B

INTERNET AND SERVICES

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Internet began way back in 1969 when it was calledARPANet (Advanced Research
Project Agency Network) and was used exclusively for military purposes. It soon
merged with non- government and academic networks, which grew and eventually
came to be called Internet in the year 1979. Today it is simply a "network of
worldwide compu ter networks".

In the present age of Information Technology, the Internet is a medium for accessing
information on any topic you imagine, for buying products and services on-I ine. It
also provides tremendous opportunities to students, researchers and professionals
for getting information on matters related to academic and professional topics and
many more.

2.2 OBJECTIVES

After going through this lesson, you will be able LO :

• explain Internet addressing conventions and Domain Name System

• describe terminologies used in Internet
• explain different Internet Services
• use of various Internet Services: (Email, FTP, Telnet web search engine)

2.3 INTERNET

The Internet or simply the Net is a worldwide network of computer networks. It

is an interconnection oflarge and small networks around the globe.
28 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

2.4 APPLICATIONS OF INTERNET

By using Internet facilityyou can:

< 0
• Exchange messages using e-mail (Electronic mail)
• Transfer files as well as software (FfP)
• Browse through information on any topic on web (Internet Surfing)
• Communicate inreal time with others connected to the Internet (Chatting over
Internet)
• Search databases of government, ind' Is and organizations (Information
Search).
• Set up a site with information about your company's products and services
(Internet Hosting).
• Read news available from leading newspaper.
• Connect to a social networking sites

2.5 GETTING CONNECTED TO INTERNET

To connect to the Internet you need a personal computer, laptop, mobile phone
etc. with requisite software including a browser, a telephone connection or a leased
line or wireless network, Internet Service Provider (lSP) or modem

2.5.1 Types of Internet Connections

Dial-up

This is the most common and basic type of Internet connection available from ISPs
(Internet Service Providers). In Dial-up connection, you dial a phone number
(provided by the ISP) to get connected to a server at ISP. Once connected to the
ISP server, you get to access Internet. It means you are not directly connected to
Internet; you access the Internet through an ISP. This process is illustrated in fig.
2.1 below:

-
'lOUR COMPIIr£R

Fig. 2.1: Dial-up connection

 Internet and Services :: 29

Benefits:

• Very economic and is widely available

• Easy to setup and use

Drawbacks:

• Veryslow

• Once connected, the same telephone line cannot be used for phone calls

• It transfers data over an analog line. So before the data is sent it has to be
converted from digital to analog signal, likewise, when data is received
it has to be converted from analog to digital signal (this is what the
MODEM does), this adds performance overhead which affects the speed
of the connection.

2.5.2 ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

In the ISDN process of connecting to server to access Internet is almost same

as Dial-up, but it offers connectivity through the use of digital phone lines
instead of standard line analog. It offers Internet connectivity at speeds ofup
to 128 Kbps, allows the user to receive or make calls simultaneously on the
same line. ISDN comes through a regular telephone wire from the telephone
pole on your street. The line combines two 64 Kbps channels to offer 128 , "
Kbps bandwidth broken into three bands: One band for the ringing signal of
your phone, one band for your telephone conversation, and one band for data.

Benefits:

• Single connection can support both voice and data.

• Eight terminals can be connected on a single line.

• Signal on ISDN line-voice or data is sent in digital mode, so less prone

to noise, have very high quality service.

• Two calls (which could be voice, data, image or combination of any two)
can be established simultaneously on a single pair of lines.

• High-speed data transfer from PC to PC.

Drawbacks:

- • A special ISDN line must be installed at the customer's location.

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2.5.3 Direct Internet Access (Leased Line Connection)

Leased line is a "permanent connection" between a computer system (single

CPU or LAN, and the Internet). It is generally used by larger institutions,
corporate and government agencies. It involves establishing your own Internet
gateway (connection) and paying to have a direct full time line with the
network. Your Computers, in effect, become part of the Internet. The main
advantage of this connection is that: it is on line - 24 hrs a day, seven days a
week, (24x7) and provides faster access.

Dedicated links are established through service provider who places a

computer-controlled router (message director) at the site. A router is used to
connect local network to the Internet, and it allows all the members of the
network complete access to Internet.

