INTERNET

Access Providers
These are businesses that provide access to the Internet free or for a fee. An Internet Service
Provider (ISP) may be regional or national (ex. LIME, Claro). An on-line service provider
(OSP) has membership features such as: special content, news, weather, legal information,
games, etc., AOL and MSN - and their fees are slightly higher than ISPs.

Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP)

A WISP provides wireless Internet access to users with wireless modems or web-enabled
mobiles, ex. Computers and smart phones. The antenna on the device sends signals through the
airwaves to communicate with the WISP.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

This is a network technology that manages the transmission of data by dividing it up into
packets which contains the data, the recipient, the origin (sender) and the sequence of
information used to reassemble the data at the destination.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a collection of files, called web sites or web pages, that include textual,
graphic, sound and video information, as well as links to other files. These files are identified
by uniform resource locators (URLs) that specify the transfer protocol, the machine’s internet
address, and the file name. For example, a URL might read:
http:///www.machine.dept.univ.edu/collection/file.html
protocol server path filename

Internet Address
The Internet uses an address system to send data to a computer at a specified location. An IP
address is a number which uniquely identifies each computer/device on the Internet (no two
computers can have the same address). The IP address usually contains four groups of numbers
between 0-255 and separated by periods: ex. 213.14.23.126.

Domain Name
The domain name system is much easier to use as it is a text version of the IP address.
EX.: IP address 63.123.55.67
Domain name: WWW.Jackie.com
user name top-level domain
Gopher
A system that enables computer users to find servers and files on the Internet.

Searching for Information on the Web

There are different ways of searching for information on the Internet. These include:
 To find Web sites, you use a search engine software program. To locate a Web page,
you enter a keyword or search text in the search engine's text box.
 Another search option is a directory, which on the Web, is an organized set of topics and
subtopics.
 You can also browse through Web pages by clicking on the hyperlinks within the
document.

Electronic Mail (email)

This is a key part of the communication networks of most modern offices and homes. Data and
messages can be transmitted from one computer to another using telephone lines, microwaves
 links, communications satellites, or other telecommunications equipment. The same message
can be sent to a number of different addresses. E-mail services use a central computer to store
messages and data and to route them to their intended destination. With a subscription to a
public e-mail network, an individual PC user needs only a modem and a telephone to send and
receive written or vocal messages. The messages are sent to and retrieved from electronic
mailboxes.

Sending Electronic Mail

E-mail has similarities with the postal system. With the postal system, you first compose a
message and then mail it to a known address. When you are sending e-mail, you first compose
a message with e-mail software, you then enter an e-mail address and click the send button.
Since e-mail is delivered electronically, it is delivered in a matter of minutes.

Email Address
To send and receive e-mail you must have an e-mail address.
The e-mail address consists of two parts and is separated by the ‘@’
([email protected]). The e-mail address consists of a user name eg. jthompson
to the left of the @ and the domain name of the internet mail server or the host/network
identifier to the right of the @. The Internet mail server is a computer connected to the
Internet that stores and forwards messages.

The last few characters in an e-mail address usually indicate the type of organization to which
the person belongs.
Organization Country
com Commercial ca Canada
edu Educational institution it Italy
Gov Government jm Jamaica
mil Military jp Japan
net Network uk United
Kingdom
org Organization (non- us United States
profit)
Advantages over the postal system
Messages are instantly routed to their destination.
Messages can be stored, printed, erased and forwarded to more than one recipient.

Disadvantages over the postal system

Parcels cannot be sent.
Only persons with Internet access can receive or send e-mail.

Communication devices
These are used to transmit data, instructions or information between a sending and a receiving
device. These include:
 Modem  Bridge  Multiplexer
 Router  Gateway  Hub
Modem
A modem is a device that enables computers, facsimile machines, and other equipment to
communicate with each other across telephone lines or over cable television network cables. The
modem is a device that converts between analog signals, such as sound waves, and digital signals,
which are used by computers. The digital signal from the computer is modulated into an analog signal
so data can be transmitted over the telephone line and the analog signal is demodulated to a digital
signal for use on the computer.

Multiplexer
This is a communication processor that allows a single communications channel to carry
simultaneous data transmissions from many terminals. A multiplexer merges the transmission
of several terminals at one end of a communications channel, while a similar unit separated the
individual transmission at the receiving end.

Router: This is an electronic device that examines each packet of data received and route it
to its correct destination using the best available route.

Hub: This is a port switching communications processor that connects several workstations
and enable them to exchange data.

Gateway: The computer hardware and software that connect networks that use different
protocols or that transfer data between two incompatible applications on a network. The
gateway reformats data so that it is acceptable to the receiving network or application.

Bridge: This creates an extended LAN by passing information between two or more LANs until
the destination is reached.

Transmission Modes
There are two main modes of transmitting data
 Asynchronous  Synchronous

Asynchronous
This transmit one character at a time. It has start and stop bits inserted to separate characters. It
is good for channels with transmission speeds of between 30 and 240 characters per second.

Synchronous
This sends blocks of characters called frames and data is sent at timed intervals. Each data
packet contains up to 64, 000 bits of data.

Transmission Speed
These differ according to channels. The bits-per-second transmission capability of a channel is
determined by its bandwidth. There are four types:
 Narrowband - This transmits data at 45 – 90 bps. Telegraph falls into this category.

 Voice band - This is the bandwidth of a standard telephone line and is used often for
microcomputer transmission. The bps is between 110 and 9, 600.

 Medium band - This is the bandwidth of special leased lines used with minicomputers
and mainframes. The bps is between 9,600 and 256, 000.

 Broadband - This is the bandwidth that includes microwave, satellites, coaxial cable,
and fiber optic channels.

NETWORK
A network is a set of computers and peripherals such as printers, plotters, disk drives and
modems that are linked together on a permanent basis so that they can communicate and share
processing resources. This could mean two computers on a desk or thousands of computers
across the globe, as in the case of the Internet.

Network Fundamentals
It is important to know that your message and other documents sent via a network are received
by the right computer. There are two basic technologies for sending messages to their correct
destination.
 Circuit Switching
This creates a physical end-to-end circuit between the sending and receiving computer. A high-
speed electronic switch handles the job of establishing and maintaining the connections – ideal
for voice (telephone).
 Packet switching
In this system, an outgoing message is divided into units called packets, each of which is
numbered and addressed to the destination computer. The sending computer pushes it onto the
network and it is examined by a router that sends it on the least congested highway. However,
packets may not be received in the order sent but protocols are used to re-order and decode
them. If a packet is missing, the receiving computer sends a message for re-transmission.

There are two major types of networks

 Local Area Network (LAN)- This is a collection of interconnected computers that can
share data, applications and resources, such as printers. Computers in LAN are localized
and may be separated by distances of up to a few feet or kilometres. They are typically
used in offices or across university campuses.

 Wide Area Network (WAN) - This is a network that covers a wide geographical area. It
usually consists of several LANs connected together and has external links to other
networks. These are usually maintained by a mainframe computer that has a large
processing capacity. These are spread over cities and countries. The Internet is an
excellent example of a WAN as it covers the entire world.
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - This is a network that covers a city by connecting
many LANs. This provides information about the city and its population, as well as
connecting the city to a larger network.

Intranets - These are networks that are designed to be open, but secure, internal networks
whose web browsing software provides easy point-and-click access by end users to multimedia
information on internal websites.

Extranet - These are networks that link some of the intranet resources of a company with other
organizations and individuals. These allow customers, suppliers, sub-contractors, consultants
and others to access selected intranet websites and other company databases.