UNIT FOUR: INTERNET

4.1 INTRODUCTION

In the present age of information Technology, use of Internet is becoming quite popular for
accessing information on any topic of your interest. It also provides tremendous opportunities to
students, researchers and professionals for getting information on matters related to academic
and professional topics and lot more. In the present world, most of the people who have
computers around themselves use Internet to access information from the World Wide Web,
exchange messages & documents and e-services.

4.2 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you would be able to:

a) explain various terminology used in internet

b) identify the uses of the internet
c) use various services provided by internet
d) search the desired information over internet
e) define e-mail and its various features
f) send email

4.3 INTERNET

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard
Internet protocol suite (TCP/ IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks
that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of
local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical
networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services,
such as the interlinked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the
infrastructure to support electronic mail. To access the Internet, an existing network need to pay
a small registration fee and agree to certain standards based on the TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). TCP "converts messages into streams of packets at the
source, and they are reassembled back into messages at the destination. IP handles the
addressing, and makes sure that a packet reaches its destination through multiple nodes and even
across multiple networks with multiple standards.

4.3.1 Internet terminology

Below are some of the terminologies used in the internet

a) Browser

A piece of software such as Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer that allows a computer to
access and display documents, view pictures, hear sound, and view video clips from the World
Wide Web.

b) E-mail

This is a mail that is electronically transmitted by your computer. As opposed to snail mail, e-
mail sends messages instantaneously, anywhere in the world. It has the capability to send
messages at any time and to anyone.

c) File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

The standard method for downloading and uploading files over the Internet. With FTP, you
can login to a server and transfer files (meaning you can "send" or "receive" files).

d) Homepage

This is the first page that is viewed when the browser starts. It is also the page of a Web site
that provides the introduction or content with links.

e) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

This is the abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is the set of rules by which Web
pages are transferred across the Internet.

f) Internet Protocol (IP) Address

 The Internet is composed of local, regional, national, and worldwide computer networks.
Each computer on the Internet can be identified by a set of unique numbers that is called an
internet protocol (IP) address. The IP address is composed of four different numbers
separated by periods such as [Link].

g) Link or Hypertext Link

This is an underlined word(s), phrase(s), or graphics on a Web page that transports the reader
to additional or related information on the Internet.

h) Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

This is an addressing scheme that is used on the Internet to locate resources and/or services
on the World Wide Web. Basically the URL is the address of a computer file that has been
put on a computer server to access the Internet.

i) Web Page

This is a single hypertext file or a page that is part of a Web site.

j) Website

This is a collection of World Wide Web pages or files.

4.3.2 Uses of Internet

Internet has been the most useful technology of the modern times which helps us not only in our
daily lives, but also our personal and professional lives developments. The internet helps us
achieve this in several different ways. For the students and educational purposes the internet is
widely used to gather information so as to do the research or add to the knowledge of various
subjects. Even the business professionals and the professionals like doctors, access the internet to
filter the necessary information for their use. The internet is, therefore, the largest guide for
everyone, in all age categories. The internet has also served to be more useful in maintaining
contacts with friends and relatives who live abroad permanently. Some of the uses of the internet
include:

a) E-mail: Email is now an essential communication tools in business. With e-mail one can
send and receive instant electronic messages, which work like writing letters. The
messages are delivered instantly to people anywhere in the world, unlike traditional mail
that takes a lot of time. Email is free, fast and very cheap when compared to telephone,
fax and postal services.
b) 24 hours a day - 7 days a week: Internet is available, 24x7 days for usage.
c) Information: Information is probably the biggest advantage internet is offering. There is
a huge amount of information available on the internet for just about every subject,
ranging from government services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new
ideas and technical support. Users of the internet can almost find any type of data on
almost any kind of subject that they are looking for by using search engines like Google,
yahoo, msn, etc.
d) Online Chat: internet users can access many „chat rooms‟ on the web that can be used to
meet new people, make new friends, as well as to stay in touch with old friends. People
can chat in MSN and yahoo websites.
e) Services: Many services are provided on the internet like internet banking, job searching,
purchasing tickets, hotel reservations, guidance services on array of topics engulfing
every aspect of life.
f) Communities: Communities of all types have sprung up on the internet. It is a great way
to meet up with people of similar interest and discuss common issues.
g) E-commerce: Along with getting information on the Internet facilitate online shopping.
There are many online stores and sites that can be used to look for products as well as
buy them using credit card. Users of the internet do not need to leave their houses; they
can do all their shopping from the convenience of their home. It has got a real amazing
and wide range of products from household needs, electronics to entertainment.
h) Entertainment: Internet provides facility to access wide range of Audio/Video songs,
plays films. Many of which can be downloaded. One such popular website is YouTube.
 Software Downloads: internet users can freely download innumerable, software like
utilities, games, music, videos, movies, etc from the Internet.

