ICT453: Internet Technologies &

Web Design

Introduction to Internet Technologies

Overview
The Internet and the World Wide Web

History of the Internet and the WWW

Transmission Across the Internet

TCP/IP and Domain Names

Basic Services from FTP to the WWW

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)

Intranets and Extranets

The Internet
The Internet is a collection of interconnected networks, all
freely exchanging information and resources.
The Internet is a global network of networks that enables
computers of all kinds to directly and transparently
communicate and share services throughout the world.
A network may include PCs, and other devices like servers
or printers
Early research was performed by the US Department of
Defense in 1962. This research group established ARPAnet
(Advanced Research Project Agency) in order to connect the
US Defense Department network
What did the Internet come from?
Original aim was to create a network that would allow
users of a research computer at one university to be able
to ‘talk to’ research computers at other universities.

A side benefit of ARPAnet’s design was that, because

messages could be routed or rerouted in more than one
direction, the network could continue to function even if
parts of it were destroyed in the event of a military attack
or other disasters.

The users of the Internet took a direction of their own

History of the Internet (1/3)
The first long distance communication took place in 1965
between a computer in MIT and California.

In 1969, four computers clients were connected together

via ARPAnet.
at UCLA (Los Angeles), Stanford Research Institute,
UCSB (Santa Barbara), and University of Utah.

How old is the Internet?

Leonard Kleinrock is accredited with the idea of packet
switching, which describes how data can be sent across
a network
History of the Internet (2/3)
The Ethernet was developed by Xerox during this period.
This was inspired by Robert Metcalfe’s PhD on ‘packet
networks’.

An Ethernet is a protocol for describing how computers can

be connected in a LAN (Local Area Network)

Through the use of Ethernet and ARPAnet the US were able

to develop a working network

In the late 1970s and early 1980s other networks were
developed, e.g. CSNET and BITNET
History of the Internet (3/3)
In 1973 Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn created the TCP/IP
communication protocols

TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is a set of
rules that describe how computers can communicate over
a network

To send information over the Internet, a computer packs

data into Internet Protocol (IP) packets and labels them with
the correct address. They are then sent across a packet
switched interconnected network.
How Big is the Internet?

 About 1 in every four person has Internet access

 For more - http://www.internetworldstats.com/
Features of the Internet (1/3)
People around the world share ideas, information,
comments, and stories.

Popular services:
Email (electronic mail) is the most popular service.
You can send and receive mail (electronic text), faster and
cheaper than surface mail.

Often they take the following format:

UserName @ Organization .country_code
[email protected]

There are many Web based e-mail services

Eg. Yahoo offers yahoo mail, Google offers gmail
Features of the Internet (2/3)
Mailing lists:
you can subscribe to lists on various subjects to receive
emails, you can post (send) messages, you can
unsubscribe. Some lists are moderated.
Newsgroups are collections of messages on various
subjects. Example comp.internet
FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
You can copy files from one computer to another over the
Internet.

Social Networking
Features of the Internet (3/3)
Telnet or remote login.
Permits your computer to log onto another computer and
use it as if you were there. You need to provides your
username and password, for security reasons.

Chat rooms.
You can exchange messages with other people,
anonymously (using a nickname).

Internet services for companies: e-commerce, etc.

Browsers
An application that provides a way to look at and interact
with the information on the World Wide Web

It retrieves, presents, and traverses information

resources

These include web pages, images, video, and other

multimedia content

Check http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/ for stats.

Web Sites
A single group of many web pages dealing with the same
topic and written for/by the same person/organisation is
called a Web site

A web site is a collection of web pages.

A Web site is like a magazine with many articles.

A home page is like a front cover that tells what is inside.

A web page is a document on the World Wide Web.

Web server
A Web server is a program running on a computer that is
set up to serve documents to other client computers that
send requests for documents.

Any organization can setup a web server.

Some popular web servers include:

Apache

Xampp

EasyPHP

Internet information service (IIS)

Publishing Documents on the Web
Web pages are stored on a server, which is a
network of computers designed to store websites.

Server space is sold and maintained by hosting

providers.

Hosting your website on a server ensures that

your website is open to the public.
World Wide Web (www.)
 The World Wide Web (WWW or Web) is often confused with the
Internet

 The Web did not exist until the 1980s

 In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee created a set of technologies that allowed

information on the Internet to be linked together through the use of
links, or connections in documents
http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html

 The language used to write these documents with links is HTML

 WWW hypertext system began at CERN (European Centre for Nuclear

Research) in Geneva, under Tim Berners-Lee, in 1989.
The Web
The Web was mostly text based until Marc
Andreessen created the Mosaic browser in 1992

Accredited for popularizing the WWW

People started thinking about adding videos, sound,

and graphics on the Web.

Now many people think of the Web as the graphical

or illustrated part of the Internet
Features of WWW (1/2)
The World Wide Web (WWW, the Web) is a linked collection
of documents residing on computers connected to the
Internet, named Web servers.

Hypertext
Hypertext is a set of documents linked together to form a
web of relationships that draw on possibilities for
augmenting linear text
This is a text document that include links to other
documents.

