It Skill Notes
It Skill Notes
• Cache Memory
• Primary Memory/Main Memory
• Secondary Memory
Cache Memory
Cache memory is a very high-speed semiconductor memory which can speed up the CPU. It acts
as a buffer between the CPU and the main memory. It is used to hold those parts of data and
program which are most frequently used by the CPU. The parts of data and programs are
transferred from the disk to cache memory by the operating system, from where the CPU can
access them.
Primary Memory (Main Memory)
Primary memory holds only those data and instructions on which the computer is currently
working. It has a limited capacity and data is lost when power is switched off. It is generally
made up of semiconductor device. These memories are not as fast as registers. The data and
instruction required to be processed resides in the main memory. It is divided into two
subcategories RAM and ROM.
Secondary Memory
This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower than the
main memory. These are used for storing data/information permanently. CPU directly does not
access these memories, instead they are accessed via input-output routines. The contents of
secondary memories are first transferred to the main memory, and then the CPU can access it.
For example, disk, CD
Input/output Devices
Following are some of the important input devices which are used in a computer:
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Joy Stick
• Light pen
• Track Ball
• Scanner
• Graphic Tablet
• Microphone
• Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
• Optical Character Reader (OCR)
• Bar Code Reader
• Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
No K e y s & Description
Typing Keys: These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digit keys (09)
Which generally, give the same layout as that of typewriters.
Numeric Keypad: It is used to enter the numeric data or cursor movement.
1 Generally, it consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out in the same
configuration used by most adding machines and calculators.
Function Keys: The twelve function keys are present on the
keyboard which are 3 arranged in a row at the top of the keyboard. Each
function key has a unique
meaning and is used for some specific purpose.
Control keys: These keys provide cursor and screen control. It includes four
4 directional arrow keys. Control keys also include Home, End,
Insert, Delete, Page Up, Page Down, Control (Ctrl), Alternate
(Alt), Escape (Esc).
Special Purpose Keys: Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such
Mouses
Enter, Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, and Print Screen.
Light pen is a pointing device similar to a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu
item or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists of a photocell and an optical
system placed in a small tube.
When the tip of a light pen is moved over the monitor screen and the pen button is
pressed, its photocell sensing element detects the screen location and sends the
corresponding signal to the CPU.
Track Ball
Track ball is an input device that is mostly used in notebook or laptop computer,
instead of a mouse. This is a ball which is half inserted and by moving fingers on the
ball, the pointer can be moved.
Since the whole device is not moved, a track ball requires less space than a mouse. A
track ball comes in various shapes like a ball, a button, or a square.
Scanner
Scanner is an input device, which works more like a photocopy machine. It is used
when some information is available on paper and it is to be transferred to the hard
disk of the computer for further manipulation.
Scanner captures images from the source which are then converted into a digital form
that can be stored on the disk. These images can be edited before they are printed.
Digitizer
Digitizer is an input device which converts analog information into digital form.
Digitizer can convert a signal from the television or camera into a series of numbers
that could be stored in a computer. They can be used by the computer to create a
picture of whatever the camera had been pointed at.
Microphone
Microphone is an input device to input sound that is then stored in a digital form.
MICR input device is generally used in banks as there are large number of cheques to
be processed every day. The bank’s code number and cheque number are printed on
the cheques with a special type of ink that contains particles of magnetic material that
are machine readable.
OCR scans the text optically, character by character, converts them into a machine-
readable code, and stores the text on the system memory.
Bar Code Reader is a device used for reading bar coded data (data in the form of light
and dark lines). Bar coded data is generally used in labelling goods, numbering the
books, etc. It may be a handheld scanner or may be embedded in a stationary scanner.
Bar Code Reader scans a bar code image, converts it into an alphanumeric value,
which is then fed to the computer that the bar code reader is connected to.
OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by
pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and
marked.
Monitors
Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output
device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged
in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image depends upon the number of pixels.
The CRT display is made up of small picture elements called pixels. The smaller the
pixels, the better the image clarity or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated
pixel to form a whole character, such as the letter ‘e’ in the word help.
A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be
divided into a series of character boxes – fixed location on the screen where a
standard character can be placed. Most screens are capable of displaying 80
characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically.
The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume,
weight and power requirement in comparison to the CRT. You can hang them on
walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses of flat-panel display include
calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, and graphics display.