2.5.4 DSL (Digital Subscriber Line or Dedicated Service

Line) Broadband Connection

DSL, is an "always-on" and widely used data connections and can provide
an excellent Internet connection. It connects your home or office to the Internet
through the same telephone wire that comes from telephone pole on the street.
Like ISDN, with DSL, user can make and receive telephone calls while
connected to the Internet. The difference between DSL and dial-up / ISDN is
that a DSL Internet connection uses a high-speed dedicated circuit filtering
out standard phone calls and Internet signals.

Benefits:

• Connections are 'always on'.

• Talk and access Internet simultaneously on single line.

• DSL utilizes the standard copper wiring already installed into businesses
and homes, requiring no special line installation for service.

• High Speed data download; data speed starts from 256 kbps to 2 mbps.

• This connection can be shared to create own LAN i.e. more than one PC
can be connected.

Drawbacks:

• Hardware costs are very high, as you need a special DSL modem and a
DSL filter to use the service.

• Since a ADSL connections are 'always on' you need a firewall to protect -
your PC.
 Internet and Services :: 31

Cable Modem Broadband Connection

A cable modem can offer connectivity to the Internet over cable lines and provides
very fast and reliable connections with a fixed monthly fee.

Cable line offers an extremely high bandwidth connection to the Internet. It divides
the connection into lot of bands and translates the data in the bands into signals
that can be carried through cable lines. Cable moderns change these signals into IP
packets that your computer can understand. To use cable moderns user will need
a cable splitter, a cable modem and the service from a cable company.

Wireless Internet Connections

Instead of using cable networks (for your Internet connection,) Wireless Internet
connections uses radio frequency. IfWIFI adaptor is located within a network
coverage area then you can access WIfeless Internet. Mobile Internet also works
with radio waves.

2.6 HOW DOES THE INTERNET WORK?

The thing that characterizes the Internet is how data gets transferred from one
computer to another. Did you ever wonder what magical things go on behind the
scenes that results in a Web page being displayed on your screen seconds after
you request it ? How does the data get from one side of the world to the other?

Fig. 2.2

what happens to a piece of data (e. g. a Web page) when it is transferred over the
Internet:

• It is broken up into a whole lot of same-sized small pieces called packets.

• A header is added to each packet that explains where it came from, where
it should end up and how it fits in with the rest of the packets.

• Each packet is then sent from computer to computer until it finds its way to its
destination. Each computer along the way decides where next to send the
packet. This could depend on things like how busy the other computers are
when the packet was received. The packets may not all take the same route.
32 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

• At the destination, the packets are examined. If there are any packets missing
or damaged, a message is sent asking for those packets to be resend. This
continues until all the packets have been received intact.

• The packets are reassembled into their original form.

Each computer connected to the Internet has software calledTCPlIP (Transmission

Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which IS responsible
for receiving, sending and checking packets.

2.7 INTERNET TERMINOLOGY

2.7.1 World Wide Web (WWW)

The World Wide Web ("WWW" or

simply the "web") is a collection of
electronic documents (called web pages)
that are linked together like a spider web.

These documents are stored on

computers called servers located around
the world. Fig. 2.3

2.7.2 Web Server

A Web Server is a computer that:

• ...Stores web pages.

• Responsible for accepting request( s)

from users and serve them with web
pages.

Some important web serverprograms are:

lIS (Internet Information Server), Fig~2.4

Apache, etc.
 Internet and Services :: 33

2.7.3 Hyperlink

Hyperlink links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different

document or other resource.

Hyperlinks usually appear as underlined text and in a different color, but they may
also appear as graphics, such as buttons to click. Hyperlinks may link to another
place in the same page, to a different page; to play an audio or video file, to
download a file, to set up a message to an e-mail address, and to link to other
Internet resources.

2.7.4 HTML(Hypertext Markup Language)

Hypertext Markup Language is a language that consists of certain keywords called

'Tags', used for writing the documents on the web ..

