Proxy Server, Firewall & VPN Proxy Server (Pdfdrive)
Proxy Server, Firewall & VPN Proxy Server (Pdfdrive)
) by Abhisek Panda
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Information Technology (CHSE-2nd Yr.) by Abhisek Panda
INTRODUCTION TO
INTERNET
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Information Technology (CHSE-2nd Yr.) by Abhisek Panda
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNET
Internet
It is a means of connecting a computer to any other computer anywhere in the
world via dedicated routers and servers. When two computers are connected over the Internet,
they can send and receive all kinds of information such as text, graphics, voice, video, and
computer programs.
No one owns Internet, although several organizations the world over collaborate in its
functioning and development. The high-speed, fiber-optic cables (called backbones) through
which the bulk of the Internet data travels are owned by telephone companies in their
respective countries.
The Internet grew out of the Advanced Research Projects Agency's Wide Area Network (then
called ARPANET) established by the US Department Of Defence in 1960s for collaboration in
military research among business and government laboratories. Later universities and other
US institutions connected to it. This resulted in ARPANET growing beyond
everyone's expectations and acquiring the name 'Internet.'
The development of hypertext based technology (called World Wide web, WWW, or just
the Web) provided means of displaying text, graphics, and animations, and
easy search and navigation tools that triggered Internet's explosive worldwide growth.
In other words we can say that the Internet is a global system of interconnected computer
networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link several billion devices
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 an extensive
range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents
and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support email,
and peer-to-peer networks for file sharing and telephony.
(Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/internet.html#ixzz35v1CwsSc,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet)
History of Internet
This marvellous tool has quite a history that holds its roots in the cold war scenario. A need
was realized to connect the top universities of the United States so that they can share all the
research data without having too much of a time lag. This attempt was a result of Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which was formed at the end of 1950s just after the
Russians had climbed the space era with the launch of Sputnik. After the ARPA got success in
1969, it didn’t take the experts long to understand that how much potential can this
interconnection tool have. In 1971 Ray Tomlinson made a system to send electronic mail. This
was a big step in the making as this opened gateways for remote computer accessing i.e. telnet.
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During all this time, rigorous paper work was being done in all the elite research institutions.
From giving every computer an address to setting out the rules, everything was getting penned
down. 1973 saw the preparations for the vital TCP/IP and Ethernet services. At the end of
1970s, Usenet groups had surfaced up. By the time the 80s had started, IBM came up with its
PC based on Intel 8088 processor which was widely used by students and universities for it
solved the purpose of easy computing. By 1982, the Defence Agencies made the TCP/IP
compulsory and the term “internet” was coined. The domain name services arrived in the year
1984 which is also the time around which various internet based marked their debut. As the
internet was coming out of its incubation period which was almost two and a half decades long,
the world saw the first glitch that was not at all a part of planned strategy. A worm, or a rust
the computers, attacked in 1988 and disabled over 10% of the computer systems all over the
world. While most of the researchers regarded it as an opportunity to enhance computing as it
was still in its juvenile phase, quite a number of computer companies became interested in
dissecting the cores of the malware which resulted to the formation Computer Emergency
Rescue Team (CERT). Soon after the world got over with the computer worm, World Wide
Web came into existence. Discovered by Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web was seen as a
service to connect documents in websites using hyperlinks.
By the time the 90s arrived, the larvae had started coming out as more than 40million computers
had been sold out, an antivirus had already been launched as well as the graphical user interface
was quite in its evolution. “Archie”, the first internet search marked beginning of a new era in
internet computing. Categorizing the websites was in its most dynamic phase as
commercialized email websites were getting on day by day. It was during this time that the
term “spam” was coined which referred to fake emails or hoaxes. Read more about email and
email working. In 1992, internet browser called “Mosaic” came into existence. One of the very
popular internet browsers, Netscape Navigator made its debut in 1994 which ultimately went
to compete with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. By this time the domain name registration had
started to get exponential and was made commercial. In short the Internet Explosion had started
to occur.
Coming years saw the launch of giants such as Google, Yahoo as well as strengthening of
ultimate revolution creators i.e. Microsoft, Google, and IBM etc.
(Source: http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/what-is-internet-history-working)
Internet Backbone
The Internet backbone may be defined by the principal data routes between large,
strategically interconnected computer networks and core routers on the Internet. These data
routes are hosted by commercial, government, academic and other high-capacity network
canters, the Internet exchange points and network access points that interchange Internet traffic
between the countries, continents and across the oceans. Internet service providers, often Tier
1 networks, participate in Internet backbone exchange traffic by privately negotiated
interconnection agreements, primarily governed by the principle of settlement-free peering.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) created the first high-speed backbone in 1987.
Called NSFNET, it was a T1 line that connected 170 smaller networks together and operated
at 1.544 Mbps (million bits per second). IBM, MCI and Merit worked with NSF to create the
backbone and developed a T3 (45 Mbps) backbone the following year.
Backbones are typically fiber optic trunk lines. The trunk line has multiple fiber optic cables
combined together to increase the capacity. Fiber optic cables are designated OC for optical
carrier, such as OC-3, OC-12 or OC-48. An OC-3 line is capable of transmitting 155 Mbps
while an OC-48 can transmit 2,488 Mbps (2.488 Gbps). Compare that to a typical 56K modem
transmitting 56,000 bps and you see just how fast a modern backbone is.
(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_backbone,
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-infrastructure4.htm)
Internet Access
Internet access connects individual computer terminals, computers, mobile
devices, and computer networks to the Internet, enabling users to access
Internet services, such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet
service providers (ISPs) offer Internet access through various
technologies that offer a wide range of data signalling rates (speeds).
Consumer use of the Internet first became popular through dial-up
Internet access in the 1990s. By the first decade of the 21st century,
many consumers used faster, broadband Internet access technologies.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_access)
Dial up internet service is provided through several ISP. The majority of internet service
providers give you a set of telephone numbers either national or local that allows you to dial
into a network that feeds into the internet. This allows you to receive and send email, search
the World Wide Web, participate in chat rooms and plenty of other features the web has to
offer.
In order to get a dial up internet service a person must definitely have a computer and even
more important a modem. There are different types of modems, and most of them are
inexpensive to purchase. You can have an internal modem installed in a free slot of your
computer, or you can have an external modem that's hooked up to the computer through cables.
A telephone line is linked to the modem.
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The modem whether external or internal is controlled by software on the computer. With
Microsoft Windows operating system that software is the Network Connection utility which
allows you to connect to the internet. How? In the Network Connection utility you have to set
up ISP profile so that the modem knows what phone number to dial so that you can connect to
the internet.
Once you have found an internet service provider and joined you must choose a password and
username. Why? When the modem dials the phone number you are given by your ISP, a
connection is made, and then information is swap between the modem and the remote server.
A remote server is the computer and related software that is established to handle users who
want to access a network remotely. The username and password you choose for the modem
allows access to the dial up gateway to the internet. The gateway to the internet is a network
that allows entry into another network.
If you are looking for an inexpensive internet service dial up is the way to go. Not only is it the
cheapest but also the slowest type of access you can get. Since the bandwidth is limited it will
take some time for the modem to send and receive information. It will be slow loading web
pages, listening to music and watching videos online. There are all kinds of software available
that can help speed up your dial up internet.
With dial up internet you cannot use the phone and search the web at the same time. How
come? Remember while one end of the telephone is linked to the modem the other end is in the
phone outlet. There are internet services available that allows you to use the phone at the same
time and be online.
So as you can see dial up internet has its pros and its cons. If you are looking for an inexpensive
internet service and don't mind not being able to talk on the phone and use the web at the same
time then dial up is definitely for you!
(Source: http://whatismyipaddress.com/dialup)
Broadband Connection
Broadband Internet service truly is the most used form of Internet access because of its high
access speeds; it is offered in four different forms, DSL (or Digital Subscriber Line), also fiber-
optic, cable, and satellite. The old dial-up connection is the only non-broadband internet service
available, and even though it is cheaper, most Internet users are moving towards the faster
broadband Internet connection.
DSL
The DSL (or Digital Subscriber Line) internet service makes its connection by utilizing
unused telephone wires that cause no interruption to your telephone service. The speed you
experience with a DSL connection varies with your distance from the switching station. Your
speed will be slower the further away you are and faster the closer you are to the switching
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station and this may be a deciding factor when you attempt to select between a DSL line and a
cable connection.
Cable
The broadband cable connection is provided by the local cable TV provider. Here the cable
Internet connection speed varies with the number of users on the service at a specific point in
time. Given a specific geographical area, users of the broadband cable service share the
connection bandwidth which slows the speed the more users are on the system. This will occur
at the peak times for example late in the evenings after the work day is over when many people
will be accessing the Internet. Somewhat misleadingly, often the cable company would
estimate connection speeds that are based on the thinking that you are using the service. But
that is clearly not the case.
Fiber-Optic
The newest broadband service is fiber-optic, which is the fastest Internet connection thus far.
However, this type of Internet service is still in its infancy as its service areas are quite limited
and because the laying down of the fiber-optic cable takes a while to complete. Wherever it is
available, the cost not only competes with that of DSL and cable, but it provides a much faster
connection than both of those services.
Satellite
The last and slowest broadband service is provided by satellite. Although this is a good
replacement for dial-up for those people living in remote rural areas, the installation costs are
quite high, but the ongoing monthly charges are competitive to both cable and DSL.
There are many advantages to the DSL and cable broadband service. It provides greater
bandwidth than other Internet access forms, and that makes it easier for the computer user to
multitask with several applications performing in the background while you surf the web. It is
possible for you to surf the web while listening to audio.
The networking of computers in the home is made easier with a broadband connection, by
either using wireless or wired modems.
