Information Technology systems

3.4 Internet
 3.4.1 Fundamentals
Common Internet applications
• WWW – World wide web refers to viewing of web pages using a web
browser.
• E-mail – Allows sending and receiving messages.
• Newsgroups – Users can read and post questions to a public bulletin board.
Other users can read the information and respond.
• File transfer using FTP – Files can be transferred from one computer to
another.
• VoIP – Real-time voice communication which uses the Internet.
• Internet protocol television (IPTV) – Delivery of TV programmes using the
Internet infrastructure.
• Telnet – Allows the user to login to another system to perform administrative
tasks.
• Podcasts – Audio files can be automatically downloaded and listened to on
either the computer or portable MP3 players.
 Parts of a URL
Protocol: It can be FTP, HTTP or HTTPS
Sub-domain – Mostly it is WWW.
Domain – All web pages of the same website have the same
domain.
Path to the file – Indicates the directory on the server where
th file can be found.
File name – Actual file being displayed in the browser.
 IP address
Website operators frequently store the IP addresses of
people who access their website.
If a user views illegal material on a website or illegally
downloads music, law enforcement agencies can link the IP
address with the name of the person.
The recorded IP address need to be compared only with the
customer database of the ISP. The ISPs know exactly which
customer used what IP address at what time.
 Parts of an IP address
It is composed of four numbers separated by a decimal point.
Each number can range from 0 to 255.
You can see an IP address it in four parts:
part1.part2.part3.part4.
Every IP address, such as 76.240.249.145, is divided into two
sections that define 1) your network and 2) your computer, or host.
Those two sections comprise the basic structure of IP addresses:
the network ID and the host ID. All computers on the same network
share the same network ID. Each computer has its own unique
host ID.
In most of the networks, the network ID is comprised of parts 1, 2
and 3 of the IP address. The host ID is the part 4 of the IP address.
 Reducing the web traffic
Can be done by using:
1. Compression/ decompression of large files
2. Browser cache
3. Proxy server (used as cache)
 DNS (Domain Name System)
Domain Name System servers (DNS) are the Internet's
equivalent of a phone book. They maintain a directory of
domain names and translate them to Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses. This is necessary because, although domain
names are easy for people to remember, computers or
machines, access websites based on IP addresses.
The process of translating the URL into the IP address is
known as IP resolution.
 Structure of a web page
Following are the NINE components of a web page:
 Title – Title of the web page.

Navigation area/ menu – Used to connect the user to
different parts of the web site.
 Main content area – Area where text/ images are presented.
 Footer – Contain a menu or copyright details. Represents
end of a web page.
 Advertisements/ Banners – Area where advt are displayed.
 Structure of a web page
 Search box – Allows the user to search for specific
keywords within the web site.
 Login box – Allows the user to login to the account, if
necessary.

Bread crumbs - Allows users to keep track and maintain
awareness of their locations within programs, documents, or
websites.

Site map – Hierarchical list of all web pages published on
the website.
 Metatags
 Additional information about the website, which is useful for
the search engines determine the relevancy of the site’s
contents.

Metatags are NOT displayed to the user in the browser.
 Misleading metatags added to a website may be used to
trick the search engine.
Other than metatags, the following attributes are used by the
search engines for ranking of web pages:
 Keywords attribute – Keywords include terms that describe the website.

Description attribute – A line of text that describes the web site’s contents.

Language attribute – Used in language specific search.
 Tags
 Tags are regular keywords that appear in a web page and
can be seen by a user. Some web designers include a list of
tags at the beginning of a we page, and others include a
‘tag cloud’ for navigation on a separate web page.
 On-line forms
 An on-line form accepts user input. The data is sent to the
web server for processing and storage. E. g. A search box
from a search engine is an example of a simple on-line
form.

A basic form can include few text boxes to enter the data
and command buttons such as OK, Submit, Cancel, Reset,
etc.
 Filling on-line forms
Before filling on-line forms with personal data, you must
ensure the following:

Does the website use a secure protocol which encrypts the
data sent.
 Is the website authentic?
 Is the data being asked relevant to the task?
 Read the web site’s Privacy policy to find out whether or not
the data is passed onto others.
 Features of web browsers

Multimedia content
 Extensive use of operating system’s GUI features
 Bookmarking

Cache
 Visited links in history

Multiple tabs

Address bar

Navigation buttons
 Tool bar
 Reload or refresh buttons

Menu
 Plug-ins and Add-ons
 Plug-in is the term that is usually used when referring to
third party software that is meant to interact with a certain
program.

An Add-on also extends the functionality of a certain
program but they are usually meant to function on a certain
program.
Uses of Plug-ins and Add-ons
 Small software programs that add features to a web
browser.
 Customers can customize the functions of their web browser
and add additional functionality.