2.7.5 Web Page

Up and Away Balloon Rides A web page is an electronic document written in a

-----.........- computer language called HTML (Hypertext
---_.----- .•...-
Markup Language). Web pages can contain text,
graphics, video, animation, and sound, as well as
interactive features, such as data entry forms.
--------
Each page has a unique address known as a URL
(U niform Resource Locator) that identifies its
location on the server. Web pages usually contain
Fig. 2.5 hyperlinks to other web pages.

2.7.6 Website
"' -
..•....•.
A website (often shortened to just site)
is one or more web pages, belonging to
a particular company, university,
government or an individual.

The first page is called the home page,

which acts like an index, indicating the
content on the site. By default the home
page is named as index.htm.

From the home page, you can click

hyperlinks to access other web pages. Fig. 2.6
 34 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

2.7.7 URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Every page on the web has a unique address, called Uniform Resource Locator,
URL. A URL indicates where the web page is stored on the Internet. A sample
URL might look likethe following:

http://www.learnthenetcom/english/glossary/url.htm

http - Hypertext Domain name - The Directory where File name of the
Transfer Protocol - server where the the page located web page
used to access page is located
-
HTMLdocument

2.7.8 IP (Internet Protocol) Address

There are currently two version of Internet Protocol (IP). IP version4 (IPV4) and
a new version called IP version 6 (IPv6).

The IP address is a unique address, generally written in the format

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, xxx represents a 3 digit number that varies between 0 and
255. For Example: 192.100.8.56

IPv4

An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number made up offour octets (8-bit numbers) in

°
decimal notation, separated by periods. A bit can either be a 1or a (2 possibilities),
so the decimal notation of an octet would have 28 distinct possibilities - 256 of
them, to be exact. Because we start numbering at 0, the possible values of one an
°
octet in an IPv4 address go from to 255.

Examples ofIPv4Addresses: 192.168.0.1,66.228.118.51, 173.194.33.16

If an IPv4 address is made up of four sections with 256 possibilities in

each section, to find the total number of possibilities in the entire IPv4 pool, you
had just multiplied 256*256*256*256 to get to the 4,294,967,296 number. To
look at it another way, you've got 32 bits, so 2 32 will get you to the same total.

- IPv6

IPv6 addresses are based on 128 bits. Using the same math as above, we can
take 2128 and find the totalIPv6 address pool 340, 282, 366, 920, 938, 463, 463,
374,607,431, 768, 211,456 addresses
 Internet and Services :: 35

To allow for that massive IPv6 pool to be used a little more easily,IPv6 addresses
are broken down into eight l6-bit sections, separated by colons. Because each
section is 16 bits, it can have 216 variations (65,536 distinct possibilities). Using
decimal numbers between 0 and 65,535 would stillbe pretty long-winded, so IPv6
addresses are expressed with hexadecimal notation (16 different characters: 0-9
and a-f).
Example of an IPv6 Addresses: 2607:fUdO:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe2l :67cf
2.7.9 DNS (Domain Name System)

Domain name, a unique name of the individual host computer on the

Internet. Every computer on the Internet now have a both a domain name and
IP address.

DNS, Domain name System Server is used to translate domain names into IP
addresses.

2.8 UNDERSTANDING INTERNET ADDRESS

Addresses are just what they sound like a way to identify uniquely an area of
the Net or an individual on the Net.

The truest (and most accurate) analogy would be to your home address. This
address, when provide fully, uniquely identifies where you live. If someone
wants to either send you something or visit you, they must know your address
in is the same way on the Internet. If someone wants to send you something,
such as e-mail, they must know your address or if someone wants to retrieve
something from a computer on the Internet, they must know the Domain
name (unique name to identify a host on the Internet) or the IP address of the
computer.

