‘excellent flexibility in routing calls and voice mails, transfering cals, and so on. Further, because PBX provides these functions, Studio G di not have to hire a receptionist. What is the resutt? Studio G is now able to keep pace with ‘their larger competitors because they can communicate with thelr customers at a fraction of te cost spent by other organizations Kol Simcox, the owner of Stuaio G, asserted: “We have grown, SECTION 6.1 What a Computer Network? EZ have seen in this case, networking solutions will continue to allow small businesses to compete on @ more level playing field with their larger compstitors, ‘Soures: Compiled trom “Small Archtacture rm Kapa Pace with Large Competiors," Cisco Customer Case Sua, "Smal Businoss PBX:A'S Muto Lesser” wirwralelycom, accessed March 5, 2013; “Smal Business PBX: The Basic” Cisco Resource Contr, acess March 1, 2073; wan substantial. [ang] are competing for projects against fms that 800m, wwstico-g-arhtects. com, oeesaed March 11,2019 ave substantial larger than ours.” Questions In ths situation the right telecommunication solution was a 1, As a business grows, why does its communication network PBX. Many similar solutions are avaiable today to help small busi needs grow? eases communicate wit the customers more effciently, As you 2. What advantages does the Cisco system provide for Studio G? What Is a Computer Network’ A computer network isa ystem that connects computers and other devices (e., printers) via communications media so that data and information ean be transmitted among them. Voice and data communication networks are continually becoming faster—that is, their bandwidth is inereasing—and cheaper. Bandwidth refers to the transmission capacity of 2 network itis stated in bits per second ‘The broadband industry itself has difficulty defining the term, broadband. ‘The Federal Communications Commission originally defined broadband as the transmission capacity of a communications medium (discussed later in this chapter) faster than 256,000 (256 Kbps) bits per second. The FCC then upgraded its definition to 768 Kbps downstream (e.g., download- ing.a syllabus from your universiy’s network) and 256 Kbps upstream (eg, uploading content to Facebook). In 2010, the FCG upgraded its definition of broadband to 4 Mbps (million bits per second) downstream and | Mbps upstream, In 2013, the FCC says that itis considering another definitional upgrade for broadband. Therefore, we define broadband as the trans mission capacity of a comm 4 Mbps downstseam and 1 Mbps upstream, The definition of broadband is fluid, and will undoubtedly be changed to reflect larger transmission capacities in the future. ‘You ate familiar with certain types of broadband connections, such as digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable to your homes and dorms. DSL and cable fall within the range of trans mission capacity mentioned here and are thus defined as broadband connections. ‘The various types of eompuster networks range from small to worldwide. They inelude (om simallest to largest) personal area networks (PANS), local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), and the Intemet. PANs are short range networks —typically afew meters—that are used for communication among deviees close to one person. PANS can be wited or wireless. (You will earn about wireless PANS in Chapter 8.) MANs are relatively large computer networks that cover a metropolitan area. MANs fall between LANs and WANs in size. WANs typically cover large geographie areas; in some cases they ean span the entire planet tations medium faster th Local Area Networks Regardless of thee size, networks represent compromise among three objectives: speed, distance, and cost. Organizations typically must select two of the three. To cover long dis tances, organizations ean have fast communication if they are willing to pay for it, or cheap communication iFthey are willing to accept slower speeds. A thd possible combination of the three trade-ofls is fast, cheap communication with distance limitations. This is the idea behind local area networks. A local area network (LAAN) connects two or more devices ina limited geographical region, usually within the same building, so that every device on the network can communicate with 61HEETEN c10P1ER 6 Teecommuications and Networking FIGURE 6.1 Fthemet local tea network Emoaddod AN tan FIGURE 6.2 Enterprise network eon ccnp se fg [J q. Ss Ss aS coma — Cg Ld ss wc every other device. Most LANs today use Ethemet (discussed later in this chaptes). Figure 6.1 illustrates an Ethemet LAN that consists of four computers, a server, and a printer all of which connect via a shared cable. Rvery device in the LAN has a network interface card (NIC) that allows the device to physically connect to the LAN’s communications medium, This medi is typically unshielded twisted-pair wire (UTP). Although its not required, many [LANs have a file server or network server. ‘The server typ cally contains various software and data for the network. It also houses the LAN's network operat ing stem, which manages the server and routes and manages communications on the network. Wide Area Networks ‘When businesses have to transmit and receive data beyond the confines ofthe LAN, they use wide sea networks. Interestingly, the term wide area network did not even exis until lea area networks appeared. Before that