The complete idiots guide to the internet

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Scott

Date: Sunday, 13/Jul/08, 0:00 AM | Message # 1

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James Tam
The Internet
You will learn how the Internet works
and some ways of searching for
information on it.
James Tam
A Network: Computers Which Are Connected
Hub or switch
Hub or switch
Router
James Tam
The Internet: A Gigantic Network of Networks
James Tam
Computers: Each Architecture Is Different
I’m a Mac!
Transfer =
1000 1001
I’m a PC
Transfer =
0101 0101
UNIX
Workstation
Transfer =
1101 0111
James Tam
Protocols: The Common Language Of The Internet
I’m a Mac!
Transfer =
1000 1001
I’m a PC
Transfer =
0101 0101
UNIX
Workstation
Transfer =
1101 0111
Transfer = 1111 1111
Transfer = 1111 1111
Transfer = 1111 1111
James Tam
Protocols: The Common Language Of The Internet
(2)
• TCP/IP (Transmission control protocol / Internet protocol) is
used for the transfer of information on the Internet.
-TCP: is involved with disassembling/assembling the information being
sent.
- IP: is involved with ensuring the that information reaches it’s correct
destination.
• Other high-level protocols (easier to use) were developed for
specialized tasks
• These protocols still employ TCP/IP but to complete the
various tasks the higher-level protocols are the ones employed:
-Http (Hypertext transfer protocol)
- SMTP (Simple mail transfer protocol)
-Telnet
- FTP (File transfer protocol)
James Tam
Speed Of Your Internet Connection
The Internet
James Tam
• Requires you to sign up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Types of Internet connections
1. Old phone dialup connections (narrowband)
2. Faster phone line connections (broadband)
3. Cable connections (broadband)
4. Satellite connections (broadband)
Connecting Your Computer To The Internet
The Internet
Your
computer
ISP
James Tam
1. Phone Dialup Connections
• Having your computer call another computer to connect to the
Internet:
• Problem: Phone lines and computers don't easily mix
From the The Complete Idiot's Guide to
High Speed Internet Connections by Soper
James Tam
1. Phone Dialup Connections (2)
• Having your computer call another computer to connect to the Internet
• Requires a modem (modulator/demodulator)
• Important characteristics:
- Least expensive method for getting an Internet connection (free for you, for
now): http://www.ucalgary.ca/it/node/426 )
- Very slow (300 – 56,000 bps/56Kbps)
- Ties up a phone line
- Not usable for many situations / not a continuous connection
- Recommended usage: low bandwidth applications (text-only)
From the The Complete Idiot's Guide to High Speed Internet Connections by Soper
James Tam
2. Faster Phone Line Connections (DSL/ADSL)
• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) / ADSL (Asymmetrical DSL)
• Uses a single wire for voice and data (computer)
• The phone lines are still used to transmit data but a different
signal is used from standard dialup (faster)
From the The Complete Idiot's Guide to High Speed Internet Connections by Soper
James Tam
2. Faster Phone Line Connections (DSL/ADSL)
• Important characteristics:
- Fast connection: ~ 100's Kbps – several Mbps
-Doesn’t use up a phone line
-Allows for an always on (continuous) connection
• ADSL (Asymmetrical DSL)
-You can download information (get information from the internet) faster
than you can upload it (send information somewhere to the internet)
The Internet
Your
computer
Upload ~32 –
300 Kbps
Download ~1.5 – 8 Mbps
James Tam
3. Cable Connections
• Uses a coaxial (cable TV) connection.
• The Internet connection occurs on the same coaxial cable used
for television.
• Important characteristics
-Download: ~several Megabits (~1 – 6+ Mbps) per second.
-Upload: approximately several hundred Kilobits (200 – 300 Kbps).
-Allows for an always on (continuous) connection
From the The Complete Idiot's Guide to High Speed Internet Connections by Soper
James Tam
ADSL/DSL Vs. Cable
• ADSL/DSL
-Typical transfer rates are slower
- Internet connection is not
shared
-ADSL/DSL Internet service is
highly restricted
- (Calgary): The service is
targeted more for ‘experienced’
computer users
• Cable
-Typical transfer rates are faster
- Internet connection is among
shared subscribers
-Cable Internet service is widely
available
- (Calgary): The service is
targeted to the general
population.
James Tam
4. Satellite connections
• Typically if a broadband connection is desired then a standard
wired ADSL/DSL or cable connection should be chosen.
• Some remote locations don’t allow for either service (no cable
wires or DSL/ADSL connections only standard dial-up).