Hypermedia also includes images, video, and sound.

Features of WWW (2/2)

Hyperlinks
Underlined words on a Web page that allow you to jump to
another place or Web page.

Hyperlinks typically appear as highlighted (underlined and

colored) phrases.

Your mouse cursor will turn to a "pointing finger" when

you've found a hyperlink.

Graphics can be hyperlinks

Data Transmission
Computers are connected together via a network or
transmission line
The objective of the ARPAnet project was to investigate the
development of a decentralized computer network
The network then became known as the Internet

It has since adopted a suite of protocols called the Internet

Protocol Suite or as more commonly known as TCP/IP

Now, the Internet has grown to encompass a huge number

of autonomous networks
Internet Protocol Suite
 The Internet Protocol Suite includes a number of standard protocols.
 The two most common are:
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
Internet Protocol (IP)

 A computer communication protocol is a description of the rules

computers must follow to communicate with each other.

 TCP/IP defines how electronic devices (like computers) should be

connected to the Internet, and how data should be transmitted between
them.

 The TCP/IP protocol is embedded in TCP/IP software that is part of the

operating system (OS)
TCP/IP (1/3)
 TCP handles communication between applications
TCP uses a fixed connection.

 If one application wants to communicate with another via TCP, it

sends a communication request. This request must be sent to an exact
address. After a ‘handshake’ between the applications a
communication line opens.

 IP handles communication between computers

IP is a connection-less protocol. With IP, messages are broken down

into small independent ‘packets’ and are sent between computers via
the Internet. IP is responsible for ‘routing’ each packet to its correct
destination.
Communicating via IP is like sending a long letter as a large number of
small postcards, each finding its own (often different) way to the
receiver.
TCP/IP (2/3)
TCP/IP is TCP and IP working together.

TCP takes care of the communication between your

application software (your browser) and your network
software - the handshake

IP takes care of the communication with other computers -

the postal system which lets you address the package and
put it into the post

TCP is responsible for breaking data down into IP packets

before they are sent, and for assembling the packets when
they arrive.
TCP/IP (3/3)
IP is responsible for sending the packets to the correct
destination. Every computer has a IP address

TCP is responsible for verifying the correct delivery of data

from client to server.

TCP adds support to detect errors or lost data and to trigger

retransmission if needed.
IP Addresses (1/2)
Each computer must have an IP address before it can
connect to the Internet.
A Web site has an IP address or a URL to identify it

TCP/IP uses four numbers between 0 and 255, to address a

computer.
An IP address is a set of numbers such as 127.0.0.1

TCP/IP uses four numbers to address a computer. The

numbers are always between 0 and 255.

IP addresses are normally written as four numbers separated

by a period, like this: 192.68.20.50
IP Addressing (2/2)
IP has the following versions:
IPv4
 Internet Protocol Version 4 - is the dominant
protocol of the Internet
IPv4 uses 32-bit (4-byte) addresses, which limits
the address space to 232 addresses.
Eg. 192.226.32.125

IPv6
Internet Protocol Version 6 - is in active, growing
deployment worldwide.
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, so the new address
space supports 2128 addresses.
Eg. 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
IANA and ICANN
Who assigns IP numbers?
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

Who assigns domain names?

Top level:
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN).
Second level:
Network Solutions Inc., and other registrars accredited
by ICANN.

See http://www.internic.org/ for a list.

Domain Names
Names are easier to remember than a 12 digit (or longer!)
number

Some applications let you identify a computer or an IP

network by using a logical or domain name:
www.gtuc.edu.gh is a domain name

When you address a web site, like http://www.gtuc.edu.gh ,

the name is translated to a number by a Domain Name
Server (DNS)

When a new domain is registered together with a TCP/IP

address, DNS servers all over the world are updated with this
information
ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Uniform Resource Locators (URL)
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is used to address a
document on the Web.

The name that corresponds to an IP address in the DNS is

known as a URL

 A full Web address is like:

http://www.gtuc.edu.gh/index.html

A URL usually follows these syntax rules:

protocol://host.domain.country_code:port/path/filename

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
URL Codes
For International use, the domains end in the country code
.gh For Ghanaian websites
.ru for Russian Websites
.fr French websites
.co.uk United Kingdom

Some URLs end in the following

.com Commercial institute or service provider
.me Personal website
.edu Educational institute
.gov Government
.org Nonprofit organization
.net Network Service Provider
.mil U.S. military
ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Retrieving a URL (1/3)

TCP/IP is a collection of communication protocols that

controls the way that information is broken up and posted
over the Internet.

HTTP takes care of the communication between a web

server and a web browser.

To retrieve a Web resource, the user either specifies a URL

in the Web browser’s address or clicks on a hyperlink in a
document

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Retrieving a URL (2/3)

HTTP is used for sending requests from a web client (a

browser) to a web server, returning web content (web pages)
from the server back to the client.

