Internet

Science
Institute of Informatics
Studies
Nelliady
Internet Science
Basic Concepts of the Internet

 The Internet is a computer network made

up of thousands of networks world wide.
 Millions of Computers are connected to
the internet.
 The Computers are connected Via a huge
network telecommunication links.
 The internet allows you to access to whole resources of
data information stored at different sites (called hosts or
servers) locations all around the world.

 You can access to a wide variety of services :

Electronic mail, File transfer, vast information

resources, interest group membership, interactive
collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time
broadcasting ,shopping opportunities, breaking news
etc.
 All computers on the internet communicate with one to
another using the transmission control protocol / Internet
Protocol(TCP/IP)

 No governing body is in control the internet .

 There are organizations which develop technical aspects

of this network and set standards for creating
applications of on it.

 The internet backbone, through which internet traffic,

flows is owned by private companies
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
 An internet Service provider, or ISP, is a
company that provides its customers with
access to the internet.
 Customers may connect to their ISP
through dialup (telephone) , dedicated
(leased line / ISDN) connections.
Brief History of the Internet.
 The internet had its origins in the cold war between America and
Russia during the 1960’s.

 Concerned about the survivability of its communication in the

event of a nuclear strike, the US Air force needed to ensure that it
could still communicate with its force.

 The RAND corporation proposed a system with no centralized

authority as any centralized system would be a target of any
possible attack.
 The proposed system developed by Paul Baren
suggested decentralized system that would still
operate even if parts of it were destroyed.

 All interconnections in the network could send

and receives messages, forwarding them on to
other interconnection points (called nodes) until
the message reached its destination.

 Information would be sent in little packets. Each

packet would be self contained and have its own
address information.
 Packets would travel from node to node. Each node
deciding how to send the packet to the next available
node.

 Even if some nodes were destroyed, the message could

still be sent an alternative route.

 In this way, the network would withstand a nuclear strike.

 After implementing the network, it was known as

ARPANET ( The Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network) and used by the us military and US university.

 Gradually as more and more connections were made it

has evolved to the internet.
Services provided by the Internet.
 Email : Electronic mail permits sending and receiving of
messages to other users connected to the internet.

 FTP : File transfer protocol. A means of sending and receiving

files from one computer to another.

 Gopher : An early form of representing information as graphical

icons or symbols, that could be displayed in a window
and then downloaded it has been replaced by www.
 USENET: A number of discussion groups that allows users to post
questions and replies sorted by topics also known as
news.

 WWW : World wide web. Accessed using a web browser such as

Netscape navigator or Internet Explorer, a means of
locating and displaying information located in the Internet.
What makes up in the Internet?
 The Internet consist of a number of computers
called Hosts and interconnecting equipment. Such
as Routers and telecommunication links that
interconnect Routers and Host together.
 The Host is a computer on the Internet. Each host
is capable of acting as a provider of information
such as Files, Documents, or Images. A Host can
also access information on another Host, it has
the required permission to do so.
 The Company / Institution that operates the
Host is called a Service Provider.
 A Router is a device, that joints
telecommunication links and groups of
computer together. It provides a mechanism
for determine a route (path) between the two
computers that want exchange information.
 Each Host computer on the is identified in
two ways.
1. Each web on the Internet has a unique
assigned name. Such as host1.cit.ac.nz
Which is referred to as its Domain name.
2. Each computer on the internet also has a
unique name result address called TCP/IP
address. This is a group of four number joined
by dots. For example the computer known as
host1.cit.ac.nz could have a TCP/IP address of
156.59.20.19. The allocation of unique domain
name and TCP/IP address is controlled by
governing bodies in each country.
 A host computer that provides
information for others to use is normally
called a SERVER.

