UNIT – 2

INTERNET
It is the wider network that allows computer networks across the globe run by companies, governments,
universities, and other organisations to talk to one another. Therefore, we can say that the internet is a global
system of interconnected computers that uses standardised Internet Protocol for communication and sharing
information. 

FEATURES OF INTERNET
1. Easy to Use - The software that is used to access the Internet or web browser is designed in such a way
that is very simple and can be easily learned and used. Also, it is easy to develop.
2. Flexibility - Flexibility in terms of transfer of data. Basically, the internet network carries information in
digital form in a majority of cases instead of voice information in analog form.
3. Accessibility - Internet service is a worldwide service and access to all. People located in remote or
anywhere interior can also use the Internet. Therefore, information through the internet flows across
the networks in a standardised manner.
4. Interaction with Media and Flexibility of Communication - Businesses are expanding with the help of
the Internet. There is a high degree of interaction with the media due to internet service. Like, News,
magazines, publishing houses, etc. have extended their business with the help of Internet service.  Also,
communication is flexible due to internet service. With the help of text voice, video people can
communicate easily. 
5. Low Cost and Security - The maintenance and development costs of Internet service are comparatively
low. Also, Internet service helped the security system both at an individual and national levels. For
example CCTV cameras, etc.

INTERNET & IT’S USE

The internet has intruded globally into everything than we could imagine. There are hardly people who do not
rely on the internet for their daily life. Internet has emerged in such a way that we happen to use it to run our
daily life in some way. The uses of Internet are endless; a few of them are as follows:

1. Education: Internet is a valuable source for a lot of information. Data and information related all fields are
updated in the internet. Students can spend a few minutes over the internet to read their relevant study
materials. Many students use internet for intense research on their projects.

2. Communication: With internet, communication has become better and easier. One can call and talk to
someone over the internet. Video calls are an interesting option with communication through internet. Mailing
is one another form of communication, which is widely used in daily corporate life.

3. Current Updates: Daily updates and current happenings are made available in the internet instantly. Internet
is considered the real time hub for all updates about politics, sports, entertainment, science, business and many
other fields.

4. Corporate Base: The corporate world relies on internet for file sharing, data transfer, internal communication
and external communication; and many other purposes. In simple words, internet forms the base of the
corporate today.
5. E-Commerce: Other than using internet for business purposes, a business itself can be started and
accomplished through the internet. E-Commerce has lot of advantages like reaching the customers easily,
giving a lot of information about the business, clearing customer queries instantly and making the payment also
possible over the internet.

TERMINOLOGY OF INTERNET
• World Wide Web (WWW): The World Wide Web ("WWW" or simply the "web") is a collection of electronic
documents (called web pages) that are linked together like a spider web. These documents are stored on
computers called servers located around the world.

• Web Server: A Web Server is a computer that stores web pages. It is responsible for accepting request(s) from
users and serves them with web pages.Two important web server programs are: IIS (Internet Information
server) and Apache, etc. Web servers are connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

• Hyperlink: It is an element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to
an entirely different document or other resource. Hyperlinks usually appear as underlined text and in a
different color, but they may also appear as graphics, such as buttons to click. Hyperlinks may be used to link
another place in the same page, or another page, to play an audio or video file, to download a file, to set up a
message to an e-mail address, and to link to other Internet resources.

• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language): It is a language that consists of certain key words called 'Tags', used for
writing the documents on the web.

• Web Page: A web page (such as the one you are looking at now) is an electronic document written in a
computer language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).Web pages can contain text, graphics, video,
animation, and sound, as well as interactive features, such as data entry forms. Each page has a unique address
known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that identifies its location on the server. Web pages usually contain
hyperlinks to other web pages.

• Website: A website (often shortened to just site) is one or more web pages, belonging to a particular
company, institute, government or an individual. The first page is called the home page, which acts like an
index, indicating the content on the site. 248 :: Data Entry Operations By default the home page is named as
index.htm. From the home page, you can click hyperlinks to access other web pages.

• URL (Uniform Resource Locator): Every page on the web has a unique address, called Uniform Resource
Locator, URL. A URL indicates where the web page is stored on the Internet.