Some of them increase browsing security or privacy, while
some others improve the usability of the browser.
 Static and Dynamic websites
 A static web page displays the same way whenever a
user accesses the web page.
 A dynamic web page adapts its behaviour depending on
the user input.
 A web page with a filename ending in ‘htm’ or ‘html’ is
static and a web page with a ‘php’ or ‘aspx’ extension is
generated dynamically.
 Static websites
Advantages
 Easy to make
 No database is required

Disadvantages

Difficult maintenance
 No visitor personalization
 Dynamic websites
Advantages
 Personalization
 Easy maintenance

Disadvantages

Difficult implementation
 Web hosting
Web hosting is a service that allows organizations and
individuals to post a website or web page onto the
Internet.
A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a
business that provides the technologies and services
needed for the website or web page to be viewed in the
Internet. Websites are hosted, or stored, on special
computers called servers.
 Bounce rate
 The percentage of viewers who leave a web page
without visiting other pages is referred to as bounce
rate.
 A high bounce rate indicates that the website does not

invite visitors to view other pages of the same site. The

reason may be less user-friendly, less navigation
features, etc.
 Click Through Rate (CTR)
 Many websites use on-line advertisements as a means
of financing the site’s operating costs. The web site’s
owner receives a payment for each advertisement
clicked on by a user.
 The CTR indicates how many users have clicked on an

on-line advertisement.
 A low CTR is a warning to the web designer that the

displayed advertisements do not match the contents of

the web page.
 Crawlers, Spiders or Robots
 A crawler or spider or spider bot is a program that systematically
browses the World Wide Web in order to create an index of data.

 The search engine company obtains a nearly complete picture of

all the web pages published on-line.

 The servers of search engines store a copy of all the publicly

accessible web pages of the Internet.
 How does a search engine work?
 Search engines are operated by companies that have
many powerful servers which are distributed worldwide
to handle all of the search requests by the users.


The search engine searches the indexed web pages
(copies stored on their sever) only and displays a list of
links pointing to the actual web page located
somewhere on the Internet.
 Page ranking
 It is a method to determine the relevancy of web pages.

 The ‘importance’ of a web page can be measured by

the number of links that point to this web page. Each
link to a web page can be considered to be a
nomination for this web page. Pages with many
nominations receive a better status ands are ranked
higher.
 Social networking sites
 These websites permits users to form a community
around particular areas of interest. These sites permit
users to share experiences and information, and assist
them in keeping in contact with each other.
 Web 2.0
Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the
WWW which is characterized by interactivity and
by web content that is supplied by the user and not
only the person operating the website. It makes
the website more dynamic.
 Future of the Internet
In future, search engines will be able to understand
natural language questions and in addition to listing the
websites that contain the keywords, it will be able to
summarize the relevant information based on the search.
The system will able to learn and adapt to the user’s
references.
It will become an assistant to the user during everyday
life and work.
 Semantic Web
In future, computers will be capable of interpreting
the information stored on different webpages and
to draw appropriate connections between them.
When a user performs a semantic search, the
computer will gather relevant information from
different websites and dynamically create a
summary webpage containing all of the
information.
 Collaborative on-line tools
Web applications which enable the users to share
information in the form of text, images, sound, videos,
etc. with other users is referred to as collaborative on-
line tools.
Examples are Wikis, Social networking sites, Blog,
Forums and Newsgroups.
 Wiki
A Wiki is a web application that allows several users to
create and modify a web page.
Features of a Wiki:
 Make it as easy as possible for people to contribute.

 Create hyperlinks to related topics without learning

HTML or any complex mark-up languages.

 Encourage the users to participate in improving the

site.
 Vandalism
Vandalism is an act where a user attempt to deliberately
add misleading content or obscenities to a page.
In such cases, the vandalized page is replaced by the
previous version of the page from the history archive.
 Blog
The term blog is derived from the word web log.
A blog is a website whose articles are sorted
according to publishing date, with the newest one
towards the top.
Modern blogging software allows the web authors
to sort the articles according to the categories and
to assign descriptive tags.
Features of a successful blog
 Highly specific and targeted to a topic.

Updated frequently
 Allow readers to comment on the entries
 Micro blogs
Micro blogs allow the bloggers to post a limited lines of
text only.
Micro blogs can be used by companies for informal
communication within the organization.
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
use the concept of micro blogging.
 Mash-up
Mash-ups are web applications or websites that make
use of several other data sources and combine all
data seamlessly into a new product.
They are created by accessing the databases of the
content sites using special programming interfaces
known as API (Application Programming Interface).
 Viral marketing
Viral marketing refers to the marketing of products over
social networks.
Products that are advertised through a social network
can spread rapidly by word of mouth.
Since the information spreads like a virus, it is termed as
viral marketing.
The main advantage that it is very cheap and people
trust a product recommended by their friends rather than
direct advertisements.
 Web cast
A webcast is the distribution of a media file over the
Internet. They use streaming media technology. It
means the file is not stored on the user’s computer but
played and then discarded.
Webcasts can take place Live or On demand.
Advantages are:
 Media files cannot be stored by the viewer.

 No need of additional copies for distribution.