ime, what we call a wide area network today was simply called a “network” ‘Aide area network (WAN) isa network that covers large geographic area, WANstypically connect multiple LANs. ‘They are generally provided by common carriers such as telephone ‘companies and the international networks of global com- Emoedsed ‘munications services providers. WANs have large capacity, uy and they typically combine multiple channels (eg, fiber- optic cables, microwave, and satellite). ‘The Internet is an example of a WAN. WANs alo contain routers. A router is a communica tions processor that routes messages from a LAN to the Internet, aross several connected LANs, oF across a wide area network such asthe Intemet Enterprise Networks Organizations today have multiple LANs and may have multiple WANs. All ofthese networks are interconnected to form an enterprise network. Figure 62 displays a ‘model of enterprise computing. Note that the enterprise tree network in the figure has a backbone network. Corpo- rate backbone networks ate high-speed central networks to which multiple smaller networks (such as LANS andSECTION 62 Nework Fundamentals EEE smaller WANs) connect. The LANs are called embedded LANs because they connect to the backbone WAN, before you go on... Aish 414 What are the primary business reasons for using networks? 2, What isthe difference between LANs and WANS? 8. Describe an enterprise network, Network Fundamentals 6.2 In this section, you will learn the basics of how networks actually operate. You will then dis- tinguish between analog and digital signals and understand how modems enable computer networks to “translate” among them. You follow by studying wireline communications media, which enable computers in a network to transmit and receive data. You conclude this section by looking at network protocols and types of network processing, Analog and Digital Signals Networks tansmit information with two basic types of signals, analog and digital. Analog sig- nals are continuous waves that transmit information by altering the characteristics ofthe waves, Analog signals have two parameters, amplitude and frequency. For example, all sounds— including the human yoice—are analog, traveling to human ears in the form of waves. The higher the waves (or amplitude}, the louder the sound; the more closely packed the waves, the higher the frequency or pitch In contrast, digital signals are discrete pulses that are either on or off, representing 2 series of bits (0s and 1s). This quality allows digital signals to convey information in a binary form that can be interpreted by computers. Figure 6.3 illustrates both analog ane digital signals ‘The funetion of ¢ modem is to convert digital signals to analog signals—a process called ‘modulation—and analog signals to digital signals—a process called demodulation. (The name ot am Fanoyllmage Fancyinage Sovree Umi Source Limited FIGURE 6.3 Analog and digital signal, ‘Analog Signal (Wave Signals) Digital Signal (Stream of Bs) = Mia Bakery 1© ZoonarmryRukhltAgeHELIN c10P ER 6 Teecommuications and Networking modem isa contraction of modulator-demodulator.) Modems are used in paits. The moden at the sending end converts a computer’ digital information into analog signals for transmis- sion over analog lines, such as telephone lines. At the receiving end, another modem converts the analog signal back into digital signals for the receiving computer. There are three types of| ‘modems: dial-up modems, cable modems, and DSL. modems The U.S. public telephone system was originally designed as an analog network to carry voice signals or sounds in an analog wave format, inorder for this type of circuit to cary digi- tal information, that information must be converted into an analog wave pattem by a dialup ‘modem. Dial-up modems have transmission speeds of up to 56 kilobytes per second (Kbps) and are almost extinet in most parts ofthe developed world Cable modems are modems that operate over coaxial cable—for example, cable TV. They offer broadband access to the Intemet or corporate intranets. Cable modem speeds vary widely, ‘Most providers offer bandwidth between 1 and 6 million bits per second (Mbps) for downloads (Grom the Internet to 2 computer) and between 128 and 768 thousand bits per second (Kbps) for uploads. Cable modem services share bandwidth among subscribers in a locality. That is, the same cable line connects to many houscholds. Therefore, when large numbers of neighbors access the Internet atthe same time, cable speeds can decrease significantly during those times, DSL (discussed later inthis chapter) modems operate on the same lines as voice telephones and dial-up modems. DSL, madems always maintain a connection, so an Internet connection is immediately available Communications Media and Channels Communieating data from one location to another requires some form of pathway or median ‘A communications channel is such a pathway. Its comprised of two types of media: cable (twisted-pair wire, cable, or fiberoptic cable) and broadcast (microwave, satelite, radio, or infrared). Cable media or wireline media use physical wites or cables to transmit data and informa tion, Tisted-pair wite and coaxial cables are made of copper, and fiber-optic cable is made of glas. ‘The alternative is communication over broadeast media or wireless media. The key to mobile communications in today’s rapidly moving sociely