What is Ecommerce?

Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling
of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these
transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can also
describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.

Whereas e-business refers to all aspects of operating an online business, ecommerce refers specifically
to the transaction of goods and services.

The history of ecommerce begins with the first ever online sale: on the August 11, 1994 a man sold a CD
by the band Sting to his friend through his website Net Market, an American retail platform. This is the
first example of a consumer purchasing a product from a business through the World Wide Web—or
“ecommerce” as we commonly know it today.

Since then, ecommerce has evolved to make products easier to discover and purchase through online
retailers and marketplaces.  Independent freelancers, small businesses, and large corporations have all
benefited from ecommerce, which enables them to sell their goods and services at a scale that was not
possible with traditional offline retail.

Global retail ecommerce sales are projected to reach $27 trillion by 2020.

Types of Ecommerce Models

There are four main types of ecommerce models that can describe almost every transaction that takes
place between consumers and businesses.

1. Business to Consumer (B2C):

When a business sells a good or service to an individual consumer (e.g. You buy a pair of shoes from an
online retailer).

2. Business to Business (B2B):

When a business sells a good or service to another business (e.g. A business sells software-as-a-service
for other businesses to use)  

3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C):

When a consumer sells a good or service to another consumer (e.g. You sell your old furniture on eBay
to another consumer).

4. Consumer to Business (C2B):

When a consumer sells their own products or services to a business or organization (e.g. An influencer
offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee, or a photographer licenses their photo for
a business to use).
Examples of Ecommerce

Ecommerce can take on a variety of forms involving different transactional relationships between
businesses and consumers, as well as different objects being exchanged as part of these transactions.

1. Retail:

The sale of a product by a business directly to a customer without any intermediary.

2. Wholesale:

The sale of products in bulk, often to a retailer that then sells them directly to consumers.

3. Drop shipping:

The sale of a product, which is manufactured and shipped to the consumer by a third party.

4. Crowd funding:

The collection of money from consumers in advance of a product being available in order to raise the
startup capital necessary to bring it to market.

5. Subscription:

The automatic recurring purchase of a product or service on a regular basis until the subscriber chooses
to cancel.

6. Physical products:

Any tangible good that requires inventory to be replenished and orders to be physically shipped to
customers as sales are made.

7. Digital products:

Downloadable digital goods, templates, and courses, or media that must be purchased for consumption
or licensed for use.

8. Services:

A skill or set of skills provided in exchange for compensation. The service provider’s time can be
purchased for a fee.

Introduction

Networking is a form of telecommunication between computers where they exchange data with a data
link. One computer-network everyone is familiar with is the internet. Computer nodes or hosts are able
to excess, create, delete and alter data that is on this network. If a device can transmit information to
another device, they are considered to be networking. Networking utilizes devices such as switches,
modems, routers, gateways, etc.

Network Topology

Network Topology is a structural network layout that is either physical or logical and arranged by a
pattern of connected computers, devices, nodes, and other links of a network. It has different structures
of a network topology that shows how a network is created and connected a link (in different methods)
to a device. Such network topology structures are bus, ring, mesh, fully connected (or complete), star,
and hierarchical (tree). Computers MUST connect to a network of any topology because of information
sharing and communication. Without a network, users are unable to share files, send emails, print files,
creating and sharing database, etc. An example of this is a Local Area Network (LAN). Any node in the
LAN has one or more links to other devices within the network, mapping these links can result in a
geometric shape.

Classification

Network topology has eight classifications: Bus, Ring, Mesh, Star, Point-to-Point, Hybrid, Tree, and Daisy
Chain.

Example of Bus Network

Bus

Each node in this topology connects to one single cable. This cable is essentially the spine of the
network. Data is sent through either side of the cable and into the machines, where machines either
ignore the data or accept it if it. This is considered inexpensive due to there being only one cable but this
can make it extremely detrimental to the company if it were to fail as it is the only wire connecting the
different computing devices.

Example of a Ring Network

Ring

A ring topology is just a bus topology within a closed loop. The difference being that it goes through one
side of the loop and into each node until a machine accepts the data. The nodes keep the strength of the
signal in order to maintain connection. If one of the nodes were to fail it would disconnect itself from
the other nodes in either direction.

