Internet Concepts
INTERNET CONCEPTS
Internet comes from words Inter and Net
Where:
Inter refers to international i.e. global and Net is network which is a
connection of two or more computers with a sole aim of sharing resources
such applications, discs drives etc.
Note that before computers are connected on a network is called Stand
alones. And the ones connected are referred to as Nodes.
Types of Nodes
1. Server: This is a computer package that provides a specific type of
service to client software running on another computer that is a
computer that has necessary resources to manage all resources on a
network.
2. Client: a computer that keeps on requesting information from the
server
History of Internet:
The internet was originally conceived during the early 1960’s as
a solution to a pending cold war problem, they proposed a network that
would operate without control centers and could continue to operate even if
parts of it were destroyed. In 1968 the national physical laboratory in Great
Britain set up the first test network busing these principles. Shortly thereafter
the pentagon’s ARPA (advanced research projects agency) started a us
project that would consist of high speed super computers.
In 1969 the first node was installed and by the end of the year
there were 4 nodes within ARPANET. By 1972 there were over 35 nodes on
the network.
During the 1970’s the original network control protocol (NCP) standard use
for communicating developed into a more sophisticated standard known as
TCP/IP TCP(Transmission control protocol) was used to break messages
down into smaller packets (pieces) to be transmitted across the network and
then reassembled into the original message once it reaches it’s
destination .IP(internet protocol) was the part that handled all of the
addressing allowing messages to be transmitted across multiple networks
using multiple standards
Eventually, this collection of internet working networks became
known as the internet. in 1984 the NSF(national science foundation) begun
to fund parts of the network by linking faster super computer with faster and
faster links.
As the number of networks grew, addressing the nodes became more
confusing as a result they needed to be a way to categorize the nodes. They
were consequently grouped into six basic Internet domains (network
categories)
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Internet Concepts
Domains:
These indicate the nature of site. The major ones include;
.com: commercial oriented such sites contain profit making
companies.
.edu: Education related sites
.mil: military related information
.org organization mainly charity related
.ac research and academic sites mainly government funded sites
.net: Gate ways to other networks and other administrative ports
Regional domains: these indicate the area /country /region were the site is
situated i.e
.co_ _
Examples include. Co.ug meaning a site situated in Uganda eg
www.newvision.co.ug
. Co.uk meaning a site situated in united kingdom eg
www.bbc.co.uk
w hile the internet is the physical portion ( cables and computers) of
the global network the “www” refers to the collection of data and
information made available via the global network .although often used
synonymously the internet and www are not the same.
The www began in early 1989 as a project of the European practical physical
laboratory (known as CERN). This project proposed a system of using
documents that were linked to other related documents. Using these links
you could be guided from one set of documents to another, creating a virtual
‘web’ of connections using the Internet as the transport mechanism from one
pc to another.
How the web works:
A web site is data that is stored on www server and which can be
accessed freely by people using(surfing) the net. All of the document
storage functions are handled by the web server while the document viewing
functions are handled by the web browser.
This allows the web browser to be used within any computer
environment( eg Macintosh windows and Unix) which may or may not be
the same as the server.
All web client/server must communicate with each other using the
language called HTTP (hyper text Transfer protocol) in order to send
/receive web documents .for this reason, most address associated with www
documents begin with ‘http’. Web documents used in http communication
are created in HTML (hypertext markup language) which was designed for
creating documents that can easily be customized and presented in various
ways. They can control such items as fonts, text, size, color, spacing and
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Internet Concepts
other publishing features without affecting the original documents. Although
html is powerful it cannot provide
the entire complex layout features found in typical document publishing
application.
Requirements needed to connect to the internet:
1. ISP (internet service provider) is the body/company responsible for
distributing the Internet service to bigger and smaller user in Uganda
we have Mtn, Inforcom, Utl, Dehezi etc.
2. Web browser .is the program that runs on a client machine and allows
the user to view web pages .it interprets information from html codes
to codes to user language via a web server in http.
