ITEC 1010 Introduction to Information Technologies Introduction to Information Technology The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets

ITEC 1010 Introduction to Information Technologies

Introduction to Information Technology

The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets


Lecture Preview

• In this lecture, we will study:– The evolution, operations, and services of the

Internet– The segment of the Internet called the World

Wide Web– Organizational applications of Internet

technology (intranets and extranets)– Specialized Internet applications


What is the Internet?• The largest computer network in the world (a

network of networks)• Information exchange is seamless using

open, non-proprietary standards and protocols, within interconnected networks

• A true democratic communications forum producing a democratization of information

• Spirit of information sharing and open access underlies the Internet.


The Internet Today• The Internet is international, with users on all

continents• The cost of personal computers and Internet

connections are prohibitively high for most of the world’s population

• Political, cultural, and regulatory barriers have slowed the rate of Internet adoption internationally

• The vast majority of sites are in English• The vast majority of content is generated in the

United States


The Infrastructure of the Internet• Commercial communications companies are

primary providers of the physical network backbone of the Internet

• The U.S. government contributes some funds to essential administrative processes

• The Internet infrastructure is supplied by network service providers

• Connections between and flow of information between backbone providers has been open and free of charge


Future Internet Initiatives• Internet2

– A collaboration among more than 180 U.S. universities to develop leading-edge networking and advanced applications for learning and research.

– A group of very high bandwidth networks on the Internet.

– Partnership between universities, industry, and government.

• Next Generation Internet (NGI)– Federal government led initiative to advance Internet

technology and applications.


The Operation of the Internet• Packets of information flow between machines governed by

common rules (protocols):– Internet protocol (IP)

– Transport control protocol (TCP)

• Internet is a packet-switching network– Messages are decomposed into packets, containing part of the

message, plus information on the sending and receiving machines and how the packet relates to the other packets

– Packets travel independently and possibly on different routes through the Internet

– Packets are reassembled into the message at the receiving machine.


The Operation of the Internet (continued)

• Each computer on the Internet is identified by an IP address

• Most computers also have domain names• Network Solutions, Inc. had a monopoly on

domain name registration until 1999.• Today, some 82 companies can register domain

names.• Cybersquatting – purchase of domain name with

intent to resell it. Legislative action resulted in Nov. 2000



• New top-level domain zones: In November 2000, the first addition of a global top-level domains to the Internet since the 1980s occurred.– .aero (for the air-transport industry)

– .biz (for businesses)

– .coop (for cooperatives)

– .museum (for museums)

– .name (for individuals)

– .pro (for professions).



• Accessing the Internet– Connect via LAN Server

– Connect via Serial Line Internet Protocol/Point Protocol (SLIP/PPP)

– Connect via an Online Service (AOL, MSN, Comcast, Verizon, NetZero)


Internet Services - Communications

• E-mail – electronic messaging

• USENET newsgroups – forums that collect groups of messages from users based on common themes

• LISTSERV – distributes email messages to all subscribers

• Chatting – live, interactive, written conversations based on topic groups

• Instant messaging – instant text messaging between Internet users

• Telnet – user on one computer doing work on another computer

• Internet telephony – conducting voice conversations over the Internet

• Internet fax – real time document transmittal

• Streaming audio and video


Internet Services – Information Retrieval

• File Transfer Protocol (FTP) – electronic transfer of files from one computer to another

• Archie – tools to enable searching for files at FTP sites

• Gophers – menu-driven information search tool

• Veronica – text search through Gopher sites

• Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) – database search tool


Internet Services – Web Services• Delivery of software components via a web

site rather than through traditional means (disks, CDs)

• .NET – Microsoft’s new platform for XML Web services. Integrates web sites and programs to deliver applications.


• An application that uses the Internet transport functions

• A system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information via a client/server architecture

• Based on HTML - standard hypertext language used in Web

• Handles text, hypermedia, graphics, and sound

Internet Services – World Wide Web


• Home Page - a text and graphical screen display; first, introductory page in a web site

• Web Site - all the pages of a company or individual

• Hyperlinks - ways to link and navigate around the pages on a web site

• Webmaster - the person in charge of a Web site

• Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - points to the address of a specific resource on the Web

• Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) - communications standard used to transfer pages across the WWW portion of the Internet

The World Wide Web (continued)


• Browsers – graphical software that enables WWW users to request and view web documents

• Offline Browsers – software that retrieves pages from Web sites automatically at predetermined times

• Search Engines - programs that return a list of Web sites or pages that match some user-selected criteria