• IP (Internet Protocol) Address: Computers do not understand letters or symbols humans use to communicate
effectively. Computer understand numbers-specifically, 1s and 0s. Thus every host (a computer linked to the
Internet) on the Internet has a unique host number. This number is called the Internet Protocol address, or IP
address. The IP address is a unique address, generally written in the format XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, where XXX
represents a 3 digit number that varies between 0 and 255. For Example: 192.100.8.56

• DNS (Domain Name System): Every host (computer linked to Internet) has a unique host number called IP
address. You can connect to any host through IP address only, but it is difficult to remember the 4-digit number
of hosts. To resolve this, domain name is the only solution. Domain name, a unique name of the individual host
computer on the Internet. Every computer on the Internet now have both a domain name and an IP address. To
connect to any host through domain name requires some mechanism that will convert the domain name IP
address. DNS, Domain Name System is the standard for resolving names to addresses. It is used mostly to
translate between domain names and IP addresses.
• Electronic mail (e-mail): One of the most popular reasons that people use the internet is e-mail. And to
create, send, and receive e-mail messages people need an e-mail programme and an account on an internet
mail server with a domain name.

• File Transfer Protocol (FTP): It is the internet tool that is used to copy files from one computer to another.
Using this, a person can log into an ETP host Computer over the internet and copy files onto its computer. It is
handy for finding and copying software files, articles, and other types of data.

• Telnet: It is a specialised service with which a person can use a computer to access the contents of another
computer, a telnet host. It is largely used by libraries to allow visitors to look up information, find articles, etc.

• Internet Relay Chat (IRC) (Real-time video chatting): This service allows users to communicate in real-time by
typing text in a special window.

E-MAIL
Email (electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored messages from one user to one or more recipients
via the internet. Emails are a fast, inexpensive and accessible way to communicate for business or personal use.
Users can send emails from anywhere as long as they have an internet connection, which is typically provided
by an internet service provider.

Email messages are usually encoded in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format.
However, users can also send non-text files -- such as graphic images and sound files -- as file attachments.
Email was one of the first activities performed over the internet and is still the most popular use. A large
percentage of the total traffic over the internet is email.

The main components of an email message

Header

Each email message comes with a header that's structured into various fields. These fields contain important
information regarding the sender and the recipient(s). However, the content of the email header varies,
depending on the email system being used.

Typically, an email header contains the following information:

 Subject. This provides a summary of the message topic and is displayed in a separate line above the
message body. For example, a subject line might say "Company mission statement" or "Employee Stock
Purchase Plan."

 Sender (From). This field is the sender's email address. A display name can also be shown instead if it's
associated with the email address. Most email clients fill out this field automatically.

 Date and time received (On). This field shows the local time and date when the message was
composed. It's a mandatory header field that's filled automatically by most email clients.

 Reply-to. If a user clicks on the Reply button, this field automatically populates the message with the
sender's email address, which now becomes the "recipient."

 Recipient (To). This field shows the first and last name of the email recipient, as configured by the
sender.

 Recipient email address. This is the email address of the recipient or where the message was sent.
  Carbon copy (CC). The carbon copy field includes the email addresses of the people who need to receive
the email but aren't expected to reply. When a person presses Reply All, all of the CC addresses receive
the response.

 Blind carbon copy (BCC). If a sender doesn't want their recipient to find out who else received the
email, they could use the BCC field to enter those addresses. The addresses in the BCC list don't receive
responses when someone presses Reply All.

 Attachments. This field contains any files that are attached to the message.

Body

This is the content of the email. It may contain anything the user wishes to send, including text, videos or file
attachments. Depending on the email client used, the email body can be formatted in either plain text or HTML.
While plain text messages can't contain special formatting or multimedia elements, HTML emails enable special
formatting and inclusion of multimedia options within the body of the message. The message body may also
include signatures or automatically generated text that the sender's email system inserts.

USES OF EMAIL
The following are the most common use cases for email:

 Individual or group communications. Email is a beneficial way to communicate with individuals or small

groups of friends or colleagues. It enables users to easily send and receive documents, images, links and
other files. It also gives users the flexibility to communicate with others on their own schedule.

