What is a Web Browser?

Browser, short for web browser, is a software application used to enable computers users to locate and access web pages. Browsers translates the basic HTML (Hypertext Mark Up Language) code that allows us to see images, text videos and listen to audios on websites, along with hyperlinks that let us travel to different web pages. The browser gets in contact with the web server and requests for information. The web server receives the information and displays it on the computer. There are different browsers for various things you do on the internet. There's a text based browser. With a text based browser you are only allowed to see text. Graphical material are not displayed. Hyperlinks are accessed by typing it in through the keyboard. An example of a text based browser is LYNX. There's a graphical browser and that allows the user to see all types of multimedia. There are several types of browsers but the one thing they have in common is that they carry out the same function; they transfer hypertext. Here are some familiar common web browsers:

Mozilla FireFox Netscape Navigator Microsoft Internet Explorer

Every browser features a toolbar that allows you to perform various functions like:

Go back to the first page you started on the internet which is called Home. Book your favorite websites Print content you find interesting on web pages Check your web history, like the websites you visited in the past You can go forward and backwards to see the previous sites you viewed

There are two basic ways that you can navigate through the browser:

You can click on links on different web pages. Those links will lead you to other web pages. If you know the URL or the address of the website you can type it in write in the browser's box all the way at the top. There's no need to type in the: http:// part when inserting the address because the browser automatically places it in. Then you have to click enter.

Once you click enter you have to wait for the page to load. While it's loading you will see the browser icon. Usually a little box will appear at the bottom with bars. It's called a status bar. When all the bars are filled you will know that the page has finished loading.

So every time you click or a link or enter a URL your browser will request the information from the web server. If your browser returns to the page with a error message the address you typed in could be wrong on you may not be connected to the internet. Web pages can look different in various types of browser. It's always important to download the latest version of your browser. Today most web pages are designed to be viewed in updated browsers. By keeping up with the most up-to-date version of your web browser you will be able to get the best of the web for everything that you need.

The web server computer - the hardware

A web site is a collection of web pages which are digital files generally written using HyperText Markup Language (HTML). For a web site to be available to everyone in the world at all times, it need to be stored or "hosted" on a computer that is connected to the internet 24/7/365. Such a computer is known as a Web Server (note the first letter is in uppercase). You can potentially host a web site on your home computer but this involves a lot of work and constant monitoring. It is easier to "buy" web hosting from a company because there are thousands that offer this service at reasonable prices. A brief on one of the best companies is at the end of the article - you can not only get web hosting but also a domain name and a web site really cheap! There are several requirements for a Server computer - it needs to be fast, have a large storage capacity hard disk and lots of RAM. But the most important is having a permanent internet address also known as an I.P. (Internet protocol) address. If the I.P. address changes, the web site would not be found and will appear offline - the browser will display a cannot find web site error. For details, read differences between your home computer and a web Server.

The web server program - the software

A web server program is software that runs on the web site hosting Server computer. Its main purpose is serving web pages; which means it waits for requests from web browsers (also known as clients) and responds by sending the required data back. This client-server interaction is the hallmark of how the web works. There are many web server programs available - check list of web servers. The most famous and popular of them all is Apache developed by the Apache Foundation. Not only is Apache free but it is also available for several operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux/Unix. This web site has a detailed tutorial on how to install Apache on a Windows 7 computer. FYI, differentiating the server program (software) and the Server computer (hardware) by the case of the first letter is suggested and followed only by purists - it is certainly not a rule! Generally, readers quickly understand from the context whether one is referring to the hardware or the software.

What is the role of web server on the Internet?

Web servers - the computer or the program - have a vital role on the Internet. The Server machine hosts (stores) the web site on its hard disk while the server program helps deliver the web pages and their associated files like images, flash movies etc. to clients (browsers). The process of loading a web site/page in a web browser starts with the user either entering the URL in the address bar or clicking on a link. You should know that each web page has a unique address (or URL) on the internet; which means the same page cannot exist in two places. (If a copy does exist in another location, its address would be different from that of the original). Once the appropriate action has been initiated by the user, the browser sends out a request for the web page. Behind the scenes, the URL of the requested web page is resolved into an I.P. address, which, in English, means, converted to an I.P. address - something that computers understand. The I.P. address points to the location of the web site host. The request is forwarded to Server computer and passed on to the server software. The server software now gets to work and hunts for the requested web page on the hard disk. On finding the file, it sends a response to the browser followed the actual web page file which then starts displaying the page. A typical web page not only has text but also embedded multimedia elements like images and Flash animation. These "extra" files are separate from the actual web page and are fetched by the browser from the Server one by one. Note (and an important one), ONLY the web browser determines how a web page is displayed; the web server has no control over this. The job of the web server ends once the requests from the browser are processed and the required information is sent. Though it might seem that the request-and-response process takes a lot of time, especially when you consider that the client and server computers might be thousands of miles apart, it actually happens very fast. That's because of the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) which is a set of rules developed by the "big lads" to facilitate the transfer of data over the internet.

