Introduction to Computer

Networks
Agenda for the day
 Components of an Information System
 The Hardware
 The Operating System
 The Application Software
 Computer Networks
 The Internet
 The Client Server Architecture
 Definition Time
 Computer Hardware
 The physical components of information technology, which can include the computer itself plus
peripherals such as storage devices, input devices like the mouse and keyboard, output devices like
monitors and printers, networking equipment, and so on.
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 A central processing unit (CPU), the brain of your PC, also called a central processor, main processor
or just processor
 It is a piece of hardware that executes instructions given by applications and programs installed.
 These instructions are essentially in machine language – the binary language of 010101
 Processor cores and clock speeds determine how much information can be received at a time, and
how quickly that information can be processed on your computer.
 A computer’s processor clock speed determines how quickly the central processing unit (CPU) can retrieve
and interpret instructions
 Processor cores are individual processing units within the computer’s central processing unit (CPU)
Definition Time
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
 RAM is volatile i.e. it is erased every time you switch off your computer
 RAM is semi-conductor based -> mountable of motherboard near CPU, very fast, expensive, less heat,
less power consumption, shock tolerant

 Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

 A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage
device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage and one or more rigid rapidly
rotating platters coated with magnetic material.
 Not part of motherboard, electro-mechanical magnetic -> attached to motherboard through data cable,
slow, less expensive
 HDDs are superseded these days by Solid State Drives (SDD) – solid here refers semi-conductor
device -> more expensive (but less expensive than RAM), low power, higher speed
Definition Time
 Graphical user interface (UI)
 A graphical user interface (GUI) is an interface through which a user interacts
with electronic devices such as computers and smartphones through the use of
icons, menus and other visual indicators or representations (graphics)
 Items like scroll bars and menus are displayed on the hardware of the computer display.
Quiz Time
 RAM is a volatile memory which means?
 Can not tolerate high heat
 Erased every time power is off
 Temporary memory
 Has very short life
Quiz Time
 Which one of the following is the fastest memory
 Random Access Memory (RAM)
 Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
 Solid State Drive (SSD)
 Virtual Memory
 But CPU understands only Machine Language
0100101010!
Definition Time
 Software Applications
 Software refers to a computer program or collection of programs in CPU
executable machine language. It enables computing devices to perform tasks.
 But it was tough for software developers to write codes in machine language!
 So, software developers wrote programs in high level languages like C, C++,
Java, R, and Python
 And uses another software application called compilers and assemblers that helped them
convert these high level language to machine language

COMPILERS

ASSEMBLERS
 But these programs do not know how to manage CPU, RAM, HDD.
There should be a Control Program that knows how to manage CPU,
RAM, HDD, and other computer hardware to facilitate execution of
multiple programs running on a system!
Definition Time
 Operating System (OS)
 A system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common
services for computer programs.
 Provides a common set of controls for managing computer hardware, making it easier for users to
interact with computers and for programmers to write application software
 Most operating systems include control panels, desktop file management, and other support programs to work
directly with hardware elements like storage devices, displays, printers, and networking equipment.
 Every computing device has an operating system
 desktops and laptops, enterprise-class server computers, your mobile phone
 Even specialty devices like video game consoles, television set-top boxes, Kindles, Mars Rover, Robots and
smart appliances run some form of OS
 Some firms, like Apple and Nintendo, develop their own proprietary OS for their own hardware
– while other firms like Microsoft Windows, Google Android are also proprietary OS but open to
be used by other hardware manufacturers – and some are open source OS or free OS like Linux,
Fedora, Chrome OS
 Microsoft sells operating systems to everyone from Dell to the ATM manufacturer Diebold
 Wind River (purchased by Intel), that help firms develop operating systems for all sorts of devices that don’t
necessarily look like a PC, including cars, video editing systems, and fighter jet control panels
Quiz Time
 Is Operating System a software?
 Yes
 No
The Hardware/Software Layer Cake
More about Operating Systems
 Where is my OS?
 Most personal computers have an operating system installed on their hard
drives
 Hence it can be replaced or upgraded easily
 Many smaller, special-purpose computing devices have their operating
systems installed on nonvolatile memory, often on read-only memory
(ROM) chips
 Suchcontrol programs (OS here) stored on chips are sometimes referred to as
firmware
 The OS in an iPad, automobile, your TV’s set-top box, Cisco devices and in the hardware that
controls Philips Hue lightbulbs is most likely stored as firmware
More about Software
 Desktop Software vs Enterprise Software
 Desktop software refers to applications installed on a personal computer
 Your browser, your Office suite (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software),
photo editors, and computer games are all desktop software
 Enterprise software refers to applications that address the needs of multiple,
simultaneous users in an organization or work group
 Users can work on individual instances separately, and share resources on a common location
 A software administrator can define software security and data access rules
 Examples
 Tableau Desktop vs Tableau Server
 SAP R/3 – and Enterprise Resource Planning Software
Computer Networks
Importance of knowing Internet
 Marketing professionals who know how the Internet reaches consumers have a better
understanding of how technologies can be used to find and target customers.