i data transmissions over electeo- ‘magnetic media—the “airwaves.” In this section you will study the three wireline channels, “Table 6.1 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each of these channels. You will become familiar with wireless media in Chapter 8 ‘Twisted-Pair Wire. ‘Twisted-pair wire is the most prevalent form of communications wiring: iti used for almost all business telephone wiring, As the name suggest, it consists of strands of copper wire twisted in pairs (sce Figure 6.4. Twvisted-par wire is relatively inexpen- sive to purchase, widely available, and easy to work with. However, it also has some significant disadvantages. Specifically, tis relatively slow for transmitting data, itis subject to interference Advantages and Disadvantages of Wireline Communications Channel Channel ‘Advantages Disadvantages ‘Twisted-pair wire Inexpensive. Siow (low bandwith), Widely available, Subject to interference, Easy to work with, Easily tapped (low security). Coaxial cable Higher bandwidth Relatively expensive and inflexible. than twisted-pair. Easily tapped (low-to-medium Less susceptible to security). electromagnetic interference. Somewhat difficult to work with, Fiber-optic cable Very high bandwith, Difficult to work with (difficult to Relatively inexpensive. splice). Difficult to tap (good security).SECTION 62 Network Fundamentals fiom olber electrical sources, and it ean be easily tapped by unin- tended receivers to gain unauthorized access to data Coaxial Cable. Coaxial eable (Figure 6.5) consists of insulated copper wire. Compared to twisted: pair wire, itis much less suscep- tible to electrical interference, and it ean carry mach more data, For these reasons, itis commonly used to cary high-speed data trafic as well as television signals (thus the term cable TV). However, coaxial cable is more expensive and more difficult to work with than twisted- pair wire Itis also somewhat inflexible. Fiber Optics. | Fiberoptieeable (Figure 6.6) consists of thousands cof very thin filaments of glass fibers that transmit information via light pulses generated by lasers. The Rber-optic cable is surrounded by clade ding, «coating that prevents the light from leaking out ofthe Ber. Fiberoptic ‘cables are ‘ienficanty Sinaller and lighter than tradi-_ ©D8vid Schliepp/iStockphoto tional cable media, ‘They also can transmit far more data, and they FIGURE 6.4 ‘wised pair wire provide greater security fom interference and tapping. Ae of mid-2013, optical ber bad reached data transmission rates of more than 50 tilion bits (Lerabits) per second in laboratory experiments. Fiber optic cable is typically used asthe backbone fora network, whereas twisted pair wire and coaxial cable connect the backbone to individual devices on the network FIGURE 6.5 ‘Two views of coaxial cable Piotr Naczyhistocghoto How coaxial cable looks fo us FIGURE 6.6 ‘Two views of fiber-optic cable Philp HalsonScance Source vie KraploniSeence Source Cross-section view How flberoptic cable looks to usHEELS CHAPTER 6 Telecommuications and Networking FIGURE 6.7 The four layers ofthe CPAP reference model Network Protocols Computing devices that are connected to the network must access and share the network to tuansmit and receive data. These devices are often referred to as nodes of the network. They work together by adhering to @ common set of rules and procedures known as a protocol — that enable them to commmnieate with one anather. ‘The two major protocolsare the Ethemet and Transmission Control Protocol/lntemet Protocol Ethernet. A common LAN protocol is Ethemet. Most large corporations use 10-gigabit Ethernet, where the network provides data transmission speeds of 10 gigabits (10 billion bits) per second, However, 100-gigabitlthernet is emerging, ‘Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, The’Transmission Control Protocol/ Intemet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the protocol ofthe Internet. ‘TCPAP uses a suite of protocols, the main ones being the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP) ‘The TCP performs three basic functions: (1) It manages the movement of packets between computers by establishing a connection between the computers, (2) t sequences the transfer of packets, and (3) it acknowledges the packets that have been transmitted. The Internet Protocol (IP) is responsible fr disassembling, delivering, and reassembling the data during transmission, Before data are transmitted over the Internet, they are divided into small, fxed bundles called packets. The transmission technology that breaks up blocks of text into packets is called ‘packet switching, Each packet cartes the information that will help it reach its destination—the sender’ IP address, the intended receiver's IP address, the number of packets in the message, and the nunnber of the particular packet within the message. Fach packet travels independently across the network and can be routed through different paths inthe network. When the packets reach their destination, they are reassembled into the original message. It is important to note that packet-switching networks are reliable and fault tolerant. For example, if path in the network is very busy or is broken, packets can be dynamically (Yon the fly”) rerouted around that path. Also, if one or more packets does not get to the receiving computer, then only those packets need to be