Best place to get web server for your domain name & a web site

As I mentioned before, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of companies providing web hosting service. The best one, in my opinion, is Network Solutions which was also the first company to sell domain names in the world. Not only are their prices very competitive, they provide great customer support and superb security features.

Based on my personal experience, Network Solutions is ideal for people new to the web who wnt to get started quickly. One can only get a domain name but also a web site (and, yes, your own web server space) and email service for a very reasonble price. One final point (a question, actually): Do you think a computer can be both a web server and a client? Yes! If you install Apache on your local computer, it will work both as a Server and Client! As the next step, I suggest reading the differences between client-side and server-side programming languages to know more

What is a Web Server?

Many people know how to drive a car, but have little or no knowledge about how the car actually works. So, too, are many people familiar with how to view and navigate web pages, but have limited knowledge of how those web pages do what they do. Here we will answer the question: "What is a web server?" At the most basic level, a web server is simply a computer program that dispenses web pages as they are requested. The machine the program runs on is usually also called a server, and the two references are interchangeable in everyday conversation. When someone sits down at a computer and enters an address into an internet browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox, the browser sends a request off into the internet asking to view the web page found at that address. The web server is the program or machine that responds to that request, and delivers the content of the page back to the user. This can be done because every computer or device that connects to the internet has a uniquely identifying number, called an Internet Protocol address, or IP address for short. This address is what allows computers to find one another and communicate across the network. In brief, the process works as follows. Every web page on the internet also has a unique address, called a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. Something like "www.example.com/page1.htm" is an example of a typical URL. When a user types that URL into a web browser, the machine the browser is running on sends a request to the IP address of the machine running the web server for that page, requesting that all the content found there be sent back. Once the web server receives that request, it sends the page content back to the IP address of the computer asking for it. The web browser then translates that content into all of the text, pictures, links, videos, etc. that so many web pages contain. Web servers can sometimes be slowed down by things like inadequate resources on the machine they run on, or an overwhelming number of requests being received in too short a time, but generally the whole process happens so quickly it's hardly even noticeable as users navigate from page to page. The data being transferred back and forth during these exchanges must conform to a specific protocol, called Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), to ensure that all web pages and servers communicate with one another efficiently and without error.

The most common web server software today, that is, the program that actually does the receiving and answering of page requests, is Apache. This open-source software handles more than half of all websites in existence today - many developers of web-based applications and technologies use Apache as their default environment when designing new products. The second most common is Internet Information Services (IIS), released by Microsoft, which accounts for nearly 25% of all websites, leaving various other smaller applications to compete for the remaining niche. Though web servers can also handle data requests for other protocols not covered here, like SMTP for email, or FTP for file transfer and storage, it is their ability to respond to web page requests that is the underlying force keeping the entire world wide web up and running.

Application Servers (appservers)

Definition: An application server, or appserver, is software that typically interfaces one or more databases to convey processed data to and from a user interface. The user interface is often web based through a browser, but it may be through other means to client computers in any distributed network situation. The application server and databases may be housed in the same or separate computers. The term server is applied to computers in a number of ways: for instance file, web and printer servers. Application server doesnt necessarily apply to a machine, however, as it is actually a piece of software. Loosely speaking, any software that centrally processes data for distributed client machines can be seen as an application server.