 Finance firms that rely on trading speed to move billions in the blink of an eye need
to master Internet infrastructure to avoid being swept aside by more nimble market
movers.

 Knowing how the Internet works helps all managers understand where their firms are
vulnerable.

 Managers who know the Net are prepared to take the appropriate steps to secure their
firms and keep their organization constantly connected.
Basics of Computer Networks
 Computer Networking is the practice of connecting computers together
to enable communication and data exchange between them.

 Each device has an IP Address, that helps in identifying a device.

Basic Terminologies of Computer Networks
 Network
 Nodes
 Protocol
 Topology
 Service Provider Networks
 IP Address
 DNS (Domain Name System)
 Firewall
Types of Computer Networks
1. Personal Area Network (PAN)
2. Local Area Network (LAN)
3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
4. Wide Area Network (WAN)
Personal Area Network (PAN)
 This network is restrained to a single person, that is, communication between the computer devices is
centered only on an individual’s workspace.
 PAN offers a network range of 1 to 100 meters from person to device providing communication.
 Its transmission speed is very high with very easy maintenance and very low cost.
 This uses Bluetooth, IrDA, and ZigBee as technology.
Local Area Network (LAN)
 A LAN is a computer network that connects computers through a common communication path,
contained within a limited area, that is, locally.
 A LAN encompasses two or more computers connected over a server.
 The two important technologies involved in this network are Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
 It ranges up to 2km & transmission speed is very high with easy maintenance and low cost.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
 A MAN is larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN.
 This is the type of computer network that connects computers over a geographical distance through a
shared communication path over a city, town, or metropolitan area.
 Ranges from 5km to 50km
Wide Area Network (WAN)
 WAN is a type of computer network that connects computers over a large geographical distance
through a shared communication path.
 It is not restrained to a single location but extends over many locations.
 WAN can also be defined as a group of local area networks that communicate with each other with a
range above 50km.
 Here we use Leased-Line & Dial-up technology.
Network Devices
 Network devices, also known as networking hardware, are physical devices that
allow hardware on a computer network to communicate and interact with one
another.
 For example, Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch, Routers, Gateway, Brouter, and NIC,
etc.
Network Topology
 Network Topology is the way that defines the structure, and how these
components are connected to each other.
Types of Network Topology
 Point to Point Topology
 Mesh Topology
 Star Topology
 Bus Topology
 Ring Topology
 Tree Topology
 Hybrid Topology
 Point to Point Topology

 Mesh Topology
 Star Topology

 Bus Topology
 Ring Topology

 Tree Topology
 Hybrid Topology
Protocol
 A protocol is a set of rules and standards that govern how data is
transmitted over a network
 Examples of protocols include TCP/IP, HTTP, and FTP.
Service Provider Networks
 These types of Networks give permission to take Network Capacity and
Functionality on lease from the Provider.
 Service Provider Networks include Wireless Communications, Data
Carriers, etc.
IP Address
 An IP address is a unique numerical identifier that is assigned to every
device on a network.
 IP addresses are used to identify devices and enable communication
between them.
DNS (Domain Name System)
 DNS is a protocol that is used to translate human-readable domain names
(such as www.google.com) into IP addresses that computers can
understand.
INTERNET
Let us understand how the Internet works