• Emissive Displays: Emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy
into light. For example, plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
• Impact Printers
• Non-Impact Printers
Impact Printers
Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then
pressed on the paper.
• Character printers
• Daisy Wheel
Dot Matrix Printer
In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer. These printers
are popular because of their ease of printing and economical price. Each character
printed is in the form of pattern of dots and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size
(5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which come out to form a character which is why it is called
Dot Matrix Printer.
Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Widely Used
• Other language characters can be printed
Disadvantages
•Slow Speed
• Poor Quality
Daisy Wheel
Head is lying on a wheel and pins corresponding to characters are like petals of Daisy
(flower) which is why it is called Daisy Wheel Printer. These printers are generally
used for word- processing in offices that require a few letters to be sent here and there
with very nice quality.
Advantages
• Drum Printer
• Chain Printer
Drum Printer
This printer is like a drum in shape hence it is called drum printer. The surface of the
drum is divided into a number of tracks. Total tracks are equal to the size of the
paper, i.e. for a paper width of 132 characters, drum will have 132 tracks. A character
set is embossed on the track. Different character sets available in the market are 48-
character set, 64 and 96 characters set. One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum
printers are fast in speed and can print 300 to 2000 lines per minute.
Chain Printer
In this printer, a chain of character sets is used, hence it is called Chain Printer. A
standard character set may have 48, 64, or 96 characters.
Advantages
Non-impact Printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print
a complete page at a time; thus, they are also called as Page Printers.
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print
a complete page at a time; thus, they are also called as Page Printers.
These are non-impact page printers. They use laser lights to produce the dots needed
to form the characters to be printed on a page.
Advantages
• Very high speed
• Very high-quality output
• Good graphics quality
• Supports many fonts and different character size
Disadvantages
• Expensive
• Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing
Inkjet Printers
They make less noise because no hammering is done and these have many styles of
printing modes available. Color printing is also possible. Some models of Inkjet
printers can produce multiple copies of printing also.
Advantages
• High quality printing
• More reliable
Disadvantages
• Expensive as the cost per page is high
• Slow as compared to laser printer
The most common type of storage device is magnetic storage device. In magnetic
storage devices, data is stored on a magnetized medium. Magnetic storage uses
different patterns of magnetization to in a magnetizable medium to store data.
Magnetic storage devices primarily made of disks are Disk Drives. Hard Disk Drive
is a Disk Drive. HDD contains one or more disks that runs in a very high speed and
coated with magnetizable medium. Each disk in a HDD comes with a READ/WRITE
head that reads and write data from and onto the disk.
2. Diskette Drives:
Diskette drives or floppy disks are removable disk drives. The discs in Hard Disk
Drives are not meant to be removed, but in case of Floppy disks, the disks are
removable from the drive which is called Floppy Disk Drive or FDD. Floppy disks
comes with very little storage capacity and meant to be used as portable storage to
transfer data from one machine to another. The FDD reads and writes data from and
to the floppy disk. The floppy disk itself is covered with plastic and fabric to remove
dust. Floppy disk does not contain any read and write head, the FDD contains the
head.
3. Magnetic Tape:
Magnetic tapes are those reels of tapes which are coated with magnetizable elements
to hold and server written on it in one of the many magnetizing data storage patterns.
Tape drives come with very high capacity of storage and still in use though personal
computers, server etc. uses hard disk drives or other modern type of storage
mechanism, tape drives are still in use for archiving hundreds of terabytes of data.
Optical storage refers to recording data using light. Typically, that’s done using a
drive that can contain a removable disk and a system based on lasers that can read or
write to the disk. If you’ve ever used a DVD player to watch a movie, put a CD in a
player to listen to music or used similar disks in your desktop or laptop computer,
you’ve used optical storage.
Compared to other types of storage such as magnetic hard drives, the disks used in
optical storage can be quite inexpensive and lightweight, making them easy to ship
and transport. They also have the advantage of being removable, unlike disks in
typical hard drive, and they’re able to store much more information than previous
types of removable media such as floppy disks.
Among the most familiar types of optical storage devices are the CD, DVD and Blu-
ray disc drives commonly found in computers. Initially, many of these drives were
read-only, meaning they could only access data on already created disks and couldn’t
write new content to existing or blank disks. Still, the read-only devices called CD-
ROM drives revolutionized home and business computing in the 1990s, making it
possible to distribute multimedia material like graphically rich games,
encyclopedias and video material that anyone could access on a
computer. Now, most drives can both read and write the types of optical disks they
are compatible with.
