Module 4: Internet Basics

4.1 Basic Terminology

 LAN -Local Area Network - A localized internal collection of devices all connected together
inside one home or one building of an organization.
 Internet - or World Wide Web - The collection and connection of all internal networks together
to form one huge worldwide network for sharing information across all homes and organizations
connected.
 Switches/Routers/Modems/Wireless Access Points - Devices on a computer network that perform
various functions related to physically connecting computers together and routing traffic in
between one computer and another.
 IP Address - Internet Protocol Address - A unique set of numbers assigned to every single device
on a network that functions much like a street address on a house. It lets every other device on
the network know where to find the device assigned that number.
 Server - A powerful computer that is used to serve some function on a computer network.
Servers perform various functions, such as hosting web pages, hosting network printers, hosting
file shares, handing out IP address, and much more.
 DNS - Domain Name Service - A service, typically running from a server that matches and
translates names to IP addresses.
 DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - A service, typically running from a server that
assigns each network device its own unique IP address.
 Web Browser - A piece of software used to access websites. The most common browsers include
IE (Internet Explorer), Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
 URL - Uniform Resource Locator - Name used to point to a website. This is what you type in to
get to a website or what pops up when you search for a website. A URL looks something like
"www.website.com".
 The Internet is a network of computers spanning the globe. It is also called the World Wide Web.
 An Internet Browser is a software program that enables you to view Web pages on your
computer. Browsers connect computers to the Internet, and allow people to “surf the Web.”
 A site or area on the World Wide Web that is accessed by its own Internet address is called a
Web site.
 A Web Page is like a page in a book. Websites often have several pages that you can access by
clicking on links. A Web site can be a collection of related Web pages.
 Each Web site contains a home page (this is the original starting page) and may also contain
additional pages.

4.2 What is the Internet?

In basic terms, the internet is a global interconnected collection of networks that communicate using
internet protocols .You can think of it like a network of networks where every network is a node.

However, new devices and technologies have created new ways to connect to networks through the
internet. A combination of them is often used to make these connections.

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1. Wired Internet

This is the most common form of connection to the internet. Hundreds of thousands of miles of wires
are laid throughout the world. They range from phone lines (DSL) to fiber optic cables.

Data can travel up to 70% the speed of light through ideal wire mediums such as fiber optic cables,
which allow extremely fast transfer of data.

Many of these wires are laid underground or underwater to prevent degrading. On land, along with being
underground, they’re also placed with utility lines that travel along roads.

Single lines can span thousands of miles, such as the underwater transatlantic communications cables
that connect various parts of the U.S and Canada to Europe. This is the ideal and fastest way to access
the internet.

2. Satellite Internet

People who have satellite dishes on their roofs are connecting to the internet via satellite. This is usually
required when there are no wired connections available in the local area to connect to the internet, such
as third world countries and areas with low populations.

Though satellite is relatively fast, it’s still slightly slower than wired connections due to longer
transmission distances (up and back down instead of across). Also, if the final address for the data isn’t
within range of the satellite (like sending that email to your parents), the data needs to passed from
satellite to satellite until it arrives at one that is within range.

3. Cellular Internet

A relatively recent addition, cell phones have joined the internet. Cell phones connect using cell towers,
which then connect to physical wires and to the rest of the internet.

In a sense, cell towers are sort of like extremely wide Wireless Access Points, except they’re only for
cell phones or data enabled devices. Cell phones may also act as wireless routers using mobile hotspots,
in which a laptop or similar device could connect using Wi-Fi to access the internet.

4.3 How Does the Internet Work?

To understand the Internet, it helps to look at it as a system with two main components. The first of
those components is hardware. That includes everything from the cables that carry terabits of
information every second to the computer sitting in front of you. Other types of hardware that support
the Internet includes routers, servers, cell phone towers, satellites, radios, smartphones and other
devices. All these devices together create the network of networks.

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First, you open your Web browser and connect to our Web site. When you do this, your computer sends
an electronic request over your Internet connection to your Internet service provider (ISP). The ISP
routes the request to a server further up the chain on the Internet. Eventually, the request will hit a
domain name server (DNS).

This server will look for a match for the domain name you've typed in (such as www.google.com). If it
finds a match, it will direct your request to the proper server's IP address. If it doesn't find a match, it
will send the request further up the chain to a server that has more information.

The request will eventually come to the Web server. The server will respond by sending the requested
file in a series of packets. Packets are parts of a file that range between 1,000 and 1,500 bytes. Packets
have headers and footers that tell computers what's in the packet and how the information fits with other
packets to create an entire file. Each packet travels back up the network and down to your computer.
Packets don't necessarily all take the same path -- they'll generally travel the path of least resistance.

When the packets get to you, your device arranges them according to the rules of the protocols. It's kind
of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The end result is that you see this article.

4.4 IP Addressing - Finding computers

If you want to send a message to a computer, you have to specify which one. Thus any computer linked
to a network has a unique address to identify it, called an "IP address" (where IP stands for Internet
Protocol). It's an address made of a series of four numbers separated by dots, for example: 192.168.2.10.

