Chapter 1

Basics of Internet

Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, learner will be able to:
• Define the Internet.
• List the features of WWW.
• Differentiate between the Internet and WWW.
• Understand the working of Search Engines.
• List different types of servers with their purpose.
• Understand the different components of a Website.
• Appreciate the use of different protocols.
• State the advantages & disadvantages of creating Blogging.

Introduction
Today we live in a world of technology, where internet spins a web of interconnectivity
around the globe. Through internet more than fifty million people in countries around
the world have been connected. Internet was evolved in 1969, under the project named
ARPANET(Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) to connect computers at different
universities and U.S. defence. Soon after the people from different backgrounds such as
engineers, scientists, students and researchers started using the network for exchanging
information and messages.

In 1990s the internetworking of ARPANET,

NSFnet and other private networks resulted into
Internet. Therefore, Internet is a ‘global network
of computer networks’. It comprises of millions
of computing devices that carry and transfer
volumes of information from one device to the
other. Desktop computers, mainframes, GPS units,
cell phones, car alarms, video game consoles, are
connected to the Net.

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 1. World Wide Web
1.1 History of World Wide Web
The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, in 1995 the first connection
was established over what is today known as the Internet.

By the end of 1990, the first Web page was served. In April 1993, the World Wide Web
technology was available for anyone to use on a royalty-free basis.

Since that time, the Web has changed the world. It has perhaps become the most powerful
communication medium the world has ever known.

A global Web of computers known as the Internet, allows individuals to communicate

with each other often called the World Wide Web. The Internet provides a quick and easy
exchange of information and is recognized as the central tool in this Information Age.

1.2 Definition
The World Wide Web (WWW) is an internet based service, which uses common set of rules
known as Protocols, to distribute documents across the Internet in a standard way.

The World Wide Web, or ‘Web’ is a part of the Internet. The Web is viewed through web
browser softwares such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox etc. Using
browsers one can access the digital libraries containing innumerable articles, journals,
e-books, news, tutorials stored in the form of web pages on computers around the world
called Web Servers. Today thousands of web pages/websites are added to the WWW every
hour.

1.2 Difference between Internet and WWW

The Internet is known as “interconnection of computer networks”. The Internet is a massive
network of networks. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network
in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are
both connected to the Internet. Information that travels over the Internet does so via a
variety of languages known as protocols.

The World Wide Web, or “Web” for short, or simply Web, is a massive collection of digital
pages to access information over the Internet.

The Web uses the HTTP protocol, to transmit data and allows applications to communicate
in order to exchange business logic. The Web also uses browsers, such as Internet Explorer

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or Firefox, to access Web documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via
hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.

1.3 Search Engines

Search engines are the programs which are needed to extract the information from the
internet. They play a very important role in our daily routine, as today for each and every
information we are dependent on internet.

Web search engines work with the help of two programs, Spider which fetches as many
documents as possible. Another program, called an indexer, reads the documents and
creates an index based on the words contained in each document. Each search engine uses
an algorithm to create its indices such that, only related results for specified keywords is
stored and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found.

A search engine works in the following order:

1. Web crawling: Web search engines work by storing information about many web
pages. These pages are retrieved by the program known as Web crawler - which
follows every link on the site. Web crawler may also be called a Web spider.
2. Indexing: Indexing also known as web indexing, it stores data to facilitate fast and
accurate information retrieval.
3. Searching: A web search query fetches the result from the web search engine entered
by the user to meet his information needs.
Few search engines available are as follows:

2. Web Servers
2.1 What is a Server?
A server is a computer that provides data to other computers. The entire structure of the
Internet is based upon a client-server model.

Web server helps to deliver web content that can be accessed through the Internet. The
most common use of web servers is to host websites, as the internet is not only used to

Basics of Internet 3
 fetch the information but there are other uses such as gaming, data storage or running
business applications.

The primary job of a web server is to deliver web pages to clients. The communication
between the client node and server node takes place using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP). The delivered web pages include images, style sheets and scripts in addition to
text content.

2.2 Server Software

A web server commonly known as HTTP server or application server is a program
that serves content using the HTTP protocol. This content is generally in the form of
HTML documents, images, and other web resources, but can include any type of file. The
content served by the web server can be pre-existing (static content) or generated on the
fly (dynamic content).