The cost of broadband service is higher annually than the cheaper dial-up version by $100 to
$500, but given the advantages and ease of a broadband connection, it is well worth the cost.
A broadband connection allows you to play many popular computer games that rely on a fast
Internet connection.
Broadband connection, unlike the old dial-up internet connection, will not engage your phone
line when in use. In fact, having a broadband connection makes it possible for you to obtain an
Internet phone service so you will no longer need the traditional phone line at all.
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Another great benefit of a broadband connection is that you are constantly connected to the
Internet. You are quickly able to connect with your work's intranet and email in a matter of
seconds.
Many people considering between these broadband Internet service options generally narrow
the search to the most popular services which are DSL and cable. A good approach when
researching your options would be to ask those in the area you are considering, which service
they are using and how it is working for them.
Even though cable broadband Internet service offers a speedy internet connection, this fast
speed will not be realized if the connection itself cannot be relied on. For example, the cable
connection you receive depends on the shared bandwidth, the number of users on the system
at any time, and the latency on the network.
The bandwidth is just one factor that determines the Internet connection's speed. It is a measure
of the quantity of data that enters the network over a period of time, and is measured in bps, or
bits per second. The greater the data flow, the better the network Internet connection. In
broadband connections the supported data rates are generally 300 Kbps and higher, as opposed
to the old dial-up maximum of 53Kbps.
Latency is another factor that affects the cable Internet connection's speed. Latency refers to
delays incurred in the network data processing. A network is described as low latency if it
experiences only small delay times, and high latency if it suffers with long delays. When the
latency becomes excessive, data transmission causes a bottleneck that prevents addition data
from coming through and this effectively reduces cable's Internet connection bandwidth. So
even though the cable bandwidth of your Internet connection is set, its effectiveness can be
reduced by bottlenecks of data and a high number of users on the system.
Again, with a broadband DSL connection, the connection speed of the Internet can be severely
reduced by the distance a subscriber is located from the switching station. The further away the
subscriber is from the switching station, the slower the Internet connection.
Once installed, a broadband connection is always on. The connection is maintained with the
use of a cable or DSL modem. These connect the computer to the cable outlet on the wall, in
the case of the cable internet connection; or the DSL modem to the phone line. Only when
these connections become unplugged, will the Internet connection be lost.
Unlike the old dial-up service, you will not be dialling a specific phone number to gain access
to the Internet. With a broadband service, access to the Internet is given by simply double
clicking your Internet browser icon of choice (this is usually on your desktop - Internet
Explorer, Firefox, Netscape etc.); your default web page will open and you can immediately
start surfing the web. The whole process should take no more than about 10 to 15 seconds,
depending on the computer's speed itself and baring any issues of slowness.
(Source: http://whatismyipaddress.com/broadband)
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Functions of IAN
Separates Voice and Data traffic from a number of subscribers (60 in each IAN)
Routes independently to the PSTN (over V 5.2) and Internet respectively (E1 data ports
or Ethernet ports) using E1 links.
Acts as an access unit of the Exchange and provides all the features and services of the
Exchange to the Subscriber.
Provides 64 Kbps / 128 Kbps connectivity to the Internet via one E1 link (maximum
concentration of 8: 1)
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Thus, the IAN acts as an ACCESS UNIT of the exchange and provides the services of the
Exchange to the subscriber.
The Internet traffic from each BDSU/HDSU is concentrated at the IAN (IAN essentially acts
as a Remote Access Server - RAS, at this point) and passed on to the ISP on a 10 Mbps Ethernet
or an E1 leased line. Up to two such E1 ports are provided on the IAN for connection to the
ISP.
Protocol used between the IAN and the switch is the ITU standard V5.2
Voice traffic from each BDSU is circuit switched on demand to one of the 64kbps slots
on E1 lines connected to an Exchange essentially acts as a Remote Access Server –
RAS, at this point) line. Up to two such E1 ports are provided on the IAN for connection
to the ISP
Internet traffic from each BDSU/HDSU is concentrated at the IAN.
Multiple IANs could also be cascaded at the Exchange premises.
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Typically, the battery backup gives 8 hrs. Of standby time and 4 hrs. Of talk time.
Basic Digital Subscriber Unit (BDSU)
Combines voice and Internet data packets on a single twisted-pair wire at the
subscriber’s premises.
Provides a permanent Internet connection at a maximum data rate of 128 kbps, which
drops to 64kbps when the telephone is in use and transparently, goes back to 128 kbps
when the telephone goes on- hook.
Located at the subscriber's premises has a telephone interface (RJ11) and an Ethernet
port (RJ45) to provide Internet Access. has local powering off the AC Mains
(110V/230V) and a backup battery to support the telephone on power failure. The
Ethernet port providing Internet access is off during power failure. Typically, the attery
back up gives 8 hrs of standby time and 4 hrs of talk time.
Connected to the Integrated Access Node, located either at a street corner (curb) or at
the Exchange, using a twisted pair copper wire.
The maximum length of the copper can be 5 km when 0.5-mm twisted pair copper is
used.
Has a minimum routing function built-in and routes the packets on the Ethernet meant
for ISP on to the IAN.
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Both the HDSU and the BDSU have a minimum routing function built-in and routes the packets
on the Ethernet meant for ISP on to the IAN.
(Source: http://www.bsnl.co.in/opencms/bsnl/BSNL/services/broadband/dias.html)
Your ISP makes the Internet a possibility. In other words, you can have shiny computer with a
built-in modem and could have a router for networking, but without a subscription with an ISP,
you won't have a connection to the Internet.
For the typical homeowner or apartment dweller, the ISP is usually a "cable company" that, in
addition or offering a TV subscription, also offers an Internet subscription. You don't get both
for the price of one, however. You can get just cable TV or just high-speed Internet, or both.
An ISP is your gateway to the Internet and everything else you can do online. The second your
connection is activated and set up, you'll be able to send emails, go shopping, do research and
more. The ISP is the link or conduit between your computer and all the other "servers" on the
Internet. You may feel like you're talking to your mom directly through email, but in reality it's
more "indirectly." Your email goes from your computer, to the ISP computers/servers, where
it's sent along to its destination through other servers on the network.
Of course, that's its "electronic" path: the transmission is still virtually instantaneous.
Every home or organization with Internet access has an ISP. The good news is, we don't all
have to have the same provider to communicate with each other and we don't have to pay
anything extra to communicate with someone who has a different ISP.
Whereas just about anyone can have a website, not everyone can be an ISP. It takes money,
infrastructure and a lot of very smart technicians. Your ISP maintains miles of cabling, employs
hundreds of technicians and maintains network services for its hundreds of thousands of
subscribers. Depending on where you live, you typically have a choice of ISPs.
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Types of ISPs
In the 1990s, there were three types of ISPs: dial-up services, high-speed Internet (also
referred to as "broadband") offered by cable companies, and DSL (Digital Line Subscribers)
offered by phone companies. By 2013, dial-up services were rare (even though they were
cheap), because they were very slow...and the other ISP options were typically readily available
and much, much faster.
Two of the leading DSL ISPs have been Verizon and AT&T. But in the last few years (from
2013), DSL has been on the decline, while cable-based ISPs, like Comcast and Time Warner,
have been growing. Why the change? It's because the phone companies have been getting more
into the lucrative smartphone business, and selling annual contracts for cellular service along
with smartphone Internet capabilities. That's left a lot of the broadband business for the cable
companies.
Verizon (yes, they are downplaying DSL) now offers FiOS in select areas (put an "f" before
"eye" and the "os"-sound in "most"). FiOS stands for Fiber Optic Services, and it claims to
have superfast Internet connection speeds.
And for all of us not in the Kansas area, Google launched Google Fiber in 2013, which offers
incredibly ultra-fast Internet speed. Other companies (and communities) are teaming up to
bring the next generation of broadband to you.
(Sources: http://whatismyipaddress.com/isp)
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INTERNET DEVICES
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INTERNET DEVICES
Hub
A Hub is a networking device which receives signal from the source, amplifies it and send it
to multiple destinations or computers. If you ever come across subject 'Computer
Networking' then you must heard this word. Sometimes, hubs are also called Ethernet Hub,
Repeater Hub, Active Hub and Network Hub. Basically it is a networking device which is used
multiple devices like Computers, Servers etc. to each other and make them work as a single
network segment.
Construction of Hub
Practically Hubs is a small box in rectangular shape which have
multiple ports for connecting various devices to it. It receives
its power supply from auxiliary power sources. The main work
of Hub is to receive incoming data signals, amplify them in the
form of electrical signals and then send them to each connected
device. A Hub may contain a number of ports. Minimum amount of ports that a hub can have
is 4 and it can have up to 24 ports for connecting various devices and peripherals to it.
Types of Hub
On the basis of its working methods, the Hubs can be divided into three types, given as:
Active Hub
Passive Hub
Intelligent Hub
Active Hub: As its name suggests, Active Hub is a hub which can amplify or regenerate the
information signal. This type of bus has an advantage as it also amplifies the incoming signal
as well as forward it to multiple devices. This Bus is also known as Multiport Repeater. It can
upgrade the properties if incoming signal before sending them to destination.
Passive Hub: Passive Hub works like a simple Bridge. It is used for just creating a connection
between various devices. It does not have the ability to amplify or regenerate any incoming
signal. It receives signal and then forward it to multiple devices.
Intelligent Hub: This is the third and last type of Bus. It can perform tasks of both Active and
Passive buses. Also, it can perform some other tasks like Bridging and routing. It increases the
speed and effectiveness of total network thus makes the performance of whole network fast
and efficient.
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Applications of Hub
Networking Hub is widely used networking connectivity device. It has many advantages over
other connectivity devices. Some Application of Networking Hub are given below:
Switch
A switch is used in a wired network to connect Ethernet
cables from a number of devices together. The switch allows
each device to talk to the others. Switches aren't used in
networks with only wireless connections, since network
devices such as routers and adapters communicate directly
with one another, with nothing in between.