4.3.2 Limitations of Internet

a) Theft of Personal information: Electronic messages sent over the Internet can be easily
snooped and tracked, revealing who is talking to whom and what they are talking about.
If you use the Internet, your personal information such as your name, address, credit card,
bank details and other information can be accessed by unauthorized persons. If you use a
credit card or internet banking for online shopping, then your details can also be „stolen‟.
b) Negative effects on family communication: It is generally observed that due to more time
spent on Internet, there is a decrease in communication and feeling of togetherness
among the family members.
c) Internet addiction: There is some controversy over whether it is possible to actually be
addicted to the Internet or not. Some researchers claim that it is simply people trying to
escape their problems in an online world. Children using the Internet have become a big
concern.
d) Virus threat: Today, not only are humans getting viruses, but computers are also.
Computers are mainly getting these viruses from the Internet. Virus is a program which
disrupts the normal functioning of your computer systems. Computers attached to internet
are more prone to virus attacks and they can end up into crashing your whole hard disk.
e) Spamming: It is often viewed as the act of sending unsolicited email. This multiple or
vast emailing is often compared to mass junk mailings. It needlessly obstructs the entire
system. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick
schemes, or quasi-legal services. Spam costs the sender very little to send — most of the
costs are paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender

4.3.3 Information browsing

If one will go onto the internet and type the herald‟s website address [Link] he will
be able to read the latest version of the paper on the internet. It would allow one to open any one
edition of the herald. [Link] is referred to as the URL (Uniform Resource Location),
which helps the Internet browser to locate a user‟s requested page. Information browsing also
includes the use of search engines e.g. [Link], on which a user type some keywords
specifying a search criteria and click search for the browser to search the whole internet for the
occurrence of the keyword.

An example of a search window

Search the Internet

What are you looking for?

Help on searching is available.

4.3.4 Services of internet

E-mail, FTP, Telnet Email, discussion groups, long-distance computing, and file transfers are
some of the important services provided by the Internet.

a) Email- e-mail is an Internet facility that allows individuals to write each other mail and
send them through the internet to the recipient. Typically for one to send or receive e-
mail, you must be logged on to your account. One‟s messages are stored in his mailbox
(which is itself made up of the inbox, bulk box and the sent box). E-mail has added
features of being able to forward, save, delete and compose message. Format of e-mail is
like Format of e-mail is like
 susan@[Link]
indicate the service provide

Account holder

This means that Susan has an e-mail account with a company called Yahoo.

b) FTP (File Transfer Protocol) File Transfer Protocol, is an Internet utility software used to
uploaded and download files. It gives access to directories or folders on remote
computers and allows software, data and text files to be transferred between different
kinds of computers. FTP works on the basis of same principle as that of Client/ Server.
FTP “Client” is a program running on your computer that enables you to communicate
with remote computers. The FTP client takes FTP command and sends these as requests
for information from the remote computer known as FTP servers. To access remote FTP
server it is required, but not necessary to have an account in the FTP server. When the
FTP client gets connected, FTP server asks for the identification in terms of User Login
name and password of the FTP client. If one does not have an account in the remote FTP
server, still he can connect to the server using anonymous login.
c) Telnet (Remote Computing) Telnet or remote computing is telecommunication utility
software, which uses available telecommunication facility and allows you to become a
user on a remote computer.
 d) Newsgroups; When one has one an e-mail, he may specify his areas of interest e.g.
recreational, sport, food, science and technology such that should anyone have any news
he will convey it to the news group.

4.3.5 TYPES OF INTERNET CONNECTIONS

There are five types of internet connections which are as follows:

 Dial up Connection
 Leased Connection
 DSL connection
 Cable Modem Connection
 VSAT

Task

1. Explain the five types of internet connections listed above

2. State the advantages and disadvantages of each type of internet connection.

4.3.6 Requirements for one to connect to the Internet

You have to subscribe to the Internet Service Provider like mweb, zarnet, ecoweb. These give
one a username and a password he can use to derive Internet benefits. When accessing the
Internet, your computer will dial the Internet Service provider‟s number. The ISP will also have
a server that hosts and screens (against viruses) your e-mail messages. When you call to a up for
an Internet account, make sure you get the following information:

 User name
 Password
 Access phone number
 Your host name and domain name
 Domain Name System (DNS) server address

The service provider may also supply the following information:

 IP address and subnet mask

 DNS search order (if required)
 Gateway address
 Authentication procedure (whether or not the service provider requires a terminal
window to log on)

One also needs to have a modern Internet browser like Opera, Microsoft Internet Explorer or
Netscape loaded on the computer. Above all, the computer must be at least a Pentium I machine
with a speed from 166MHz. The telephone line and a modem are other requirements. The
modem converts a computer‟s electronic digital data into analog signals that can be transported
through a telephone line when information is being sent into the Internet and vice versa when
receiving. The telephone line is the transmission media, which links the computer to the Internet
service provider. Your operating system should compatible with the Internet browser and
modern GUI operating systems support Internet

For large organizations, it‟s ideal that they network their computers, hence more requirements.
One would need a server-based network to effect network security and to use one connection as a
gateway to the Internet.

4.4 REVIEW QUESTIONS

a) Explain various terminology used in internet

b) Describe the uses of the internet
c) What are the limitations of the internet
d) List various internet services providers (ISPs) in Zimbabwe
e) Define e-mail and its various features
f) List the hardware needed for one to connect to the internet and explain the function of
each
g) Discuss the need of gateways, routers and in networking an organization like Midlands
State University