1. Apache web server - the HTTP web server: Apache Software

Foundation developed the free and open source web server and can be
installed and made to work on almost all operating systems including
Linux, Unix, Windows, FreeBSD, Mac OS X and more. Almost, 60%
of the web server machines run the Apache web server
2. Apache Tomcat: Apache Tomcat is free and open source web server
that can run on different operating systems like Linux, Unix, Windows,
Mac OS X, Free BSD. It was developed to support servlets and JSP
scripts. It can serve as a standalone server.

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 3. Lighttpd: Lighttpd is a free web server distributed with the FreeBSD
operating system. This open source web server is fast, secure and
consumes much less CPU power. Lighttpd can also run on Windows,
Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris operating systems.
4. Jigsaw: Jigsaw (W3C’s Server) is introduced by the World Wide
Web Consortium. It is open source and free and can run on various
platforms like Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS X Free BSD etc. Jigsaw
is written in Java thus can run CGI scripts and PHP programs.

2.3 Services Provided by the Servers

Today many services are being provided by the Web Server. Many of the servers are based on
Cloud computing which is popular amongst the researchers, scientists & entrepreneurs.

Cloud Computing is distributed computing over a network, and has the ability to run a
program or application on many connected computers at the same time.

It is used, where various computing concepts that involve a large number of computers
are connected via real-time communication network such as the Internet.

Various services provided by the Web server are:

1. Cost Efficient: Web server is the most cost efficient method to use, maintain and
upgrade. Traditional desktop software costs companies a lot in terms of finance. On
the other hand, it is available at much cheaper rates. Besides, there are many one-
time-payment, pay-as-you-go and other scalable options available, which makes it
very reasonable for the company.
2. Resource Sharing: Web Server has the capability to store unlimited information such
as Google Drives, Cloud computing etc. The space where the data can be stored is
shared by the other users at the same time like hard disk can be shared on physical
network as LAN.
3. Data Sharing: With the help of web servers one can easily access the information
from anywhere, where there is an Internet connection using Google docs such as
Documents, Excel sheets, Drawings, Powerpoint presentations etc.
4. Backup and Recovery: As all the data now a days is stored on web servers, backing
it up and restoring the same is relatively much easier than storing the same on a
physical device. Hence, the entire process of backup and recovery much simpler than
other traditional methods of data storage.

Basics of Internet 5
 2.4 Types of Servers
1. Mail Server: Mail Servers provides a centrally-located pool of disk space for network
users to store and share various documents in the form of emails. Since, all the data is
stored in one location, administrators need only backup files from one computer.
2. Application Server: An application server acts as a set of components accessible to the
software developer through an API defined by the platform itself. For Web applications,
these components are usually performed in the same running environment as its web
server(s), and their main job is to support the construction of dynamic pages.
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Server: FTP uses separate control and data connections
between the client and the server. FTP users may authenticate themselves in the form
of a username and password, but can connect anonymously if the server is configured
to allow it. For secure transmission username and password must be encrypted using
FTP and SSL.
4. Database Server: A database server is a computer program that provides database
services to other computer programs or computers using client-server model. Database
management systems frequently provide database server functionality, and some
DBMSs (e.g., MySQL) depend on the client-server model for database access.
Such a server is accessed either through a “front end” running on the user’s computer
where the request is made or the “back end” where the request is served such as data
analysis and storage.
5. Domain Name System (DNS) Server: A name server is a computer server that hosts
a network service for providing responses to queries. It maps a numeric identification
or addressing component. This service is performed by the server in response to a
network service protocol request.
The primary function of these DNS servers is the translation (resolution) of human-
memorable domain names and hostnames into the corresponding numeric Internet
Protocol (IP) addresses. The secondary function of DNS is to recognize a name space of the
Internet, used to identify and locate computer systems and resources on the Internet.

3. Web Site
3.1 Definition
The collection of web pages on the World Wide Web that is accessed by its own Internet
address is called a Web site. Thus, a Web site is a collection of related Web pages. Each
Web site contains a home page and contains other additional pages. Each Web site is owned
and updated by an individual, company, or an organization. Web is a dynamically moving
and changing entity, today web sites generally change on a daily or even hourly basis.

6 Information and Computer Technology

3.2 How Website is different from Portal?
Web portal is a medium by which users access the resources, while a website is a destination
in itself. Portals and websites are distinct entities which are linked together, but they should
not replace each other. A website is also a portal, if it broadcast information from different
independent resources where as Web Portal refers to a website or services that provide varied
resources and services such as email, forums, search engines and online shopping malls.