 Notifications, reminders and follow-ups. Individuals, small groups or organizations can send follow-up
emails after appointments, meetings or interviews, or to remind participants of approaching events, due
dates and time-sensitive activities. Calendars with the ability to add appointments and events are
integrated into most email platforms. These features help users with time management by visualizing
the fixed amount of time they have in a day. This enables users to prioritize their decisions and time.

 Conveying information to a large group of people. Companies can use email to convey information to a
large number of employees, customers and potential customers. Email is frequently used for
newsletters, where mailing list subscribers are sent specific, promoted content from a company
and direct email marketing campaigns, where an advertisement or promotion is sent to a targeted
group of customers.

 Turning leads into paying customers. Email can also be used to make a potential sale into a completed
purchase. For example, a company may create an automated email that's sent to online buyers who
keep items in their shopping cart for a specific amount of time. The email may remind the customer that
they have products sitting in their cart and encourage them to complete the purchase before the items
run out of stock.

 Reviews and surveys. Follow-up emails asking customers to submit a review after making a purchase
may include a survey asking them to review the quality of service or the product they've recently
received.

TYPES OF B2B EMAILS

 Welcome emails are sent to possible buyers after they subscribe to a business's opt-in activities, such as
a mailing list, blog or webinar. They often contain additional information that's useful to the new
 subscriber. Sending a series of welcome emails can help the business establish a relationship with the
buyer and improve subscriber loyalty.

 Promotional emails offer some sort of deal to buyers, such as a percentage off the purchase price, a
free month of service, or reduced or omitted fees for managed services. This is the most common type
of B2B email.

 Lead-nurturing emails are used to educate potential buyers on the offerings and services available in an
attempt to make any prospective sale into a completed purchase. Lead-nurturing emails are also known
as trigger campaigns, since they're initiated by a potential buyer taking an initial action, such as
downloading a free sample or clicking links on a promotional email. Lead-nurturing emails should be
short and focused. They should use behavioral data that has been gathered about the lead to target the
content and continue engagement with the potential buyer over time.

 Newsletter emails are routinely sent to all mailing list subscribers, either daily, weekly or monthly. They
contain selected content that the company has recently published. These emails provide businesses
with the opportunity to convey important information to their clientele through a single source.
Newsletters may incorporate headlines or captions of industry-related news with links to the full
articles, event invitations, company blog posts and content offers.

 Onboarding emails -- also known as post-sale emails -- are often used to strengthen customer loyalty.
These emails can be used to familiarize buyers with the provided services or educate them on how to
use their newly purchased products. These emails often include advice on how to use and manage the
new products or services. Onboarding emails can help clients simplify user adoption when faced with
large-scale service deployments.

ADVANTAGES OF EMAIL
 Cost-effectiveness. There are various free email services available to individuals and organizations. Once
a user is online, there are no additional charges for the service.

 Flexibility. Email provides users with a nonurgent communication process that enables them to send a
response when it's convenient for them. This also encourages users to communicate regardless of their
different schedules or time zones.

 Easy access. If the user has access to the internet, then email can be accessed from anywhere at any
time.

 Speed and simplicity. Emails are quick and easy to compose, with information and contacts readily
available. They can also be exchanged quickly with minimal lag time.

 Mass delivery. Email makes it possible and easy to send one message to large groups of people.

 Message filtering. Email enables users to filter and categorize their messages. This can prevent the
visibility of unwanted emails, such as spam and junk mail, while also making it easier to find specific
messages when they're needed.

 Message storage and retrieval. Email exchanges can be saved and searched for easy retrieval. This
enables users to keep important conversations, confirmations or instructions in their records and
quickly retrieve them if necessary.
POPULAR EMAIL SITES
 Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. Gmail also offers paid plans for business users that
include extra storage, advanced features and support options. According to Litmus in its "July 2022
Email Client Market Share" update, as of April 2022, Gmail holds 29.5% of the email client market share.

 Microsoft Outlook is available as part of the Microsoft Office suite and offers both free and paid
versions. Microsoft Outlook works across several operating systems and devices and provides features
such as deleted email recovery and automatic email organization.