- In this case the only broadband connection available is via satellite:
Home You
satellite
dish
Internet provider: Satellite
receiver and server
James Tam
4. Satellite connections (2)
• Satellite connections are faster than dialup but slower than
other broadband connections:
-Upload ~ 100 Kbps
-Download ~ 500 Kbps
James Tam
IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses
• Needed to properly route information on the Internet.
• Every computer connected to the Internet has an IP Address (IP
for short):
UC Computer
Science web
server:
136.159.5.9
Enter web address
for 136.159.5.9
Your computer
E.g., Shaw ISP
68.147.22.72
Return web address
for 68.147.22.72
James Tam
IP Addresses Are Mapped To Domain Names
• Because numeric addresses are hard to remember (and may
change) domain names are typically used instead
UC Computer
Science web
server:
136.159.5.9
Domain name
www.cpsc.ucalgary.ca
is mapped to
136.159.5.9
Your computer
Enter web address in
browser:
www.cpsc.ucalgary.ca
James Tam
Types Of Domain Suffixes
• At the end of the web address
Generic Countries
com edu gov mil org net ca jp
Generic domain suffix
•com…commercial
•edu…educational institutes
•gov..the U.S. federal government
•mil…U.S. armed forces
•org…non-profit organizations
•net…Network providers
Country of origin
•ca…Canadian web site
•jp…Japanese web site
James Tam
Deciphering Email Addresses
• Addresses are similar to web addresses
• Three main parts:
-Format:
@ .
-Example:
tamj@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
.ca…top level domain (Canada)
ucalgary…domain name for the University of Calgary
cpsc…the name of the Computer Science network at the U of C
tamj..my login name for the CPSC network
James Tam
Deciphering IP Addresses
• Consist of 4 numbers
• This is the approach originally developed under Internet
Protocol version 4 (IPv4).
• With the explosion in the size of the Internet in the 1990’s this
number of combinations is insufficient.
136.159.5.9
Entire IP address
Number
(0 – 255)
James Tam
The Future Addressing Protocol For The Internet
• Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
• Eight 16 bit numbers will be used for Internet addresses.
• Not currently in widespread use yet but it’s backward
compatible with IPv4.
James Tam
Assigning IP Addresses
• Different organizations (Registrars) provide Internet Addresses
for Internet providers or websites:
-VeriSign: dot-com (“.com”), dot-net (“.net”)
-RegistryPro, NeuLevel and Public Interest Registry: dot-biz (“.biz”), dotpro
(“.pro”), dot-org (“.org”)
• When your computer gets an Internet connection it’s assigned
an IP by your service provider which can be: dynamic or static.
James Tam
Static Addressing
• When a computer is first connected to a network or the Internet
it receives an IP address:
Connection to:
•Network server or ISP’s server
A numerical IP address is assigned to
the computer
Thereafter this
computer will be
identified by this
address
James Tam
Dynamic Addressing
• Whenever a computer is connected to a network or the Internet
it’s assigned a IP address from the existing pool of free
addresses:
• Consequently the address may or may not be the same as ones
that have been previously assigned.
Cable
modem
turned
on
Computer turned
on
Modem requests an IP
ISP has list of IP’s
provided by the
appropriate
Registrar
68.147.X.Y
IP: 68.147.2.17
assigned
Computer IP for
this session:
68.147.2.17
James Tam
Dynamic Addressing (2)
• Advantages:
-Moving machines around the network to a different (sub)net is trivial.
When the machine is connected at it’s location it will learn of it’s new IP.
-Resource efficient (not every computer needs it’s own IP so fewer IP’s
are needed).
• Disadvantages:
- Some Internet services (e.g., web, ftp) require a fixed IP address which
won’t work with dynamic addressing.
James Tam
Static Addressing
• Advantages:
-Other computers may reliably make connections to this computer using
certain protocols (e.g., FTP).
• Disadvantages:
-Machines cannot be simply be physically moved around the network to
another (sub)net but must be electronically reconfigured.
- It’s less resource-efficient (every computer must have it’s own IP).
- It’s less secure (the computer is “an unmoving target” because once a
malicious program has found it, returning to that computer is trivial).
James Tam
URL's (Uniform Resource Locator)
• Provide a standardize way of describing information.