Some of the web portals are AOL, iGoogle, Yahoo and even more.

A website refers to a location or a domain name hosted on a server which is accessible via
internet. It is a collection of web pages, images, videos which are addressed relative to a
Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Websites provide content from independent resources to
specific audience. The content of the website is generally focused & contains the material
needed to be accessed.

3.3 Components of Website

1. Contents of a Web Page: A webpage of a website must contain the basic elements
such as Page title, URL, file name, header, footer, navigation, web page content are
all parts to the composition of a web page.
2. Website Graphics: Always use web graphics which have been optimized for optimum
download speed, as the web hosting space affects the performance of the website.
3. Heading of the site: Headings in a website play a crucial role as they not only present
a clear structure of the web page to the audience and help the search engines to
retrieve the required information.
4. Effective Colour Contrast: As the websites are used to retrieve the information related
to specific purpose or topic. It is very important to take care of the presentation of the
contents of the sites. So that, website visitors must not have any difficulty in reading
a web page. As some times when we pick a colour scheme for our website we forget
that there are people with poor vision and colour deficiencies.

3.4 Elements of Website, are as follows:

❖ Good Visual Design: A site must be appealing and if required, must be professional.
Your site reflects your company, your products and your services.
❖ Screen Resolution: As we know that websites are displayed on the screen of electronic
devices and every device has different resolution. Today, the average web surfer uses
a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. However, you need to make sure that your website
looks good at this setting and must work nicely for other resolutions too.

Basics of Internet 7
 ❖ Colour Scheme & Text Formatting: To make the website presentable appropriate
colour scheme must be used. Always use 2 or 3 primary colours that reflect the
purpose of your site. Add contrast colours in your site, which helps the user to easily
read the text. Use fonts that are easy to read and available on most of today’s computer
systems. Keep the standard font size for paragraph text i.e. between 10 and 12 pts.
❖ Insert Meaningful Graphics: Graphics are important, as they provide the site a legible
and interactive appearance. However, don’t use too many images and that too with
a high resolution. First, whenever user will try to download the website it will take
too long to download and secondly, too many images with less text, lose the interest
of the customer.
❖ Simplicity: Keep your site simple and allow for adequate white space. Don’t overload
your site with complex design, animation, or other effects to impress your viewers.
❖ Relevant Content: Include relevant information along with style, to help the visitors
to make a decision.
❖ Navigation: Keep your site simple and well organized. Don’t use fancy Navigation Bar
in your website. Place all the menu items at the top of your site, or above the fold on
either side. Include Site Maps in your site to reduce the number of top level navigation
items. Every component of your site should work quickly and correctly. Broken or
poorly constructed components will frustrate the visitors. All the hyperlinks, contact
forms, should be placed appropriately.
❖ Minimal Scroll: While surfing the sites for information users do not like scrolling
the page instead they need to see all the information on one screen. Even the Search
Engines will reward you for this behaviour.
❖ Consistent Layout: Always use a consistent layout in the whole website which will
help you to retain the theme of the site.
❖ Cross-platform/browser Compatibility: Today many open source browsers are being
used by the users. Create a website which should be platform independent.

3.5 Construction of Website

Steps to build a Website
Step 1: Hosting
The first step in constructing a website is to decide about the web hosting provider for
your site.

There are several types of Web hosting options you can choose from such as:

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Free Web hosts: Most people want to go for free Web hosting. On one hand it is free but
on the other hand, you don’t always get much space, due to low bandwidth.

Search a Web Hosting Provider: These are the links to other sites for finding a good host
for your site.

Step 2: Domain Name

You can plan your website in two ways: using a domain name and without using a domain
name. You can put up a site on free hosting or even paid hosting plans. A domain name
provides extra branding for your site and makes it easier for people to remember the
URL.

Step 3: Plan Your Website

After deciding the domain and your URL, you can start planning your site. You need to
decide the audience aimed at.

Select the type of site: Most websites are either news/information, product, or reference
sites. Each has a different focus. A site must have formal language, where as a personal
site can use slang and an informal tone.

Step 4: Build Your Website Page by Page

For building a website you need to work on one page at a time. To build your site you
should be familiar with the key elements of the site as discussed above.

Step 5: Publish Your Website

After the completion of the design now it is the time to publish your website on web. You
can do this either with the tools using your hosting service or with FTP clients. Knowing
which you can use depends upon your hosting provider.

Step 6: Promote Your Website

There are many ways to promote a website such as web search engine, word of mouth,
email, and advertising. You build your Web content so that it ranks well in commonly
used search engines. This can be difficult, but it is inexpensive and can result in good
results if you work at it.

Step 7: Maintain Your Website

Maintenance is the last step of constructing a site which helps in keeping your site updated
with the latest trends of market. In order to keep your site going well and looking good,

Basics of Internet 9
 you need to test your site frequently. And you should also work on content development
on a regular basis.

3.6 Software used to Create Website:

CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor

Notepad++

PageBreeze

Firebug

Bluefish Editor

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 Brackets

KompoZer

OpenBEXI

GIMP

BlueGriffon

4. Webpage
4.1 Definition
A Web page also known as Electronic Page, is a part of the World Wide Web. It is just
like a page in a book. The basic unit of every Web site or document on the Web is a Web
page containing the information.

Basics of Internet 11
 A Web page can contain an article, or a single paragraph, photographs, and it is usually
a combination of text and graphics.

4.2 Static and Dynamic areas

A static web page often called a flat page or stationary page, is a web page that is delivered
to the user exactly as stored. A static web page displays the same information for all
users, such versions are available and the server is configured to do so. Such web pages
are suitable for the contents that never or rarely need to be updated.

A dynamic web page is a web page which needs to be refreshed every time whenever it
opens in any of the web browsers to display the updated content of the site.

4.3 What makes a web page works?

❖ The server receives the request for a page sent by your browser.
❖ The browser connects to the server through an IP Address; the IP address is obtained
by translating the domain name.
❖ In return, the server sends back the requested page.

4.4 Difference between Webpage and Website

A web page is one single page of information, while a website is made up of a number of
different web pages connected by links known as Hyperlinks.

5. Web Browser
A browser is a software that lets you view web pages, graphics and the online content.
Browser software is specifically designed to convert HTML and XML into readable
documents.

The most popular web browsers are: Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari,
Opera and UC Browser.

5.1 Tool Bar

×
Back Forward Stop Refresh Home Search Favorites History

The Tool Bar is much like the Menu Bar stretching from left to right across the top of
your screen just under the Address Bar

12 Information and Computer Technology

Back button : Helps to open the previously opened website.
Back history : Helps to bring up a list of the sites visited.
Forward button : This button will only be available once you have used the Back
button at least once. It helps to take you to the page you just left
when you clicked on the Back button.
Forward history : That brings up a list of the sites you have visited and then used
the Back button to return.
Stop : Helps to stop the current download.
Refresh : Gives the most recent version of the page that we are on.
Home : Helps you to instantly get back home page (first page).
Search : Helps to retrieve the specified files using web search engine.
Favourites : Helps to open up the most frequently visited sites.
History : Helps you to see where you have been on the Internet.

5.2 SSL
The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol, uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) for managing the security of a message transmission
on the Internet. The “sockets” term refers to the sockets method of passing data back and
forth between a client and a server program in a network or between program layers in
the same computer. SSL uses the public-and-private key encryption system, which also
includes the use of a digital certificate.

5.3 Various Web browsers available in the market:

Google
a. b. Mozilla Firefox
Chrome

c. Safari d. Opera

e. Maxthon f. Internet Explorer

Basics of Internet 13
 Netscape
g. h. Avant Browser
Navigator

YouTube
i. j. UC Browser
Browser

6. Blogs
6.1 Definition
A blog, short for ‘web log’ is a modern online writer’s column. A blog is a web site like
any other, but it is intended to offer personal opinions of people on their hobbies, interests,
commentaries, photo blogs, etc.

Initially, blogs started out as online personal diaries, but in a technology-driven world,
now they have also been taken up by businesses as an informal method of communicating
with customers and clients.

Blogs can also be used for commercial purposes, too. Absolutely anyone can start a blog,
but some people make reasonable incomes by selling advertising on their blog pages.
Social network companies also realise how popular blogs are and many offer free blog
space (e.g. MySpace).

Another feature of popularising a blog is the ability of visitors to add comments to the
stories.

There are two ways of starting your own blog:

1. Free blog hosting: You do not need a server to start your own blog. There are plenty
of free, open source blogging software you can install. For example WordPress and
Moveable Type.
2. Paid blogging: Another way is when a company provides you a limited amount of
space or a column on their website and the blogger has to pay for the same till the
time he is using the available space.

6.2 Types of blogs

There are millions of blogs on the Web. But they are categorised into these types:
❖ Personal blogs

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 ❖ News and views
❖ Company blogs
❖ Micro blogs

Personal blog
By far the most popular among all types of blogs is the personal blog, after all, blogging
started off as a way of giving words to your thoughts. A typical blogger may be keen on
posting stories about his interests.

News and views

These days, we find a number of news and television companies having professional
journalists who post stories and views about the latest events. Visitors can comment their
opinions as well. BBC is a popular example of the same.

Company blogs
Many companies run blogs to let their customers and clients know about the new products
coming up or progress being made on some project.

Micro-blogs
This is a new type of blog where you post very short comments that others can follow
and a powerful way for professionals to keep in touch with each other. Twitter is the best
example.

6.3 Bloggers
Those days are now a thing of the past when journalists had only pens and papers or
specific websites to write on because now they have websites and blogs on which they can
express their views. A person who writes a blog is simply known as a blogger.

Associating this to social networking websites allows you to get viewers and readers who
would then promote these amongst other people.

A good blogger should keep a few things in mind:

❖ Write unique but meaningful content. Try keeping the language simple and concise
and incorporate some surprise elements. Find a topic that would intrigue your readers
or an issue that people are looking out for more information. Remember to BE
ORIGINAL. This will increase the credibility.

Basics of Internet 15
 ❖ Don’t make it boring. Avoid clichés. Keep your writing informal, if possible funny or
quirky and create a perfect balance between keeping the mood light and professional
enough to suggest you are serious about your matter.
❖ Knowing your topic is good but not enough. You need to express it in a right way
and communicate properly to your readers. Write crisp, short, active sentences with
powerful verbs. Ensure that your content is error-free, proofread and edit your work
meticulously and only when you are satisfied with it, hit the publish button.
❖ The title is the crux of any content. Your best quality content will hold no meaning
if the title itself is not catchy. The first thing readers notice is the headline. You have
to tempt them to open the link and leave satisfied but still wanting to know more
about other blogs. This eventually increases traffic to your site!

Advantages of Blogging:
1. We can work on blog anytime and anywhere in the world, all you need is your laptop
or a desktop computer and wireless internet services.
2. You are your own employee. When blogging, you can blog any time you want to
whenever you think of something that is relevant to your blog.
3. As a blogger, you are flexible and can choose to write about anything in the world
as long as it benefits you and befits your opinions and thought process.
4. Very quick and easy to set up, do not need much technical knowledge.
5. Easy and quick to update or add new posts. People can leave comments on your blog
and you can comment on other persons’ blogs, too.

Disadvantages of Blogging:
1. You need to be patient because you don’t start earning in a single day. Readership
takes time to develop within people.
2. Blogging is time-consuming. You need to be disciplined. Finding time to write regular
updates can become a chore.
3. You need to be very active as a blogger so that people can read your blog posts. If,
for example, you fall ill, you won’t be able to blog and this would result in losing
followers.
4. As you know the public to everyone, you need to put a check on your language.
5. There are many very dull blogs around. You may have to look at many before you
find some worth reading.

16 Information and Computer Technology

7. URL
7.1 Definition
URL’s, or ‘uniform resource locators’, are the web browser addresses of internet pages
and files. It is the way to locate a file or document on the Internet. The URL specifies
the address of a file and every file on the Internet has a unique address. It works with IP
addresses to give a name, location to web pages. Web software, such as your browser, use
the URL to retrieve a file from the computer on which it resides.

Format of a URL:
Protocol://site address/path/filename

Every URL has three parts to address a page or file:

1. Protocol which ends with a ‘//:’
2. Host computer which ends with web extensions such as .com,.org etc.
3. Filename or page name which displays the related information.
Example:
http://www.banks.com/login/password.htm

The above URL consist of:

❖ Protocol : http
❖ Host computer name : www
❖ Domain name : banks
❖ Domain type : com
❖ Path : /login
❖ File name : password.html

7.2 Elements of Absolute and relative URL:

An Absolute URL is independent or free from any relationship. It specifies the exact
location of a file or directory on the internet. When you use an absolute URL, you target
a particular file. Thus, each absolute URL is unique, which means that if two URLs are
identical, they point to the same file. These URLs are always preferred as they help in
web site maintenance. Moreover, it is easy to transfer a web site from one domain name
to another, you need not to update each link on each page.
For example:
http://www.developers.com/images/hardware.gif

Basics of Internet 17
 In above URL specifies an image file hardware.gif located in the images directory, under
domain name www.developers.com.

If we want to include the image file hardware.gif stored in the images directory of www.
developers.com domain on this page.

Using an Absolute URL in an <img> tag is as follows:

<img src= http://www.developers.com/images/hardware.gif width=”...” height=”...” />

A Relative URL is targeted to a file or directory in relation to the present file or directory.
If the web site has several sections and the files and web pages for each section have been
segregated into different directories. This helps in keeping things organized and uncluttered
on the web site. The relative URLs are shorter than absolute URLs and hence the file size
of the web page would reduce, if you use the former.

For example:
If we want to include the image file hardware.gif stored in the images directory of
www.developers.com domain on this page using an absolute URL.

The <img> tag for this image display will be as follows:

Using a Relative URL in an <IMG> tag

<img src=”../images/hardware.gif ” width=”...” height=”...” />

7.3 Protocols
Definition
When we have to communicate with anyone, then we need to follow the same language,
so that communication can be done in an effective manner. In the same way ,whenever
there is need to exchange data or information among different or same type of networks
on internet, they need to follow same set of rules.

The Internet is based on many layers of information, where each layer is dedicated to a
different kind of documentation. These different layers are called Protocols. A protocol
is a set of rules that governs the communication between computers on a network. They
exist at several levels in a telecommunication connection.

The most popular protocols used on internet are the World Wide Web, FTP, Telnet,
Gopherspace, instant messaging, and email.

18 Information and Computer Technology

7.4 Types of Protocols
TCP/IP
1. TCP/IP: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the basic
point-to-point meaning each communication is from one point (or host computer)
in the network to another point or host computer communication protocol on the
Internet. It is used as a communication protocol in all types of networks. When
you are connected to the Internet, your computer provides you a copy of the TCP/
IP program when you need to send messages to or get information from the other
computer.
TCP/IP is a two layer protocol. The top layer, TCP(Transmission Control Protocol)
manages the assembling of a message or file divided into smaller packets that are
transmitted over the Internet and received by a TCP that reassembles the packets into
the original message on the destination computer. The lower layer, Internet Protocol,
handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination. Each
gateway computer on the network checks for the address to forward the message.
Some packets from the same message are routed differently than others, but they are
reassembled at the destination.
2. HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, is a set of standards that allows users
of the World Wide Web to exchange information found on web pages on internet.
HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web
servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. Today’s modern
browsers no longer require HTTP in front of the URL since it is the default method
of communication. But, it is still used in browsers because of the need to access other
protocols such as FTP through the browser. The HTTP provides a standard for Web
browsers and servers to communicate.
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard protocol used on network to transfer the
files from one host computer to another host computer using a TCP based network,
such as the Internet.
FTP uses separate control and data connections between the client and the server. To
use FTP server, users need to authenticate themselves using a sign-in protocol, using
a username and password, but can connect anonymously if the server is configured
to allow it. For secured transmission the data encrypts (hides) the username and
password, and even encrypts the content, using SSL.
To transfer files with FTP, use a program often called the client. An FTP client program
initiates a connection to a remote computer running FTP server software. After the

Basics of Internet 19
 connection is established, the client can choose to send and/or receive files. To connect
to an FTP server, a client requires a username and password as set on the server.
Many FTP servers use a username as “anonymous”. Using FTP, you can also update
(delete, rename, move, and copy) files at a server. You need to logon to an FTP server.
However, publicly available files are easily accessed using anonymous FTP.
FTP using TCP/IP, works in the same way as HTTP used for transferring Web pages
from a server to a user’s browser. FTP sites are heavily used and require several
attempts before connecting.
To use your web browser to connect to an FTP site, where you normally enter a URL
as follows:
ftp://[email protected] name/

Summary
❖ The World Wide Web (WWW) is an internet based service, which uses common set of rules
known as Protocols, to distribute documents across the Internet in a standard way.
❖ The Internet is a massive network of networks. It connects millions of computers together
globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer
as long as they are both connected to the Internet.
❖ Search engines are the programs which are needed to extract the information from the
internet.
❖ A search engine works in the following order: Web crawling, Indexing, Searching
❖ A web server commonly known as HTTP server or application server is a program that
serves content using the HTTP protocol.
❖ A Web page can contain an article, or a single paragraph, photographs, and it is usually a
combination of text and graphics.
❖ A browser is a software that lets you view web pages, graphics and the online content.
❖ The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol, uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and
Transport Control Protocol (TCP) for managing the security of a message transmission on
the Internet.
❖ A blog is a web site like any other, but it is intended to offer personal opinions of people on
their hobbies, interests, commentaries, photo blogs, etc.
❖ URL’s, or ‘uniform resource locators’, are the web browser addresses of internet pages and
files. It is the way to locate a file or document on the Internet.
There are two types of URL: Absolute and Relative.
A protocol is a set of rules that governs the communication between computers on a network.

20 Information and Computer Technology

 Exercise
A. Multiple Choice Questions:
1. ARPANET stands for-
(a) Advanced Real Projects Air Network
(b) Advanced Research Preparation Agency Network
(c) Advanced Recruitment Process Agency Network
(d) Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
2. In 1990s, the internetworking of which three networks resulted into Internet?
(a) WWW, GPS and other private networks
(b) ARPANET, NSFnet and other private networks
(c) ARPANET, NSFnet and other public networks
(d) ARPANET, GPS and NSFnet
3. Web search engines works with the help of two programs. Which are they?
(a) Web crawler and Cascading Style Sheet
(b) Spider and Indexer
(c) Web server and web crawler
(d) None of the above
4. Web Site is a collection of ______________.
(a) Audio and video files
(b) Pictures
(c) Web pages
(d) All of the above
5. AOL, iGoogle, Yahoo are examples of ______________.
(a) Web Site
(b) Web Page
(c) Web Portal
(d) None of the above
6. ______________is distributed computing over a network, and involve a large number of
computers connected via real-time communication network such as the Internet.
(a) Cloud Computing
(b) Thin Client Computing
(c) Fat Client Computing
(d) Dumb terminal Computing
7. A ______________ is a web site like any other, but it is intended to offer personal opinions
of people on their hobbies, interests, commentaries, photo, etc.
(a) Protocol (b) Blog
(c) Webpage (d) Journals

Basics of Internet 21
 8. ______________ protocol defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and
what actions Web servers and browsers should take in response to various commands.
(a) FTP (b) TCP/IP
(c) HTTP (d) SMTP
9. URLs are of two types:
(a) Absolute & Relative (b) Static & Dynamic
(c) Absolute & Dynamic (d) None of the above
10. DNS is an acronym for ______________.
(a) Domain Name Security (b) Domain Number System
(c) Document Name System (d) Domain Name System

B. Answer the following questions:

1. Define the following terms:
(a) URL (e) Protocol
(b) FTP (f) Blog
(c) Blogger (g) TCP/IP
(d) ARPANET (h) HTTP
2. Define WWW. How is it different from the Internet?
3. Briefly explain the various types of servers.
4. Differentiate between static webpage and a dynamic webpage.
5. Simran has a hobby of writing articles and short write-ups. She wants to share her views
with the world. Suggest what she can do to make her views public and share her thoughts
with everyone.
6. What is a Search Engine? How does it work?
7. What is a Web Server? What are the various services provided by web servers, these
days?
8. What is a Web Page? How does it work and how is it different from a website?
9. What is meant by Cloud Computing?
10. What is a Web Site? How does it differ from a Web Portal?
11. What are the various steps involved while creating a Web Site? Explain.
Discuss the various types of blogs.
12. Name some softwares used to create a Website.
13. What do you mean by a Web Browser?
14. What is meant by SSL?
15. Discuss the various types of blogs.

22 Information and Computer Technology

 16. People nowadays are pursuing blogging as their career. But, still there are many who
refuse to go for the same. Discuss your views on the topic.
17. Briefly explain the elements of a website.

C. Lab Session
Q.1. List the URLs of all the commercial and non-commercial websites and find out their
domain names, servers and protocols.
Q.2. Name all the websites related to e-commerce.
Q.3. Create your e-group on a social networking site and share your opinions and views on
environment.
Q.4. Name all the personal types of blogging sites.
Q.5. List all the popular search engines in the market.
Q.6. Write the names of all the newsgroups that you can join on internet.
Q.7. Make a list of IP addresses of a few of your favourite sites using any search engine of
your choice.
Q.8. Make a collage depicting all the logos of web browsers and list their comparative
features.
Q.9. Identify the category of these sites and complete the table.

Website Category
www.olx.in
www.facebook.com
www.icicibank.com
www.irctc.co.in
www.merriam-webster.com

Basics of Internet 23