resent Why do oxganizations use packet switching? The main reason isto achieve reliable end-to-end ‘message transmission over sometimes unreliable networks that may have transient (short-acting) or persistent (long-acting) faults “The packets use the TCPAP protocol to carry their data. TCPAP functions in four layers (see Figure 6.7). The application layer enables client application programs to access the other Iayers, and it defines the protocols that applications use to exchange data. One ofthese applica- tion protocols is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which defines how messages are Costa /iStecghoto ©ceeinT istokghoto Email: Sending » Message via Emails Message received SMPT (Simple Mall Tanslet | Application ° Protocol) Break Message into packets and Packels reordered and replaced determine order Transport | (iflost) "Assign sending and receiving IP Packets routed through internal addresses and apply to each packet |_IMteMet | nctwork to desived IP address Determine path across network? | Network | Receipt of packets Intemet to intended destination | laterface ———SECTION 62 Nework Fundamentals ETE Chicago Pt iz FIGURE 6.8 Packet switching formulated and how they are interpreted by their receivers. ‘The transport layer provides the application layer with communication and packet services. This layer ineludes TCP and oth protocols. The Intemet layer i responsible for addressing, routing, and packaging data packets, ‘The IP is one of the protocols in this layer. Finally, the network interface layer places packets oon, and receives them fiom, the network medium, which can be any networking technology “Two computers using ‘TCPAP can communicate even if they use different hardware and software, Data sent from one computer to another proceed downward through all four layers, beginning with the sending computers application layer and going through its network inter- face layer. After the data reach the receiving computer, they travel up the layers. CPAP enables users to send data across sometimes unreliable networks with the assurance that the data will arsve in uncorrupted form. TCPAP is very popular with busines organizations because of its reliability and the ease with which itcan support intranets and related functions. Lets look atan example of packet-switching across the Internet. Figure 68 illustrates a mes sage being sent from New York City to Los Angeles over a packetswitching network. Note that the different colored packets travel by different routes to reach their destination in Los Angeles, where they are reassembled into the complete message. Types of Network Processing Organizations typically use multiple computer systems across the firm. Distributed processing divides processing work among two or more compaters. This process chables computers in if ferent locations to communicate with one another via telecommunications links. A common type of distributed processing i client/server processing. A special type of client/server process- ing is peer-to-peer processing, Client/Server Computing. Client/server computing links two or more computers in an arrangement in which some machines, called servers, provide computing serves for user PCs, called clients. Usually, an organization performs the bulk of its processing or application/data storage on suitably powerful servers that can be accessed by les powerful client machines. The client requests applications, data, or processing from the server, which aets on these requests by “serving” the desired commodity CClientiserver computing leads to the ideas of “fat clients and “thin” clients. As discussed in ‘Technology Guide |, fat elients have lage storage and processing power and therefore ean run local programs (such as Microsoft Office) ifthe network goes down. In contas, thin clients may have no local storage and only limited processing power. Thus, they mast depend on the network to in applications, For this reason, they ate of litle vakte when the network i not functioning, Peer-to-Peer Processing, Peerto-peer (P2P) processing isa type of clientserverdistrib- uted processing where each computer acts as both a client and a server. Each compater ean access (as asigned for security or integrity purpose) all files on all other computersHELIN CHP TER 6 Teecommuications and Networking 63 ‘There ate three base types of peer-to-peer processing. The first type accesses unused CPU. power among networked computers. A well-known application of this type is SETI@home (hitpfsctiathome ss berkeley.edu). ‘These applications are from open-source projects, and they can be dowloaded at no cost ‘The second form of peer-to-peer is real-time, person-to-person collaboration, such as Micro soft SharePoint Workspace (hitp:/ofice-microsoft com/en-us/sharepoint workspace). ‘This product provides P2P collaborative applications that use bud lists to establish a connection and allow realtime collaboration within the application. ‘The third peer-to-peer category is advanced search and fle sharing. This category is char- acterized by naturallanguage searches of millions of peer systems, It enables users to discover other users, not just data and Web pages. One example ofthis eategory is BitTorrent. BitTorrent («ww bittorrent.com) is an open-source, free, peer-to-peer file sharing applica- tion that simplifies the problem of sharing large files by dividing them into tiny pieces, or “torrents” Bitloztent addresses two of the biggest problems of file sharing: (1) downloading bogs down when many people access file at once, and (2) some people leech, meaning they download content but refuse to share it. Bitorrent eliminates the bottleneck by enabling all Users to share litle pieces of a ile at the same time—a process called swarming. The program prevents leeching because users must upload a file while they download it. Thus, the more popular the content, the more ficiently itzips over a network, before you go on. Aust 44 Compate and contrast the three wireline ‘communications channels. 