 Yahoo Mail was launched in 1997 and is one of the oldest webmail clients available. Yahoo Mail is useful
for personal emails and comes in a mobile app version.

 iCloud Mail is a free email address for Apple users and comes preinstalled on Apple devices. As long as a
user has an Apple account, they can connect to iCloud mail using their Gmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL email
address. ICloud Mail offers each account 5 GB of cloud storage and additional space can be purchased.

FTP (FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard Internet protocol for transmitting files between computers on the
Internet over TCP/IP connections. FTP is a client-server protocol where a client will ask for a file, and a local or
remote server will provide it.

Anonymous FTP is a type of FTP that allows users to access files and other data without needing an ID or
password. Some websites will allow visitors to use a guest ID or password-anonymous FTP allows this.

HOW FTP WORKS?

FTP is a client-server protocol that relies on two communications channels between client and server: a
command channel for controlling the conversation and a data channel for transmitting file content. Clients
initiate conversations with servers by requesting to download a file. Using FTP, a client can upload, download,
delete, rename, move and copy files on a server. A user typically needs to log on to the FTP server, although
some servers make some or all of their content available without login, known as anonymous FTP.

HOW TO FTP?

Files can be transferred between two computers using FTP software. The user's computer is called the local
host machine and is connected to the Internet. The second machine, called the remote host, is also running FTP
software and connected to the Internet.

 The local host machine connects to the remote host's IP address.

 The user would enter a username/password (or use anonymous).
 FTP software may have a GUI, allowing users to drag and drop files between the remote and local host.

INTERNET V/S INTRANET V/S EXTRANET

INTERNET: The Internet is often known as the World wide web. The Internet is a network built by the
cooperative connectivity of millions of computers that are linked together. The Internet is made up of:

 People: The network is used and developed by people.

 Resources: A group of resources that can be accessed through those networks.
  A setup for collaboration: It is a collaborative arrangement that comprises members of the research
and education committees from all around the world.

INTRANET: An intranet is a private network that only employees of a company may access. It's the most
restrictive of the three networks. Intranets, like the Internet, employ the HTTP protocol over TCP/IP protocol,
web servers, and web clients. Intranets differ from the Internet in that private servers are not accessible to the
general public. The users' limitations are implemented through the usage of an internet firewall.

Companies use intranet so that they can store and share important documents and lets teams use private
messages and threads to communicate better and collaborate on projects over a secure network. It is only
accessible to a small group of people. Intranets are mostly used to offer access to data and programs on
networked computers and servers within enterprises and organizations.

EXTRANET: An extranet is a type of network that allows external users to access an organization's intranet. An
extranet is similar to an intranet, except that it is accessed through a Web portal. An intranet is a private
network that is only available to members of the same group, corporation, or organization. Extranets are
quickly becoming a popular way for business partners to securely communicate information.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTERNET v/s INTRANET v/s EXTRANET

LIMITATIONS OF INTERNET
1. Unfulfillment- The major issue facing internet retailers is "unfulfillment" or the in ability of the business to
deliver the customer orders accurately. Most deliveries by internet companies contain some errors. Goods
ordered for special occasions like Christmas, Diwali etc., are delivered late. Internet companies out source such
services to parcel couriers.

Companies that send out small and easily deliverable packages like DVDs, software or books have a fulfillment
advantage. But delivery of a bulky assortment of goods within specific time when the customer is not present is
a major constraint.

2. Security concerns- A major barrier to the use of the internet for the transaction is security. There is a need
for secure electronic transaction which will allow credit card-holder and merchant to authenticate each other
during an internet transaction.

3. Network limitations- In electronic retailing, the visual impact of website is very important. But it raises
conflicts. Graphic and multimedia attributes assume that the customer end has access to a high specification
PC. Customers are frustrated when they experience slow data transfer.

4. Demographics- Web applications should demonstrate clear relevance to the customer base. The pages on
the website should be targeted at specific online customer groups. These pages should be dynamic enough to
cope with the changing interests of customer groups.

5. Culture- Customer should feel comfortable with electronic shopping. However, purchasing over internet is
faught with difficulties. Customers are reluctant to supply their credit card details over the internet. They
consider it to be too risky and fear breach of security. So, popular web browsers have incorporated secure
payment encryption algorithms. Experiments on payment without having to transmit card details over the
internet have been unsuccessful.

