a vast collection of
interactive media resources.

Web browser

A web browser is a software application that allows users to access

and view web pages. To browse the web, you need a computer that
is connected to the internet and has a web browser .We can install
more than one browser on a single computer.

The most widely used web browsers are Internet explorer,

Netscape, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Safari.

Web address

A web address identifies the location of a specific web page on the

internet, such as http:/www.learnyoga.com. It is also called URL
(uniform resource locator). It is the web address for a web site or
a web page. The URL specifies the Internet address of a file stored
on a host computer connected to the Internet.
 A web address consists of a protocol, domain name, and
sometimes the path to a specific web page.

Each URL has several parts which can be demonstrated using the
address:

http://www.google.com/services/index.htm

http:// This part of the address indicates that it is a web page. It

also identifies the protocol or type of server.

www. This indicates that the web page is a part of the World
Wide Web. Many websites do not use WWW but are still part of
the web.

Google.com This part of the address is the domain name and

indicates the unique address of a website.

/services/ The ‘/’ symbol indicates you have moved into a

specific directory in the websites. Directories are like the folders on
your computer and help to organise web pages in a website.

Index.htm A word with .htm or .html following it indicates the

name of the specific page along with the path of a web page in
the website.

Search engine

A search engine is a program that finds websites, web pages,

images, videos, news and other information. When you type any
term in search bar, then the search engine will look for matching
websites from all over the web.

Most popular search engines are:

 Google http:/www.google.com

 Yahoo http:/www.yahoo.com

 AltaVista http:/www.altavista.com
 Lycos http:/www.lycos.com

Types of websites

Website: A group of pages that follow the same theme and are
connected together with hyperlinks is called a website.

Websites and web pages are written in a coding language that makes it
possible to add pictures, sounds etc. The very first page of the website
is called home page of that website.

For example: http:/www.carwale.com is a website while

http:/www.carwale.com/new.html is a web page.

TYPES:

 Portal
 News
 Informational
 Business/Marketing
 Educational
 Entertainment
 Advocacy
 Blog
 Wiki

Other Internet Services

Internet Services allows us to access huge amount of

information such as text, graphics, sound and software over the
internet. Following diagram shows the four different categories of
Internet Services.

Communication Services

There are various Communication Services available that offer

exchange of information with individuals or groups. The following table
gives a brief introduction to these services:
S.N. Service Description

1 Electronic Mail
Used to send electronic message over the internet.

2 Telnet
Used to log on to a remote computer that is attached to internet.

3 Newsgroup
Offers a forum for people to discuss topics of common interests.

4 Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Allows the people from all over the world to communicate in real time.

5 Mailing Lists
Used to organize group of internet users to share common information
through e-mail.

6 Internet Telephony (VoIP)

Allows the internet users to talk across internet to any PC equipped to
receive the call.

7 Instant Messaging
Offers real time chat between individuals and group of people. Eg.
Yahoo messenger, MSN messenger.

Information Retrieval Services

There exist several Information retrieval services offering easy access
to information present on the internet. The following table gives a brief
introduction to these services:

S.N. Service Description

1 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Enable the users to transfer files.

2 Archie
It’s updated database of public FTP sites and their content. It helps to
search a file by its name.

3 Gopher
Used to search, retrieve, and display documents on remote sites.

4 Very Easy Rodent Oriented Netwide Index to Computer

Achieved (VERONICA)
VERONICA is gopher based resource. It allows access to the
information resource stored on gopher’s servers.

Web Services

Web services allow exchange of information between applications on

the web. Using web services, applications can easily interact with each
other.
The web services are offered using concept of Utility Computing.

Video Conferencing
Video conferencing or Video teleconferencing is a method of
communicating by two-way video and audio transmission with help of
telecommunication technologies.

Tit-bits

 When a search engine returns the links to web pages

corresponding to the keywords entered is called a hit, otherwise
called a miss.
 A spider or crawler is a software that works inside a search
engine and can look into the website for the searched or
required keywords and then returns the links of those websites
which contain the required keywords as the search result.
 Cookie is a small massage given to a web browser by a web
server. It stores information about the user’s web activity.