2, Describe the various technologies that enable users to send high-volume data over any network. 8. Desoribe the Ethernet and TOP/IP pratacals. 4, Ditferentiate between client/server computing and peer-to-peer processing, The Internet and the World Wide Web ‘The Internet ("the Net") is a global WAN that conneets approximately | million organiza- tional computer networks in more than 200 countries on all continents, including Antarctica, thas become so widespread that it features in the daily routine of almost 2 billion people. Participating computer systems include smartphones, PCs, LANs, databases, and mainframes, ‘The computers and organizational nodes on the Internet can be of different types and sakes. They are connected to one another by data communications lines of diferent speeds, “The primary network connections and telecommunications lines that link the nodes are < to as the Internet backbone. For the Internet, the backbone is a fber-optie network that is operated primarily by large telecommunications companies. Asa network of networks, the Internet enables people to access data in other organizations and £0 communieate, collaborate, and exchange information seamlessly around the world, quickly and inexpensively. Thus, the Internet has become a necessity for modern businesses. “The Internet grew out ofan experimental project of the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) of the US. Department of Defense. The project began in 1969s the ARPAnet. Is pure pose was to test the feasibility ofa WAN over which researchers, educators, military personnel, and government agencies could share data, exchange messages, and transfer files. Today, Intemet technologies are being used both within and among organizations, An intranet isa network that uses Internet protocols so that users ean take advantage of familiar applications and work habits. Intranets support discovery (easy and inexpensive browsing and referSECTION 63 The Internet and the World Wide Web [ST search), communication, and collaboration intranets, see www.intranetjournal.com. In contrast, an extranet connects pars ofthe intranets of different organizations. In addition, it enables business partners to communicate securely over the Internet using virtual private networks (VPNs, explained in Chapter 4). Extranets offer limited accessibility to the intranets of participating companies, as well as necessary interorganizational communications. They are widely used in the areas of businesso-business (B2B) cleetronie commerce (see Chapter 7) and supply chain management (SCM; see Chapter 10), Nocentral agency manages the Intemet, Instead, the costs ofits operation are shared among, hhundteds of thousands of nodes. Thus, the cost for any one organization is small. Organiza. tions must pay a small fee if they wish to register their names, and they need to have their own hardware and software to operate their internal networks. The organizations are obliged to ‘move any data or information that enter their organizational network, regardless of the source, to their destination, at no charge to the sendets. The senders, of course, pay the telephone bills for using ether the backbone or regular telephone lines Jide an organization, For the numerous uses of Accessing the Internet ‘The Intemet may be accessed in several ways. From your place of work or your university, ou can access the Internet via your organization’s LAN. A campus or company backbone connects allof the various LANs and servers in the oxganization to the Internet. You ean also log onto the Intemet from your home or on the road, using either wireline or wireless connections. Connecting via an Online Service. You can also access the Intemet by opening an account with an Internet service provider. An Internet service provider is a company that provides Internet connections for fee. Large ISPs include America Online (www.aol.com), Juno (ww: juno.com), Earthlink (www.carthlink com), and NetZero (www.netzero.net). In addition, many telephone providers and cable companies sll Internet access, s do computer companies such as Microsoft, To use this service you need a modem and standard coma nication software, ISPs connect to one another through network access points (NAPs). NAPs are exchange points for Internet trafic. They determine how trafic i routed. NAPs are key components ofthe Internet backbone. Figure 6.9 dispaysa schematic ofthe Interet. The white links atthe top of the figure represent the Internet backbone; the brown dots where the white links meet are the NAPs Connecting via Other Means. There have been several attempts to make access to the Intemet cheaper, faster, and easier. For example, terminals known as Internet kiosks have been FIGURE 6.9 Internet (backbone in whit). (Source: (© Mark StayiStckphot)HELE CHAPTER 6 Teecommuications and Networking Table 6.2 Internet Connection Methods Service Description Dialup ‘Still used in the Urited States where broadband isnot available Ds. Broadband access via telephone companies. Cable modem Access over your cable TV coaxial cable. Can have degraded performance if many of your neighbors are accessing the Internet at once. Satelite ‘Access where cable and DSL are not available. Wireless Very convenient, and WiMAX will increase the use of broadband wireless, Fiber-to-the-home Expensive and usually only placed in new housing developments. (TT) Jocated in such public places as libraries and aitports (and even in convenience stores in some countries) fr use by people who do not have their own computers. Accessing the Internet fom smartphones and iPads is common, and fibertorthe-home (FTTH) is growing rapidly. FTTH involves connecting fiber-optic cable ditectly to individual homes. This system initially was restricted to new residential developments, but itis rapidly spreading, ‘Table 6.2 summarizes the various means of connecting tothe Internet Addresses on the Intemet. Rach computer on the Intemet has an assigned address, called the Internet Protocol (IP) address thet distinguishes it fiom all other computers. The IP address consists of sets of numbers, in four parts, separated by dots. For example, the IP address of one computer might be 135.62.128.91. You ean access a Web ste by typing this namber in the address bar of your browser. Currently, there are two IP addressing schemes. The fist scheme, IPvf,is the most widely used. IP addresses using IP consist of 32 bits, meaning that there are 2" possibilities for IP addresses, or 4,294,967,295 distinct addresses. Note that the IP address in the preceding paragraph (135,62.128.91) isan IPv4 address. At the time that IPvt was developed, there were not as many computers that need addresses as there are today. "Therefore, a new IP addressing scheme has been developed, 1PV6 IP addresses using IPv6 consist of 128 bits, meaning that there are 2% possibilities for distinct IP addresses, which isan unimaginably large number. 1Pv6, which is replacing IPv4, will accommodate the rapidly inereasing number of deviees that need IP addresses, stich as smartphones IP addresses must be unique so that computers on the Intemet know where to find one another, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (ICANN) {orww-icann.org) coordinates these unique addresses throughout the world. Without that coordination, we would not have cone global Internet. Because the numeric IP addresses are difficult to remember, most computers have names aswell. ICANN accredits certain companies called registrars to register these names, which are derived from a system called the domain name system (DNS). Domain names consist of mule tiple pats, separated by dots that are read from right to left, For example, consider the domain ve business auburn.eds. The rightmost par (or zone) of an Internet name is its top-level domain (TLD). The letters edu in business auburn edu indicate tha this isan educational site ‘The following are popular U.S. TLDs: com commercial sites ed nilitary government sites civilian government sites onganizationsSECTION 63 The Intemet and the World Wide Web [EZ ‘To finish our domain name example, auburn isthe name of the organization (Auburn Uni- versity), and business isthe name of the particular machine (server) within the organization to which the message is being sent top-level domain isthe domain atthe highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name Sys- tem ofthe Internet. The top-level domain names are located in the root zone {rightmost zone) of the name, Management of most TDs is delegated to responsible organizations by ICANN ICANN operates the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (ANA), which is in charge of | maintaining the DNS root zone. Today, IANA distinguishes the following groups of TLDs: + Country-code top-level domains (cc LD}: Two letter domains established for countries or territories, For example, de stands for Germany, it for Italy, and ne for Rusia ‘+ Intemnationalized country code topevel domains (IDN ccTLD): These are ec TLDs in rnon-Latin character sets (eg, Arabie or Chinese) ‘+ Generic top evel domains (@1 LD}: Top-level domains with three or more characters. Ds italy consisted of gov, edu, com, mil, rg, and net. In late 2000, ICANN introduced aero, biz, coop, info, .museum, .name, and pro. In June 2012, ICANN revealed nearly 2,000 applications for new top level domains The Future of the Internet Consumer demand for content delivered over the Internet is increasing rapidly: Recall that Cisco estimates that Intemet traffic will total some 64 exabytes per month in 2014, Many experts are now concerned that Internet users will experience brownouls from three factors (1) the increasing number of people who work online, (2) the soaring popularity of Web sites such as YouTube that require large amounts of bandwidth, and (3) the tremendous demand for high-definition television delivered over the Intemet. ‘These brownouts will cause computers to go oflline for several minutes ata time. Researchers assert that if Internet bandwidth is not improved rapidly, then within a few years the Internet will be able to function only at a mach reduced speed. Even today, the Intemet sometimes