Examples of servers are,

1. Web servers (HTTP)
2. File servers (FTP)
3. Mail servers (SMTP)
4. News servers (NNTP).
Types of Internet Connection
I. Dial-up connection
 Individual and small business can best access
the internet using a dialup connection. A dial-up
connection means your modem dial a host
computer to access the Internet.
 To get this type of connection you need a
computer, a Modem, a Telephone Line,
appropriate software (eg:internet Browser) and
the Internet Account.
II. Dedicated connection
 Dedicated connection Links the organization’s
local area network or mainframe computers or
desktop computers to the Internet.
 This method has fast, full time internet
connection. Dedicated line is little expensive.
The cost includes a high speed leased
telephone line, a CSU/DSU (a kind of high
speed digital Modem), a Router and the
installation charges. But the ADSL connection is
a cheapest Internet Broadband connection.
Who controls the Internet?
 No one actually owns the Internet as such
through telecommunication companies do on
and operate the links that carry all the
information being exchange between Host
computers.
 There are governing bodies that control or
overseas certain parts of the Internet.
Eg. The allocation of Domain names and the IP
addresses.( nic.com is one of the responsible for
the worldwide web allocation a domain names
and IP addresses.)
ICANN
 The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) is the authority that coordinates the assignment of unique
identifiers on the Internet, including domain names, Internet Protocol
(IP) addresses, and protocol port and parameter numbers. A
globally unified namespace (i.e., a system of names in which there
is at most one holder for each possible name) is essential for the
Internet to function. ICANN is headquartered in Marina del Rey
, California, but is overseen by an international board of directors
drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and
non-commercial communities. The US government continues to
have the primary role in approving changes to the root zone file that
lies at the heart of the domain name system. Because the Internet is
a distributed network comprising many voluntarily interconnected
networks, the Internet has no governing body. ICANN's role in
coordinating the assignment of unique identifiers distinguishes it as
perhaps the only central coordinating body on the global Internet,
but the scope of its authority extends only to the Internet's systems
of domain names, IP addresses, protocol ports and parameter
numbers.
Domain Names
Eg: http://www.cit.ac.nz Country Name

Protocol Organizations Name Type of

Organizations
 Server or host computers are arranged
according to geographical locations.

 For Instance all countries in the world

have a country suffix except the USA.
Newzealand’s suffix is .nz,
srilanka’s .lk.
 Some common abbreviations of
type of organizations.
Abbreviations Meaning
 ac Academic
 co Company
 com Commercial
 edu Educational
 gov/ govt Government
 nil Military
 net Large internet service provider
 org
Non-Profit organizations.
Some common country suffix.
 Abbreviations Meaning
 au Australia
 be Belgium
 ge Germany
 jap Japan
 lk Srilanka
 mx Mexico
 nz
Newzealand
 uk
United Kingdom
World Wide Web
 The world wide web is a collection of host machines, which deliver
documents, graphics and multimedia to users via the Internet.
 The common protocol that is used on the www is http, which stands for
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. It is a Protocol that adds on or runs on top
of TCP/IP, the common protocol used for communication between hosts
on the Internet.
 Each server computer on the world wide web can provide files in any
format, such as a graphics file, text document, power point presentation
or Audio files.
 The www allows users to link documents together using Clickable links.
 A Browser is used to view the the contents that server computer provides.
Web Browser
 A web browser is a software application,
that interprets documents that you request
from a web server on the www and
displays them for you to view.

 The Two common web browsers are

Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.
Web Servers
 Pages or files are stored on web servers. Users access
these pages using a graphical browser like Netscape
Navigator or Internet explorer.

 When a client request a document or file from a www

server, a connection is made to that computer using the
http protocol.

 The www server services to request, locate the

information and sends it back to the client.

 The client browser software then interpret the retrieved

HTML document and formats it on the client computer
screen.
Hyperlink
 A hyperlink is a clickable link to another
document or resource.
 It is normally shown in blue underline.
 When a user clicks on a hyperlink, the client
will retrieve the document associated with
that link by requesting the document from
the designated server up on which the
document resides.
URL
 A Uniform resource locator is a means of specifying
the pathname for any resource on the Internet.
 It consists of three parts.
1. A Protocol part
2. A Host Part
3. A document name
 For instance, the following URL
http://www.cit.ac.nz/smac/csware.htm
specifies the protocol as http, the Host or www server
as www.cit.ac.nz and the document as
/smac/csware.htm
 A URL can be typed into the address bar window of a
web browser.
Finding Information on the Web
 Search for a web page by using the search
companion in windows.

 Use the search companion from within micro

soft internet explorer.

 Search for a web page by using the address

bar.
 Click Start from the task bar, select
searchInternet

 Go to Address bar, then type your search items

in following format.

