INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

Computer Network (Networking and Internetworking)

Until recently, getting a computer was mostly equivalent to getting a machine that would be used to
perform office-related assignments and other calculations. This type of computer was commonly referred to
as standalone. A network is a group of computers linked together so that they can share resources such as
printers, software programs and documents. Computer network is the interconnectivity of autonomous
computers. In order for two computers to share what they have, they must establish some type of
communication. This is easily done using a cable and an appropriate object (a network card, also called NIC)
inserted in each computer. This means that a cable would go from this object of one computer to the same
type of object on the other computer. This is perfectly possible to connect two computers. If you have more
than two computers, then you use a type of intermediary object whose job is to "direct traffic". This object is
called a hub. For example, when one computer A requests to use or open a piece of text that is located in a
computer B but to print it in a printer that is connected to a computer C, this intermediary object is able to
know what computer has the text, what computer has the printer, and what computer needs these two
services. For these reasons, most connections use this intermediary object: the hub
There are two types of networking relationship: computer workstations (clients) are connected to a
number of central network servers, which allocate resources. In a peer-to-peer relationship, computer
workstations serve each other: one workstation may have access to a printer and allocates this resource to
others in the network; another may have access to file storage and allocates this to others (including the
workstation with the printer).

Figure 8: Connection of Computers using the… Hub

Only computers that are connected can share what they have. A computer A that is connected to a
computer B can access what computer B has. When two or more computers are connected, the idea is to let
them share and exchange what they contain. If the computers are small, like regular desktop computers, they
may become overwhelmed and they may not have enough to share. The next step is to have a "bigger" central
computer that holds even more things that other small computers would need (the word big here doesn't
necessarily mean that this computer is physically big; it implies that this computer can do more things, for
example it can perform more and faster calculations, than the other small computers). Such a central
computer is called a server, because its job is to serve other computers (these other small computers are then
called workstations):
 As information and resources (things to share) became more and more useful and in demand, servers of
different companies started establishing types of connections among themselves, of course following some
rules. In fact, in some situations, some big computers (servers) were made simply to provide information to
other computers, without needing to know who owned these small computers, why these small computers
needed this information, or what to do with them. The internet was born.
The Internet is a group of big computers connected to share the information they hold. Some of these
computers belong to the government, schools (mostly universities), big companies (corporations), small
companies and some to individuals. The computers that are connected may not have anything at all in
common. To make sure that this communication is possible, a few rules (called protocols) were established
so that anybody who wants to make his or her information available to other people through the Internet must
follow these rules, no matter what he or she does with the server or computer.
The rules to make a server available on the Internet are numerous and complicated. Therefore, another
type of computers was created that allows casual users to get on the internet without knowing, or being
interested to know how these servers communicate. These new intermediate computers are held by
companies called service providers (they are the middle man). When you have a computer and want to get on
the internet, you use an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who will establish the connection for you and will
make sure that your computer can get on the Internet. Based on this, the Internet can be illustrated as follows:

The advantages of using a network are:

a) Data and information sharing
b) Resources sharing such as a printer, even if they are not physically connected.
c) Reliability and security
d) You can use email
e) You can access the internet
TYPES OF NETWORKS
In describing the basics of networking technology, it will be helpful to explain the different types of networks
in use.
Local Area Networks (LANS)
A net work is any collection of independent computers that exchange information with, each other over a
shared communication medium. Local Area Networks or LANs are usually confined to a limited geographic
area, such as a single building or a college campus. LANs can be small, linking as few as three computers,
but can often link hundreds of computers used by thousands of people. The development of standard
networking protocols and media has resulted in worldwide proliferation of LANs throughout business and
educational organizations.
There is another advance LAN called the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), used when we consider the
distance covered to be between 1 to 10km unlike the LAN that spans within 1km.
Wide Area Networks (WANS)
Often elements of a network are widely separated physically. Wide area networking combines multiple
LANs that are geographically separate. This is accomplished by connecting the several LANs with dedicated
leased lines such as a T1 or a T3, by dial-up phone lines (both synchronous and asynchronous), by satellite
links and by data packet carrier services. WANs can be as simple as a modem and a remote access server for
employees to dial into, or it can be as complex as hundreds of branch offices globally linked. Special muting
protocols and filters minimize the expense of sending data over vast distances.
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANS)
Wireless LANs, or WLANs, use radio frequency (RF) technology to transmit and receive data over the air.
This minimizes the need for wired connections. WLANs give users mobility as they allow connection to a
local area network without having to be physically connected by a cable. This freedom means users can
access shared resources without looking for a place to plug in cables, provided that their terminals are mobile
and within the designated network coverage area. With mobility, WLANs give flexibility and increased
productivity, appealing to both entrepreneurs and to home users. WLANs may also enable network
administrators to connect devices that may be physically difficult to reach with a cable.

Intranet: A Secure Internet-Like Network for Organizations

With advancements in browser-based software for the Internet, many private organizations have
implemented intranets. An intranet is a private network utilizing Internet-type tools, but available only
within that organization. For large organizations, an intranet provides easy access to corporate information
for designated employees.

Extranet: A Secure Means for Sharing Information with Partners

While an intranet is used to disseminate confidential information within a corporation, an extranet is
commonly used by companies to share data in a secure fashion with their business partners. Internet-type
tools are used by content providers to update the extranet. Encryption and user authentication means are
provided to protect the information, and to ensure that designated people with the proper access privileges
are allowed to view it.
 The World Wide Web
Developed by CERN in Geneva in 1990, the World Wide Web (www), also known as the web changed the
face of the Internet to the extent that people mistakenly think the terms Internet and Web are synonymous.
This hypertext system allows text, sound, video and pictures to be put on one page of information. These
pages can, and often do, contain links to other pages whose source can be located anywhere in the world.
The Web has made the internet much more user friendly and, as such infinitely more popular. It has brought
about a time when anyone with the necessary resources can gain better access to information (to use the web
to locate, read and download document stored on computer systems around the world). The Web is cross-
platform, i.e. the same information can be viewed regardless of the type of computer you use. On the web
however, the document are presented as a series of pages commonly known as web pages that are linked
together to form a web site.

A web browser, such as Netscape, has the ability to enable access to many different forms of Internet
distribution: FTP, the Web, Newsgroup and mail all through one application.

Web Server Addresses

Web pages that are accessible to all on the Internet are stored on special computers called as web server.
Each web server is assigned a unique address e.g. www.state.gov.ng. Typically web addresses start with
www.
Electronic Mail (E-mail)
This is a popular resource on the Internet for sending and receiving information. It represents a large portion
of all Internet traffic and is for many the only Internet resource they use. It can be use for business and
personal correspondence and exchange of information. Just like normal mail, addresses are required for the
exchange of email. Everyday person who wishes to use or receive email must have an email address. When a
user applied for an email address, an account referred to as his email address is created for him on the email
server. All email addressed to him is received into this account. Email accounts are password protected, thus
preventing other users from accessing the mail. There are various companies or web sites that provide free
email addresses that you can use at your convenience and that allow you to access your messages from any
computer connected to the internet. Some of these companies are Yahoo, Netscape, Hotmail, Google, etc.
The email address is of this format [email protected]: The username is the identity of the user
whose account it is. The symbol @ separates the Username and the domain name. The domain name is the
unique name given to the email server e.g. pacific.com. Domain name have two components. Thus pacific is
the name of the Organization while com is the type of organization (e.g. net, org, etc.). this is also referred to
as the Uniform
File Sharing and Topic Searching
One of the original Internet goal was global information sharing. File could be transfer between internet
users located at different part of the globe within minutes. Search sites or search engines (e.g. yahoo, msn,
ask, googles, etc.) can be used to locate resources on the internet. The user simply supplies a word or a
phrase, the site then replies with a list of internet locations where the information can be found. Generally,
the search is free and only takes a few seconds.
 Browsers
A browser is a computer application that "understands" the languages (called protocols) of the internet
used to view web pages. Examples include Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mosaic, e.t.c. Browsers
that only show textual information are called Text Based Browsers e.g. Lynx, Alynx, edbrowse (Line-
mode browser), ELinks, Emacs/W3, Net-Tamer, w3m, and WebbIE. They make it easy to pick and follow
links by selecting appropriate highlighted text. Graphical web browsers allow the user to just point and
click to access information. They have the capability to support hypermedia i.e. sounds, movies, formatted
text, and graphics. The most popular of graphical browsers are Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and
Mosaic.

Web Site/Web Page

A web page is an area of text and other fancy visual effects that you see when you get on the internet
(actually it is a file but we haven't learned yet what a file is). A web site is a group of web pages that belong
to one section of the internet, such as one person, one company, one school, or one government agency, etc
(a web site is similar to a folder or directory but we haven't learned what a folder or directory are).
When you get on the internet, you actually access one or different web pages from one or different web
sites. To access a web page, you must first get to the web site to which the web page belongs and you must
know the name of the web page. The combination of a web page and the web site it belongs to is called its
address. To get the address of a web page, you have four main options:
If you know the web site that published the web page, you must first go to that web site. To do this,
after opening the browser, in the address box, you can type the (complete) address of the page
If you have already been to that web page before, you may have book marked it. In this case, you
can "recall" the web page using the main menu of the browser or a button on the browser
If somebody sent you the address, on the document (such as an email) that was sent to you, you may
just click the address that was sent to you (called a link) and the browser would automatically open
the web page

A Link
A link is a word or a sentence that, when clicked, would lead you to a web page or produces an internet-
related action. Because a link is meant for the internet, it is usually displayed in a different color although this
depends on the person who created the link. There are two main ways you get a link:
Somebody may send it to you as a reference or an indication
If you are already on the internet, you may see some words or sentences that coincidentally all display
in the same color
The color of the link is not really what makes it a link. It is the result of what it produces that makes it a link.
To distinguish a link from the other text on a document or a web page, when you position your mouse on it,
the mouse pointer usually changes into a closed hand with a pointing finger. A link can also be created on a
picture. To indicate that a picture holds a link, when you position your mouse on it, the pointing finger cursor
appears.

Search Engines
Although the internet is highly rich with information, that information is not always organized the way you
particularly expect. When "browsing", you may find it hard to get the particular information you want. To
provide an alternative, there are some specialized sites that can perform the search for you, with more or less
accuracy. These sites are referred to as search engines. Some of the most popular of them are Google.com,
Yahoo.com, Alexa.com, MSN.com, Netscape.com, Altavista.com, and Search.com.
To do a search, first access a search engine site. Each one of them provides you with a convenient box in
which you can type the word or sentence to search and press Enter. After a few seconds, the results would be
displayed in a list. You can then click each link and check it. Most of the search engine sites provide more
services than searching the web. For example, both Yahoo and MSN provide free email addresses and the
ability to check your email messages. Some of them also allow you to look for a job, a relationship. Most of
them allow you to shop. Many of them also provide news, etc.
Even though the internet simplifies accessing information, its vastness makes it a little difficult to find
relevant information quickly. To make searching easier, search engines were developed. They are software
on the web that help internet users to look for specific information. Search engines usually refer to websites
that are used to search for data on the web. They search for information on the web on the basis of certain
keywords specified by the user. The result of the search is a list of documents that contain the keywords.
However, the list of found documents could be long, to narrow down the search; there are several options that
can be applied. E.g. putting the phrase in quote, the plus and the minus sign.
Downloading
Downloading is the ability to get something from the internet and put it in your computer. By default,
downloading means that you decide when to get that thing. Unfortunately, some things get into your
computer while using the internet. Some of these things don't bother your computer; some others do. This is
why you should be restrictive with the sites you visit.
By default, sites of big corporations, government agencies, and schools are less harmful, almost not harmful
because they are more accountable or more responsible. In fact, most responsible or accountable businesses
run sites that are not harmful at all (you are extremely unlikely to get a disease, I mean a virus, from the web
site of a big corporation or a government agency).
Like everything else in life, the internet was abused and is now the source of some bad behaviors. There is no
strict list of things you should do or sites you should not visit. So, welcome to this world of the Internet.
Because of bad behaviors some people and corporations have witnessed on the internet, if you work for some
corporations or government agencies, or if you are accessing the internet using a public or school's computer,
you may not be able to just download anything you want, and these decisions are right (if you want to
download harmful things, do it at home or using your own computer; create your own bad experience, be
your own victim, learn from your own mistakes; don't do it on someone else's computer. This means that, if a
school, an agency, a business, or a corporation prevents you from using the Internet any way you want, it is a
valid decision they make and you should live with it).

Many big corporations offer free and safe things you can download (big corporations are more responsible
and

accountable; they can't take the risk of having their name dragged to the mud). For example, if you plan to
get into programming, you can check offerings from http://www.sun.com/, http://www.borland.com/, or
Dev-C++. I didn't cite Microsoft, not because I hate the company (I don't) but because most of its free
offerings I can

remember may be installed in your computer already, such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Works (which is
not really free, it is just that if you buy your computer in a store, it may have Microsoft Works already but if
you don't have Microsoft Works and you nee it, you would have to purchase it) or the .NET Framework
(the .NET Framework is not really free and it is not a program by itself anyway, it is a library whose job is to
complete the operating system; fortunately, while doing that, it comes with free programs for programmers,
not for casual users).

Chat or Internet Teleconference

Chat allows group of people to send messages to one another immediately in real time, once connected with a
large number of other users form all around the world. Chat rooms are created in such that feature a particular
theme, such as romance, politics, fictions, science, movies, sport etc. All the messages typed within a chat
room appear almost simultaneously on the computer screens of all participants for that chat room.
A chat room is much like a party of people mingling and talking at the same general time, except that are
typing short messages instead.
Telnet
This is a program that is designed to allow user to log into another computer on the internet as a user on that
system. With this, a user can log into a server to access information stored on it. However, the only those
users that have been allowed access by the organization can login to the server. Organizations make use of
the telnet to make a part of their system available to outsiders.

FILE PROCESSING

We have learnt some few things about computing to include the basic knowledge and typing. At this point,
any work done need to be preserved for future reference. Hence, either when we closed the application or
shut down the computer, all our valuable work will be gone. Most of the time, after creating something using
an application, you may want to keep it for later reference. You may even want to give or send it to someone
else. File processing consists of creating something on a computer and keeping it. The thing you keep is
called information or datum. The plural of datum is data. In some cases, the word data can be used in both
singular and plural forms. There are various issues related and different techniques used to keep data.
A medium is an object used to hold information in a computer. The plural of medium is media. There are
various kinds of them.

1. Internal Hard Drives

The primary object used to hold information in a computer is called the hard drive:
 Figure 10: A Typical Hard Drive

Everything (data) in your computer is stored in the hard drive. The hard drive is a rectangular box that
contains some discs and other parts. The information stored in a hard drive is written on its discs. The
information can be written to, erased from, copied or moved among discs. Although you will perform these
operations, the operating system is in charge of deciding how the operations are carried out inside. You will
not need to know what is going on inside.
The hard drive is inside of the computer, connected to another wide flat object called the motherboard, using
cables. This type of hard drive is referred to as internal and this the most classic type.
When you purchase a computer, it already has a hard drive. Later on, you can either add a second one to your
computer or replace the hard drive in your computer.
2. External Hard Drives
Until recently, the hard drive was traditionally thought of as a piece of hardware inside the computer. For this
reason, it couldn't be carried away easily: you had to open the computer, disconnect the cables, and then
remove the hard drive. Even then, some other issues were related (such as the type of cable, etc) so much that
people were not in the habit of carrying a hard drive from one computer to another. Fortunately, another
technology was developed to use another type of hard drive that stays outside the computer and it is referred
to as external.
An external hard drive is usually connected to the computer using a cable to a port (USB) outside the
computer. What makes it valuable is that, by simply disconnecting its cable, an external hard drive can easily
be carried from one computer to another. And because the external hard drive doesn't have the same
particularities of cables (IDE vs SATA), it can easily be connected to almost any common computer (PC).
The external hard drive is fairly easy to install. You primarily connect a (USB) cable from the back of the
hard drive to a (USB) port on the computer. In most cases, it should be ready to install (Plug n' Play) or it
may quickly install the software (driver) it needs to function. In some cases, after inserting the cable and
turning the device on, a window may come up asking you to install something (a driver), which you would
also have received from the manufacturer. Install it and continue to use the drive.

3. Internal CD Drives

One of the problems with external hard drives is that, sometimes they can be heavy (not too heavy but still).
Another problem is that, to use them on another computer, you must have the right cable and you must
physically connect them. The remedy to this is to use an object that holds its information but can be ready by
a recognizable drive. A CD drive is an object that can be used to store information on a disk called a compact
disc (CD). It is also connected similar to that of the internal hard drives.

4. External CD Drives
We also have another type of CD drive that stays outside the computer called an external CD drive. This type
is usually connected to the computer through an external port (USB). Here is an example:

Figure 11: An External CD Drive

Like the internal hard drive, the CD drive uses a round disc to store its data. While the hard drive holds its
own many discs inside, the CD drive doesn't actually have a disc. You insert the disc when you think it
necessary, and you can insert only one disc. The CD drive can read regular data but it can also play CD
music.
In early days, the CD drive was used only to read the data on a disc. Most CD drives nowadays are also used
to write to a disc. They are called CD writers or CD burners. As such, the CD writer can be used to both read
from, and write to, a disc.
5. Internal DVD Drives
As you can expect, the CD has some limitations. For example, it can hold only a specify amount of
information and it can play only music. To overcome some of its limitations, there is the DVD (Digital Video
Disc) drive. This drive looks like the CD drive and they have the same dimensions.
6. External DVD Drives
There is also an external DVD drive. Like the hard and the CD drives, the external DVD drive connects to
the computer using a (USB) cable connected to a port on the computer.
7. Flash Drives
A flash drive is a small drive that can be used to hold data.
To use it, you insert its metallic side in a USB port on the computer.
Once you do, it turns itself on and a window may come up asking you
what you want to do. In some cases, the drive would need to install
something (a driver) for it to work.
Figure 12: The Flash Drive

8. Memory Cards and Card Readers

The function of a memory card is similar to that of a flash drive except that the card needs a reader for it to be
useful. You would buy them separately and insert the memory card into the card reader which is invariably
connected to the computer via the USB port.
The Size of a Drive
Because a drive cannot have unlimited space, it is recognized for its size. The size of a drive can be measured
by, or specified in, MB or GB. For example, a typical CD can hold 700MB of data. A regular DVD can hold
information up to 4.7GB in size. The sizes of hard drives are very varied. To find the size of a hard drive in
your computer, from either Windows Explorer or My Computer, you can right-click the drive letter and click
Properties.

The Size of a File

In order to keep track of the various files in a computer, each file has a size. The size of a file can be
measured in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes. To know the size of a file, in either Windows Explorer or My
Computer, you can right-click it and click Properties.