FUNDAMENTAL OF

INTERNET CONCEPTS
Overview

 History of the Internet

 Web Environment Overview
 TCP/IP
 HTTP
 URL
 DNS
Definition of the Internet
 An electronic network of computers that includes nearly every
university, government, and research facility in the world. Also
included are many commercial sites. It started with four
interconnected computers in 1969 and was known as
ARPAnet.
www.orafaq.com/glossary/faqglosi.htm

 A network of computer networks which operates world-wide

using a common set of communications protocols.
www.utas.edu.au/library/etutor/main/webzglos.htm

 The vast collection of inter-connected networks across the

world that all use the TCP/IP protocols.
www.liv.ac.uk/webteam/glossary/
 What Is the Internet?

 A network of networks, joining many government,

university and private computers together and
providing an infrastructure for the use of E-mail,
bulletin boards, file archives, hypertext documents,
databases and other computational resources
 The vast collection of computer networks which form
and act as a single huge network for transport of data
and messages across distances which can be
anywhere from the same office
to anywhere in the world.
History of the Internet
 Brief History of the Internet
 1968 - DARPA (Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency) contracts with BBN (Bolt, Beranek
& Newman) to create ARPAnet
 1970 - First five nodes:
 UCLA
 Stanford
 UC Santa Barbara
 U of Utah, and
 BBN

 1974 - TCP specification by Vint Cerf

 1984 – On January 1, the Internet with its 1000 hosts
converts en masse to using TCP/IP for its messaging
Internet History
 A Brief Summary of the
Evolution of the Internet Mosaic
Age of
eCommerce
Begins
WWW Created 1995
Internet Created 1993
Named 1989
and
Goes
TCP/IP TCP/IP
Created 1984
ARPANET 1972
1969
Hypertext
Invented
Packet 1965
Switching
First Vast Invented
Computer 1964
Network
Silicon Envisioned
A Chip 1962
Mathematical 1958
Theory of
Memex Communication
Conceived 1948
1945

1945 1995
 From Simple, But Significant Ideas Bigger Ones Grow
1940s to 1969
We will prove that packet switching
works over a WAN.

Hypertext can be used to allow

rapid access to text data

Packet switching can be used to

send digitized data though
computer networks
We can accomplish a lot by having a
vast network of computers to use for
accessing information and exchanging ideas

We can do it cheaply by using

Digital circuits etched in silicon.

We do it reliably with “bits”,

sending and receiving data

We can access
information using
electronic computers

1945 1969
 From Simple, But Significant Ideas Bigger Ones Grow
1970s to 1995

Great efficiencies can be accomplished if we use

The Internet and the World Wide Web to conduct business.

The World Wide Web is easier to use if we have a browser that

To browser web pages, running in a graphical user interface context.

Computers connected via the Internet can be used

more easily if hypertext links are enabled using HTML
and URLs: it’s called World Wide Web
The ARPANET needs to convert to
a standard protocol and be renamed to
The Internet
We need a protocol for Efficient
and Reliable transmission of
Packets over a WAN: TCP/IP

Ideas from
1940s to 1969

1970 1995
 The Creation of the Internet

 The creation of the Internet solved the following

challenges:
 Basically inventing digital networking
 Survivability of an infrastructure to send / receive high-speed
electronic messages
 Reliability of computer messaging
Web Environment Overview
… continued

 Web browsers communicate with Web

servers via the TCP/IP protocol. The
browser sends HTTP requests to the
server, which responds with HTML
pages and possibly additional
programs in the form of ActiveX
controls or Java applets.
HTTP

 A protocol used to request and

transmit files, especially webpages
and webpage components, over the
Internet or other computer network.
URL

 Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, is

a fancy name for the address of a web
page on the world wide web.
URL
 The first part of the URL is called the protocol. It tells the browser
how to deal with the file that it is about to open. One of the most
common protocols you will see it HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer
Protocol.
 The second part of the URL is the name of the server where the file is
located, followed by the path that leads to the file and the file's name
itself, as illustrated below:

 Sometimes, a URL ends in a trailing forward slash with no file name

given, as below.
 "http://www.site.com/fun/"
 In this case the URL refers to the default file in the last directory in
the path, which is a file named "index.html." An equivalent URL to the
one above would be
 "http://www.site.com/fun/index.html
Absolute URLs

 A URL that specifies the full path to the

document page, which includes the
domain name and protocol.
 Also known as an "explicit URL“.
 Example:
 http://www.unikl.edu.my/network.htm
Relative URLs
 Relative URLs are analogous to giving directions to someone such
as "go down the hall and turn right." In other words, the directions
refer to where you are starting from. In the same way, a relative URL
describes the location of the desired file with reference to the location
of the file that contains the URL itself.
 For example, a relative URL for a file that is in the same directory as
the current file (that is, the one with the link that points to that file) is
merely the file name and extension, such as "index.html"
 You create a URL for a file in a subdirectory of the current directory
by placing the name of the subdirectory first and following it with a
forward slash and then the name and extension of the desired file, as
shown below.
Relative URLs
 To reference a file in a directory at a higher level of
the file hierarchy, use two periods ( .. ) as shown
below.