What they do The application servers role is to take care of the business logic in a multi-tier architecture. The business logic is simply the functions that the software performs on the data. Multi-tier refers to the three tiers involved in the system: client application server database. Application servers are written for specific tasks, defined by business needs. Its basic job is to retrieve, process and present data to the user interface, and process any input data whether queries or updates,

including any validation, verification and security checks that need to be performed. But what the data is, and what the processes are, vary widely. A common example of an application server is an Internet search engine. In this instance, the client machines are any computer that logs on to the search engines website, and the data input is the search. The application server takes the input and will run several operations on the search term, dependant on the particular search engines technology. Then, queries are made to the search engines database of web content, and the returned data is ordered and presented back to the client machine. Other common examples include: * Online booking systems * Centralised stock control * Online banking * Online dictionaries and other reference Tiers, n-tiers and multi-tiers Many networks still run on a two tier approach, in which the client computers are connected to a central server, but each client has their own copy of a particular application installed on them. This means all processing happens on the client computers, and the connection to the server is used only for data retrieval. The three tier approach, sometimes called n-tier or more commonly multi-tier, takes the processing away from the clients, leaving them with only data presentation. In this model, the client may be referred to as a thin client. Diagram of a multi-tier application server environment

Interestingly, even though the three tiers are usually split across three separate computers, its still possible for all three tiers of interface, application, and database to sit on a single computer. Advantages of Application Servers Situating the application on a central computer decouples the clients from the processing, allowing the client computers to access the application from any platform. In other words, any Windows or Linux PC or Macintosh running any browser can connect to a web based application server, regardless of their individual specifications. Centralisation of the application holds clear advantages for maintenance and management. The computer that holds the application server can be maintained and upgraded as required to meet demand, and the software can be engineered and developed with a certainty of environment that wouldnt be possible if the processing had to be run on many distributed computers. Disadvantages of Application Servers There are three main disadvantages of centralised processing. Firstly, if the servers go down then clients simply can't access the application. Secondly, the reliance on network connections, including the Internet, exposes the vulnerability that any network outage also chokes all access to the application. Finally, security, since data which may be sensitive could be transferred over public networks. The way to tackle the first two problems is to ensure adequate redundancy of resources so, backup servers, network and Internet connections are a must. Its almost impossible to cover all angles in this, particularly as most of the WAN is out of management control, and the steps taken to cover outage risk will be governed by how mission critical the application servers availability is.

Tackling security issues is always difficult. However, there are a number of methods, encryption and secure connections for instance, that are applied across all forms of sensitive web interaction. These methods equally apply to application server interfacing over the Internet. Development Platforms Java EE, once known as J2EE, is a platform that has become a benchmark for application server developments. Not a standard as such, still compliance with Java EE requirements grants a product significant value status. As a result, Java is widely used as the language of choice for application servers. However, Microsofts ASP.Net platform is also powerful and commonly used, and many developers still use CGI and PERL. The choice of platform for an application server may have technical constraints, and it is down to system analysts and developers to make the choice of suitable solution.

Back end systems

Back end systems are corporate systems that are used to run a company such as systems to manage orders, inventory and supply processing. Back end systems support the company's back office. This system collects input from users or other systems for processing. HTML is a computer language devised to allow website creation. These websites can then be viewed by anyone else connected to the Internet. It is relatively easy to learn, with the basics being accessible to most people in one sitting; and quite powerful in what it allows you to create. It is constantly undergoing revision and evolution to meet the demands and requirements of the growing Internet audience under the direction of the W3C, the organisation charged with designing and maintaining the language.

Back End System

Definition - What does Back End System mean?
A back end system is any system that supports back office applications. These systems are used as part of corporate management and they work by obtaining user input and gathering input from other systems to provide responsive output.

Techopedia explains Back End System

The separation of front end and back end computer systems simplifies the computing process when dealing with multilayered development and maintenance. Back end systems deal with databases and data processing components, so the purpose of the back-end system is to launch the operating system's programs in response to front-end system requests and operations. In other words, the back-end system implements responses to what the front end has initiated.

The definition of HTML is HyperText Markup Language.

HyperText is the method by which you move around on the web by clicking on special text called hyperlinks which bring you to the next page. The fact that it is hyper just means it is not linear i.e. you can go to any place on the Internet whenever you want by clicking on links there is no set order to do things in. Markup is what HTML tags do to the text inside them. They mark it as a certain type of text (italicised text, for example). HTML is a Language, as it has code-words and syntax like any other language.

push and pull

The business terms push and pull originated in logistic and supply chain management,[2] but are also widely used in marketing.[3][4] Wal-Mart is an example of a company that uses the push vs. pull strategy. A pushpull system in business describes the movement of a product or information between two subjects. On markets the consumers usually "pull" the goods or information they demand for their needs, while the offerers or suppliers "pushes" them toward the consumers. In logistic chains or supply chains the stages are operating normally both in push- and pull-manner.[5] Push production is based on forecast demand and pull production is based on actual or consumed demand. The interface between these stages is called the pushpull boundary or decoupling point.[5]