Computer Awareness : Internet - 2

Internet Connectivity

For connecting a user with the Internet, an Internet Service Provider will provide various modes of connectivity
that satisfies the users need. Commonly there are 6 different types of Internet connectivity, as shown below;

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-
IHRh0KeCCnXZN3pWLhWwvPaREKJUYeHgeg1guzCiyVLMvxZGD4r8WGqQKNMxDko0-
TVWGxKbIWwLuBbTl3isVHfWH_exSDR5lLTOinOIyqpvWndrVqgEbRn6JmSww

1) Dial-up connection:

Internet connections provided through normal copper wire Telephone lines are categorized as Dial-up
connections. Here a Modem (Modulator-Demodulator) is used to set-up the dial-up connection between the
Computer and Telephone line.

2) ISDN:

Integrated Services Digital Network or ISDN, is a connection through Telephone line, which uses digital signals
instead of normal analog signals for network connectivity.

ISDN Techniques:

Basic Rate Interface (BRI) - Contains 3 channels: 2-B (Bearer) channels & 1-D (Delta or Data) channel

Primary Rate Interface (PRI) - Contains 24 channels: 23-B channels & 1-D channel

3) DSL:

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), uses traditional Copper wire telephone lines to provide faster data transmission
rate. Here the data transmission speed ranges from several hundreds of Kbps to Mbps.

Types of DSL transmission

Asymmetric DSL (ADSL), Symmetric DSL (SDSL), High-bit-rate DSL (HDSL), Very High-bit-rate DSL (VHDSL), Rate
Adaptive DSL (RDSL), ISDN DSL (IDSL)

4) Cable TV:

Internet connection that uses normal coaxial cable that is used for Cable TV connections provide higher data
transmission rate compared to Telephone line connections.
Local cable operators will provide this type of connection on demand, which does not involve Dialing-up the ISP.

Here a Splitter is used to separate the Cable TV services & internet connection, later a Cable Modem and Cable
TV Converter is used for processing the respective signals.

Disadvantage - Limited Bandwidth. ie., Data rate is evenly split between the customers connected in the group,
so when Customers demand increases - data rate decreases.

5) Satellite Network:

Satellite communication uses Geostationary satellites (located at ~36,000 Kms from earth) as the connection
link between the Internet Service Provider and the end users.

Satellite networks provide high speed connections in 2-ways: 1-way connection & 2-way connection.

1-way: Direct Data download is allowed, whereas Dial-up with ISP is needed for uploading data

2-way: No Dial-up is ISP is required, direct download & upload of data through the satellite

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/5CHWDc8Qh8-
j1wUFGi6xz6OsXokobR7rXgz6U_4xoKetXOVlbFtX7OkDolyDN2FQxNTHUz_VNlbslsfw6pDjT8OTnRF6ORPS8oQN
snS0FF2w2sms67nqMTIXteyxdw

It should be noted that a Minimum of 3 Satellites in the Geostationary orbit are needed to cover the entire Earth.

Note - Elon Musk’s SpaceX is constructing the World’s largest Satellite constellation consisting of 42,000
communication satellites under its ‘Starlink Project’

6) Optical Fiber Network:

Optical Fiber networks are the fastest of all available modes of data transmission. It uses an Optical Fiber Cable
(OFC), that transmits very high speed data using light signals over a Glass cable. An OFC is sometimes referred
to as an Optical Waveguide.

OFC’s work on the principle of Total Internal Reflection, to transmit higher bandwidth of data with negligible loss
of energy.

Structure of OFC:

Core - Core of an OFC is made of Highly purified Glass or Plastic that is used to transmit light signals carrying at
higher data transfer rate. It is the innermost layer of an OFC.

Cladding - It is a thicker plastic layer over the Core to provide additional strength to the cable. This layer does not
have any optical waveguide properties over the connection.
Strengthening Fibers - A layer of fibers is added to the OFC to protect the core from crushing forces & tension
during cable installation. At times, light absorbing glass is added between the fibers to absorb any leakage from
the core, further avoiding cross talk.

Outer Jacket - The Outer Jacket or ‘Sheathing’ of the cable is used to protect the cable from direct external
abrasion.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xRtXtm4d9iRpBLYTu_FPMBs3qmWgpEthuIvG5Fz3WaxmFxpAdCsyAlVDs7K
_AplPaqH_TUFmQQnlHtEHeOh6akivoqVk6jWPMVGRzOLzvptUN9q4M4s0VWVg-9VkeA

Types of OFC:

Based on the method of transmission, light source and distance of transmission, Optical fiber cables are
categorized into 3 types based on their need.

1) Single Mode Fiber:

In Single Mode OFC cable, or Single Mode - Step Index cables, only one propagation mode is used which is
passed into the cable using a LASER light source. Here the bandwidth is higher compared to other modes, and
can transfer data covering a larger area (upto 100kms).

2) Multimode - Step Index:

Normally used for connecting shorter range (<1km) at comparatively a lower data rate (~10 Mbps). Here an LED
light source is used to transfer data, and multiple modes of light transmission occur within the cable with no
particular order. Possibility of convergence of light signals.