 “? Your search item”

 Now the searched result will display.

Search Engines
Some search engines are

 www.Google.com
 www.Msn.com
 www.Yahoo.com
 www.Altavista.com
 www.Lycos.com
 Electronic Mail
Comparison of communication technology.

Factors Telephone Email Post

Speed High Moderate Low
Synchronized Yes No No
Accountability Low Moderate High
Conference Small group Any to all One way

Security Moderate Low High

Cost High Moderate Low
E mail
Advantages

 Speed
 Cheaper than telephone conversation. (in
long distance)
 Can communicate with a group at any
time.
 Can send Letters, Audio, Video, Software
etc.
Mechanism of E Mail

Srilanka U.S.A

E mail Server

U.K
Canada
Common Uses
1. E-mail
The concept of sending electronic text messages
between parties in a way analogous to mailing letters or
memos predates the creation of the Internet. Even today
it can be important to distinguish between Internet and
internal e-mail systems. Internet e-mail may travel and
be stored unencrypted on many other networks and
machines out of both the sender's and the recipient's
control. During this time it is quite possible for the
content to be read and even tampered with by third
parties, if anyone considers it important enough. Purely
internal or intranet mail systems, where the information
never leaves the corporate or organization's network,
are much more secure, although in any organization
there will be IT and other personnel whose job may
involve monitoring, and occasionally accessing, the e-
mail of other employees not addressed to them.
2. The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a huge set of
interlinked documents, images and other
resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs.
These hyperlinks and URLs allow the
web servers and other machines that store
originals, and cached copies, of these
resources to deliver them as required using
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). HTTP is
only one of the communication protocols used
on the Internet.
3. Remote access
The Internet allows computer users to connect to other
computers and information stores easily, wherever they
may be across the world. They may do this with or without
the use of security, authentication and encryption
technologies, depending on the requirements.
This is encouraging new ways of working from home,
collaboration and information sharing in many industries.
An accountant sitting at home can audit the books of a
company based in another country, on a server situated in
a third country that is remotely maintained by IT
specialists in a fourth. These accounts could have been
created by home-working bookkeepers, in other remote
locations, based on information e-mailed to them from
offices all over the world. Some of these things were
possible before the widespread use of the Internet, but the
cost of private leased lines would have made many of
them infeasible in practice.
4. Collaboration
The low cost and nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas,
knowledge, and skills has made collaborative work
dramatically easier. Not only can a group cheaply
communicate and test, but the wide reach of the
Internet allows such groups to easily form in the first
place, even among niche interests
Internet "chat", whether in the form of IRC "chat rooms" or
channels, or via instant messaging systems, allow
colleagues to stay in touch in a very convenient way
when working at their computers during the day.
Messages can be sent and viewed even more quickly
and conveniently than via e-mail. Extension to these
systems may allow files to be exchanged, "whiteboard"
drawings to be shared as well as voice and video
contact between team members.
5. File sharing
A computer file can be e-mailed to customers,
colleagues and friends as an attachment. It
can be uploaded to a website or FTP server for
easy download by others. It can be put into a
"shared location" or onto a file server for
instant use by colleagues.
Internet collaboration technology enables business
and project teams to share documents,
calendars and other information. Such
collaboration occurs in a wide variety of areas
including scientific research, software
development, conference planning, political
activism and creative writing.
6. Streaming media
Many existing radio and television broadcasters provide
Internet "feeds" of their live audio and video streams (for
example, the BBC). They may also allow time-shift viewing
or listening such as Preview, Classic Clips and Listen Again
features. These providers have been joined by a range of
pure Internet "broadcasters" who never had on-air licenses.
This means that an Internet-connected device, such as a
computer or something more specific, can be used to
access on-line media in much the same way as was
previously possible only with a television or radio receiver.
The range of material is much wider, from pornography to
highly specialized, technical webcasts. Podcasting is a
variation on this theme, where—usually audio—material is
first downloaded in full and then may be played back on a
computer or shifted to a digital audio player to be listened to
on the move. These techniques using simple equipment
allow anybody, with little censorship or licensing control, to
broadcast audio-visual material on a worldwide basis
7. Voice telephony (VoIP)
VoIP stands for Voice over IP, where IP refers to the
Internet Protocol that underlies all Internet