• Parts of a url (each part is enclosed by angled brackets):

e.g., http://www.gamespot.com
• http indicates a hypertext document (a web page)
• www.gamespot.com domain on the world wide web (web server)
e.g., ftp://ftp.ucalgary.ca
• ftp indicates that the file transfer protocol is to be used
• ftp.ucalgary.ca domain of the server (ftp server)
James Tam
URL's (Uniform Resource Locator): 2
• Can describe path to documents:
http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj....ex.html
Tamj CPSC
account
231
www
URL: http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj
203 http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj/203
assignments http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj/203/assignments
assignment3
Index.html
http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj/203/assignments/assignment3
James Tam
Transfer Of Information Via Packets
• The Internet is not an anonymous network!
• Information is transmitted via packets.
• In order to travel from their source to their destination each
packet contains the following information:
• Header
- Source IP
-Destination IP
-Length
-Number
- Sequence
• Payload
• Footer / Trailer
James Tam
Transfer Of Information Via Packets
• The route taken can vary from packet-to-packet
Source:
web server
Destination:
person
viewing the
page
James Tam
Intranets
• A network that is a mini version of the Internet.
• Provides the features of the Internet (e.g., web pages) but is self
enclosed:
-Cannot be accessed from the outside.
-Uses the protocols of the Internet.
• Extranet: the part of a company’s or organization’s intranet that
is extended to non-employees or non-members.
James Tam
How Do Search Engines Work
• Using a search engine involves searching the library of pages
built up by that engine.
• The library is built up by the search engine’s spiders (web)
Popular web site
• Link1
• Link2
• Etc.
Linked page (1st level)
• Link1
• Link2
• Etc.
Search Engine Database
Popular web site
Linked page (2nd level)
• Link1
• Link2
• Etc.
Linked page (1st level)
Linked page (1st level)
Linked page (2nd level)
James Tam
Some Search Engines Use People Instead Of
Technology
• Rather than using search programs to build the database some
search engines organize results based on human scrutiny.
James Tam
Search Results Are Ranked
James Tam
Making A Site More Noticeable
• Search database built via search spiders:
-Add relevant keywords to your page.
-The frequency of keywords may play a role.
• Search databases built via human researchers:
-Make sure that your site is examined by the people who build the
database.
James Tam
Plain English Searches (Natural Language Searches)
• Easy to formulate the query but may result many hits.
James Tam
Plain English Searches (Natural Language
Searches): 2
• Supported by most of the commonly used search engines.
• Some provide better support than others:
-AskJeeves (www.ask.com)
James Tam
Advanced Search Techniques (Google)
• Stopwords/Stop words and quotes
• Searching for synonyms
• Wild card searches
• Searching Ranges
• Site searches
James Tam
Stop Words
• Ignored by search engines:
-Common words
-Reserved words
• The search engine can be forced to include the stop words:
-E.g., Use quotes (search results must contain whatever is between the
quotes).
James Tam
Searching For Synonyms
• Some concepts can be represented using different words.
• The ‘~’ operator includes synonyms in the search.
James Tam
Using The Wildcard In Searches
James Tam
Searching Ranges
• Can be used when searching numerical values within a certain
min – max range
• Range operator .. (multiple dots)
James Tam
Site Searches
• Useful when a webpage is large and/or not well organized:
- Searching the currently loaded page
- Searching the entire site
James Tam
Searching The Currently Loaded Page
James Tam
Searching An Entire Site
• Involves searching an entire site (and not just the one page
from the site that is currently loaded into the web browser).
• One of the ‘advanced’ search options can be employed.
• Alternatively a shortcut can be used in the main input field.
James Tam
Meta-Search Engines
• Searches multiple search engines automatically.
• Examples:
-www.metacrawler.com
-www.dogpile.com
-www.profusion.com
- www.search.com
-www.mamma.com
• Drawbacks:
- Searches occur in the simplest form
-Timeouts
-Number of results returned
James Tam
You Should Now Know
• What is the Internet
• How protocols allows the Internet to function, when are the
different protocols are used
• What are common ways of making an Internet connection, how
do they work and what are their strengths and weaknesses
• How IP addresses are used to direct information on the Internet
• What are some of the domains on the Internet
• How to decipher Internet addresses
• What is static vs. dynamic addressing and the strengths and
weaknesses of each approach
• What is a url and what information is contained in a url
• How information is transmitted on the Internet via packets
James Tam
You Should Now Know (2)
• What is an Intranet, what is an extranet
• How do search engines gather information
• Some ways of making a website more prominent to a search
engine
• What is a natural language search, what is a good search engine
to use when employing a natural language search
• Some advanced search techniques using Google:
-What is a stop word and how to include them in searches
-How to efficiently search for synonyms
-How to employ a wildcard search
- Searching ranges
- Searching a specific site
• What is a meta-search and what are their weaknesses