Mesh

Example of Fully Connected Mesh

A mesh network has each machine distribute data among the network. Data bounces between each
node to get to the machine where it needs to be. There are 2 types of Mesh topology.
Fully Connected has each machine connect to all the machines in the network. This is usually only
practical for a small number of machines as the upkeep for such a network grows as the number of
nodes grows. If one node were to fail, the network would be fine as there are other nodes the data
could jump to in order to get to the right machine.

Example of a Partial Mesh

Partially Connected has the machines connect only to either one or two other machines. This is usually
used to reduce the necessity in having all the connections a fully connected mesh network has.

Star

This is one of the most popular network topologies. A star network consists of a central component such
as a hub, switch or computer, that connects to all systems and transmits messages. These systems, also
known as nodes, receive the messages or data and act as a client, whereas the central component acts
as a server. One of the biggest advantages to this topology is that if a cable breaks or a computer on the
network fails, the rest of the network will continue to work. Other advantages include easy installation,
easy detection of errors and the ease to share. The disadvantages include expense and central
component failures. Because this topology requires a lot of cabling, it is more expensive. If the central
component stops working, the entire network and anything connected to it, will also stop working.

Point-to-Point

Hybrid

Tree

Daisy Chain

Classified as on of the easiest "Star Based Networks" to add computers to a network. It works like the
game telephone, if a message or a desired prompt is for a specific computer, it jumps down the line of
the assigned computers until it reaches the one the message was intended for.

Networking Hardware

Network Interface Card (NIC)

The Network Interface Card or NIC is the primary component of a computer responsible for accessing
transmission data. The NIC is responsible for connecting a PC to both the internet, and the local
network. To avoid conflicts inside of a local network, every PC is assigned a Media Access Control, or
MAC, address. MAC addresses are usually stored within the NIC's permanent memory. To maintain the
uniqueness of MAC addresses, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) maintains and
administers addresses, ensuring no two addresses are the same.
Wired Technologies

There are several wired technologies used to connect to a local area networks. Coaxial cables contain
copper or aluminum wire surrounded by two insulating layers which are used for cable systems, office
buildings, and other work sites. Coaxial cables transmission speed is between 200 million to 500 million
bits per second. Twisted pair wire is common for all telecommunication. These cabling are twisted into
pairs. Ordinary telephone wires consist of two pairs while wired Ethernet consist of four pairs. These
cables have a transmission range from 2 million to 10 billion bits per second. An optical fiber carries high
rates of data that can be up to trillions bits per second.

Wireless Technologies

TP-Link Archer C9 router used to create a wireless home network

A wireless network is any type of computer network that connects to network nodes without using
wires. It’s popular for its easier and faster way to link devices. For example, in a traditional workplace,
using wireless devices eliminates the possibility of having the wrong things unplugged. The base of a
wireless network is the access point. The access point sends out signals using radio frequencies that
computers can detect and join. All wireless devices also have a LAN adapter built in that sends out and
receives data through the radio signals sent by the access point.

Network switch

A network switch is a multi-port device that connects multiple computers together to create a network.
It can be used for sharing data between computers and can also act as a network bridge. The switch
filters out network packets from each connected device and forwards them the their destination on the
network, unlike a less advanced network hub, a network switch only forwards the data to one or more
devices that specifically need the data rather than broadcasting the data to all of its ports. Other names
for a network switch are switching hub, bridging hub, or Mac Bridge.

Ethernet Hub

A Ethernet Hub (multi-port repeater) is a small rectangular electronic network hardware device that
connects many computers and other network devices to form a single central switching point. Once
connected through the hub, all computers and network devices communicate with each other. The
number of ports that an Ethernet hub varies from four and five ports to eight and sixteen ports. Original
Ethernet hubs only offered 10 Mbps speeds, newer hubs now offer 100 Mbps support which usually
offer both 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps capabilities.

