INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER LECTURE NO 15

INTERNET
The process of connecting separate networks is called internetworking. A
collection of networked networks is described as being Internet worked. Internet
is a worldwide network of networks.
HOW THE INTERNET WORKS
The single most important thing to understand about the Internet is that it
potentially can link your computer to any other computer. Anyone with access to
the Internet can exchange text, data files and programs with any other user.
TCP/IPTHE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF THE INTER NET
The set of commands and timing specifications is used by the inter net is called
Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol, universally abbreviated as
TCP/IP.
The TCP/IP protocol includes the specifications that identify individual
computers and exchange data between computers. They also include rules for
several categories of application programs, so programs that run on different
kinds of computers can talk to one another. TCP/IP software looks different on
different kinds of computers but it always presents the same appearance to the
network. Therefore it does not matter if the system at another end of a
connection is a supercomputer that fills a room, a pocket size personal
communication device, or anything in between, as long as it recognizes TCP/IP
protocols, it can send and receive data through the internet.
A Network of Networks – Backbone and Gateways
Most computers are not connected directly to the internet, they are connected to
smaller networks that connect through gateway to the Internet backbone. That is
why the Internet is sometimes described as “ a network of networks”.
Addressing Schemes IP and DNS addresses
Internet activity can be defined as computers communicating with other
computers using TCP/IP. The computer that originates as transaction must
identify its intended destination with a unique address. Every computer on the
internet has a four parts is a number between 0 and 255, so an IP address looks
like this:
192.168.0.1
Most computers on the internet also have an address called a Domain Name
System(DNS) an address that uses words rather than numbers. DNS addresses have two
parts: an individual name, followed by a domain (a name for a computer connected to the
Internet) that generally identifies the type of institution that uses the address, such as
.com for commercial businesses or edu for schools, colleges, and universities. The
University of Washington’s DNS address is Washington .edu; Microsoft’s is
Microsoft.com. Within the United States, the last three letters of the domain
usually tell what type of institution owns the computer.
MAJOR FEATURES OF THE INTERNET
E-MAIL
The single most common use of the Internet is for the exchange of electronic
mail, or e-mail. Anyone with an e-mail account can send messages to other users

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of the Internet and to many networks connected to the Internet through

gateways. Most e-mail programs also permit users to attach data files and
program files to messages.
NEWS
In addition to the messages distributed to mailing lists by e-mail, the Internet
also supports a form of public bulletin board called News. There are
approximately 15,000 news groups, each devoted to discussion of a particular
topic. A newsreader program----the client software ---obtains articles form a
news server, which exchanges them with other servers through the Internet. To
participate in News, you must run a newsreader program to log onto a server.

Common Usenet Domains

DOMAIN DESCRIPTION
COMP Computer-related topics
SCI Science and technology (except computers)
SOC Social issues and politics
News Topics related to Usenet
Rec Hobbies, arts, and recreational activities
Misc Topics that do not fit one of the other domains

Telnet-Remote Access to Distant Computers

Telnet is the Internet tool for using one computer to control a second computer. Using
Telnet, you can send commands that run programs and open text or data files. The Telnet
program is a transparent window between your own computer and a distant host system,
a computer that you are logging onto. A Telnet connection sends input form your
keyboard to the ghost and displays text from the host on your screen. Connecting
to a Telnet host is easy; enter the address, and the Telnet program sets up a
connection. When you see a logon message from the host, you can send an
account name and password to start an operating session. Access to some telnet
hosts is limited to users with permission from the owner of the host, but many
other hosts offer access to members of the general Internet public.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol, on FTP, is the Internet tool used to copy files form one
computer to another. When a user has accounts on more than one computer, FTP
can be used to transfer data of programs between them. There are also public FT
P archives that will permit anyone to make copies of their files. These archives
contain thousands of individual programs and files on almost every imaginable
subject. Anyone with an FTP client program can download and use these files.
Gopher
All kinds of information are available through the Internet, but much of it can be
difficult to fine without a guide. Gopher organizes directories of documents,
images, programs, public Telnet hosts, and other resources into logical menus.
The first Gopher was created at the University of Minnesota (home of the Golden
Gophers) to provide easy access to information on computers all over the

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University’s campus. When a user selected an item form a Gopher menu, the
Gopher server would automatically download that item to the user’s computer.
A Gopher menu can include links to anything on the Internet, including files of
all kinds, host computers, and other Gopher menus. Some menus and submenus
are organized by subject, and others list resources in a particular geographical
region. Most menus also include pointers to the local server’s top-level menu or
to the “Mother Gopher” in Minnesota that lists all the Gopher servers in the
world.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or just chat is a popular way for Internet users to
communicate in real-time with other users. Real-time communication means
communication with other users right now. Unlike e-mail, chat does not require
a waiting period between the time you send a message and the other person or
group of people receives the message. IRC is Internet because it enables a few or
many people join in a discussion.
IRC is a multi user system where people join are discussion groups where chat
users convene to discuss a topic. Chat messages are typed on a user’s computer
and sent to the IRN channel, whereupon all users who have joined that channel
receive the message. Users can then read, reply to, or ignore that message, or
create their own message.
The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (the Web or WWW) was created on 1989 at the European
Particle Physics Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, as a method for
incorporating footnotes, Figures, and cross-references into online hypertext
document s in which a reader can click on a word or phrase in a document and
immediately jump to another location within the same document, or to another
file. The second file ma be located on the same computer as the original
document or anywhere else on the Internet. Because the user does not have to
learn separate commands and addresses to jump to a new location, the World
Wide Web organized widely scattered resources into a seamless whole.
The latest generation of Web browsers, including Mosaic. Netscape Navigator,
and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, can open file viewers and other application
programs automatically when they receive graphic images, audio, video, a other
files. The internal structure of the World Wide Web is built on a set of rules
called Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and a page-description language
called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTTP uses Internet addresses in a
special format called a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, URLs look like this:

type://address/path
http//www.uiuc.edu