Browsers are of two types
o Text based : only show textual information eg lynx
o Graphical: allows the user to just point and click to access
information include Microsoft internet explorer
3. Connection tools ie for
o Dial up (on a single pc) one need modem, landline and an
account up at ISP station connected on a modem bank.
o Wireless connection: one may need radio antanae,data terminal
unit (DTU) ,router, switch ,server and an account from ISP
station
o Fiber optic connection: one may need to dig under ground
cables etc
4 . Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be passed through a
connection it can be measured in bits per second(bps). The higher the band
width the faster the
Transmission it is also sold by the ISP.
Services available on internet include;
i. Email (electronic Mail). Are messages sent from one user to another
via a computer?
ii. News groups
iii. Browsing
iv. FTP (file transfer protocol) this is the standard method of transferring
files between the two internet sites.
Other than simply browsing the www the internet provides several
additional services that can be accessed via your browser or special
software.
1. Electronic Mail (Email) This is the message sent from one user
to another via a computer connected on Internet
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2. FTP :( file transfer protocol) : is the primary method of
transferring files across the internet .it provides a simple way
for copying files from one computer to another.
3. News groups: They are used to post questions or comments that
can be read by any body accessing that group. News groups are
categorized according to their areas of interest. The major
categories are;
a) Alt: this category covers anything and everything topics
include alien abduction or television shows.
b) Biz: Business related articles are included within this
group
c) Camp: Topics referring to computer related interests
d) Music: Include topics that are difficult to classify such
as fitness, job inventing and the law
e) News covers information referring to the newsgroup eg
maintenance, information and soft ware
f) Rec: discusses nobles and recreational activities.
g) Soc: includes social issues
h) Talk: Used for debates and other long discussions.
Groups have names that typically indicate the topic
being discussed within that group eg if you are
interested in TV related articles or messages, look for
news groups beginning with alt.tv
Opening a web browsing application:
i. Double click on the Internet Explorer/Netscape on
the desktop
ii. Enter URL in the address bar if different from the
default
iii. Press enter
URL:
URL (Uniform Resource locator) is the address of particular web
information over the internet. Each server is assigned a unique address in
formats of:
http://www.datamine.com or ftp://www.monitor.com where,
HTTP or FTP: The 1st section refers to a protocol method of
access. Http is hypertext transfer protocol while ftp is file transfer protocol.
WWW: This is the graphical environment that allows text
and pictures to be displayed on your screen via software called a web
browser.
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Datamine or Monitor: Are server names this is the software
that provides a specific type of service to clients others may include Yahoo,
Msn, and Google etc
. Com: This is the domain it indicates the nature of work the
performs eg edu, org etc
SETTING WEB BROWSER HOME PAGE /start page/default page:
Click Tools menu
Click on the Internet Options command
Click on the general tab on the dialog box
If you wish to use the currently displayed page as your page, click on
Use current button
If you wish to use the default Microsoft starting page, click on use
Defaults.
If you wish to start with the blank page click on use Blank
If you wish to use another starting page, enter the full path into the
Address box
Click Ok button to apply settings and close the dialog
RECALLING PREVIOUSLY VISTED WEBSITES:
Click view menu
Point to Explorer bar
Click History
Click on the period to view sites vested within a particular time
OR
Click arrow to the right of the URL address to obtain a list of
previously entered address.
OR press CTRL + 11
FINDING RELATED SITES:
Click tools menu
Click show related links
The search window pane is displayed with a list of sites to the page
you are currently viewing
Click one of the links to display that page in the browser window.
Close search pane when done
WORKING WITH A FAVOURITE PAGE:
As you navigate the Internet and find various pages that you think
you will want to return to at a later date, you should add them as Bookmarks
to list of Favorites. These bookmarks (favorites) are simply lists of page
address (URL) that can be easily recalled at any time.
Adding a favorite page:
Access the page to be added to your favorites
Click on Favorites menu
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Click add to favorites
Set the page to be viewed off line by pressing a tick in a check box
beside “make available offline”
You will be asked to name the bookmark. The default name is the title
of the page.