The Web browser specifies the details of the required Web

page in a HTTP Request message

The Web server receives this request and after processing it

completes the operation by returning either the document or
an error in the HTTP Response message

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Retrieving a URL (3/3)

http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/how-the-internet-works/
ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
HTTP
HTTP adopted the concept of hypertext links but its protocol
includes other methods

There are four messages within this protocol

Connection: Establishes a connection between the client
and the server
Request: Asks for a resource
Response: Delivers the resource
Close: Terminates the connection

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Client/Server Computing
All web activity begins on the clients side -you could type a
web address into the browser.
The browser first consults with the DNS to translate the home
page name into an IP address.
It then sends a request to the server using the HTTP
standard
A server spends most of its time listening to the network
waiting for a document request

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Web Architecture
A typical web application involves four tiers:
web browsers on the client side for rendering data
presentation coded in HTML
web server program that generates data presentation
application server program that computes business logic
Database server program that provides data persistency

The three types of server programs may run on the same or

different server machines.

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
 Intranets & Extranets
The first serious use of Web technology within business was
for the implementation of Intranets
Internet, Intranets, and Extranets are all networks that
transmit data.
The difference is geographical location and security

An Intranet is a secure network contained within an

organization. It uses a firewall for maintaining security.
Intranets are used only by company employees

An Extranet is a secure network that allows outsiders to use

an Intranet with permission. It is used to connect company
suppliers, contractors and partners with employees
ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Port Numbers
A port number is used to distinguish between the individual
networking applications that are running simultaneously
above the TCP/IP protocol stack

Port numbers for standard TCP/IP services may be referred

to as well-known port numbers:
80 HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - WWW
194 IRC (Internet Relay Chat) - Conferencing
21 FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
25 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) - E-mail
 23 Telnet

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Port Numbers
Server processes are associated with a fixed port and the
client must know the port in order to connect with the
network service

 A Web server will normally be listening for connections on

port 80. A web browser will use this port number by default
when attempting to connect to the remote computer

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Who owns the Internet?

 No person or organization owns the entire Internet

As the Internet is a network of networks, each network is

owned by a company

This is similar to the motor-way and road system. Each town

or state owns and maintains roads in its jurisdiction

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is a way to share files and programs

Download files from large archives to your own

computer

FTP is used to upload websites onto web servers

Done via the browser or a special piece of FTP

software

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
Cookies
A method for identifying web users and delivering customized
web sites
First time user connects to a web site, the browser gathers
personal information from the user computer
Server packages information into a “cookie” file and sends
cookie to browser
Browser stores cookie in local file system

Each subsequent time browser visits site, it sends cookie

back to server
Server uses information stored in cookie to identify user
and possibly customize the supplied web pages

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
 More Info

Where can I find definitions for much of the Internet related

terminologies?
www.whatis.com
www.w3schools.com
www.webopaedia.com
http://alexa.com/

ICT453: Internet Technologies and Web Design - GTUC 2013 Delivery #Lempogo Forgor
What is Intranet ?

Internal company network that uses Internet

standards (HTML, HTTP & TCP/IP protocols) &
software.

Accessed only by authorized persons, especially

members or employees of the organization
Intranet Security
Two levels of Security required:

Internal
It can be imposed by Public Key Security &
Encryption Key.

External
Through Firewall.
What is Firewall ?
Security device located between firm’s internal
network (intranet) & external network (internet).

Regulates access into & out of a company’s network

based on a set of rules.

Note : needs to be upgraded from time to time to check latest

potential security problems.
Applications of Intranet
Sharing of company policies/rules & regulations
Access employee database
Distribution of circulars/Office Orders
Access product & customer data
Sharing of information of common interest
Launching of personal/departmental home pages
Submission of reports
Corporate telephone directories
Disadvantages

Management  A company may not have person to update their

problem Intranet on a routine basis
 Fear of sharing information and the loss of control
 Limited bandwidth for the business
Security  Unauthorized access
problem  Abuse of access
 Denial of service
Productivity  Information overload lowers productivity
problem  True purpose of the Intranet is unknown to many
employees/departments
 Hidden or unknown complexity and costs
What is Extranet ?

Extranet is an Intranet for outside authorized users

using same internet technology.
Inter-organizational information system.

enable outsiders to work together with company’s

employees.
open to selected suppliers, customers & other business partners
Examples..
 Dealers/distributors have access to
product files such as :-
1. product specification,
2. pictures,
3. images, etc.
to answer the queries of the customer.
Components of extranets ..
Some basic infrastructure components such as the internet
Including :-
TCP/IP protocols,
E-mail,
Web-browsers,
External business partners &
Tele-commuting employees place order, check status & send E-
mail.
Benefits of Extranet
Improved quality.
lower travel costs.
lower administrative & other overhead costs.
reduction in paperwork.
delivery of accurate information on time.
improved customer service.
better communication.
overall improvement in business
effectiveness.
Disadvantages
The suppliers & customer who don’t
have technical knowledge feel problem.
Faceless contact.
Information can be misused by other competitors.
Fraud may be possible.
Technical Employees are required.
Layered System View

Intranet Corporate members

Extranet Clients, partners, customers

Internet Global society: competitors