6. Easy to Hack- It is often easier for hackers to obtain credit card details, passed over a cordless or mobile
telephone.

7. Social Acceptance is doubtful- The commercial success of internet technology depends upon the
fundamental question of social acceptance. Only when users of technology are motivated to become
customers, electronic commerce will flourish.

8. Size of Internet Market- While the home PC market is growing at a rapid speed, the home internet market
should also match the trend. It means that people should become very familiar not only with personal
computers but should have access to internet and use it quite frequently.

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT OF INTERNET

The following are the methods of connecting a computer to the Internet using software and hardware
peripherals.

• Connecting a computer using Wireless Broadband

• Connecting a computer using an Ethernet Cable

• Connecting a Computer Using Dial- Up Community

HARDWARE REQUIREMENT:

• To connect the Internet, any one of the following is mandatory.

• Modem is used to connect Internet through Telephone connection.

• NIC: Network Interface Card (wired/ wireless) facility is the most important hardware required to connect
Internet. For example, the Laptop can be connected Internet through the wired/wireless.

• Dongle is used to connect the Internet using cellular network

• Wi-Fi router or Hotspot is used to connect the Internet using wireless network

• Electronic device which supports cellular network

• Internet Connectivity such as Dial- up connection, ISDN, DSL, Cable TV, wired and wireless (Cellular) Network.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT:

• The operating system should support TCP (Transfer Control Protocol) IP (Internet Protocol), SMTP (Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (Hyper Text
Transfer Protocol Secured) protocols.

• Browsers and other Internet clients access to the web applications such as Outlook, Gmail, Whatsapp,
Facebook, Twitter and etc.

CONNECTION TYPES:
The following methods are able to connect internet.

1. Dial-up Connection: A dial-up connection is established when two or more data communication
devices use a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to connect to an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) from computers. Many remote locations depend on Internet dial-up connections
because broadband and cable are rare in remote areas with low population. Internet Service
Providers often provide dial-up connections, a feasible alternative for budget-conscious
subscribers.
2. ISDN: ISDN is the acronym of Integrated Services Digital Network. It establishes the connection
using the phone lines (PSTN) which carry digital signals instead of analog signals. It is a set of
communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of data, voice, video, and other
services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network. There are two
techniques to deliver ISDN services such as Basic Rate Interface (BRI) and Primary Rate Interface
(PRI).
3. DSL: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a high- speed Internet service for homes and businesses that
competes with cable and other forms of broadband Internet. DSL provides high-speed
networking over ordinary Telephone lines using broadband modem technology. The technology
behind DSL enables Internet and telephone service to work over the same phone line without
requiring customers to disconnect either their Voice or Internet connections.
4. Cable TV Internet Connection (setup box): The cable TV network can be used for connecting a
computer or a local network to the Internet, competing directly with DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
technology.
This type of network is classified as HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial), as it uses both fiber optics and
coaxial cables. The connection between the cable TV companies to the distribution points
 (Optical nodes) is made using fiber optics, with distances up to 25 miles (40 km). Each optical
node is typically serves between 500 and 2,000 clients (customers).
5. Wireless Internet Connection: It is a technology for wireless local area networking with devices
based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Devices that can use Wi-Fi technology include personal
computers, video-game consoles, phones and tablets, digital cameras, smart TVs, digital audio
players and modern printers. Wi-Fi compatible devices can connect to the Internet via a WLAN
and a wireless access point. Such an access point (or hotspot) has a range of about 20 meters (66
feet) indoors and a greater range of outdoors. Hotspot coverage can be as small as a single room
with walls that block radio waves, or as large as many square kilometres achieved by using
multiple overlapping access points.

SEARCHING WEB USING SEARCH ENGINE

Search engines on the World Wide Web are remotely accessible programs that let you do keyword searches for
information on the Internet. There are several types of search engines and searches may cover titles of
documents, URL's, headers, or full text. Keep in mind that the results you get from one search engine may not
match the results you get from another search engine. In fact, they are often different due to the way each
search engine behaves. Therefore, it may actually be beneficial to use more than one search engine on a
regular basis. Example, Google, Yahoo, etc.