For instance www.nios.ac.in is the domain name ofa host computer named
nios in the academic area (.ac) belongs to geographical domain India (.in).

www.nios.ac.in
~

www-world nios - name of ac - academic, in-India,

wide web the host specify the type country code
computer of organization

As you read in from the right, the name gets more specific until you reach the
name ofthe individual host computer. The right most (in the above example .in -
country code) represents either a type of organization or a country.
36 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

Example: www.yahoo.com(.com - commercial organization)

Various Organizational and Geographical domains are as follows:

Organizational Domains

Typically, the highest level (rightmost) part of the full domain is a code
indicating the type of organization to which domain belongs. There are
different organizational domains indicated below:

Domain Purpose
ac academic institutions
com Commercial entities
edu Educational institutions
gov Government institutions
net Network resources
org Non-profit organizations

Geographic domains

This represents to which country the domain belongs. This code consists of
only two characters, which represent the international country codes. A few
common ones are:

.Domain Countrv
au Australia
in India
JP Japan
uk United Kingdom
us United States

INTEXT QUESTIONS 2.1

1. The first network before Internet that was exclusively used for military
purposes called as:

A. Intranet B. Usenet C. Extranet D. ARPANet

2. Internet is a worldwide network of computer networks. (True/False)

3. ISP stands for -------------------------------

4. ISDN stands for International Subscriber Dialing Network (True/False)

 Internet and Services :: 37

2.9 INTERNET I WEB BROWSER

A web browser is an application (software) that runs at the user's end. It requests,
interacts and pulls data, documents and files from the server. By the click of a
mouse, one can jump from one hypertext document to another. A web browser is
also known as a 'client'.

Major web browsers are Internet Explorer Google chrome, Fire Fox etc.

The steps for connecting to a website are shown in figure 2.7 and explained further.

1. Types a URL for a website in browser say www.nios.ac.in.

2. Your browser attempts to make a connection and sends the request to Web
Server.

3. The Web Server receives and processes the request.

4. The Web Server responds to the request with the home page of the
website.

5. The webpage is displayed by your browser and the connection between the
server and your browser is closed.

Type a URL in Browser:

www.nios.ac.in
1
W
2 e
b

S
e
r
v
e
r

Web domain address:

. .
www.nios.ac. m

Fig. 2.7 : Interaction between a Web browser and a Web Server

38 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

2.10 SAVING A WEB PAGE

When saving a local copy of a web page, the web browser usually allows a choice
to Save file as type:

• Text File: Saving the rendered text without formatting or images, and without
indicating which words are links or what their destination is.

• Web page, HTML only: Saving the HTML file, changing the relative links to
absolute ones, without images.

• Web page, Complete: Saving the HTML file, changing relative links to absolute
ones, saving the images and adjusting the references to them accordingly; a
separate folder is made in the case oflntemet explorer.

• Web Archive, single file: Saving the HTML file including all images, stylesheets,
scripts, etc. to a single .MHT file.

2.11 SAVING AN IMAGE

Once a graphic or photo is displayed on your monitor, you may want to save it for
future reference. Here's how to do it:
1. Place the cursor over the image or graphic to be saved.
2. Click the mouse right button, A pop-up box appears.
3. Save the image to the drive by selecting Save image as .•. option.
4. Accept the current file name or rename the file.

Copy imaqe URl

Copy image
Open image in n Itab

Search Google for this image

Print...

Inspect element

Fig. 2.8
 Internet and Services :: 39

2.12 INTERNET SERVICES

The internet is an amazing resource that provides quick access to all sorts of
information. The amount of information, however, is so vast that being able to find
what you are looking for is a daunting task. Search engines are the answer.

2.12.1 Search Engine:

A search engine is a program designed to help infinding information stored

on a computer system such as the World Wide Web, or a personal computer.
The search engine allows one to ask for content meeting specific criteria (typically
those containing a given word or phrase) and retrieving a list of references that
match those criteria.

Some of the important search engines are:

Google (http://www.google.com), Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), MSN

Search (http://search.msn.com), Ask Jeeves (http://www.askjeeves.com).
AltaVista (http://www.altavista.com)

Some simple tips you can use to get the best results:

• Don't get stuck on one search term or phrase; if your first search does not
give you the type of results you are looking for, try different words or different
phrases.

• Putting quotation marks around a phrase in the search box requires all resulting
pages to include that exact phrase to be located somewhere on the page.

• Keep in mind that most search engines work with AND as the default
operator; this means that any words you enter in the search box must exist on
the resulting pages (unless you put a hyphen before a word - see following
tip)

• Including a hyphen before a word means that pages that include that word
will be omitted from the search results. So if you search for: wise -geek, you
will be given pages that include the word 'wise' but exclude the word 'geek'

• The order of the words you enter into the search box affects results, so try to
enter the most important word first.