 Photocast
A photocast is a picture album that is uploaded to an
account and automatically made available to the
subscribers over the Internet.
 Podcast
Podcasts are audio and video files that can be
downloaded and copied to a portable mp3 player or
consumed on the computer.
The user installs a pod-catching software program,
which automatically checks subscribed podcasting sites
for new episodes.
The producers of podcasts need to be aware of
copyright issues.
 Vidcast
Similar to podcast, but a complete video.
The software automatically downloads every new
episode from the site the user has subscribed to.
 Widgets
The term widgets is derived from Windows gadgets.
It means the control elements of a GUI such as
buttons, drop-down lists, scroll bars, text boxes, sliders
and so on.
It also refers to the small programs that can be
installed to enhance the desktop such as desktop
calendars, weather reports or a simple clock.
Virtual Learning Environment
A VLE is a virtual classroom that allows teachers and students to
communicate with each other on-line. Class information, learning
materials, and assignments are typically provided via the Web. Students
can log in to the class website to view this information and may also
download assignments and required reading materials to their
computers. Some VLEs even allow assignments and tests to be
completed on-line.
 Features of VLE
 It contains basic information about the courses offered such as
affiliation, duration, fees, credits, etc.

Allows students to sign up to create accounts.

Provides course materials for download.
 Provides links to external resources such as on-line videos.
 Includes on-line quizzes or revision tests that are automatically
assessed.
 Supports communication between teachers and students over e-
mail, chats, etc.

Supports teachers in creating course contents.

Allows the administrator to assign different rights to different user
groups.
 RSS (Real Simple Syndication)
Short for Really Simple Syndication, RSS is XML-formatted text
commonly used for distributing web logs, news, or other content that
is updated frequently.
RSS is made up of a list of items presented in order from newest to
oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item
along with a more complete description and a link to a Web page with
the actual information being described.
Special computer programs called RSS aggregators have been
developed that automatically access the RSS feeds of Web sites you
care about on your behalf and organize the results for you.
 Web databases
Web databases can include any form of data that is made
available over the Internet. It include any of the following:

Encyclopedias
 Dictionaries

 Movie databases


Music databases
 Geographical databases

 Scientific databases


Telephone directory, etc.
 Location based services
Location based services take into consideration the
geographical location of the user when they use mobile
devices to access the Internet. It uses the GPS receiver
and the strength of the signal from the mobile device to the
wireless network stations.
 Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are automatically stores on
the hard disk of the computer when the user visits certain
websites. It can contain any data used to store user
preferences or session information.
 Push and pull technologies
Push technology – Where the information provider is
responsible for delivering the information to the receivers.
Email and advertisements are examples. The information
is pushed to the user.
Pull technology – Where the user accesses the
information using a search engine. The user has to pull
the information from the web.
Content Management System
Content management System or CMS is a software
program that allows web authors to enter, edit and manage
web articles without needing to have any HTML
programming skills. It generates the web page
dynamically.
Advantages:
 Suitable for large amount of data

 Easy updating of content


Suitable for several authors
 Types of CMS (1 of 2)
• CMS for blogging – A blog organizes the articles
based on time. Most recent ones are placed towards
the top. www.wordpress.org is the most commonly
used CMS for blogs.
• CMS for websites – Websites organized the content
hierarchically. Time factor is not important.
www.joomla.org is a popular CMS web portal.
 Types of CMS (2 of 2)
• CMS for e-learning – It allows students to submit
assignments and homework. Teacher is responsible
to creating the content. Popular CMS is
www.moodle.org.
• CMS for galleries – Optimized for maintaining and
displaying images. The database stores the images
descriptions while the images themselves are stores
in a specified subdirectory on the server.
 Features of CMS
• Builds the front end dynamically based on the
content stored in the database and the selected
template. Front end includes the web pages that the
user is able to see.
• The back end can only be accessed by authorized
web designers with a login/ password combination.
The back end has the list of articles that are viewable
from the front end. The author can write the text
directly into the web browser without using HTML
programming skills.
 Features of CMS
• The back end also allows the author to categorize
the articles and to add tags.
• CMS can be extended using modules. Modules give
CMS extra functionality and allow the author to
customize the CMS according to the needs of the
target group.
 Moodle
• Modular Object-oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment (Moodle) is a full VLE and CMS. It is an
open source and free of charge.
 Features of Moodle
1. Teachers can design e-learning courses and
distribute the materials to students. Students have a
login and password combination to access the
course.
2. Students can upload their assignments and the
teacher corrects these on the computer.
3. Students can send each other text messages and
communicate with each other over discussion
forums.
 Common encryption methods
1. Single key encryption – one key or password is
used to encrypt and decrypt the file.
2. Public/ Private key encryption – Uses one key to
encrypt and another key to decrypt the fie. Public key
is used for encryption and private key for decryption
purpose. The public key can be distributed openly
but the private key is known only to the receiver of
the message.
 DNS spoofing
DNS spoofing or DNS poisoning is a method of
illegally modifying the allocation between the URL and
the IP address. As a result, when a user types a URL in
the web browser he is redirected to a different web page
(known as Pharming).
 Social and ethical issues
• Policies – Copyright laws of different countries
• Digital citizenship – Netiquette, Unsuitable material
published on the Internet, Cyber crimes
• Authenticity – Identity theft
• Reliability and integrity – Information on the Internet,
Information about the author
• Digital divide – Availability of IT infrastructure and
training
• Equality of access – Problems while accessing the
website