Network switches operate at layer two (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model. Different models
of network switches support differing numbers of connected devices. Consumer-grade network
switches provide either four or eight connections for Ethernet devices, while corporate
switches typically support between 32 or 128 connections. Switches can additionally be
connected to each other, a so-called daisy chaining method to add progressively larger number
of devices to a LAN.
Physically, network switches look nearly identical to network hubs. Switches, unlike hubs, are
capable of inspecting data as messages are received via a method called packet switching. A
switch determines the source and destination device of each packet and forwards data only to
the specific device intended to conserve network bandwidth and generally improve
performance compared to hubs.
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Managed or Unmanaged
Management provides benefits in many networks. Large networks with mission critical
applications are managed with many sophisticated tools, using SNMP to monitor the health of
devices on the network. Networks using SNMP or RMON (an extension to SNMP that provides
much more data while using less network bandwidth to do so) will either manage every device,
or just the more critical areas. VLANs are another benefit to management in a switch. A VLAN
allows the network to group nodes into logical LANs that behave as one network, regardless
of physical connections. The main benefit is managing broadcast and multicast traffic. An
unmanaged switch will pass broadcast and multicast packets through to all ports. If the network
has logical grouping that are different from physical groupings then a VLAN-based switch may
be the best bet for traffic optimization.
Another benefit to management in the switches is Spanning Tree Algorithm. Spanning Tree
allows the network manager to design in redundant links, with switches attached in loops. This
would defeat the self-learning aspect of switches, since traffic from one node would appear to
originate on different ports. Spanning Tree is a protocol that allows the switches to coordinate
with each other so that traffic is only carried on one of the redundant links (unless there is a
failure, then the backup link is automatically activated). Network managers with switches
deployed in critical applications may want to have redundant links. In this case management is
necessary. But for the rest of the networks an unmanaged switch would do quite well, and is
much less expensive.
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sizes and strategies for handling overflows is of interest for the technically inclined network
designer.
In real world networks, crowded segments cause many problems, so their impact on switch
consideration is not important for most users, since networks should be designed to eliminate
crowded, congested segments. There are two strategies for handling full buffers. One is
"backpressure flow control" which sends packets back upstream to the source nodes of packets
that find a full buffer. This compares to the strategy of simply dropping the packet, and relying
on the integrity features in networks to retransmit automatically. One solution spreads the
problem in one segment to other segments, propagating the problem. The other solution causes
retransmissions, and that resulting increase in load is not optimal. Neither strategy solves the
problem, so switch vendors use large buffers and advise network managers to design switched
network topologies to eliminate the source of the problem - congested segments.
Layer 3 Switching
(Source: http://www.lantronix.com/resources/net-tutor-switching.html,
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/hardwarenetworkgear/g/bldef_switch.htm)
Router
Routers are small physical devices that join multiple networks together. Technically, a router
is a Layer 3 gateway device, meaning that it connects two or more networks and that the router
operates at the network layer of the OSI model.
By maintaining configuration information such as network Id, subnet mask, gateway address,
port, etc. in a piece of storage called the routing table, wired or wireless routers also have the
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ability to filter traffic, either incoming or outgoing, based on the IP addresses of senders and
receivers. Some routers allow a network administrator to update the routing table from a Web
browser interface. Broadband routers combine the functions of a router with those of a network
switch and a firewall in a single unit.
(Source: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/routers/g/bldef_router.htm)
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Every computer connected to the hub “sees” everything that every other computer on the hub
sees. The computers themselves decide if they are the targeted recipient of the message and
when a message should be paid attention to or not.
The hub itself is blissfully ignorant of the data being transmitted. For years, simple hubs have
been quick and easy ways to connect computers in small networks.
Switches
A switch does essentially what a hub does, but more efficiently. By paying attention to the
traffic that comes across it, it can “learn” where particular addresses are.
Initially, a switch knows nothing and simply sends on incoming messages to all ports:
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Even accepting that first message, however, the switch has learned something – it knows on
which connection the sender of the message is located. Thus, when machine “A” responds to
the message, the switches only need to send that message out to the one connection:
In addition to sending the response through to the originator, the switch has now learned
something else – it now knows on which connection machine “A” is located. That means that
subsequent messages destined for machine “A” need only be sent to that one port:
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Switches learn the location of the devices that they are connected to almost instantaneously.
The net result is that most network traffic only goes where it needs to rather than to every port.
On busy networks, this can make the network significantly faster.
Routers
A router is the smartest and most complicated of the bunch. Routers come in all shapes and
sizes – from the small, four-port broadband routers that are very popular right now to the large
industrial strength devices that drive the internet itself.
As far as simple traffic routing is concerned, a router operates exactly as a switch, learning the
location of the computers on its connections and routing traffic only to those computers.
DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol – is the way dynamic IP addresses are
assigned. A device asks for an IP address to be assigned to it from “upstream” and a DHCP
server responds with an IP address assignment. A router connected to your ISP-provided
internet connection will typically ask your ISP’s server for an IP address; this will be your IP
address on the internet. Your local computers, on the other hand, will ask the router for an IP
address and these addresses are local to your network.
NAT – Network Address Translation – is the way that the router translates the IP addresses
of packets that cross the internet/local network boundary. When computer “A” sends a packet
out, the IP address that it’s “from” is that of computer “A” – 192.168.1.2 in the example above.
When the router passes that on to the internet, it replaces the local IP address with the internet
IP address assigned by the ISP. It also keeps track, so that if a response comes back from
somewhere on the internet, the router knows to do the translation in reverse – replace the
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internet IP address with the local IP address for machine “A” and then send that response packet
on to machine “A”.
A side effect of NAT is that machines on the internet cannot initiate communications to local
machines – they can only respond to communications initiated by those local machines.
The net effect is that the router then also acts as a firewall:
What that means is that malware that might spread by trying to independently connect to your
computer over the network cannot.
All routers include some kind of user interface for configuring how the router will treat traffic.
The really large routers include the equivalent of a full-blown programming language to
describe how they should operate as well as the ability to communicate with other routers to
describe or determine the best way to get network traffic from point A to point B.
More and more devices are now capable of handling 1000mbps or a billion bits per second
(1gpbs).
Similarly, many devices are now also wireless transmitters that simply act like additional ports
on the device.
(Source: http://askleo.com/whats_the_difference_between_a_hub_a_switch_and_a_router/)
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Gateway
A network gateway is an internetworking system capable of joining together two networks
that use different base protocols. A network gateway can be implemented completely in
software, completely in hardware, or as a combination of both. Depending on the types of
protocols they support, network gateways can operate at any level of the OSI model.
Because a network gateway, by definition, appears at the edge of a network, related capabilities
like firewalls tend to be integrated with it. On home networks, a broadband router typically
serves as the network gateway although ordinary computers can also be configured to perform
equivalent functions.
(Source: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/networkdesign/g/network-gateway.htm)
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2. Protocol Gateway: It connects different network that use different network layer
protocols. For example a protocol gateway can transmit data between a network that
uses IPX/SPX and another network that uses TCP/IP.
3. Tunnelling Gateway: It encapsulate the data packets of the source network in a
protocol that is recognised by the destination network. In this case the router in the
destination network unwraps the data packets to retrieve the original data.
Bridge
A network bridge is software or hardware that connects two or more networks so that they can
communicate.
People with home or small office networks generally use a bridge when they have different
types of networks but they want to exchange information or share files among all of the
computers on those networks.
Here's an example. Let's say you have two networks: in one, the computers are connected with
cables; and in the other, the computers are connected using wireless technology. The wired
computers can only communicate with other wired computers, and the wireless computers can
only communicate with other wireless computers. With a network bridge, all of the computers
can communicate with each other.
(Source: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-vista/what-is-a-network-bridge)
In other words a bridge device filters data traffic at a network boundary. Bridges reduce the
amount of traffic on a local area network (LAN) by dividing it into two segments.
Bridges operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges inspect incoming
traffic and decide whether to forward or discard it. An Ethernet bridge, for example, inspects
each incoming Ethernet frame - including the source and destination, MAC addresses, and
sometimes the frame size - in making individual forwarding decisions.
Bridges serve a similar function as network switches that also operate at Layer 2. Traditional
bridges, though, support one network boundary (accessible through a hardware port), whereas
switches usually offer four or more hardware ports. Switches are sometimes called "multi-port
bridges" for this reason.
(Source: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/internetworking/g/bldef_bridge.htm)
If a bridge connects two networks that are physically close to one another it is called a Local
Bridge where as a Remote Bridge connects geographically dispersed networks.
Depending on the manner in which information is transmitted among the network, there are
two types of bridges,
Transparent Bridge (maintains the list of MAC addresses)
Source Route Bridge (does not maintains the list of MAC addresses)
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Repeater
Repeaters remove the unwanted noise in an incoming signal. Unlike an analog signal, the
original digital signal, even if weak or distorted, can be clearly perceived and restored. With
analog transmission, signals are strengthened with amplifiers which unfortunately also amplify
noise as well as information.
Because digital signals depend on the presence or absence of voltage, they tend to dissipate
more quickly than analog signals and need more frequent repeating. Whereas analog signal
amplifiers are spaced at 18,000 meter intervals, digital signal repeaters are typically placed at
2,000 to 6,000 meter intervals.
(Source: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/repeater)
Actual network devices that serve as repeaters usually have some other name. Active hubs, for
example, are repeaters. Active hubs are sometimes also called "multiport repeaters," but more
commonly they are just "hubs." Other types of "passive hubs" are not repeaters. In Wi-
Fi, access points function as repeaters only when operating in so-called "repeater mode."