• Case is generally irrelevant for searches, so searching for wisegeek or

wiseGEEK will provide identical results.

• You can enter math equations such as 27/3 and Google will provide the answer.

• You can enter a unit conversion such as 33 Celsius in Fahrenheit and Goo gle
will provide the answer.
40 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

2.12.2 E-Mail (Electronic Mail)

E-mail or electronic mail is paperless method of sending messages, notes or

letters from one person to another or even many people at the same time via
the Internet. E-mail is very fast compared to the normal post. E-mail messages
usually take only few seconds to arrive at their destination. One can send
messages anytime ofthe day or night and it will get delivered immediately. You
need not have to wait for the post office to open and you don't have to get
worried about holidays. It works 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The
biggest advantage to using e-mail is that it is cheap, especially when sending
messages to other states or countries and at the same time, it can be delivered
to a number of people around the world.

Although e-mail is faster and cheaper, it has many ofthe components of regular
mail. It allows you to compose note, get the address ofthe recipient and send
it. Once the mail is received and read, it can be forwarded, replied. One can
even store it for later use, or delete. In e-mail even the sender can request for
delivery receipt and read receipt from the recipient.

There are many free web-based e-mail services also available on the Internet. A
few among them are: YAHOO! Mail (http://www.mailyahoo.com). Hotmail (http:/
/www.hotmail.com), Gmail (http://www.gmail.com), Rediffmail (http://
www.rediffinail.com). etc.

(i) Features of E-mail

• One-to-one or one-to-many communication

• Instant communication

• Physical presence of recipient is not required

• Most inexpensive mail service, 24-hours a day and seven days a week

• Encourages informal communication

(ii) Components of an E-mail Address

As in the case of normal mail system, e-mail is also based upon the concept of
a recipient address. The e-mail address provides all the information required
to get a message to the recipient from anywhere in the world. Consider the
following e-mail ID

myname@hotmail.com -
In the example above, "myname" is the local part, which is the name of a mailbox
on the destination computer, where finallythe mailwillbe delivered. Hotmail is the
 Internet and Services :: 41

mail server where themailbox ••myname ••exists •. comis the type of organisation
on net, which is hosting the mail server.

Web-based E-Mail

You need internet access and web browser to access a website for sending and
receiving message in web based e-mail. To access your e-mail you log on to the
site by entering your account name and password. Now you can read your
messages, send replies, forward messages, and send and view attachments. Most
services offer online address books to store your e-mail addresses and contact
information.

Setting up an account
Establishing a new email account takes only a few minutes. You will have to provide
information about yourself and choose account name and password. Your account
name or ID becomes part of your email address. If you open a Yahoo account
and choose "amit14" as your ID, your address become amit14@yahoo.com.
Account names can use letters and numbers. However can not contain any spaces
and are limited in length, depending on the service.

How to send, read and reply to emails

• Type in the web address of your mail provide e.g www.mail.yahoo.com then
login by using your user ID and password.

Sending a message:
Email messages are similar to letters, with two main parts:

The header contains the name and address of the recipient, the address of anyone
who is being copied, and the subject ofthe message. The body contains the message
itself

In header section:

• Type the email address ofthe recipient in the ''To:'' field. For more than one
person, email id should separate by commas. At least one is must.

• Type Subject of your message in the "Subject" field.

• In body section use the large text box to enter the contents of your
message.
• In the "Cc:" field, enter the email address ofthose to whom you would like to
send a "carbon copy" of your message. All other recipients of that message
will be able to see that the person you designed as "Cc:" has received a copy
ofthe message.
42 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

• In the "Bee:" field, enter the email address ofthose to whom you would like
to .send a "blind carbon copy" of your message. This is nearly identical to
the "Cc" feature, except that "Bcc" recipients are invisible to the "To" and
"Cc" recipients ofthe message as well as to each other.

• Click on Attach files to attach file(s) and images ifrequired.

• Click on send button to send the message.