is too slow for data-intensive applications such as fallmotion video files (movies) or large medical files (X-rays). In addition, the Internet is unreliable and is not secure, As a result, Intemet2 has been developed by more than 200 US. universities collaborating with industry and government. Intemet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications such as remote medical diagnosis, digital libraries, distance education, online simulation, and virtual laboratories tis designed to be fast, always on, every where, natural, intelligent, easy, and trusted. Note that Intemet2 is not 2 separate physieal network from the Internet. For more detail see www.internet2.edu. The World Wide Web Many people equate the Intemet with the World Wide Web. However, they are not the same thing, The Intemet funetions as a transport mechanism, whereas the World Wide Web is an application that uses those transport functions. Other applications, such as e-mail also ran on the Internet, ‘The World Wide Web (The Web, WWW, or W3) isa system of universally accepted stan dards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information via a client/server architec- ture, The Web handles all types of digital information, including text, hypermedia, graphics, and sound. It uses graphical user interfaces (GUbs; explained in ‘Technology Guide 2), so itis very easy to navigate Organizations that wish to offer information through the Web must establish a home page whieh i a text and graphical sereen display that usually welcomes the user and provides basic information on the organization that has established the page. In most case, the home page will lead users to other pages. All the pages of a particular company or individual are collectively Known as a Web site, Most Web pages provide a way to contact the organization or the ind vidual. The person in chazge of an organization's Web ste is its Webmaster. (Note: Webmaster isa gender-neutral title)CHAPTER 6 ‘Telecommunications and Networking 64 ‘To access a Web site, the user must specify a uniform resource locator (URL), which points to the address ofa specific resource on the Web. For instance, the URL for Microsoft is http! ww microsoft.com, Recall that HTTP stands for hypertext transport protocol. The remaining Tetters in this URL —ww.microsof.com—indieate the domain name that identifies the Web server that stores the Web site. Users access the Web primarily through software applications called browsers. Browsers provide a graphical font end that enables users to point-and-click their way across the Web, 2 process called surfing. Web browsers became a means of universal aecess because they deliver the same interface on any operating system under which they run, AMMA before you go on... 41. Describe the various ways that you can connect, to the Internet. 2. Identity each part ofan Internet adress, 3. What are the functions of browsers? ‘4, Describe the diference between the ntemnet and the World Wide Web. Network Applications Now that you have a working knowledge of what networks are and how you can access them, the key question is, How do businesses use networks to improve their operations? This seetion addresses that question Stated in general terms, networks support businesses and other organi- zations in all types of functions ‘This section will explore numerous network applications, including discovery, communiea- tion, collaboration, elearning and distance learning, virtual universities, and telecommuting, ‘These applications, however, are merely a sampling ofthe many network applications currently available to users, Even if these applications formed an exhaustive list today, they would not do so tomorrow when something new will be developed. Further, placing network applications in categories is difficult because there will always be borderline cases. For example, the difference between chat rooms fin the communications category) and teleconference (inthe collaboration category) is only one of degree. Discovery ‘The Internet enables users to accessor discover information located in databases all over the world, By browsing and searching data sources on the Web, users can apply the Internet's discovery capability to areas ringing from education to government services to entertainment to commerce. Although having access to allthis information is a great bene, i is eriically important to realize that there is no quality assurance for information on the Web. ‘The Web is truly democratic in that anyone can post information to it. Therefor, the fundamental rule bout information on the Web is “User beware! In addition, the Web's major strength —the vast stores of information it contains —also pre. ents a major challenge, The amount of information on the Web can be overwhelming, and it doubles approximately each year. As a result, navigating through the Web and gaining access to necessary information are becoming more and more difficult. To accomplish these tasks, people increasingly are using search engines, directories, and portals, Search Engines and Metasearch Engines. search engine isa computer program that searches for specific information by key words and then reports the results. A search engine intains an index of billions of Web pages. It uses that index to find pages that match a set of userspecified keywords. Such indexes are created and updated by weberawlers, which are