Modems

The modem's purpose is to connect network points that are not specifically meant for network traffic by
wire or wireless. They are mostly designed for telephone lines by a Digital Subscriber Line.
Firewall

The computing term "Firewall" came to existence during the 1980's. This was around the time when the
internet emerged as a new globally used technology. A Firewall is a hardware or software network
device that is responsible for controlling network access and security. Firewalls track all incoming and
outgoing traffic and block or allow traffic based on preset perimeters. With the increase prevalence of
cyber attacks, firewalls are essential for any network to remain secure.

There are many different types of firewalls used to fulfill different purposes. These include but are not
limited to:

Network Layer or Packet Fillers

This firewall works on the smallest level. Everything that communicates between the network and the
computer releases packets of information. This type of firewall filters through all these packets by terms
set by either the system or the user.

Proxies

Proxy servers serve as almost a gateway between networks, and can pass and filter packets between
them. their job is to make it difficult to for outside access to an integral system. Network invaders may
use public systems as proxies to perform an action known as IP Spoofing. IP Spoofing is when IP packets
are created with a faux IP address to disguise the identity of the sender. This method can also be used to
impersonate another network and/or system.

Network Protocols A network protocol defines rules and conventions for communication between
network devices. Network protocols include mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections
with each other, as well as formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into sent and received
messages. Some protocols also support message acknowledgment and data compression designed for
reliable and/or high-performance network communication.

Modern protocols for computer networking all generally use packet switching techniques to send and
receive messages in the form of packets — messages subdivided into pieces that are collected and
reassembled at their destination. Hundreds of different computer network protocols have been
developed, each designed for specific purposes and environments.

Internet Protocols

The Internet Protocol (IP) family contains a set of related (and among the most widely used) network
protocols. Beside Internet Protocol itself, higher-level protocols like TCP, UDP, HTTP, and FTP all
integrate with IP to provide additional capabilities. Similarly, lower-level Internet Protocols like ARP and
ICMP also coexist with IP. In general, higher-level protocols in the IP family interact more closely with
applications like web browsers, while lower-level protocols interact with network adapters and other
computer hardware.

Wireless Network Protocols

Thanks to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LTE, wireless networks have become commonplace. Network protocols
designed for use on wireless networks must support roaming mobile devices and deal with issues such
as variable data rates and network security.

Network Routing Protocols

Routing protocols are special-purpose protocols designed specifically for use by network routers on the
internet. A routing protocol can identify other routers, manage the pathways (called routes) between
sources and destinations of network messages, and make dynamic routing decisions. Common routing
protocols include EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP.

How Network Protocols Are Implemented

Modern operating systems contain built-in software services that implement support for some network
protocols. Applications like web browsers contain software libraries that support the high-level
protocols necessary for that application to function. For some lower-level TCP/IP and routing protocols,
support is implemented in direct hardware (silicon chipsets) for improved performance.

Each packet transmitted and received over a network contains binary data (ones and zeros that encode
the contents of each message). Most protocols add a small header at the beginning of each packet to
store information about the message's sender and its intended destination. Some protocols also add
footer at the end. Each network protocol has the ability to identify messages of its own kind and process
the headers and footers as part of moving data among devices.

Client-server architecture, architecture of a computer network in which many clients (remote

processors) request and receive service from a centralized server (host computer). Client computers
provide an interface to allow a computer user to request services of the server and to display the results
the server returns. Servers wait for requests to arrive from clients and then respond to them. Ideally, a
server provides a standardized transparent interface to clients so that clients need not be aware of the
specifics of the system (i.e., the hardware and software) that is providing the service. Clients are often
situated at workstations or on personal computers, while servers are located elsewhere on the network,
usually on more powerful machines. This computing model is especially effective when clients and the
server each have distinct tasks that they routinely perform. In hospital data processing, for example, a
client computer can be running an application program for entering patient information while the server
computer is running another program that manages the database in which the information is
permanently stored. Many clients can access the server’s information simultaneously, and, at the same
time, a client computer can perform other tasks, such as sending e-mail. Because both client and server
computers are considered intelligent devices, the client-server model is completely different from the
old “mainframe” model, in which a centralized mainframe computer performed all the tasks for its
associated “dumb” terminals.