 The URL Protocol - a set of rules for communication—sort of

like grammar and vocabulary in a language like
 http English
 The hypertext transfer protocol
 defines how Web browser and Web servers communicate and is designed to be independent
from the computer’s hardware and operating system
 And that’s what makes it a “standard” that is “open” for all to adopt
 Part of “Application Transfer Protocol”
 Internet sends different things in different ways
 Files – File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 Mails – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) etc.
 Voice – Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
Let us understand how the Internet works

 The URL
 Host name and domain name
 Domain name - the name of the network you’re trying to connect to, and the host is the computer you’re looking
for on that network
 www.yahoo.com, www.sports.yahoo.com, www.finance.yahoo.com, etc.
 From where can we buy the domain names?
 ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers)
 generic Top Level Domains (gTLD) - .com, .net, .org, .edu (restricted)
 country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) - .in, .uk, .jp, .ly, .tv, .md
 Anybody anywhere can use it

 Domain Name Registrars accredited to ICANN help us get the domain

 Cybersquatting - Knowingly registering a domain name to profit from someone else’s firm name or trademark.
It’s illegal.
 Disputes handled by court
 PETA
 Verizonereallysucks.com
Let us understand how the Internet works

 The URL
 The path maps to a folder location where the file is stored on the server; the file is the
name of the file you’re looking for
 .html - hypertext markup language
 html is the language used to create and format (render) Web pages
 Webservers can deliver any file supported by your web browser (or add-in)
 Even the Malware!
 url may not always have path and file name
 Path and filename case sensitive
Let us understand how the Internet works
 Now I know where I want to go – how Internet finds it?
 IP Address
 a string of four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by three periods.
 IPv4 - 32 bit
 Every device connected to the Internet has an identifying address – the Internet
Protocol Address
 A device gets its IP address from whichever organisation is currently connecting it to
the Internet
 Allocated to you temporarily for every internet session
 It can be used to identify a user’s physical location, tailor search results, and customise
advertising
 IP Addresses for servers rarely change
 Is it sufficient
 IPv6 - 128 bit
 Adoption is uneven across countries, time slots, and Internet service providers – around 30%
in 2021 January
Let us understand how the Internet works
 Now I know where I want to go – how Internet finds it?
 IP Address
 Do we type IP addresses in URL?
 Domain Name Services
 a distributed database that looks up the host and domain names that you enter and returns the actual
IP address for the computer that you want to communicate with.
 A hierarchical phonebook – where each phonebook is called a “name server”
 Cache - The system also remembers what it’s done, so the next time you need the IP address of a
host you’ve already looked up, your computer can pull this out of a storage space called a cache,
avoiding all those nameserver visits
 Periodically cleared and refreshed
 Moving your Web server off-site to a hosting provider?
 Just update your nameserver with the new IP address at the hosting provider, and the world will invisibly find
that new IP address
 Fault tolerant
 DNS can be hacked!
 DNS cache poisoning – Brazil ISP NET Virtua
 Changed IP address for Brazilian bank Bradesco to fraudulent Web sites
Let us understand how the Internet works
 Now I know where to go – but how to reach there?
 The TCP-IP Suite

 Ever wondered why voice quality is so bad now, as compared to good old POTS
(plain old telephone systems)
Let us understand how the Internet works
 Now I know where to go – but how to reach there?
 The TCP-IP Suite
Let us understand how the Internet works
 What is broadband
 High speed last mile technologies
 2009: Federal Communication Commission defined 768 Kbps as broadband
 2018: 25 Mbps download and upload speeds of 3 Mbps
 The last miles
 LAN cable
 Wifi access point
 Cable broadband
 Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited
 Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL)
 Fibernet
The Lesson
 Net neutrality principle
 All data should be treated equally, and ISPs should not discriminate
 Carriers should not be allowed to:
 Decide which sites load quickly
 Decide which apps are allowed on a network
 Decide which content is acceptable
 Problem: some people use more bandwidth than others.
 Netflix, for example, accounts for more than 30 percent of all Internet traffic in
North America between 9 PM and 12 AM
References
 Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harness Technology,
Gallaugher
 https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/basics-computer-networking/?ref=lbp