Reading and replying to a message

• Click on Check Mail or Inbox to Read/Reply to a message
• Click on the subject ofthe message to read.

• One can Reply / Forward the message by clicking appropriate button.

2.12.3 Telnet

Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area network LAN
connections. It is typically used to provide user oriented command line login sessions
between hosts on the Internet. The name is derived from the words telephone
network, since the program is designed to emulate a single terminal attached to
the other computer.

The Telnet program runs on your computer and connects your PC to a server on
the network. You can then enter commands through the Telnet program and they
will be executed as if you were entering them directly on the server console. This
enables you to control the server and communicate with other servers on the
network. To start a Telnet session, you must log in to a server by entering a valid
username and password. Telnet is a common way to rernotelycontrol Web servers.

Telnet or remote computing is telecommunication utility software, which uses

available telecommunication facility and allows you to become a user on a remote
computer. Once you gain access to the remote computer, you can use it for the
intended purpose. The TELNET works in a step by step procedure. The
commands types on the client computer are sent to the local Internet Service

-
Provider (ISP), and then from the ISP to the remote computer that you have gained
access. Most of the ISP provides facility to TELNET into your own account
from another city and check your e-mail while you are travelling or away on
business.
 Internet and Services :: 43

The following steps are required for a TELNET session

• Start up the TELNET program;

• Give the TELNET program an address to connect to;

• Make a note of what the "escape character" is;

• Log in to the remote computer;

• Set the terminal emulation;

• Play around on the remote computer; and

• Quit.

2.12.4 FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

File Transfer Protocol or FTP is a commonly used protocol for exchanging files over
any network that supports the TCPIIP. It gives access to directories or folders on
remote computers and allows software, data and text files to be transferred
between different kinds of computers. FTPworkson the basis of the same principle
as that ofClientiServer. FTP client is a program running on your computer that
enables you to talk to and get stuff from remote computers. The FTP client takes
FTP commands and sends them as requests for information from the remote
computer, known as FTP servers. To access remote FTP server it is required but
not necessary to have an account in the FTP server. When the FTP client gets
connected, FTP server asks for the identification in terms ofUser Login name and
password of the FTP client. If one does not have an account in the remote FTP
server, still he can connect to the server using anonymous login.

Using anonymous login anyone can 10gin to a FTP server and can access public
file archives, anywhere in the world, without having an account. One can easily
login to the FTP site with the username anonymous and e-mail address as
password.

The basic objectives ofFTP are

• to give flexibility and promote sharing of computer programs, files and data.

-
• to transfer data reliably and more efficiently over network.
• to encourage implicit or indirect use of remote computers using Internet.

• to shield a user from variations in file storage systems among hosts.

 44 :: Certificate in Web Designing and Development

INTEXT QUESTIONS 2.2

5. The Computer system that stores web pages, responsible for accepting
request( s) from users and server them with web pages is known as:
A. Web Server B. Web browser C. Client Server D. Database Server
6. Each page on the Internet has a unique address that identifies its location on
the server called as:
A. IP address B. Host Address C. DNS D. URL
7. The domain is used for Commercial purpose:
A. .com B. .comm C. .edu D .. net

2.13 WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

In this lesson, you have learnt the basic concept ofInternet, its history and various
types of services provided by the internet. In this process, you could get an idea
about the use of e-mail and filetransfer protocol. Now you have fair knowledge to
access Internet.

2.14 TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. What is Internet and how it works? Why Internet becomes so popular?

2. Write down a brief history ofInternet.

3. What are the prerequisites to connect to the Internet? Explain the different
types of connections available to get connect to Internet.

4. Explain how Internet works?

5. Explain the following terminologies used in Internet; WWW, Web page,

Website and URL, DNS.

6. What do you mean by a search engine? What are the two important search
engines available on the Internet? What are basic tips to use to get the
best results while searching?

7. Illustrate with the help of examples any three services provided by

Internet.
•
- 8.

9.
Write down the various features of e-mail.

Explain IP address. Explain how IPV 6 is different from IPV4.

 Internet and Services :: 45

ANSWER TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

[ill
1. D
2. True
3. Internet Service Provider
4. False

[IT]
5. A
6. D

7. A