communication. This phenomenon began as an
optional two-way voice extension to some of the
instant messaging systems that took off around the
year 2000. In recent years many VoIP systems have
become as easy to use and as convenient as a normal
telephone. The benefit is that, as the Internet carries
the actual voice traffic, VoIP can be free or cost much
less than a normal telephone call, especially over long
distances and especially for those with always-on
Internet connections such as cable or ADSL.
8. Marketing
The Internet has also become a large market for companies;
some of the biggest companies today have grown by taking
advantage of the efficient nature of low-cost advertising and
commerce through the Internet, also known as e-commerce.
It is the fastest way to spread information to a vast number
of people simultaneously. The Internet has also
subsequently revolutionized shopping—for example; a
person can order a CD online and receive it in the mail within
a couple of days, or download it directly in some cases. The
Internet has also greatly facilitated personalized marketing
which allows a company to market a product to a specific
person or a specific group of people more so than any other
advertising medium.
 Advantages and Disadvantages
of the Internet
 Advantages
1. Communication:
The foremost target of internet has always been the
communication. And internet has excelled beyond the
expectations .Still; innovations are going on to make it faster,
more reliable. By the advent of computer’s Internet, our earth
has reduced and has attained the form of a global village.
Now we can communicate in a fraction of second with a
person who is sitting in the other part of the world. Today for
better communication, we can avail the facilities of e-mail; we
can chat for hours with our loved ones. There are plenty
messenger services in offering. With help of such services, it
has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship
where you can share your thoughts, can explore other
cultures of different ethnicity.
2. Information
Information is probably the biggest advantage internet is
offering. The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of
information. Any kind of information on any topic under
the sun is available on the Internet. The search engines
like Google, yahoo is at your service on the Internet.
You can almost find any type of data on almost any kind
of subject that you are looking for. There is a huge
amount of information available on the internet for just
about every subject known to man, ranging from
government law and services, trade fairs and
conferences, market information, new ideas and
technical support, the list is end less.
3. Entertainment
Entertainment is another popular reason, many people
prefer to surf the Internet. In fact, media of internet has
become quite successful in trapping multifaceted
entertainment factor. Downloading games, visiting chat
rooms or just surfing the Web are some of the uses
people have discovered. There are numerous games
that may be downloaded from the Internet for free. The
industry of online gaming has tasted dramatic and
phenomenal attention by game lovers. Chat rooms are
popular because users can meet new and interesting
people. In fact, the Internet has been successfully used
by people to find life long partners. When people surf
the Web, there are numerous things that can be found.
Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and
shared on the Internet.
4. Services
Many services are now provided on the
internet such as online banking, job
seeking, purchasing tickets for your
favorite movies, guidance services on
array of topics engulfing the every aspect
of life, and hotel reservations. Often
these services are not available off-line
and can cost you more.
5. E-Commerce
Ecommerce is the concept used for any type of
commercial maneuvering, or business deals
that involves the transfer of information across
the globe via Internet. It has become a
phenomenon associated with any kind of
shopping, almost anything. You name it and
Ecommerce with its giant tentacles engulfing
every single product and service will make you
available at your door steps. It has got a real
amazing and wide range of products from
household needs, technology to entertainment.
 Disadvantages
1. Theft of Personal information
If you use the Internet, you may be facing grave danger
as your personal information such as name, address,
credit card number etc. can be accessed by other
culprits to make your problems worse.

2. Spamming:
Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk,
which provide no purpose and needlessly obstruct the
entire system. Such illegal activities can be very
frustrating for you, and so instead of just ignoring it, you
should make an effort to try and stop these activities so
that using the Internet can become that much safer.
3. Virus threat
Virus is nothing but a program which disrupts the
normal functioning of your computer systems.
Computers attached to internet are more prone to virus
attacks and they can end up into crashing your whole
hard disk, causing you considerable headache.

4. Pornography:
This is perhaps the biggest threat related to your
children’s healthy mental life. A very serious issue
concerning the Internet. There are thousands of
pornographic sites on the Internet that can be easily
found and can be a detrimental factor to letting children
use the Internet.