That's perfectly fine for computers, but we human beings have a hard time remembering that sort of
address. To make things easier, we can alias an IP address with a human readable name called a domain
name. For example, google.com is the domain name used on top of the IP address 173.194.121.32. So
using the domain name is the easiest way for us to reach a computer over the Internet.

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IP addresses are 32-bit numbers. They may be written in decimal, hexadecimal, or other formats, but the
most common format is dotted decimal notation. This format breaks the 32-bit address up into four bytes
and writes each byte of the address as unsigned decimal integers separated by dots. For example, one of
my IP addresses is 0xccD499C1. Because 0xcc = 204, 0xD4 = 212, 0x99 = 153, and 0xC1 = 193, my
address in dotted decimal form is 204.212.153.193.

IP addresses are not easy to remember, even using dotted decimal notation. The Internet has adopted a
mechanism, referred to as the Domain Name System (DNS), whereby computer names can be associated
with IP addresses. These computer names are referred to as domain names. The DNS has several rules
that determine how domain names are constructed and how they relate to one another. For the purposes
of this chapter, it is sufficient to know that domain names are computer names and that they are mapped
to IP addresses.

The mapping of domain names to IP addresses is maintained by a system of domain name servers.
These servers are able to look up the IP address corresponding to a domain name. They also provide the
capability to look up the domain name associated with a particular IP address, if one exists.

4.5 Applications of Information Technology

Every day, people use computers in new ways. Computers and other electronic devices are
becoming increasingly affordable. They continue to be more powerful as information-processing tools
as well as easier to use.  Humans are continually becoming dependant on IT-enabled devices for
carrying out simple tasks like remembering a phone number to complex ones like flying a fighter plane.
Information Technology has applications in almost all aspects of our life. Some of the important ones
are:

Science and Engineering: Scientific progress in fields like biotechnology is almost entirely dependent
on the use of computers and other microprocessor-controlled devices. Using supercomputers,
meteorologists predict future weather by using a combination of observations of weather conditions
from many sources, a mathematical representation of the behavior of the atmosphere, and geographic
data. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programs have led to
improved products in many fields, especially where designs tend to be very detailed. Computer
programs make it possible for engineers to analyze designs of complex structures such as power plants
and space stations.

Business & Commerce: One of the first and largest applications of computers is keeping and managing
business and financial records. Most large companies keep the employment records of all their workers

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in large databases that are managed by computer programs. Similar programs and databases are used in
business functions like billing customers; tracking payments received and payments to be made; and
tracking supplies needed and items produced, stored, shipped, and sold. In fact, practically all the
information companies need to do business involves the use of computers and Information Technology.
Almost all the financial transactions in the world are done electronically. Newer technologies like m-
commerce have enabled almost everybody to carry out routine financial transactions on the move.

Education: The advent of Information Technology has changed the meaning of the term “literate”, with
computer literacy being almost as important as basic literacy in many cases. Computer education is an
essential course at the primary level in most schools across the world. With more information getting
digitized every day, and the internet making it accessible to anyone across the world, students are
increasingly relying on electronic sources of information rather than physical libraries for their needs.
Instructional methodology has also undergone a sea change with use of images, animations, videos,
presentations and e-learning to complement traditional techniques.

Governance: The concept of e-governance is one of the most novel applications of Information
Technology whereby it is changing the lives of millions across the globe. Computerization of
Government activities makes it easier to supervise and audit, and makes the administration more
responsive to the needs of society. It also bridges the divide between the Government and the people.
Technologies like touch-screen kiosks help disseminate information on land records, photo identity
cards, pending bills etc. and enable even illiterate people to take more informed decisions. India is
leading the world in the effective use of IT for elections.

Medicine: Information Technology plays an important role in medicine. For example, a scanner takes a
series of pictures of the body by means of computerized axial tomography (CAT) or magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI). A computer then combines the pictures to produce detailed three-dimensional images of
the body's organs. In addition, the MRI produces images that show changes in body chemistry and blood
flow. Most critical life support equipment are programmed to respond to changes in the patient’s status
in split-seconds, thereby reducing the response time and risk of human error. Newer concepts like
robotic surgery enable specialists to perform surgeries from remote locations. Genomic studies greatly
depend on supercomputing power to develop technologies for the future.

Entertainment: IT has changed the lifestyle of most people. The convergence of various technologies
has created various options for entertainment like games, streaming music and video, digital television
broadcasts, satellite radio, animated movies etc. which can be accessed with the help of mobile phones,
PDAs, notebook computers or on television either with a cable connection or wirelessly using newer-
generation WiFi, CDMA or GPRS technologies.