Disks are available that can be written once, usually marked with the letter “R” as in
“DVD-R,” or that can be written multiple times, usually marked with the letters
“RW.” Similar drives are also found in most modern home video game consoles in
order to read game software. Drives in computers and gaming systems can typically
play movies and music on optical disks as well. Make sure you buy disks that are
compatible with your drives and players.
NOR flash provides support to bad block management. Bad block in memory is
handled by controller devices to improve functionality.
We can use the combination of both NOR and NAND memory. NOR (software
ROM) used for instruction execution, and NAND used for non-volatile data storage.
Limitation of Flash Memory
Although Flash memory gives many advantages, yet it has some flaw.
2) Bit flipping: Bit Flipping problem is more occur in NAND memory as compare to
NOR. In Bit Flipping, a bit get reversed and create errors. For checking and
correcting the bit error (EDC/ECC) detection and error correction code are
implemented.
3) Bad block: Bad block are the blocks which can’t be used for storage. If scanning
system gets fails to check and recognize bad block in memory. Then reliability of
system gets reduced.
4) Usage of NOR and NAND memory: NOR is easy to use. Just connect it and use
it. However, NAND not used like that. NAND has I/O interface and requires a driver
for performing any operation. Read operation from NOR do not need any driver.
Types of Software
Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined function.
A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a particular problem.
Software is the language of a computer. And like human language, there are many
different computer languages. Essentially, computer software can be divided into
three main groups depending on their use and application. These are system software
or operating system referred simply as the OS, application software and
programming languages. Usually most of us interact with a computer using
application software.
There are two types of software:
1. System Software
2. Application Software
1. System Software
• Payroll Software
• Student Record Software
• Inventory Management Software
• Income Tax Software
• Railways Reservation Software
• Microsoft Office Suite Software
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
Features of application software are as follows:
• Close to the user
• Easy to design
• More interactive
• Slow in speed
• Generally written in high-level language
• Easy to understand
• Easy to manipulate and use
• Bigger in size and requires large storage space
Different kinds of languages have been developed to perform different types of work
on the computer. Basically, languages can be divided into two categories according to
how the computer understands them.
Low-level computer languages are either machine codes or are very close them. A
computer cannot understand instructions given to it in high-level languages or in
English. It can only understand and execute instructions given in the form of machine
language i.e. binary. There are
Machine language is the lowest and most elementary level of programming language
and was the first type of programming language to be developed. Machine language
is basically the only language that a computer can understand and it is usually written
in hex.
In fact, a manufacturer designs a computer to obey just one language, its machine
code, which is represented inside the computer by a string of binary digits (bits) 0 and
1. The symbol 0 stands for the absence of an electric pulse and the 1 stands for the
presence of an electric pulse. Since a
computer is capable of recognizing electric signals, it understands machine language.
These alphanumeric symbols are known as mnemonic codes and can combine in a
maximum of five-letter combinations e.g. ADD for addition, SUB for subtraction,
START, LABEL etc. Because of this feature, assembly language is also known as
‘Symbolic Programming Language.’ This language is also very difficult and needs a
lot of practice to master it because there is only a little English support in this
language. Mostly assembly language is used to help in compiler orientations. The
instructions of the assembly language are converted to machine codes by a language
translator and then they are executed by the computer.
2. High-Level Languages
High-level computer languages use formats that are similar to English. The purpose
of developing high-level languages was to enable people to write programs easily, in
their own native language environment (English).
High-level languages are basically symbolic languages that use English words and/or
mathematical symbols rather than mnemonic codes. Each instruction in the high-level
language is translated into many machine language instructions that the computer can
understand.
Many languages have been developed for achieving a variety of different tasks. Some
are fairly specialized, and others are quite general.
These languages, categorized according to their use, are:
These languages are oriented towards the computational procedures for solving
mathematical and statistical problems.
Examples include:
• BASIC (Beginners All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
• FORTRAN (Formula Translation)
• PL/I (Programming Language, Version 1)
• ALGOL (Algorithmic Language)
• APL (A Programming Language)
These languages are best able to maintain data processing procedures and
problems involved in handling files. Some examples include:
These are used for string manipulation, including search patterns and
inserting and deleting characters. Examples are:
• C++
• Java
(v) Visual Programming Language
• Visual Basic
• Visual Java
• Visual C
•
COMPILER
However, there are many different types of compilers. If the compiled program can
run on a computer whose CPU or operating system is different from the one on which
the compiler runs, the compiler is a cross-compiler. A bootstrap compiler is written in
the language that it intends to compile. A program that translates from a low-level
language to a higher level one is a decompiler. A program that translates between
high-level languages is usually called a source-to- source compiler or transpiler. A
language rewriter is usually a program that translates the form of expressions without
a change of language. The term compiler-compiler refers to tools used to create
parsers that perform syntax analysis.
Compilers are not the only language processor used to transform source programs.
An interpreter is computer software that transforms and then executes the indicated
operations. The translation process influences the design of computer languages
which leads to a preference of compilation or interpretation. In practice, an interpreter
can be implemented for compiled languages and compilers can be implemented for
interpreted languages.
INTERPRETER
(i) Parse the source code and perform its behavior directly;
(ii) Translate source code into some efficient intermediate representation and
immediately execute this;
While interpretation and compilation are the two main means by which programming
languages are implemented, they are not mutually exclusive, as most interpreting
systems also perform some translation work, just like compilers. The terms
“interpreted language” or “compiled language” signify that the canonical
implementation of that language is an interpreter or a
compiler, respectively. A high level language is ideally an abstraction independent of
particular implementations.
ASSEMBLER
Assemblers are classified based on the number of times it takes them to read the
source code before translating it; there are both single-pass and multi-pass
assemblers. Moreover, some high- end assemblers provide enhanced functionality by
enabling the use of control statements, data abstraction services and providing
support for object-oriented programming structures.
An operating system is software that manages the computer hardware. The hardware
must provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation of the computer
system and to prevent user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the
system.
A more common definition is that the operating system is the one program running at
all times on the computer (usually called the kernel), with all else being application
programs.
An operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and services, such
as memory, processors, devices, and information. The operating system
correspondingly includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic
controller, a scheduler, memory management module, I/O programs, and a file
system.
Operating system as User Interface:
1. User
2. System and application programs
3. Operating system
Hardware
Every general-purpose computer consists of the hardware, operating system, system
programs, and application programs. The hardware consists of memory, CPU, ALU,
and I/O devices, peripheral device, and storage device. System program consists of
compilers, loaders, editors, OS, etc. The application program consists of business
programs, database programs.
The operating system is a set of special programs that run on a computer system that
allows it to work properly. It performs basic tasks such as recognizing input from the
keyboard, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, sending output to the
display screen and controlling peripheral devices.
• It controls the allocation and use of the computing System’s resources among the
various user and tasks.
The Operating system must support the following tasks. The task are:
(i) Provides the facilities to create, modification of programs and data files using an
editor.
(ii) Access to the compiler for translating the user program from high level language
to machine language.
(iii) Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the computer’s
memory for execution.
An operating system includes all the programs of a computer system that control and
monitor the operations of the system. Operating systems typically consist of a kernel
that manages the hardware of the computer, as well as basic system programs that are
used to boot the operating system and configure it. We are going to discuss main
functions of operating system.
Functions of Operating System
Operating system performs the following functions;
1. Booting
4. Data Security
Data is an important part of computer system. The operating system protects the data
stored on the computer from illegal use, modification or deletion.
5. Disk Management
Operating system manages the disk space. It manages the stored files and
folders in a proper way.
6. Process Management
CPU can perform one task at one time. if there are many tasks, operating
system decides which task should get the CPU.
7. Device Controlling
Operating system also controls all devices attached to computer. The hardware devices
are controlled with the help of small software called device drivers.
8. Printing Controlling
Operating system also controls printing function. It a user issues two print
commands at a time, it does not mix data of these files and prints them separately.
9. Providing Interface
It is used in order that user interface acts with a computer mutually. User interface
controls how you input data and instruction and how information is displayed on
screen. The operating system offers two types of the interface to the user;
(i) Graphical-line interface: It interacts with of visual environment to
communicate with the computer. It uses windows, icons, menus and other
graphical objects to issues commands.
An Operating System performs all the basic tasks like managing file,process, and memory.
Thus operating system acts as manager of all the resources, i.e. resource manager. Thus
operating system becomes an interface between user and machine.
Types of Operating Systems: Some of the widely used operating systems are as follows:
1. Batch Operating System
This type of operating system does not interact with the computer directly. There is an
operator which takes similar jobs having same requirement and group them into batches. It is
the responsibility of operator to sort the jobs with similar needs.
Each task is given some time to execute, so that all the tasks work smoothly. Each user gets
time of CPU as they use single system. These systems are also known as Multitasking
Systems. The task can be from single user or from different users also. The time that each
task gets to execute is called quantum. After this time interval is over OS switches over to
next task.
• Real time operating system in embedded system: Since size of programs are
small, RTOS can also be used in embedded systems like in transport and others.
• Limited Tasks: Very few tasks run at the same time and their concentration is
very less on few applications to avoid errors.
• Use heavy system resources: Sometimes the system resources are not so
good and they are expensive as well.
• Complex Algorithms: The algorithms are very complex and difficult for the designer to
write on.
• Device driver and interrupt signals: It needs specific device drivers and
interrupt signals to response earliest to interrupts.
• Thread Priority: It is not g`````ood to set thread priority as these systems are
very less prone to switching tasks.
Examples of Real-Time Operating Systems are:- Scientific experiments, medical
imaging systems, industrial control systems, weapon systems, robots, air traffic control
systems, etc.
The actions in a GUI are usually performed through direct manipulation of the
graphical elements. Beyond computers, GUIs are used in many handheld mobile
devices such as MP3 players, portable media players, gaming devices, smartphones
and smaller household, office and industrial controls. The term GUI tends not to be
applied to other lower-display resolution types of interfaces, such as video games
(where head-up display (HUD) is preferred), or not including flat screens, like
volumetric displays because the term is restricted to the scope of two- dimensional
display screens able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer
science research at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
A GUI uses windows, icons, and menus to carry out commands, such as opening,
deleting, and moving files. Although a GUI operating system is primarily navigated
using a mouse, the keyboard can also be used to navigate using keyboard shortcuts or
the arrow keys.
Benefits of GUI
Unlike a command line operating system or CUI, like Unix or MS-DOS, GUI
operating systems are much easier to learn and use because commands do not need to
be memorized. Additionally, users do not need to know any programming languages.
Because of their ease of use, GUI operating systems have become the dominant
operating system used by today’s end-users.
No. Early command line operating systems like MS-DOS and even some versions
of Linux today have no GUI interface.
What are examples of a GUI interface?
• GNOME
• KDE
• Any Microsoft program (e.g., Word, Excel, and Outlook).
• Internet browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox).
How does the user interact with a GUI?
The user uses a pointing device such as the mouse to interact and use most aspects of
the GUI. However, it is also possible to interact with a GUI using a keyboard or
other input devices.
A dictionary is used on a computer most often to find the meaning words and as a
way to find the correct spelling of a word.
FILE
A file is created using a software program on the computer. For example, to create a
text file you would use a text editor, to create an image file you would use an image
editor, and to create a document you would use a word processor.
VOLUME
(i) When referring to sound, volume refers to the amplitude of the sound being
projected from a speaker. As seen in this picture, two knobs are used to change the
volume level: one controls the subwoofer, and one controls the main (overall) sound
volume.
(ii) When referring to data storage, a volume refers to a logical drive, which has a
single file system and is usually located on a single partition. For instance, on a
typical Microsoft Windows computer, the volume named C: contains the operating
system. In Windows, any drive which has an assigned drive letter is a volume.
LABEL
A label may refer to any of the following:
1. In general, a label is a sticker placed on a floppy diskette drive, hard drive, CD-
ROM or other equipment that contains printed information to help identify that
object or its data.
3. When referring to a chart, a label is any text over a section of a chart that gives
additional information about the charts value. For example, in our pie chart example
each section of the pie chart is labeled to give the value of each percentage.
4. When referring to HTML, the <label> tag is used to create labels for items in a user
interface.
6. Label is also an MS-DOS and Windows command line instruction used to change the
identity of a hard or floppy disk drive.
DRIVE
A drive is a location (medium) that is capable of storing and reading information that is not
easily removed, like a disk or disc. All drives store files and programs that are used by your
computer. For example, when you write a letter in a word processor the program is loaded
from you hard drive and when you save the document it is saved to the hard drive or other
disk or drive.
In the example shown on this above, drive A: is the floppy drive, C: is the primary hard drive,
D: and E: are partitions of the hard drive, and F: is the CD-ROM drive. The CD-ROM drive
is usually the last drive letter, so in most situations the hard drive is the C: drive and a CD-
ROM or other disc drive is the D: drive.
Various LAN protocols are Ethernet, Token Ring: TCP/IP, 5MB, NetBIOS and NetBeui, IPX/SPX,
Fiber Distributed Data Interchange (FDDI) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). LANs can be
distinguished from different types of networks by their size, their transmission technology, and their
topology
A local-area network (LAN) restricted in size, which means that it can span in a
relatively small area.
Various network topologies are possible for broadcast LANs. In a linear cable
network (Bus), at any given time, one client machine is the master machine, and that
is only allowed to transmit. All other machines refrain from sending data. The second
type of broadcast LANs is the ring. In it, LAN operating at 4 and 16 Mbps. FDDI is
another example of a ring network.
Types of LAN
Ethernet is the most common type of LAN. Different Lan can be differentiated on
the behalf of following characteristics.
LANs are used almost exclusively for data communications over relatively short
distances such as within an office, office building or campus environment. LANs
allow multiple workstations to share access to multiple host computers, other
workstations, printers and other peripherals, and connections to other networks.
LANs are also being utilized for imaging applications, as well. They are also being
used for video and voice communications, although currently on a very limited basis.
LAN benefits include the fact that a high-speed transmission system can be shared
among multiple devices in support of large number of active terminals and a large
number of active applications in the form of a multi-user, multi-tasking computer
network. LAN-connected workstations realize the benefit of decentralized access to
very substantial centralized processors, perhaps in the form of mainframe host
computer and storage capabilities (information repositories). Additionally, current
technology allows multiple LANs to be inter-networked through the use of LAN
switches, routers and the like.
Disadvantages of LANs include concern for security of files and accounts.
LAN Advantages and Services
A LAN has the following advantages:
File-based services Transfer of files from one node to another within the LAN
area. For
example, in a typical LAN used for local banking, the file containing the detailed
transactions of a specific customer is transferred form sever to the client, whenever
new transactions are made on behalf of the customer. It also provides efficient ways
of storing and retrieving the data. When multiple copies of the same file exist, it
provides necessary synchronization in updating the files. LAN also provides backup
for the critical data so that safe recovery is possible when a failure occurs. It also
provides data encryption facility to control the access to certain data to only selected
persons.
laws are updated to reflect these rights in the extended environment. Theft,
harassment, and bullying while online is still theft, harassment, and bullying,
period.
For Businesses:
For companies, being a good netizen, applying online ethics, and using netiquette
include:
Most internet users automatically apply the same responsible respectful behavior
online as they do in every other environment and by nature apply netiquette an online
ethics, and are good netizens. The minority that fails to apply societal values in some
or any environment- including the internet- are quickly identified as exceptions to be
dealt with on a social, or criminal level. When you choose to partner with technology
companies, especially for something as important as internet security, it’s imperative
you ensure that the partner shares your understanding of what it means to act
ethically online.
WWW
The World Wide Web (WWW) is a network of online content that is formatted in
HTML and accessed via HTTP. The term refers to all the interlinked HTML pages
that can be accessed over the Internet. The World Wide Web was originally designed
in 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee while he was a contractor at CERN.
The World Wide Web is most often referred to simply as “the Web.”
The World Wide Web is what most people think of as the Internet. It is all the Web
pages, pictures, videos and other online content that can be accessed via a Web
browser. The Internet, in contrast, is the underlying network connection that allows
us to send email and access the World Wide Web. The early Web was a collection of
text-based sites hosted by organizations that were technically gifted enough to set up
a Web server and learn HTML. It has continued to evolve since the original design,
and it now includes interactive (social) media and user-generated content that
requires little to no technical skills.
We owe the free Web to Berners-Lee and CERN’s decision to give away one of the
greatest inventions of the century.
FTP
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.
The end-users machine is typically called the local host machine, which is
connected via the internet to the remote host—which is the second machine
running the FTP software. 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.
Although a lot of file transfer is now handled using HTTP, FTP is still commonly
used to transfer files “behind the scenes” for other applications — e.g., hidden behind
the user interfaces of banking, a service that helps build a website, such as Wix or
Square Space, or other services. It is also used, via Web browsers, to download new
applications.
FTP sessions work in passive or active modes. In active mode, after a client initiates a
session via a command channel request, the server initiates a data connection back to
the client and begins transferring data. In passive mode, the server instead uses the
command channel to send the client the information it needs to open a data channel.
Because passive mode has the client initiating all connections, it works well across
firewalls and Network Address Translation (NAT) gateways.
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.
• FTP software may have a GUI, allowing users to drag and drop files between the
remote and local host. If not, a series of FTP commands are used to log in to the
remote host and transfer files between the machines.
Telnet, Gopher
Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol for accessing remote
computers. Through Telnet, an administrator or another user can access someone
else’s computer remotely. On the Web, HTTP and FTP protocols allow you to
request specific files from remote computers, but not to actually be logged on as a
user of that computer. With Telnet, you log on as a regular user with whatever
privileges you may have been granted to the specific application and data on that
computer.
The result of this request would be an invitation to log on with a userid and a prompt
for a password. If accepted, you would be logged on like any user who used this
computer every day. Telnet is most likely to be used by program developers and
anyone who has a need to use specific applications or data located at a particular host
computer.
Gopher
Gopher is an application-layer protocol that provides the ability to extract and view
Web documents stored on remote Web servers. Gopher was conceived in 1991 as one
of the Internet’s first data/file access protocols to run on top of a TCP/IP network. It
was developed at University of Minnesota and is named after the school’s mascot.
Gopher was designed to access a Web server or database via the Internet. It requires
that files be stored in a menu-style hierarchy on a Gopher server that is accessible
through a Gopher-enabled client browser and/or directly. It initially supported only
text-based file/document access but later came to support some image formats such
as GIF and JPEG.
Gopher was succeeded by the HTTP protocol and now has very few implementations.
Gopher- based databases, servers or websites can be accessed through two search
engines: Veronica and Jughead.
ISPs, URL
An Internet service provider (ISP) is a company that provides customers with
Internet access. Data may be transmitted using several technologies, including dial-
up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or dedicated high-speed interconnects.
Typically, ISPs also provide their customers with the ability to communicate with one
another by providing Internet email accounts, usually with numerous email addresses
at the customer’s discretion. Other services, such as telephone and television services,
may be provided as well. The services and service combinations may be unique to
each ISP.
Individual customers and businesses pay ISPs for Internet Access. ISPs are
interconnected to one another at network access points. In turn, ISPs pay other, larger
ISPs for their Internet access, which in turn pay still other ISPs. This cascades
multiple times until transmissions reach a Tier 1 carrier, which is an ISP capable of
reaching every other network on the Internet without purchasing IP transit or paying
settlements. However, it is difficult to determine the status of a network because the
business agreements to pay settlements are not made public.
However, the situation is more complex than simply a single connection established
to an upstream ISP. ISPs may have more than one point of presence (PoP), which is
an access point to the Internet comprised of a physical location housing server,
routers, ATM switches and digital/analog call aggregators. Some ISPs have
thousands of PoPs. Multiple PoPs may have separate connections to an upstream
ISP. And each ISP may have upstream ISPs and connections to each one of them at
one or multiple PoPs.
URLs
Tim Berners-Lee and the Internet Engineering Task Force working group is credited
with developing the URL in 1994. It is formally specified in RFC 1738.
Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer controlled integration of text,
graphics, drawings, still and moving images (Video), animation, audio, and any other
media where every type of information can be signified, stored, communicated and
handled digitally.
1. Text
2. Images
3. Audio
4. Video
5. Animation
1. Text
This seems so obvious that many people forget about it. Text content is the most
common type of media used throughout multimedia systems and applications.
Chances are, your multimedia system uses text and at least one other type of media to
have functionality. Whether your text relays information or reinforces information, it
is a crucial part of any multimedia system.
2. Images
Many multimedia systems include digital images as part of the application. Many
applications use custom buttons or interactive elements to further customize the
application. Other images can include basic digital image files like JPEGs or PNGs.
These file types allow for good image quality without a large file size.
3. Audio
In many multimedia systems, audio provides a crucial link between text and images.
In applications, many audio files automatically play. If you are using your audio on
the web, the end user might need to have a plug-in media player installed to access it.
Common audio formats include MP3, WMA, and RealAudio.
4. Video
5. Animation
Animation is a fun and common part of both online and desktop multimedia
systems. Whether it means an interactive element that invites the user to engage
with the application or simply a fun animation to watch, animation is a unique
multimedia system element. Adobe Flash is commonly used to create animations
viewable online.
Using images, video and animations alongside a text stimulates the brain. Student
attention
and retention increase. Under these circumstances, in a multimedia learning
environment, students can identify and solve problems more easily compared to
the scenario where teaching is made possible only by textbooks.