UNIT 4.

1: Internet Technologies and Its Application

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lecture, you will be able to:

1. Define internet;
2. Explain the uses of the Internet;
3. Discuss the different services of Internet.

PRESENTATION OF CONTENT

Brief History of Internet

The internet was the work of dozens of pioneering scientists, programmers and
engineers who each developed new features and technologies that eventually merged to
become the “information superhighway” we know today.
The first practical schematics for the internet would not arrive until the early 1960s,
when MIT’s Joseph Carl Robnett “J.C.R.” Licklider popularized the idea of an
“Intergalactic Network” of computers. Shortly thereafter, computer scientists developed
the concept of “packet switching,” a method for effectively transmitting electronic data
that would later become one of the major building blocks of the internet.
The first workable prototype of the Internet came in the late 1960s with the creation of
ARPANET, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. Originally funded by
the U.S. Department of Defense, ARPANET used packet switching to allow multiple
computers to communicate on a single network.
On October 29, 1969, ARPAnet delivered its first message : a “node-to-node”
communication from one computer to another. The first message was sent over the
ARPANET in 1969 from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrock's laboratory
at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to the second network node at Stanford
Research Institute (SRI). The message —“LOGIN”— was short and simple, but it crashed
the fledgling ARPA network anyway: The Stanford computer only received the note’s
first two letters.
The technology continued to grow in the 1970s after scientists Robert Kahn and Vinton
Cerf developed Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, a
communications model that set standards for how data could be transmitted between
multiple networks.
ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there researchers began to
assemble the “network of networks” that became the modern Internet and all hosts on the
ARPANET were switched over from the older protocols to TCP/IP.
The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when computer
scientist Timothy John Berners-Lee “Tim BL” invented the World Wide Web.
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
Internet
 It is a global wide area network that connects computer systems across the world.
 It is a "network of networks" that consists of private and public, academic, business, and
government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic
cables, wireless connections, and other technologies.
 It is a world-wide computer network.
 It is also known as:
“cyberspace”, “information superhighway”, “the Net”
Uses of Internet
1. To find general information about a subject.
 The Web is like a huge encyclopaedia of information - in some ways it's even
better. The Web offers many different perspectives on a single topic.
2. To access information not easily available elsewhere.
 It puts information into your hands that you might otherwise have to pay for or
find out by less convenient means.
3. To correspond with faraway friends.
4. To meet people.
5. To discuss their interests with like-minded people.
 You can discuss any topic with people in the Net using Internet group. (Chatting)
6. To have fun
 Playing online games
 Chatting
7. To learn
 Online distance education courses can give you an opportunity to gain a
qualification over the Internet.
8. To find free to download software.
 The Internet contains a wealth of useful downloadable shareware. Other
shareware is free for educational institutes, or for non-commercial purposes.
9. To buy things.
 The security of on-line shopping is still questionable, but as long as you are
dealing with a reputable company or Web Site the risks are minimal.
Internet Browsers
An Internet browser is a software program that enables you to access and navigate the Internet
by viewing Web pages on your computer.
The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Fire fox. Other major
browsers include Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera.
Notable browsers (In order of release)
 1. Mosaic, April 22, 1993
 It was the first commercial software that allowed graphical access to content on the
internet
2. Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator, October 13, 1994
 Popular in the 1990s, and the flagship product of the Netscape Communications
Corporation, and the dominant web browser in terms of usage share
3. Internet Explorer, August 1995
 It is graphical web browser developed by Microsoft and included as part of the
Microsoft Windows line of operating systems.
4. Opera, 1996,
 Opera was one of the first browsers to support Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), now a
major building block of web design. Developed by the Opera Software Company.
5. Mozilla Navigator, June 5, 2002
 Mozilla supports tabbed browsing, which allows users to open multiple web pages in
the same browser window.
6. Safari, January 7, 2003
 Developed by Apple Inc. and is the default browser in Mac OS X v10.3. It is also the
native browser on the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. Safari for Windows was released
on June 11, 2007.
7. Mozilla Firefox, November 9, 2004
 It is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application
Suite, managed by the Mozilla Corporation.
8. Google Chrome, September 2, 2008
 It is a free and open-source web browser developed by Google.

Basic Services of Internet

The internet is the most cost-effective communications method in the world, in which the
following services are instantly available:
1. Email
2. Web-enabled audio/video conferencing services
3. Online movies and gaming
4. Data transfer/file-sharing, often through File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
5. Instant messaging
6. Internet forums
7. Social networking
8. Online shopping
9. Financial services