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4.6 E-Commerce

E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business, which addresses the need
of business organizations, vendors and customers to reduce cost and improve the quality of goods and
services while increasing the speed of delivery. E-commerce refers to the paperless exchange of
business information using the following ways:
 Electronic Data Exchange (EDI)
 Electronic Mail (e-mail)
 Electronic Bulletin Boards
 Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
 Other Network-based technologies

Features
E-Commerce provides the following features:
 Non-Cash Payment: E-Commerce enables the use of credit cards, debit cards, smart cards,
electronic fund transfer via bank's website, and other modes of electronics payment.
 24x7 Service availability: E-commerce automates the business of enterprises and the way they
provide services to their customers. It is available anytime, anywhere.
 Advertising/Marketing: E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products and
services of businesses. It helps in better marketing management of products/services.
 Improved Sales: Using e-commerce, orders for the products can be generated anytime,
anywhere without any human intervention. It gives a big boost to existing sales volumes.

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  Support: E-commerce provides various ways to provide pre-sales and post-sales assistance to
provide better services to customers.
 Inventory Management: E-commerce automates inventory management. Reports get generated
instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very efficient and easy to
maintain.
 Communication improvement: E-commerce provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable
communication with customers and partners.

Traditional Commerce v/s E-Commerce

The ADVANTAGES of e-commerce can be broadly classified into three major categories:
 Advantages to Organizations
 Advantages to Consumers

Advantages to Organizations

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Using e-commerce, organizations can expand their market to national and international markets with
minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more customers, best suppliers, and
suitable business partners across the globe.
 E-commerce helps organizations to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve and
manage the paper based information by digitizing the information.
 E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
 E-commerce helps organizations to provide better customer service.
 E-commerce helps to simplify the business processes and makes them faster and efficient.
 E-commerce reduces the paper work.
 E-commerce increases the productivity of organizations. It supports "pull" type supply
management. In "pull" type supply management, a business process starts when a request comes
from a customer and it uses just-in-time manufacturing way.
Advantages to Customers
 It provides 24x7 support. Customers can enquire about a product or service and place orders
anytime, anywhere from any location.
 E-commerce application provides users with more options and quicker delivery of products.
 E-commerce application provides users with more options to compare and select the cheaper and
better options.
 A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are buying, or see
the review comments of other customers before making a final purchase.
 E-commerce provides options of virtual auctions.
 It provides readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information
within seconds, rather than waiting for days or weeks.
DISADVANTAGES:
The disadvantages of e-commerce can be broadly classified into two major categories:
 Technical disadvantages
 Non-technical disadvantages

Technical Disadvantages
 There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor implementation of e-
commerce.
 The software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.
 There could be software/hardware compatibility issues, as some e-commerce software may be
incompatible with some operating system or any other component.

Non-Technical Disadvantages
 Initial cost: The cost of creating/building an e-commerce application in-house may be very high.
There could be delays in launching an e-Commerce application due to mistakes, and lack of
experience.

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  User resistance: Users may not trust the site being an unknown faceless seller. Such mistrust
makes it difficult to convince traditional users to switch from physical stores to online/virtual
stores.
 Security/ Privacy: It is difficult to ensure the security or privacy on online transactions.
 Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential customers, for
example, those living in remote villages.
E-COMMERCE BUSINESS MODELS can generally be categorized into the following categories.
1. Business - to - Business (B2B)
2. Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
3. Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
4. Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
5. Business - to - Government (B2G)
6. Government - to - Business (G2B)
7. Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

1. Business - to - Business

A website following the B2B business model sells its

products to an intermediate buyer who then sells the product to
the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an
order from a company's website and after receiving the
consignment, sells the end-product to the final customer who
comes to buy the product at one of its retail outlets.
2. Business - to - Consumer

A website following the B2C business model sells its products

directly to a customer. A customer can view the products
shown on the website. The customer can choose a product and
order the same. The website will then send a notification to the
business organization via email and the organization will
dispatch the product/goods to the customer.

3. Consumer - to - Consumer

A website following the C2C business model helps

consumers to sell their assets like residential property, cars,
motorcycles, etc., or rent a room by publishing their
information on the website. Website may or may not

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charge the consumer for its services. Another consumer may opt to buy the product of the first customer
by viewing the post/advertisement on the website.

4. Consumer - to - Business

In this model, a consumer approaches a website showing

multiple business organizations for a particular service. The
consumer places an estimate of amount he/she wants to
spend for a particular service. For example, the comparison
of interest rates of personal loan/car loan provided by
various banks via websites. A business organization who
fulfills the consumer's requirement within the specified
budget, approaches the customer and provides its services.

5. Business - to - Government

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are

used by governments to trade and exchange information
with various business organizations. Such websites are
accredited by the government and provide a medium to
businesses to submit application forms to the government.

6. Government - to - Business

Governments use B2G model websites to approach

business organizations. Such websites support auctions,
tenders, and application submission functionalities.

7. Government - to - Citizen

Governments use G2C model websites to approach citizen in

general. Such websites support auctions of vehicles,
machinery, or any other material. Such website also provides
services like registration for birth, marriage or death
certificates. The main objective of G2C websites is to reduce
the average time for fulfilling citizen’s requests for various
government services.

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