Higher-level devices in the OSI model like switches and routers generally do not incorporate
the functions of a repeater. All repeaters are technically OSI physical layer devices.
(Source: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/internetworking/g/bldef_repeater.htm)
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INTERNET PROTOCOLS
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INTERNET PROTOCOLS
Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model
The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model has seven layers. This article describes and
explains them, beginning with the 'lowest' in the hierarchy (the physical) and proceeding to the
'highest' (the application). The layers are stacked this way:
Application
Presentation
Session
Transport
Network
Data Link
Physical
Physical Layer
The physical layer, the lowest layer of the OSI model, is concerned with the transmission and
reception of the unstructured raw bit stream over a physical medium. It describes the
electrical/optical, mechanical, and functional interfaces to the physical medium, and carries the
signals for all of the higher layers. It provides:
Data encoding: modifies the simple digital signal pattern (1s and 0s) used by the PC to
better accommodate the characteristics of the physical medium, and to aid in bit and
frame synchronization. It determines:
o What signal state represents a binary 1
o How the receiving station knows when a "bit-time" starts
o How the receiving station delimits a frame
Physical medium attachment, accommodating various possibilities in the medium:
o Will an external transceiver (MAU) be used to connect to the medium?
o How many pins do the connectors have and what is each pin used for?
Transmission technique: determines whether the encoded bits will be transmitted by
baseband (digital) or broadband (analog) signalling.
Physical medium transmission: transmits bits as electrical or optical signals appropriate
for the physical medium, and determines:
o What physical medium options can be used
o How many volts/db should be used to represent a given signal state, using a given
physical medium
Data Link Layer
The data link layer provides error-free transfer of data frames from one node to another over
the physical layer, allowing layers above it to assume virtually error-free transmission over the
link. To do this, the data link layer provides:
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Link establishment and termination: establishes and terminates the logical link between
two nodes.
Frame traffic control: tells the transmitting node to "back-off" when no frame buffers are
available.
Frame sequencing: transmits/receives frames sequentially.
Frame acknowledgment: provides/expects frame acknowledgments. Detects and
recovers from errors that occur in the physical layer by retransmitting non-acknowledged
frames and handling duplicate frame receipt.
Frame delimiting: creates and recognizes frame boundaries.
Frame error checking: checks received frames for integrity.
Media access management: determines when the node "has the right" to use the physical
medium.
Network Layer
The network layer controls the operation of the subnet, deciding which physical path the data
should take based on network conditions, priority of service, and other factors. It provides:
Routing: routes frames among networks.
Subnet traffic control: routers (network layer intermediate systems) can instruct a
sending station to "throttle back" its frame transmission when the router's buffer fills up.
Frame fragmentation: if it determines that a downstream router's maximum transmission
unit (MTU) size is less than the frame size, a router can fragment a frame for transmission
and re-assembly at the destination station.
Logical-physical address mapping: translates logical addresses, or names, into physical
addresses.
Subnet usage accounting: has accounting functions to keep track of frames forwarded by
subnet intermediate systems, to produce billing information.
Communications Subnet
The network layer software must build headers so that the network layer software residing in
the subnet intermediate systems can recognize them and use them to route data to the
destination address.
This layer relieves the upper layers of the need to know anything about the data transmission
and intermediate switching technologies used to connect systems. It establishes, maintains and
terminates connections across the intervening communications facility (one or several
intermediate systems in the communication subnet).
In the network layer and the layers below, peer protocols exist between a node and its
immediate neighbour, but the neighbour may be a node through which data is routed, not the
destination station. The source and destination stations may be separated by many intermediate
systems.
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Transport Layer
The transport layer ensures that messages are delivered error-free, in sequence, and with no
losses or duplications. It relieves the higher layer protocols from any concern with the transfer
of data between them and their peers.
The size and complexity of a transport protocol depends on the type of service it can get from
the network layer. For a reliable network layer with virtual circuit capability, a minimal
transport layer is required. If the network layer is unreliable and/or only supports datagrams,
the transport protocol should include extensive error detection and recovery.
Message segmentation: accepts a message from the (session) layer above it, splits the
message into smaller units (if not already small enough), and passes the smaller units
down to the network layer. The transport layer at the destination station reassembles the
message.
Message acknowledgment: provides reliable end-to-end message delivery with
acknowledgments.
Message traffic control: tells the transmitting station to "back-off" when no message
buffers are available.
Session multiplexing: multiplexes several message streams, or sessions onto one logical
link and keeps track of which messages belong to which sessions (see session layer).
Typically, the transport layer can accept relatively large messages, but there are strict message
size limits imposed by the network (or lower) layer. Consequently, the transport layer must
break up the messages into smaller units, or frames, prepending a header to each frame.
The transport layer header information must then include control information, such as message
start and message end flags, to enable the transport layer on the other end to recognize message
boundaries. In addition, if the lower layers do not maintain sequence, the transport header must
contain sequence information to enable the transport layer on the receiving end to get the pieces
back together in the right order before handing the received message up to the layer above.
End-to-end layers
Unlike the lower "subnet" layers whose protocol is between immediately adjacent nodes, the
transport layer and the layers above are true "source to destination" or end-to-end layers, and
are not concerned with the details of the underlying communications facility. Transport layer
software (and software above it) on the source station carries on a conversation with similar
software on the destination station by using message headers and control messages.
Session Layer
The session layer allows session establishment between processes running on different stations.
It provides:
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(Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103884)
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Media
2. Data link A reliable direct point-to-point data
Layers Bit/Frame
connection.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model)
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Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol
suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function
enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
IP, as the primary protocol in the Internet layer of the Internet protocol suite, has the task of
delivering packets from the source host to the destination host solely based on the IP
addresses in the packet headers. For this purpose, IP defines packet structures that
encapsulate the data to be delivered. It also defines addressing methods that are used to label
the datagram with source and destination information.
Historically, IP was the connectionless datagram service in the original Transmission Control
Program introduced by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in 1974; the other being the connection-
oriented Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The Internet protocol suite is therefore often
referred to as TCP/IP.
The first major version of IP, Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is the dominant protocol of
the Internet. Its successor is Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6).
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol)
TCP/IP is a two-layer program. The higher layer, Transmission Control Protocol, manages the
assembling of a message or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over the Internet and
received by a TCP layer that reassembles the packets into the original message. The lower
layer, Internet Protocol, handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right
destination. Each gateway computer on the network checks this address to see where to forward
the message. Even though some packets from the same message are routed differently than
others, they'll be reassembled at the destination.
TCP/IP uses the client/server model of communication in which a computer user (a client)
requests and is provided a service (such as sending a Web page) by another computer (a server)
in the network. TCP/IP communication is primarily point-to-point, meaning each
communication is from one point (or host computer) in the network to another point or host
computer. TCP/IP and the higher-level applications that use it are collectively said to be
"stateless" because each client request is considered a new request unrelated to any previous
one (unlike ordinary phone conversations that require a dedicated connection for the call
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duration). Being stateless frees network paths so that everyone can use them continuously.
(Note that the TCP layer itself is not stateless as far as any one message is concerned. Its
connection remains in place until all packets in a message have been received.)
Many Internet users are familiar with the even higher layer application protocols that use
TCP/IP to get to the Internet. These include the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP), the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Telnet (Telnet) which lets you logon to remote
computers, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). These and other protocols are often
packaged together with TCP/IP as a "suite."
Personal computer users with an analog phone modem connection to the Internet usually get
to the Internet through the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or the Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP). These protocols encapsulate the IP packets so that they can be sent over the dial-up
phone connection to an access provider's modem.
Protocols related to TCP/IP include the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which is used instead
of TCP for special purposes. Other protocols are used by network host computers for
exchanging router information. These include the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP),
the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), and the Border
Gateway Protocol (BGP).
(Source: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/TCP-IP)
1. Application layer
2. Transport layer
3. Network layer
4. Data link layer
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1. Application layer
This is the top layer of TCP/IP protocol suite. This layer includes applications or processes that
use transport layer protocols to deliver the data to destination computers.
At each layer there are certain protocol options to carry out the task designated to that particular
layer. So, application layer also has various protocols that applications use to communicate
with the second layer, the transport layer. Some of the popular application layer protocols are
2. Transport Layer
This layer provides backbone to data flow between two hosts. This layer receives data from the
application layer above it. There are many protocols that work at this layer but the two most
commonly used protocols at transport layer are TCP and UDP.
TCP is used where a reliable connection is required while UDP is used in case of unreliable
connections.
TCP divides the data (coming from the application layer) into proper sized chunks and then
passes these chunks onto the network. It acknowledges received packets, waits for
the acknowledgments of the packets it sent and sets timeout to resend the packets if
acknowledgements are not received in time. The term ‘reliable connection’ is used where it is
not desired to loose any information that is being transferred over the network through this
connection. So, the protocol used for this type of connection must provide the mechanism to
achieve this desired characteristic. For example, while downloading a file, it is not desired to
loose any information (bytes) as it may lead to corruption of downloaded content.
UDP provides a comparatively simpler but unreliable service by sending packets from one host
to another. UDP does not take any extra measures to ensure that the data sent is received by
the target host or not. The term ‘unreliable connection’ are used where loss of some information
does not hamper the task being fulfilled through this connection. For example while streaming
a video, loss of few bytes of information due to some reason is acceptable as this does not harm
the user experience much.
3. Network Layer
This layer is also known as Internet layer. The main purpose of this layer is to organize or
handle the movement of data on network. By movement of data, we generally mean routing of
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data over the network. The main protocol used at this layer is IP. While ICMP (used by popular
‘ping’ command) and IGMP are also used at this layer.
Client requests for a service while the server processes the request for client.
Now, since we have discussed the underlying layers which help that data flow from host to
target over a network. Let’s take a very simple example to make the concept clearer.
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As seen in the above figure, the information flows downward through each layer on the host
machine. At the first layer, since http protocol is being used, so an HTTP request is formed and
sent to the transport layer.
Here the protocol TCP assigns some more information (like sequence number, source port
number, destination port number etc.) to the data coming from upper layer so that the
communication remains reliable i.e., a track of sent data and received data could be maintained.
At the next lower layer, IP adds its own information over the data coming from transport layer.
This information would help in packet travelling over the network. Lastly, the data link layer
makes sure that the data transfer to/from the physical media is done properly. Here again the
communication done at the data link layer can be reliable or unreliable.
This information travels on the physical media (like Ethernet) and reaches the target machine.
Now, at the target machine (which in our case is the machine at which the website is hosted)
the same series of interactions happen, but in reverse order.
The packet is first received at the data link layer. At this layer the information (that was stuffed
by the data link layer protocol of the host machine) is read and rest of the data is passed to the
upper layer.
Similarly at the Network layer, the information set by the Network layer protocol of host
machine is read and rest of the information is passed on the next upper layer. Same happens at
the transport layer and finally the HTTP request sent by the host application (your browser) is
received by the target application (Website server).
One would wonder what happens when information particular to each layer is read by the
corresponding protocols at target machine or why is it required? Well, let’s understand this by
an example of TCP protocol present at transport layer. At the host machine this protocol adds
information like sequence number to each packet sent by this layer.
At the target machine, when packet reaches at this layer, the TCP at this layer makes note of
the sequence number of the packet and sends an acknowledgement (which is received seq
number + 1).
Now, if the host TCP does not receive the acknowledgement within some specified time, it re
sends the same packet. So this way TCP makes sure that no packet gets lost. So we see that
protocol at every layer reads the information set by its counterpart to achieve the functionality
of the layer it represents.
(Source: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/11/tcp-ip-fundamentals/)
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FTP is commonly used to transfer Web page files from their creator to the computer that acts
as their server for everyone on the Internet. It's also commonly used to download programs
and other files to your computer from other servers.
Your Web browser can also make FTP requests to download programs you select from a Web
page. Using FTP, you can also update (delete, rename, move, and copy) files at a server. You
need to logon to an FTP server. However, publicly available files are easily accessed
using anonymous FTP.
Basic FTP support is usually provided as part of a suite of programs that come with TCP/IP.
However, any FTP client program with a graphical user interface usually must be downloaded
from the company that makes it.
(Source: http://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/File-Transfer-Protocol)
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending and receiving e-
mail. However, since it is limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end, it is
usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 (Post Office protocol 3) or IMAP (Internet
Message Access Protocol), that let the user save messages in a server mailbox and download
them periodically from the server. In other words, users typically use a program that uses SMTP
for sending e-mail and either POP3 or IMAP for receiving e-mail. On Unix-based
systems, sendmail is the most widely-used SMTP server for e-mail. A commercial package,
Sendmail, includes a POP3 server. Microsoft Exchange includes an SMTP server and can also
be set up to include POP3 support.
SMTP usually is implemented to operate over Internet port 25. An alternative to SMTP that is
widely used in Europe is X.400. Many mail servers now support Extended Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (ESMTP), which allows multimedia files to be delivered as e-mail.
(Source: http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/definition/SMTP)
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a series of Requests for Comments (RFCs), most notably RFC 2616 (June 1999), which defines
HTTP/1.1, the version of HTTP in common use.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext_Transfer_Protocol)
HTTP defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and what actions Web
servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. For example, when you
enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP command to the Web server
directing it to fetch and transmit the requested Web page.
The other main standard that controls how the World Wide Web works is HTML, which covers
how Web pages are formatted and displayed.
HTTP: A Stateless Protocol
HTTP is called a stateless protocol because each command is executed independently, without
any knowledge of the commands that came before it. This is the main reason that it is difficult
to implement Web sites that react intelligently to user input. This shortcoming of HTTP is
being addressed in a number of new technologies,
including ActiveX, Java, JavaScript and cookies.
Knowing the meaning of the HTTP status code can help you figure out what went wrong. On
a 404 error, for example, you could look at the URL to see if a word looks misspelled, then
correct it and try it again. If that doesn't work backtrack by deleting information between each
backslash, until you come to a page on that site that isn't a 404. From there you may be able to
find the page you're looking for.
(Source: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HTTP.html)
(Source: http://www.silicon-press.com/briefs/brief.http/brief.pdf)
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TELNET
Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol for accessing remote computers.
Through Telnet, an administrator or another user can access someone else's computer remotely.
On the Web, HTTP and FTP protocols allow you to request specific files from remote
computers, but not to actually be logged on as a user of that computer. With Telnet, you log on
as a regular user with whatever privileges you may have been granted to the
specific application and data on that computer.
A Telnet command request looks like this (the computer name is made-up):
telnet the.libraryat.whatis.edu
The result of this request would be an invitation to log on with a userid and a prompt for a
password. If accepted, you would be logged on like any user who used this computer every
day.
Telnet is most likely to be used by program developers and anyone who has a need to use
specific applications or data located at a particular host computer.
(Source: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Telnet)
Gopher
The Gopher protocol is a TCP/IP application layer protocol designed for distributing,
searching, and retrieving documents over the Internet. Gopher presents a menuing interface to
a tree or graph of links; the links can be to documents, runnable programs, or other gopher
menus arbitrarily far across the net. It presented an alternative to the World Wide Web in its
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early stages, but ultimately HTTP became the dominant protocol. The Gopher ecosystem is
often regarded as the effective predecessor of the World Wide Web.
The protocol was invented by a team led by Mark P. McCahill at the University of Minnesota in
America and offers some features not natively supported by the Web and imposes a much
stronger hierarchy on information stored on it. Its text menu interface is easy to use, and well-
suited to computing environments that rely heavily on remote text-oriented computer terminals,
which were still common at the time of its creation in 1991, and the simplicity of its protocol
facilitated a wide variety of client implementations. More recent Gopher revisions and
graphical clients added support for multimedia. Gopher was preferred by many network
administrators for using fewer network resources than Web services.
Gopher's hierarchical structure provided a useful platform for the first large-scale electronic
library connections. Gopher users remember the system as being "faster and more efficient and
so much more organised" than today's Web services. The Gopher protocol is still in use by
enthusiasts, and a small population of actively maintained servers remain although it is largely
supplanted by the Web in the years following.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol))
WAIS (pronounced "ways") uses its own Internet protocol, an extension of the Z39.50 standard
(Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specification for Library Applications)
of the National Information Standards Organization. Web users can use WAIS by either
downloading a WAIS client and a "gateway" to the Web browser or by using Telnet to connect
to a public WAIS client.
It allows a text-based search, and retrieval following a search. Gopher provides a free text
search mechanism, but principally uses menus. A menu is a list of titles, from which the user
may pick one. While gopher space is a web containing many loops, the menu system gives the
user the impression of a tree.
The WAIS's data model is similar to the gopher model, except that menus are generalized to
hypertext documents. In both cases, simple file servers generate the menus or hypertext directly
from the file structure of a server. The Web's hypertext model permits the author more freedom
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to communicate the options available to the reader, as it can include headings and various forms
of list structure.
Because of the abundance of content and search engines now available on the Web, few if any
WAIS servers remain in operation.
(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_information_server,
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/WAIS-Wide-Area-Information-Servers)
Domain Names
A domain name is a unique name that identifies a website. It is an identification string that
defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control on the Internet. Domain names
are formed by the rules Domain Name System (DNS). Any name registered in the DNS is a
domain name. The functional description of domain names is presented in the Domain Name
System article. Broader usage and industry aspects are captured here.
Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and
addressing purposes. In general, a domain name represents an Internet Protocol (IP) resource,
such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, a server computer hosting a web site,
or the web site itself or any other service communicated via the Internet. In 2010, the number
of active domains reached 196 million.
Domain names are organized in subordinate levels (subdomains) of the DNS root domain,
which is nameless. The first-level set of domain names are the top-level domains (TLDs),
including the generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as the prominent
domains com, info, net, edu, and org, and the country code top-level domains (ccTLDs).
Below these top-level domains in the DNS hierarchy are the second-level and third-level
domain names that are typically open for reservation by end-users who wish to connect local
area networks to the Internet, create other publicly accessible Internet resources or run web
sites. The registration of these domain names is usually administered by domain name
registrars who sell their services to the public.
A fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is a domain name that is completely specified in the
hierarchy of the DNS, having no parts omitted.
Domain names are usually written in lowercase, although labels in the Domain Name System
are case-insensitive.
Domain names work because they provide computer users with a short name that is easy to
remember. Users enter web addresses into the URL field at the top of their browser's page from
left to right. The domain name itself is read from right to left according to the naming hierarchy
discussed below. This link provides directions to the network, which ultimately results in a
successful page load at the client end of the transaction.
The common fictitious domain name, www.example.com, is comprised of three essential parts:
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Many servers use a three-letter naming convention for top-level domains, and they are
separated from sub-domains by a dot. The significance of the top-level domain is the most
important for new users to grasp. It identifies the highest part of the naming system used on the
Internet. This naming system was originally created to identify countries and organizations as
well as categories.
Country codes are also easily recognizable to new users because the abbreviations are the same
ones used for other purposes. The organization of the domain name hierarchy and the ability
to reserve them for only one purpose has already undergone several modifications. Discussions
and debates concerning the availability and affordability of domain names can be expected to
continue.
Sub-domains are organized to the left of the top-level domain, and this is the part of the domain
system that is most recognizable to humans. It is common to see several levels of sub-domains,
and some countries developed specific conventions of organization to communicate
information within their internal naming systems.