• Metasearch Engines - automatically enter search queries into a number of other search engines and return the results

• To be included in a search engine’s database– Web Crawlers– Registration

The World Wide Web (continued)


The World Wide Web (continued)• Pull Technology - requires web user to actively

request information; traditional web mechanism• Push Technology - automatically supplies

desirable information to users – provides timely, prioritized distribution of

information over a corporate network in the workplace

– enhances traditional Web advertising in the consumer market

– used for software delivery and updates


The World Wide Web (continued)• Information Filters – automated methods of

sorting/screening WWW content

• Clipping Services – automated retrieval of articles and news items from publications

• Personalized Web Services – ability to generate personalized Web content

• Web Authoring (for page and site design)

– Standard HTML is the common denominator– CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and Joint

Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is the common format of graphics files

– Browsers can be extended through software plug-ins


Internet Challenges• New Technologies

– Adopted by vendors more rapidly than users and customers can implement them

– Web developers cannot assume that users can run their innovations successfully

• Internet Regulation– Technical organizations (e.g., World Wide Web

Consortium) develop standards governing the Internet’s functionality

– These organizations are not formally charged in any legal or operational sense with responsibility for the Internet

– How to control controversial content on the Web?


Internet Challenges (continued)• Internet Expansion

– Tremendous Internet traffic growth has strained some elements of the network

• Slower retrieval times

• Unreliable data transmission

• Denial of service by overloaded servers

– Approaches to overcoming this congestion include• Improved hardware technology

• Improved Web management software


Internet Challenges (continued)• Internet Privacy - Web sites collect information with and

without consumers’ knowledge

– Cookie - small data file placed on users’ hard drives when a site is first visited. Collects data on pages visited and content viewed.

– Three potential approaches to the privacy issue• Government lets groups develop voluntary privacy standards;

does not take any action now unless real problems arise

• Government recommends privacy standards for the Internet; does not pass laws at this time

• Government passes laws now for how personal information can be collected and used on the Internet

– Financial transaction security also a concern


Intranets• A private network that uses Internet

software and TCP/IP protocols– Provide employees with easy access to

corporate information– Used to deploy corporate applications

• Examples – policies and procedures manuals; human resource forms; product catalogs

– Security is a concern• Security measures include – public key security,

encryption, digital certificates, firewalls


Extranets• An extension of an intranet to selected outside

business partners, such as suppliers, distributors, and key customers– Provide business partners with easy access to corporate

information and easy collaboration

• Security– Critical to prevent unwanted entry into internal systems– Virtual private networks (VPNs) are often used to add

security to Internet communication


Extranets (continued)• Extranet configurations

– One company sets up a Extranet for its dealers, customers, or suppliers

– Companies within an industry set up a collaborative Extranet for mutual benefit

– Several companies collaborate over an Extranet for joint venture

• Benefits include – – Lower communication costs; better communication;

improved order entry and customer service; improvement in business effectiveness


Other Web-based Applications• Enterprise Information Portals

– Users have single point of access to internal and external stored information

• Mobile Internet– Use of wireless communication telecommunication

devices to access Web-based applications


Internet FactsThe technology behind the Internet began back

in the 1960′s at MIT. The first message ever to be transmitted was LOG.. why? The user had attempted to type LOGIN, but the network crashed after the enormous load of data of the letter G. It was to be a while before Facebook would be developed…


Internet Facts

The Internet began as a single page at the URL http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html, which contained information about this new-fangled “WorldWideWeb” project, and how you too could make a hypertext page full of wonderful hyperlinks.


Internet Facts

The first emoticon is commonly credited to Kevin Mackenzie in 1979, but was a rather simple -) and didn’t really look like a face. 3 years later, was proposed by Scott Fahlman and has become the norm.


Internet Facts

The first webcam was deployed at Cambridge University computer lab – its sole purpose to monitor a particular coffee maker and hence avoid wasted trips to an empty pot.


Lecture Summary• Internet is a network of network• Internet provides communication and information

retrieval services, as well as the World Wide Web• The World Wide Web enables a huge variety of

applications for businesses, including intranets and extranets

• Many challenges exist when using the WWW, including congestion, privacy, and security



Homework

Web Content Regulation:

Write a one paragraph summary of why you think web content should or shouldn’t be regulated. If you think it should be regulated, state for what types of content. If you do not think it should be regulated indicate your reasoning.

Documents

ITEC 1010 Introduction to Information Technologies Introduction to Information Technology The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets