Chapter 4:

The Internet and

World Wide Web
Objectives
• Describe how the Internet developed and how
hardware, protocols, and software work together to
create the Internet
• Explain the underlying structure of the Web and the
technologies that support it
• Define the categories of information and services that
the Internet and Web provide and the forms of
communication they support
• Explain what Internet2 is and the types of applications it
will provide in the future

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A Brief History of the Internet
• Internet
– Global, public network of computer networks
• Computer network
– Collection of computing devices connected together
to share resources
• Internetwork
– Users on different networks can communicate and
share data

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A Brief History of the Internet
• Internet hosts
– Computers joined into the network
• 1957
– Computing was done primarily on large mainframe computers
• 1969
– ARPA commissioned ARPANET for research into networking
• About 17% of the world population uses the
Internet
– Digital divide

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A Brief History of the Internet

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Internet Hardware
• Protocols
– Rules implemented in network software and hardware
– Establish connections between two or more computers,
allowing them to communicate
• Internet backbone
– The main Internet pathways and connections
• Network service providers
– The large telecom companies that provide the hardware over
which the Internet travels

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Internet Hardware
• Internet service providers (ISP)
– Provide users with access to the Internet
• Points of presence (POPs)
– Utility stations which enable customers to connect to the
Internet
• Internet service providers (ISP)
– Companies that provide customers access to the Internet
through NSP POPs
• Routers
– Devices which manage network traffic by finding the fastest
route for messages to travel
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Internet Hardware

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Internet Hardware

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Assessing the Internet
• Dial-up connection
– Low-speed Internet service
• Cable modem connection
– High-speed Internet service
– Data transfer rates as high as 6 Mbps
• DSL (digital subscriber line) connection
– Uses customer’s phone line
– Users can use Internet and talk on the phone simultaneously
– Digital satellite service (DSS)
• Broadband over power lines (BOP)
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Assessing the Internet

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Internet Protocols
• Protocols for the Internet
– Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
– Internet Protocol (IP)
• Internet
– A packet switching network
• IP address
– Four numbers (0 to 255) separated by periods, such as 64.233.161.104
– Dynamic/static
• Domain names
– Associated English names assigned to IP addresses
– Domain Name System (DNS)

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Internet Software
• Client/server
– Client makes a service request
– Server provides the service
• Port
– Logical addresses on the server
• Peer-to-peer (P2P) networking
– Facilitate communications directly between clients

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Internet Software

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A Layered System
• Application layer
– Software portion of the Internet
• Transport layer
– Protocol portion of the Internet
• Physical layer
– Hardware associated with the Internet
• Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model
– Provides a deeper understanding of networking
technology

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A Layered System

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Web Basics
• Hyperlink
– Element in an electronic document that when clicked, opens a
related document
– Hypertext, hypermedia
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
– Controls communication between Web clients and servers
• Web browser
– Used to request Web pages from Web servers
• Web server
– Stores and delivers Web pages and other Web services

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Web Basics
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
– Acts as a Web page address
– Incorporates domain name of Web server and
location of Web page file on server
• Top-level domain (TLD)
– Final portion of domain name - .com, .edu

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Web Basics

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Web Markup Languages
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
– Used to specify the formatting of a Web page

• HTML tag
– Command that tells a Web browser how to display items
on a page

• XML
– Provides method for describing and classifying the
content of data in a Web page

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Web Markup Languages
• Semantic Web
– Extension of current Web
– Provides common framework that supports
• Sharing and reuse of data across application, enterprise, and
community boundaries
• Publishers are able to use XML to separate data from
Web page formatting
• XHTML
– Embodies the best of both HTML and XML
• Cascading Style Sheets
– Provide consistent design across multiple pages of a site

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Web Markup Languages

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Web-Authoring Software
• Web-authoring software
– Allows you to create HTML documents using word-
processor-like software
– WYSIWYG editors
• Web page you design in the Web-authoring software will
look the same when published on the Web
• Great convenience for quickly creating Web pages
• Fall short of automating all processes involved in Web
production

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Web-Authoring Software

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Programming the Web
• Cookies
– Small text files stored on your computer
– Can contain data or unique identifier that can be
used to look up your personal profile in a database
– May be a threat to security and privacy

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Programming the Web
• Web software plays a large role on both the
server side and the customer side
– Search engines
– Shopping
– Cookie management
– Online services (dating, games, cartoons, etc.)
– Social networking
– Filters

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Programming the Web
• Four most prevalent programming languages
– Java
– JavaScript
– ActiveX
– Ajax

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Web Browser Plug-Ins
• Plug-in
– Works with a Web browser to offer extended
services
• Flash
– Popular plug-in
– Enables users to view animations and videos, and
interact with games and other multimedia content
• Content streaming
– Media begins playing while the file is being delivered

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Internet and Web Applications
• Classification of Web sites
– Search engines, subject directories, and portals
– Communication and collaboration
– News
– Education and training
– E-commerce
– Travel
– Employment and careers
– Multimedia and entertainment
– Information

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Internet and Web Applications

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Search Engines, Subject Directories,
and Portals
• Search engine
– Tool that makes it easier to find related documents
from diverse Internet sources using keywords
• Search engines scour the Web with bots
(automated programs) called spiders
– Crawling
• Mashup
– A single application that combines different Web
applications

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Search Engines, Subject Directories,
and Portals

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Search Engines, Subject Directories,
and Portals
• Meta search engine
– Allows users to run keyword searches on several
search engines at once
• Subject directory
– Catalogue of sites collected and organized by people
rather than crawlers
• Web portals
– Pages designed to act as entry points to the Web

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Communication and Collaboration
• Pervasive communications
– Ability to communicate with anyone through a
variety of formats from anywhere at anytime
• Synchronous communication
– People communicate in real time exchanging
thoughts in a flowing conversation
• Asynchronous communication
– Allows participants to leave messages

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Communication and Collaboration
• Text communications
– Available in both synchronous and asynchronous
formats
– Emoticons (smiley faces)
• Combine keyboard characters to create a sideways facial
expression

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Communication and Collaboration
• E-mail
– Transmission of messages over network to support
asynchronous text-based communication
• Header
• Body
• E-mail attachment
– Typically an image file, Word document, music file, or spreadsheet
that travels with the message but is not part of the ASCII text
message itself

• E-mail cannot contain binary data – data that is

encoded for a processor to process
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Communication and Collaboration
• Listservs
– Special-interest groups that create online
communities for discussing topics via e-mail
• Newsletter
– Subscription-based e-mail service

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Communication and Collaboration

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Instant Messaging and Chat
• Synchronous one-to-one text-based communication
over the Internet
• Instant messaging software supports the following
services
– Instant messages
– Chat
– Nudges, animated winks, and graphics
– Web links
– Image, sounds
– Files and file sharing
– Talk
– Streaming content

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Instant Messaging and Chat
• Chat
– Synchronous text messaging between two or more
users
• Channels or chat rooms
– Topic-related forums
• Virtual chat
– Provides a virtual world for you to enter for chat and
interaction with others
• Avatar
– A 3D representation of yourself in the virtual world

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Instant Messaging and Chat

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Text Messaging
• Text messaging (Short Message Service or SMS)
– Method for sending short messages between cell
phones
– No longer than 160 characters
• Short Message Service Center (SMSC)
– The relay station which connects the sender to the
receiver

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Blogs
• Web Logs (Blogs)
– Sites created to express the views and opinions of an
individual
• Originally used as online journals, but as they
became more mainstream, tools were developed
to aid users in creating blogs
• RSS reader
– Tool used to subscribe to a blog

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Blogs

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Web 2.0 and Social Networking
• Web 2.0
– Web resources that allow average users to contribute
to Web content
• Social networking sites
• Media-sharing sites
• Wikis
• Social bookmarking sites

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Web 2.0 and Social Networking
• Social Networking
– Web-based tools that allow users to share information
about themselves and find, meet, and converse with
others
• Facebook, Twitter
• Wiki
– Web site designed to allow users to add, remove, edit
content
• Media-sharing sites allow users to store and
share digital media files
– YouTube, Flickr
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Web 2.0 and Social Networking

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Web 2.0 and Social Networking
• Folksonomy or collaborative tagging
– Allows users to associate descriptive tags with photo
• Tag cloud
• Social bookmarking
– Allows users to store, classify, share, search Web
bookmarks

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Voice and Video Communications
• Most phone companies are using Internet
technology in their phone networks
– Access voicemail through computers and e-mail
through telephones
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
– Allows phone conversations to travel over the
Internet or other data networks
• Video communication can take place using
– Stand-alone video phones, TV-based video phone,
PC-based video phone
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Video Conferencing
• Video conferencing
– Combines video and phone call capabilities with
shared data and document access
– Replacing the need for travel in many industries
• Telecommuting
– Working from locations away from the office through
telecommunication technology

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News
• Allows public to research issues
• Webcast
– Takes advantage of streaming video technology and
high-speed Internet connections
• City newspapers and major news agencies
– Accessible over the Web
• Social journalism
– Citizens getting involved in reporting the news
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Education and Training
• Educational institutions of all types and sizes use the
Web to enhance classroom education
– Parental control/content-filtering software helps make
browsing safe for children

• Educational support products (Blackboard and WebCT)

– Provide an integrated Web environment

• Distance education
– Conducting classes over the Web with no physical class
meetings

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Education and Training

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E-commerce
• The Web provides a convenient platform for
marketing and selling products and is very
helpful in collecting marketing data
• The Web strengthens communications with
customers and improves overall customer
satisfaction
• Doing business electronically over the Web and
private networks is known as e-commerce

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Travel
• The Web
– Has had a profound effect on the way we plan and
prepare for trips
• Mapquest
– Assists travelers in finding their way around town and
between towns
• Travel Web sites
– Assist travelers in finding the best deals on flights,
hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and cruises
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Employment and Careers
• Consider the Web’s role in the following job-
hunting strategy
– Select a career
– Discover who the players are in your chosen career
– Learn about the companies that interest you
– Network with others in the field
– View job listings at general employment Web sites

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Multimedia and Entertainment
• Music
• Internet radio
• Digitally delivered to your computer over the
Internet
• File sharing and online music services
• Compressed music formats
• MP3
• Television and movie industry
– Making the move to Internet distribution

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Multimedia and Entertainment
• Genre of multiplayer online games
– Action
– Board
– Card
– Flight Simulation
– Multiuser dimension or multiuser dungeon
– Role-playing games
– Sims
– Sports
– Strategy
– Trivia/puzzle

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Multimedia and Entertainment

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Information
• Curiosity-driven research
– Looking up information at the moment a thought or
question strikes us
– Responsible for most of the world’s great inventions
• Assigned research
– You are given a topic to explore for the purpose of
education
• Selecting and Refining a Research Topic
– Generally done through many stages of refinement
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Information
• Sources of information
• College-level research typically requires that
sources are cited
• Plagiarism
• Using information or quotes from another source
without citing that source
• Electronic sources of information
• In Web research, you must follow up and check
information for validity and impartiality
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Information
• LexisNexis
– Private database which draws information from:
• National and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast
transcripts, international news sources, and non-English
language sources
• U.S. federal and state law, codes, regulations, legal news,
law reviews, and international legal information
• Shepard’s Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back
to 1789
• Business News Journals, company financial information ,
SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news

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Information

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The Future Internet
• Internet2
– Research and development consortium led by over 200
U.S. universities
– Group developing new ways to improve the management
and performance of the existing Internet
• Create a leading-edge network capability for the national
research committee
• Enable revolutionary Internet applications
• Ensure the rapid transit of new services and applications to
the broader Internet community
– Includes dozens of research groups developing a variety
of network applications

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The Future Internet
• Internet3
– Officially called National LambdaRail (NLR)
– Cross-country, fiber-optic network dedicated to
research in high-speed networking applications

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High-Speed Internet Applications
• New and exciting applications being explored
– Interactive collaboration
– Real-time access to remote resources
– Large-scale, multisite computation and data mining
– Shared virtual reality

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Summary
• Internet
– The largest publicly owned network of networks
– Combines hardware, protocols, and software to serve its users
• Client/server technology provides a medium for users to
publish, view, and find information
• Web plug-ins
– Work with Web browsers to offer extended services
• Portals
– Web pages that provide an entry point to the Web
• Web authoring software
– Allows you to create HTML documents without having to
know the HTML language
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Summary
• The Web provides a wide range of helpful
applications
• Synchronous and asynchronous communication
– Text, voice, and video based
• The Web provides information from local to
international news to online library catalogues,
databases, and public opinion
• Internet2 is a research and development group
working to develop advanced applications for
tomorrow’s Internet
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