3) Multimode - Graded Index:

They are used for Medium distance (10-20 kms) communication with a higher data rate. Here, in the LED input
source, different data modes are angled at a particular prefixed position to avoid convergence of light signals.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gCGRXEwNfuYxwXf0Oin9qaIa83itAQhY4cCxdxCVQO2pymlwhqvdxdzagAJV
EtUVGU6rb_IR9VTfO84ZDWRATDghRiGuMASlUV18omnmVVaDXQBrjatEhpusQiXGCA

Note – ‘Dunant’ submarine cable system built by Google, connecting USA with Europe is capable of delivering
data at 250 Tbps (Terabits per second)

World Wide Web (WWW):

World Wide Web is a collection of websites or web pages stored in multiple web servers and connected to local
users through the internet. It can also be termed as a ‘network of servers’. It is different from the Internet, as
WWW is the worldwide network of devices - like computers, mobile phones.
The World Wide Web was invented by a British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. His works were majorly on
HTML, URL, and HTTP to make the internet user-friendly, under the ‘hypertext project’. In 1991, when he was
working with CERN, Tim developed the World’s 1st website & web server - “info.cern.ch”

WWW uses the Internet's basic Client-server model for serving the request of its users.

E-mail:

E-mail or Electronic Mail is an Internet service that allows users to send & receive mail instantly across the
globe. It is similar to the traditional mail but with key differences in the quantity of data and the speed of mail
being transferred. To send and receive email over the internet, both sender & recipient should have an email
address.

Some Advantages of E-mail:

Communicate with multiple people at same time

An E-mail address is a unique identifier used to differentiate between multiple user accounts available on the
internet. Every email address is divided into 2 parts - username & domain name, both connected using @ (at)
symbol.

Example; [email protected] is an email id, where ‘support’ is the username & ‘affairscloud.com’ is the
domain name.

The 1st ever electronic mail was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, who is regarded as the inventor of email.
Note - Email addresses are case-insensitive (ie; both higher & lower cases are considered as lower case)

Username - The username in an email address can be chosen individually by the intended user, but to avoid mis-
interpretation there are certain restrictions provided to the email address.

i.Characters allowed - Alphabets (a-z), Numbers (0-9), many special characters are allowed with limited
restrictions

ii.Restricted Characters - Exclamation mark (!), Number sign (#), Dollar sign ($), Percent sign (%), Ampersand (&),
Tilde (~) and At (@) cannot be used within the username

iii.Period or dot (.) can be used in an email address but it cannot be placed at first or last of the username & no 2
consecutive dots are allowed.
iv.Space in between the username is also restricted in an email address.

Note - SMTP or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is the commonly used internet protocol for transferring email, it
was 1st introduced in 1981 by its developer Jon Postal.

Domain Name - In email domain name is the name of the organisation that provides the mail account to the
user. It consists of the service provider name (like Gmail, Yahoo) & the type of domain extension (like .com, .in).

For professional accounts, the domain name is usually the name of the company or organization, as they are
hosted by their own company.

Some famous Email domains & service providers:

Google - gmail.com
Yahoo - yahoo.com
Microsoft - outlook.com - previously known as ‘hotmail.com’
Microsoft - man.com
Note - In 1996, ‘Hotmail’, developed by Sabeer Bhatia became the world’s 1st free email service provider, while
Google’s ‘Gmail’ service was launched in 2004.

Components of email:

Field

Description

From

Sender’s email address

To

Receiver’s email address

Cc

Carbon Copy (Cc), is a duplicate copy of the email which is send to one or more secondary receivers

Bcc

Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) - Both primary and secondary users will not have any knowledge of the recipient
mentioned under Bcc

Subject
Used to indicate the precise purpose of the email

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/X8F1nJzUAjgnhYJhIXwdiVDJ6xJ13cAz_KKwjtmjNhjgdAu5ZcJays55Ip8Apo
JVsD2BRLF_j2dUeHtHEUS1W_3Z_P1aXzAlfzweMSXf-PCO5rxtKPfnLYQ6nK8U2w

Attachment - email providers allow the option of attaching document, pictures and even videos along with the
email

Note - Gmail fixed the maximum-size of an email at 25 MB, small video clips within the size can be sent through
email. Whereas larger files can be transferred using Google Drive.

Web Browsers:

Web Browsers are application softwares, that are used by the end-users to connect the World Wide Web. For
accessing a website available on the internet, an end-user needs a Web browser, either in a computer or mobile,
to transcript the codes (like HTML or Java) used by the website.

How does Web Browsers function?

When the web browser fetches data from an internet connected server, it uses a piece of software called a
rendering engine to translate that data into text and images. This data is written in Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML) and web browsers read this code to create what the end-user sees as a web page.

Important functions performed by a Web Browsers:

Controller/Dispatcher - Ability to receive input from the user and deliver data received via internet in a proper
format

Interpreter - Interprets websites line by line and various formats of data (like video, audio, game, apps etc)
available over the internet. Usually a web browser uses programs like HTML Interpreter program or Java
Interpreter

Protocol Conversion - Convert various protocols availed by the Client (like HTTP, SMTP, FTP) to access the
required service

Note - Microsoft announced to phase-out Internet Explorer (IE) on 15th June 2022

Browser

Vendor/Developer

Search/Rendering Engine
Launch Year

WorldWideWeb

(later renamed to ‘Nexus’)

Tim Berners-Lee, from NeXT Computer

NeXTSTEP Text Class

World’s 1st Web browser, launched in 1990

Internet Explorer

Microsoft

MSHTML (also known as Trident)

1995

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft

Blink

2015

Google Chrome

Google

Blink (previously WebKit)

2008

Opera

Opera Software

Blink

1995
Safari

Apple

WebKit

2003

UC Browser

UCWeb

U4 engine

2004

Netscape Navigator

Netscape

Netscape Search

1994

Mozilla Firefox

(It is the descendant of ‘Netscape Navigator’)

Mozilla Foundation

Gecko

2002

Samsung Internet

Samsung Electronics

Chromium

2012

DuckDuckGo
Gabriel Weinberg

DuckDuckGo

2008

Tor Browser

Tor Project

DuckDuckGo

2009