Seven generic top-level domains were created early in the development of the Internet, and
pre-date the creation of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers) in 1998.
Name Entity Administrator Notes
.com commercial Verisign This is an open TLD; any person or entity is
permitted to register. Though originally intended
for use by for-profit business entities, for a
number of reasons it became the "main" TLD for
domain names and is currently used by all types
of entities including non-profits, schools and
private individuals. Domain name registrations
may be successfully challenged if the holder
cannot prove an outside relation justifying
reservation of the name, to prevent "squatting".
It was originally administered by the United
States Department of Defense.
.org organization Public Interest This is an open TLD; any person or entity is
Registry permitted to register. Originally intended for use
by non-profit organizations, and still primarily
used by some.
.net network Verisign This is an open TLD; any person or entity is
permitted to register. Originally intended for use
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access the file resource, a domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet, and
a pathname, a hierarchical description that specifies the location of a file in that computer.
When you use the Web or send an e-mail message, you use a domain name to do it. For
example, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) "http://www.howstuffworks.com" contains
the domain name howstuffworks.com. So does this e-mail address:
example@howstuffworks.com. Every time you use a domain name, you use the Internet's DNS
servers to translate the human-readable domain name into the machine-readable IP address.
Check out How Domain Name Servers Work for more in-depth information on DNS.
Top-level domain names, also called first-level domain names, include .COM, .ORG, .NET,
.EDU and .GOV. Within every top-level domain there is a huge list of second-level domains.
For example, in the .COM first-level domain there is:
HowStuffWorks
Yahoo
Microsoft
Every name in the .COM top-level domain must be unique. The left-most word, like www, is
the host name. It specifies the name of a specific machine (with a specific IP address) in a
domain. A given domain can, potentially, contain millions of host names as long as they are all
unique within that domain.
DNS servers accept requests from programs and other name servers to convert domain names
into IP addresses. When a request comes in, the DNS server can do one of four things with it:
1. It can answer the request with an IP address because it already knows the IP address for
the requested domain.
2. It can contact another DNS server and try to find the IP address for the name requested.
It may have to do this multiple times.
3. It can say, "I don't know the IP address for the domain you requested, but here's the IP
address for a DNS server that knows more than I do."
4. It can return an error message because the requested domain name is invalid or does
not exist.
On the Web (which uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP), an example of a URL
with different parts is:
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Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks. It is not controlled by a
central entity and therefore relies on network devices and accepted conventions and protocols
to relay the data traffic until it gets to its destinations. Some countries have imposed rules to
censor or otherwise control what kind of content is accessible by its citizen (i.e. China).
However, except for the management of Internet Protocol addresses and the Domain Name
System by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the Internet
remains unregulated and uncensored.
The beginnings of the Internet can be traced back to the 1960s when the United States funded
research by its military agencies to develop a fault-tolerant and robust distributed network of
computers. The Internet is now global and in theory can be accessed by anyone who can get
access from an Internet service provider.
Intranet
On the other hand, an intranet is a private network that is setup and controlled by an
organization to encourage interaction among its members, to improve efficiency and to share
information, among other things. Information and resources that are shared on an intranet might
include: organizational policies and procedures, announcements, information about new
products, and confidential data of strategic value.
An intranet is a restricted-access network that works much like the Internet, but is isolated from
it. As is the case with the Internet, an intranet is based on TCP/IP protocols. Therefore, a web
page in an intranet may look and act just like any other webpage on the Internet, but access is
restricted to authorized persons and devices. In some cases, access to an intranet is restricted
by not connecting it to other networks, but in other cases a firewall is used to deny access to
unauthorized entities.
The difference between an intranet and the Internet is defined in terms of accessibility, size and
control. Unless content filters are being used or the government is censoring content, all the
Internet’s content is accessible to everyone. On the other hand an intranet is owned and
controlled by a single organization that decides which members are allowed access to certain
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parts of the intranet. In general, an intranet is usually very small and is restricted to the premises
of a single organization.
Extranet
An extranet is an extended intranet. In addition to allowing access to members of an
organization, an extranet uses firewalls, access profiles, and privacy protocols to allow access
to users from outside the organization. In essence, an extranet is a private network that uses
Internet protocols and public networks to securely share resources with customers, suppliers,
vendors, partners, or other businesses.
Both intranets and extranets are owned, operated and controlled by one organization. However,
the difference between intranets and extranets is defined in terms of who has access to the
private network and the geographical reach of that network. Intranets allow only members of
the organization to access the network, while an extranet allows persons from outside the
organization (i.e. business partners and customers) to access the network. Usually, network
access is managed through the administration of usernames and passwords, which are also used
to determine which parts of the extranet a particular user can access.
Summery
The Internet, extranets, and intranets all rely on the same TCP/IP technologies. However, they
are different in terms of the levels of access they allow to various users inside and outside the
organization and the size of the network. An intranet allows for restricted access to only
members of an organization; an extranet expands that access by allowing non-members such
as suppliers and customers to use company resources. The difference between the Internet and
extranets is that while the extranet allows limited access to non-members of an organization,
the Internet generally allows everyone to access all network resources.
(Source: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/enterprise-security/articles/63387.aspx written by:
Steve McFarlane•edited by: Lamar Stonecypher•updated: 2/4/2011)
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INTERNET ADDRESSING
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INTERNET ADDRESSING
What is an IP address?
Every machine on a network has a unique identifier. Just as you would address a letter to send
in the mail, computers use the unique identifier to send data to specific computers on a network.
Most networks today, including all computers on the Internet, use the TCP/IP protocol as the
standard for how to communicate on the network. In the TCP/IP protocol, the unique identifier
for a computer is called its IP address.
The IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is the language that computers use to communicate
over the Internet. A protocol is the pre-defined way that someone who wants to use a service
talks with that service. The "someone" could be a person, but more often it is a computer
program like a Web browser.
There are two standards for IP addresses: IP Version 4 (IPv4) and IP Version 6 (IPv6). All
computers with IP addresses have an IPv4 address, and many are starting to use the new IPv6
address system as well. Here's what these two address types mean:
IPv4 uses 32 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv4 address
is expressed by four numbers separated by dots. Each number is the decimal (base-10)
representation for an eight-digit binary (base-2) number, also called an octet. For example:
216.27.61.137
IPv6 uses 128 binary bits to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv6 address
is expressed by eight groups of hexadecimal (base-16) numbers separated by colons, as in
2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652. Groups of numbers that contain all zeros are
often omitted to save space, leaving a colon separator to mark the gap (as in
2001:cdba::3257:9652).
At the dawn of IPv4 addressing, the Internet was not the large commercial sensation it is today,
and most networks were private and closed off from other networks around the world. When
the Internet exploded, having only 32 bits to identify a unique Internet address caused people
to panic that we'd run out of IP addresses. Under IPv4, there are 232 possible combinations,
which offers just under 4.3 billion unique addresses. IPv6 raised that to a panic-relieving 2128
possible addresses.
An IP address can be either dynamic or static. A static address is one that you configure
yourself by editing your computer's network settings. This type of address is rare, and it can
create network issues if you use it without a good understanding of TCP/IP. Dynamic addresses
are the most common. They're assigned by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP),
a service running on the network. DHCP typically runs on network hardware such as routers or
dedicated DHCP servers.
Dynamic IP addresses are issued using a leasing system, meaning that the IP address is only
active for a limited time. If the lease expires, the computer will automatically request a new
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lease. Sometimes, this means the computer will get a new IP address, too, especially if the
computer was unplugged from the network between leases. This process is usually transparent
to the user unless the computer warns about an IP address conflict on the network (two
computers with the same IP address). An address conflict is rare, and today's technology
typically fixes the problem automatically.
Dotted Decimal Format
A typical IP address looks like this: 193.123.234.123. To make it easier for us humans to
remember, IP addresses are normally expressed in decimal format as a dotted decimal
number like the one above. But computers communicate in binary form.
The four numbers in an IP address are called octets, because they each have eight positions
when viewed in binary form. If you add all the positions together, you get 32, which is why IP
addresses are considered 32-bit numbers. Since each of the eight positions can have two
different states (1 or zero), the total number of possible combinations per octet is 28 or 256. So
each octet can contain any value between zero and 255. Combine the four octets and you get
232 or a possible 4,294,967,296 unique values!
Binary Representation
The positional value method is the simplest form of converting binary from decimal value. IP
address is 32 bit value which is divided into 4 octets. A binary octet contains 8 bits and the
value of each bit can be determined by the position of bit value '1' in the octet.
Positional value of bits is determined by 2 raised to power (position – 1), that is the value of a
bit 1 at position 6 is 26-1 that is 25 that is 32. The total value of the octet is determined by
adding up the positional value of bits. The value of 11000000 is 128+64 = 192.
IP Address Classes
Earlier, you read that IPv4 addresses represent four eight-digit binary numbers. That means
that each number could be 00000000 to 11111111 in binary, or 0 to 255 in decimal (base-10).
In other words, 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. However, some numbers in that range are reserved
for specific purposes on TCP/IP networks. These reservations are recognized by the authority
on TCP/IP addressing, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Four specific
reservations include the following:
0.0.0.0 -- This represents the default network, which is the abstract concept of just being
connected to a TCP/IP network.
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255.255.255.255 -- This address is reserved for network broadcasts, or messages that should
go to all computers on the network.
127.0.0.1 -- This is called the loopback address, meaning your computer's way of identifying
itself, whether or not it has an assigned IP address.
169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254 -- This is the Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) range
of addresses assigned automatically when a computer's unsuccessful getting an address from a
DHCP server.
The first octet referred here is the left most of all. The octets numbered as follows depicting
dotted decimal notation of IP Address:
Number of networks and number of hosts per class can be derived by this formula:
When calculating hosts IP addresses, 2 IP addresses are decreased because they cannot be
assigned to hosts i.e. the first IP of a network is network number and the last IP is reserved for
Broadcast IP.