You can combine and repeat the two periods

and forward slash to reference any file on the same
server as the current file.
DNS: Domain Name System
 A system for converting host names and domain names into
IP addresses on the Internet or on local networks that use the
TCP/IP protocol. For example, when a Web site address is
given to the DNS either by typing a URL in a browser or
behind the scenes from one application to another, DNS
servers return the IP address of the server associated with
that name.
 In this hypothetical example, WWW.COMPANY.COM would
be converted into the IP address 204.0.8.51. Without DNS,
you would have to type the four numbers and dots into your
browser to retrieve the Web site, which of course, you can do.
DNS Hierarchy
 The DNS system is a hierarchy of database servers
that start with the root servers for all the top level
domains (.com, .net, etc.).
 The root servers point to authoritative servers
residing within ISPs and companies that resolve the
host names to complete the name resolution.
 Using the example WWW.COMPANY.COM,
COMPANY.COM is the domain name, and WWW is
the host name. The domain name is the
organization's identity on the Web, and the host
name is the name of the actual Web server within
that domain
Getting a Web Page
 Turning a URL in a Web
browser into an IP address
can take numerous
queries. This is a simplified
diagram because the
original requester actually
talks to each name server
in turn, and there can be
more name servers in
between. A request can
also be satisfied from a
DNS cache along the way
and not need to reach the
authoritative server.
OSI Model

 The Open Systems Interconnection

Reference Model (OSI Model or OSI
Reference Model for short) is a layered
abstract description for
communications and computer
network protocol design, developed as
part of the Open Systems
Interconnection initiative. It is also
called the OSI seven layer model.
OSI Model

 7 Application layer
 6 Presentation
layer
 5 Session layer
 4 Transport layer
 3 Network layer
 2 Data link layer
 1 Physical layer
Upper & Lower Layers

 Layers 7 through 4 comprise the upper

layers of the OSI protocol stack. They are
more geared to the type of application than
the lower layers, which are designed to
move packets, no matter what they contain,
from one place to another.
 Layers 3 through 1 are responsible for
moving packets from the sending station to
the receiving station.
Layer 7: Application
 This top layer defines the language and syntax that
programs use to communicate with other programs.
The application layer represents the purpose of
communicating in the first place. For example, a
program in a client workstation uses commands to
request data from a program in the server. Common
functions at this layer are opening, closing, reading
and writing files, transferring files and e-mail
messages, executing remote jobs and obtaining
directory information about network resources.
Layer 6: Presentation
 When data are transmitted between different
types of computer systems, the presentation
layer negotiates and manages the way data
are represented and encoded. For example,
it provides a common denominator between
ASCII and EBCDIC machines as well as
between different floating point and binary
formats. Sun's XDR and OSI's ASN.1 are
two protocols used for this purpose. This
layer is also used for encryption and
decryption.
Layer 5: Session
 Provides coordination of the
communications in an orderly manner. It
determines one-way or two-way
communications and manages the dialog
between both parties; for example, making
sure that the previous request has been
fulfilled before the next one is sent. It also
marks significant parts of the transmitted
data with checkpoints to allow for fast
recovery in the event of a connection failure.
Layer 4: Transport
 This layer is responsible for overall end to
end validity and integrity of the transmission.
The lower layers may drop packets, but the
transport layer performs a sequence check
on the data and ensures that if a 12MB file
is sent, the full 12MB is received.
 "OSI transport services" include layers 1
through 4, collectively responsible for
delivering a complete message or file from
sending to receiving station without error.
Layer 3: Network
 The network layer establishes the route between
the sender and receiver across switching points,
which are typically routers. The most ubiquitous
example of this layer is the IP protocol in TCP/IP
(see TCP/IP). IPX, SNA and AppleTalk are other
examples of routable protocols, which means that
they include a network address and a station
address in their addressing system. This layer is
also the switching function of the dial-up telephone
system. If all stations are contained within a single
network segment, then the routing capability in this
layer is not required.
Layer 2: Data Link

 The data link is responsible for node to node

validity and integrity of the transmission. The
transmitted bits are divided into frames; for
example, an Ethernet, Token Ring or FDDI
frame in local area networks (LANs). Frame
relay and ATM are also at Layer 2.
 Layers 1 and 2 are required for every type
of communications.
Layer 1: Physical
 The physical layer is responsible for passing
bits onto and receiving them from the
connecting medium. This layer has no
understanding of the meaning of the bits,
but deals with the electrical and mechanical
characteristics of the signals and signaling
methods. For example, it comprises the
RTS and CTS signals in an RS-232
environment, as well as TDM and FDM
techniques for multiplexing data on a line.
SONET also provides layer 1 capability.
TCP/IP

 A protocol for communication between

computers, used as a standard for
transmitting data over networks and as
the basis for standard Internet
protocols.
TCP (Transmission Control
Protocol)
 A protocol developed for the internet to get
data from one network device to another
 Using TCP, applications on networked hosts
can create connections to one another, over
which they can exchange data or packets.
The protocol guarantees reliable and in-
order delivery of sender to receiver data.
 TCP also distinguishes data for multiple,
concurrent applications (e.g. Web server
and e-mail server) running on the same
host.
IP address

 (Internet Protocol address) The

address of a device attached to an IP
network (TCP/IP network). Every
client, server and network device must
have a unique IP address for each
network connection (network
interface). Every IP packet contains a
source IP address and a destination IP
address.
Static and Dynamic IP
 Each device in an IP network is either assigned a
permanent address (static IP) by the network
administrator or is assigned a temporary address
(dynamic IP) via DHCP software.
 Routers, firewalls and proxy servers use static
addresses as do most servers and printers that
serve multiple users.
 Client machines may use static or dynamic IP
addresses. The IP address assigned to your service
by your cable or DSL Internet provider is typically
dynamic IP. In routers and operating systems, the
default configuration for clients is dynamic IP