Click ok
Going to the favorites page:
Click favorites button
From the favorites pane, click on the folder containing the favorite site
From the list click on the to view ; explorer will display the page in
the right window pane
Close the favorites pane
Saving a web page:
This will save the page that is currently displayed within your web browser
Click on file menu, select save as
Enter file name in the name box
Click save button
Changing view/Display Mode:
Click view menu
Select either small or Full screen
OR
Press F11 key will toggle between the ‘standard screen mode’ display
and the ‘full screen mode’ display In full screen mode you will not see the
windows Taskbar on button and the normal drop down menus will also not
be visible
View source:
i. Click view menu
ii. Click source
USING SEARCH ENGINES:
Internet contains a vast amount of information /data on
most any topic you can think of. The toughest part is finding where data is
stored.
Although you can use Explorer one of the popular search engine address
shown below;
Yahoo, Infoseek, Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, Google
NB. Search engine will only search through a list that it maintains of sites
that have been registered with that particular search engine
Uploading and Downloading:
Uploading: is the sending data (www) to the Internet such as
sending Attachment files with Email.
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Downloading: is the saving of data from the Internet such as
saving a audio clips from the Internet or a tutorial
EMAIL:
Email (Electronic Mail) is the message sent from one user to
another via a computer connected on Internet.
Creating Email
Address:
Open the web site to work with eg Yahoo
Click mail icon
Click sign in button
Enter information as required
Composing and sending Email messages:
Click inbox folder
Select compose button to display the message widow
Enter Email address of the person you wish to send the message in
TO,Cc or Bcc
Enter subject in the subject text box
Type your message into the message text area in the
Click send button
NB:
TO Send message to the selected person
Cc Sends a carbon copy of the message to the selected
person. Any one who has received on that message
Bcc Sends the message to the selected person as a blind
carbon copy .A blind copy is a copy of the message that
is sent to some one in secret, other recipients of the
message will not know that the selected person has
received the message
Reading messages:
i. Open the in box
ii. Click on the message title after the palm symbol
Forward:
This means sending the received message to another recipient
without any edition
Select message to forward
Click forward icon from the standard toolbar the message dialog will
be displayed
Type the Email address of the person to forward the message
Click send button to send the message
Reply message:
Where necessary open the inbox
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Internet Concepts
Click reply icon on the standard tool bar
Type your reply message
Select send icon
NB To reply the sender and all recipients of the message click reply to all
icons on standard toolbar enter message and click send
Reply with original message:
Open the inbox folder
Click tools menu and select options
Select the preferences tab and click on E-mail options button
Select include original message
Click ok
Reply without original message:
Open the inbox folder
Click tools menu and select options
Select the preferences tab and click on E-mail options button
Select don’t include original message
Click ok
ATTACHMENTS:
It is the attaching of documents to mails. This is a typical
uploading to the Internet.
Click Attachment button
Browse to locate file
Select file
Click attach button
Spam:
Means blocking unwanted messages or senders to your address
Select message by adding a tick in the check box besides it
Click Spam/block sender button
The confirmation box will appear to confirm the action
Listening to Internet
Radio:
Click view menu
Point on Explorer bar
Select media
You will be taken to a web page containing a list of available radio
station . select category such as classic rock jazz and station from the
list
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Internet Concepts
Working with FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Internet computers offer access to libraries of files stored in
directories .These files can be downloaded (copied to your computer)
through an internet protocol called FTP. Ftp files are accessed via a URL
An Ftp URL can point to either a file or directory .if it points to a
file, it will automatically begin to download the file where as if it points to a
directory you will be provided with a list of files/subdirectories to choose
from. In addition to having A url site address, you will also need to have an
account on that computer.
Most PC’s on the internet provide a generic account referred to as
Anonymous account. Computer sites that use such open accounts are
referred to as Anonymous FTP sites.
They use Anonymous as account name and your Email address as the Login
password.
OTHER INTERNET TERMS :
i ASCII ( American Standard Code for Information Interchange) The
standard for exchanging date between computer . It consists of a code that
represents all the upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuations
ii Bandwidth: is the amount of data that can be passed through a
connection .Usually measured in Bits per Second .The higher the Band
width the Faster the transmission.
iii Browser A soft ware which provides easy access to various Internet
functions typically browsers have a graphical Interface.
iv Domain name: A unique name identifying an Internet site. This vis a
server name that is typically provided after the FTP or HTTP of a URL
v Surfing The process of looking for web Information