Class A Address
The first bit of the first octet is always set to 0 (zero). Thus the
first octet ranges from 1 – 127, i.e. Class A addresses only
include IP starting from 1.x.x.x to 126.x.x.x only. The IP range
127.x.x.x is reserved for loopback IP addresses.
The default subnet mask for Class A IP address is 255.0.0.0 which implies that Class A
addressing can have 126 networks (27-2) and 16777214 hosts (224-2).
Class A IP address format thus, is 0NNNNNNN.HHHHHHHH.HHHHHHHH.HHHHHHHH
Class B Address
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Class B has 16384 (214) Network addresses and 65534 (216-2) Host addresses.
Class B IP address format is, 10NNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.HHHHHHHH.HHHHHHHH
Class C Address
The first octet of Class C IP address has its first 3 bits set
to 110, that is Class C IP addresses range from 192.0.0.x
to 192.255.255.x. The default subnet mask for Class B is
255.255.255.x.
Class C gives 2097152 (221) Network addresses and 254 (28-2) Host addresses.
Class C IP address format is 110NNNNN.NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.HHHHHHHH
Class D Address
Class E Address
This IP Class is reserved for experimental purposes only like for R&D or Study. IP addresses
in this class ranges from 240.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.254. Like Class D, this class too is not
equipped with any subnet mask.
The below table gives a summarised view of the various IP addressing classes,
Subnet Mask
A subnet mask looks somewhat like an IP address, but it's actually just a filter used to determine
which part of an IP address designates the network and node. IP addresses on a subnet have
two parts: network and node. The network part identifies the subnet itself. The node, also called
the host, is an individual piece of computer equipment connected to the network and requiring
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a unique address. Each computer knows how to separate the two parts of the IP address by
using a subnet mask.
Subnet Mask is also 32 bits long. If the IP address in binary is ANDed with its Subnet Mask,
the result yields the Network address. For example, say the IP Address 192.168.1.152 and the
Subnet Mask is 255.255.255.0 then
This way Subnet Mast helps extract Network ID and Host from an IP Address. It can be
identified now that 192.168.1.0 is the Network number and 192.168.1.152 is the host on that
network.
A subnet mask consists of a series of 1 bits followed by a series of 0 bits. The 1 bits indicate
those that should mask the network bits in the IP address, revealing only those that identify a
unique node on that network. In the IPv4 standard, the most commonly used subnet masks have
complete octets of 1s and 0s as follows:
Class A Subnets
In Class A, only the first octet is used as Network identifier and rest of three octets are used to
be assigned to Hosts (i.e. 16777214 Hosts per Network).
Class C IP addresses normally assigned to a very small size network because it only can have
254 hosts in a network.
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IP Addressing Rules
The table below summarizes the IP addressing rules that we’ve looked at in this section.
Sources:
http://www.2000trainers.com/cisco-ccna-05/ccna-ip-addressing-rules/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/question549.htm
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/ipv4/ipv4_quick_guide.htm
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i/ip.htm
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INTERNET APPLICATION
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INTERNET APPLICATION
WWW (World Wide Web)
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as WWW or W3, commonly known as the Web) is
a system of interlinked hypertext documents that are accessed via the Internet. With a web
browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and
other multimedia and navigate between them via hyperlinks.
Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist and former CERN employee, is considered the
inventor of the Web. On March 12, 1989, he wrote a proposal for what would eventually
become the World Wide Web. The 1989 proposal was meant for a more effective CERN
communication system but Berners-Lee eventually realised the concept could be implemented
throughout the world. Berners-Lee and Belgian computer scientist Robert Cailliau proposed in
1990 to use hypertext "to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in
which the user can browse at will", and Berners-Lee finished the first website in December of
that year. The first test was completed around 20 December 1990 and Berners-Lee reported
about the project on the newsgroup alt.hypertext on 7 August 1991.
The World Web is based on these technologies:
HTML - Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Web servers and Web browsers
(Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web,http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/world
wideweb/g/bldef_www.htm)
Website
Website, also written as web site, or simply site, is a set of related web pages served from a
single web domain. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network
such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as
a Uniform resource locator. All publicly accessible websites collectively constitute the World
Wide Web.
A webpage is a document, typically written in plain text interspersed with formatting
instructions of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML, XHTML). A webpage may incorporate
elements from other websites with suitable markup anchors.
Webpages are accessed and transported with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which
may optionally employ encryption (HTTP Secure, HTTPS) to provide security and privacy for
the user of the webpage content. The user's application, often a web browser, renders the page
content according to its HTML markup instructions onto a display terminal.
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The pages of a website can usually be accessed from a simple Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) called the web address. The URLs of the pages organize them into a hierarchy,
although hyperlinking between them conveys the reader's perceived site structure and guides
the reader's navigation of the site which generally includes a home page with most of the links
to the site's web content, and a supplementary about, contact and link page.
When someone gives you their web address, it generally takes you to their website's home
page, which should introduce you to what that site offers in terms of information or other
services. From the home page, you can click on links to reach other sections of the site. A
website can consist of one page, or of tens of thousands of pages, depending on what the site
owner is trying to accomplish.
Some websites require a subscription to access some or all of their content. Examples of
subscription websites include many business sites, parts of news websites, academic
journal websites, gaming websites, file-sharing websites, message boards, web-based email,
social networking websites, websites providing real-time stock market data, and websites
providing various other services (e.g., websites offering storing and/or sharing of images, files
and so forth).
Generally, people look at websites for two primary reasons:
1. To find information they need. This could be anything from a student looking for pictures
of frogs for a school project, to finding the latest stock quotes, to getting the address of the
nearest Thai restaurant.
2. To complete a task. Visitors may want to buy the latest best-seller, download a software
program, or participate in an online discussion about a favourite hobby.
The main thing to remember in creating a website is that you're not creating the website for
you; you already know about the information or service you have to offer. You're creating the
site for your visitors, so it should contain the content they want, and be organized in a way that
makes sense, even to an outsider.
To summarize a website is a collection of documents known as webpages (or pages for short)
that contain information: images, words, digital media, and the like. The main page in a website
is called a homepage, and other pages in a website are called subpages. These are connected
by hyperlinks, which are spots on a page (usually text or images) that, when clicked, take the
user to different location. This can be another subpage, another location on the same page, or
another website altogether. Webpages are written in a language called HyperText Markup
Language (HTML) which tells web browsers (the programs used to surf the Internet, such as
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, or Google Chrome) what information to display and
how to format it. Webpages are stored on a server, which is a network of computers designed
to store websites. Server space is sold and maintained by hosting providers. Hosting your
website on a server ensures that your website is open to the public.
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Web Page
A web page or webpage is a document commonly written in Hyper Text Markup Language
(HTML) that is accessible through the Internet or other network using a browser. A web page
is accessed by entering a URL addresses and may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to
other web pages and files. Web browsers coordinate web resources centered around the written
web page, such as style sheets, scripts and images, to present the web page.
On a network, a web browser can retrieve a web page from a remote web server. On a higher
level, the web server may restrict access to only a private network such as a corporate intranet or
it provides access to the World Wide Web. On a lower level, the web browser uses
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to make such requests.
A static web page is delivered exactly as stored, as web content in the web server's file system,
while a dynamic web page is generated by a web application that is driven by server-side
software or client-side scripting. Dynamic web pages help the browser (the client) to enhance
the web page through user input to the server.
(Sources: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/webpage.htm,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_page)
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For example, mailto: URIs are usually passed to the user's default e-mail application,
and news: URIs are passed to the user's default newsgroup reader.
In the case of http, https, file, and others, once the resource has been retrieved the web browser
will display it. HTML and associated content (image files, formatting information such as CSS,
etc.) is passed to the browser's layout engine to be transformed from markup to an interactive
document, a process known as "rendering". Aside from HTML, web browsers can generally
display any kind of content that can be part of a web page. Most browsers can display images,
audio, video, and XML files, and often have plug-ins to support Flash applications and Java
applets. Upon encountering a file of an unsupported type or a file that is set up to be
downloaded rather than displayed, the browser prompts the user to save the file to disk.
Information resources may contain hyperlinks to other information resources. Each link
contains the URI of a resource to go to. When a link is clicked, the browser navigates to the
resource indicated by the link's target URI, and the process of bringing content to the user
begins again.
User interface
Most major web browsers have these user interface elements in common:
Back and forward buttons to go back to the previous resource and forward respectively.
A refresh or reload button to reload the current resource.
A stop button to cancel loading the resource. In some browsers, the stop button is merged
with the reload button.
A home button to return to the user's home page.
An address bar to input the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the desired resource and
display it.
A search bar to input terms into a search engine. In some browsers, the search bar is merged
with the address bar.
A status bar to display progress in loading the resource and also the URI of links when the
cursor hovers over them, and zooming capability.
The viewport, the visible area of the webpage within the browser window.
The ability to view the HTML source for a page.
Major browsers also possess incremental find features to search within a web page.
Web browser functions are to provide the resources or information to the user when
asked by them.
It processes the user inputs in the form of URL like http://www.google.com in the
browser and allows the access to that page.
URL is used to identify the resources and fetch them from the server and displays it to
the client.
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It allows the user to interact with the web pages and dynamic content like surveys,
forms, etc.
It also allows the user to navigate through the complete web page and see its source
code in the HTML format.
It provides security to the data and the resources that are available on the web that is by
using the secure methods.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser, http://careerride.com/view.aspx?id=3183)
Search Engine
A search engine is a software program or script available through the Internet that searches
documents and files for keywords and returns the results of any files containing those
keywords.
Popular examples of search engines are Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Search. Search engines
utilize automated software applications (referred to as robots, bots, or spiders) that travel along
the Web, following links from page to page, site to site. The information gathered by the spiders
is used to create a searchable index of the Web.
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East Asian countries and Russia constitute a few places where Google is not the most popular
search engine. Soso (search engine) is more popular than Google in China.
Yandex commands a marketshare of 61.9 per cent in Russia, compared to Google's 28.3 per
cent. In China, Baidu is the most popular search engine. South Korea's homegrown search
portal, Naver, is used for 70 per cent online searches in the country. Yahoo! Japan and Yahoo!
Taiwan are the most popular avenues for internet search in Japan and Taiwan, respectively.
How Internet Search Engines Work
Web Crawling
Before a search engine can tell you where a file or document is, it must be found. To find
information on the hundreds of millions of Web pages that exist, a search engine employs
special software robots, called spiders, to build lists of the words found on Web sites. When a
spider is building its lists, the process is called Web crawling. (There are some disadvantages
to calling part of the Internet the World Wide Web -- a large set of arachnid-centric names for
tools is one of them.) In order to build and maintain a useful list of words, a search engine's
spiders have to look at a lot of pages.
How does any spider start its travels over the Web? The usual starting points are lists of heavily
used servers and very popular pages. The spider will begin with a popular site, indexing the
words on its pages and following every link found within the site. In this way, the spidering
system quickly begins to travel, spreading out across the most widely used portions of the Web.
Google began as an academic search engine. In the paper that describes how the system was
built, Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page give an example of how quickly their spiders can work.
They built their initial system to use multiple spiders, usually three at one time. Each spider
could keep about 300 connections to Web pages open at a time. At its peak performance, using
four spiders, their system could crawl over 100 pages per second, generating around 600
kilobytes of data each second.
Keeping everything running quickly meant building a system to feed necessary information to
the spiders. The early Google system had a server dedicated to providing URLs to the spiders.
Rather than depending on an Internet service provider for the domain name server (DNS) that
translates a server's name into an address, Google had its own DNS, in order to keep delays to
a minimum.
When the Google spider looked at an HTML page, it took note of two things:
The words within the page
Where the words were found
Words occurring in the title, subtitles, meta tags and other positions of relative importance
were noted for special consideration during a subsequent user search. The Google spider was
built to index every significant word on a page, leaving out the articles "a," "an" and "the."
Other spiders take different approaches.
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These different approaches usually attempt to make the spider operate faster, allow users to
search more efficiently, or both. For example, some spiders will keep track of the words in the
title, sub-headings and links, along with the 100 most frequently used words on the page and
each word in the first 20 lines of text. Lycos is said to use this approach to spidering the Web.
Meta Tags
All of this assumes that the owner of a page actually wants it to be included in the results of a
search engine's activities. Many times, the page's owner doesn't want it showing up on a major
search engine, or doesn't want the activity of a spider accessing the page. Consider, for
example, a game that builds new, active pages each time sections of the page are displayed or
new links are followed. If a Web spider accesses one of these pages, and begins following all
of the links for new pages, the game could mistake the activity for a high-speed human player
and spin out of control. To avoid situations like this, the robot exclusion protocol was
developed. This protocol, implemented in the meta-tag section at the beginning of a Web page,
tells a spider to leave the page alone -- to neither index the words on the page nor try to follow
its links.
Once the spiders have completed the task of finding information on Web pages (and we should
note that this is a task that is never actually completed -- the constantly changing nature of the
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Web means that the spiders are always crawling), the search engine must store the information
in a way that makes it useful. There are two key components involved in making the gathered
data accessible to users:
The information stored with the data
The method by which the information is indexed
In the simplest case, a search engine could just store the word and the URL where it was found.
In reality, this would make for an engine of limited use, since there would be no way of telling
whether the word was used in an important or a trivial way on the page, whether the word was
used once or many times or whether the page contained links to other pages containing the
word. In other words, there would be no way of building the ranking list that tries to present
the most useful pages at the top of the list of search results.
To make for more useful results, most search engines store more than just the word and URL.
An engine might store the number of times that the word appears on a page. The engine might
assign a weight to each entry, with increasing values assigned to words as they appear near the
top of the document, in sub-headings, in links, in the meta tags or in the title of the page. Each
commercial search engine has a different formula for assigning weight to the words in its index.
This is one of the reasons that a search for the same word on different search engines will
produce different lists, with the pages presented in different orders.
An index has a single purpose: It allows information to be found as quickly as possible. There
are quite a few ways for an index to be built, but one of the most effective ways is to build
a hash table. In hashing, a formula is applied to attach a numerical value to each word. The
formula is designed to evenly distribute the entries across a predetermined number of divisions.
This numerical distribution is different from the distribution of words across the alphabet, and
that is the key to a hash table's effectiveness.
In English, there are some letters that begin many words, while others begin fewer. You'll find,
for example, that the "M" section of the dictionary is much thicker than the "X" section. This
inequity means that finding a word beginning with a very "popular" letter could take much
longer than finding a word that begins with a less popular one. Hashing evens out the
difference, and reduces the average time it takes to find an entry. It also separates the index
from the actual entry. The hash table contains the hashed number along with a pointer to the
actual data, which can be sorted in whichever way allows it to be stored most efficiently. The
combination of efficient indexing and effective storage makes it possible to get results quickly,
even when the user creates a complicated search.
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Building a Search
Searching through an index involves a user building aquery and submitting it through the
search engine. The query can be quite simple, a single word at minimum. Building a more
complex query requires the use of Boolean operators that allow you to refine and extend the
terms of the search.
The searches defined by Boolean operators are literal searches -- the engine looks for the words
or phrases exactly as they are entered. This can be a problem when the entered words have
multiple meanings. "Bed," for example, can be a place to sleep, a place where flowers are
planted, the storage space of a truck or a place where fish lay their eggs. If you're interested in
only one of these meanings, you might not want to see pages featuring all of the others. You
can build a literal search that tries to eliminate unwanted meanings, but it's nice if the search
engine itself can help out.
One of the areas of search engine research is concept-based searching. Some of this research
involves using statistical analysis on pages containing the words or phrases you search for, in
order to find other pages you might be interested in. Obviously, the information stored about
each page is greater for a concept-based search engine, and far more processing is required for
each search. Still, many groups are working to improve both results and performance of this
type of search engine. Others have moved on to another area of research, called natural-
language queries.
The idea behind natural-language queries is that you can type a question in the same way you
would ask it to a human sitting beside you -- no need to keep track of Boolean operators or
complex query structures. The most popular natural language query site today
is AskJeeves.com, which parses the query for keywords that it then applies to the index of sites
it has built. It only works with simple queries; but competition is heavy to develop a natural-
language query engine that can accept a query of great complexity.
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(Sources: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/search-engine.htm,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine)
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Chatting
Chat is a text-based communication that is live or in real-time. For example, when talking to
someone in chat any typed text is received by other participants immediately. Thereby, a
feeling similar to a spoken conversation is created. This is different from other text-based
communications such as e-mail where it could be a couple of hours, days, or weeks to receive
a response.
Online chat in a less stringent definition may be primarily any direct text-based or video-based
(webcams), one-on-one chat or one-to-many group chat (formally also known as synchronous
conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and
possibly MUDs. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means "informal
conversation". Online chat includes web-based applications that allow communication –often
directly addressed, but anonymous between users in a multi-user environment. Web
conferencing is a more specific online service that is often sold as a service, hosted on a web
server controlled by the vendor.
Chat etiquette
Below is a short list of chat etiquette that should be followed when chatting with others
online.
1. Behave the same way you would when talking to someone in real-life.
2. Avoid chat slang.
3. Try your best to spell all words correctly and use proper punctuation.
4. Remember no one is perfect, spelling errors and other mistakes are common in chat.
5. Do not WRITE IN ALL CAPS as it makes you appear as you're yelling.
6. Do not send other chat users private messages without asking them first.
7. Abide by the rules created by those running the chat.
Benefits
Internet chat rooms allow you to communicate with different kinds of people from all over the
world. They allow you to meet different kinds of people who share similar interests, goals,
hobbies and desires. Internet chats can also be a great learning center ( e.g. chatting forums)
where people can ask questions and receive answers on products and services, computer
troubleshooting and more.
Types
Singles chat rooms are probably the most common chats on the internet. They managed and
run by dating websites. Video/Webcam chats are also common forms of chatting because they
allow you to view your contact as you chat. While video chatting is the most interactive form
of chatting, they are also the most dangerous. Other Internet chats include business chat rooms
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which allow speedy exchange of trade stock tips and business related information. Christian
chat rooms are other popular chats which users turn to for fellowship and good conversation.
Features
Internet chats not only allow you to send and receive instant messages, they also allow you to
share pictures, and files. Some Internet chat rooms include emoticons which are smiley faces
used to describe what your present emotion is. Some Internet chats include sound effects which
range from serious to silly and allow you to. Other chat rooms allow you to change color
combinations to create a theme or background that works for you as you are chatting.
Warnings
Do not provide strangers with personal information when using Internet chat rooms. In this day
and age when identity theft and fraud are of great concerns, it is important to protect personal
information at all costs. If you have children who use chat rooms, monitor the conversations
and the people they communicates with. There are many Internet predators, pedophiles and sex
offenders who send explicit information and pictures to underage children. Always read the
rules and regulations before using chat rooms.
Misconceptions
Because an Internet chat website claims that their chat rooms are secure does not mean that
people cannot be exploited. While many Internet chat websites may have a set of governing
rules, rules can still be broken. Because a chat room is labeled "Children's chat room" does not
mean everyone on is a child. Any online predator can create a screen name and log into a
children's chat room; therefore it is important to still monitor chat rooms and conversations.
Emoticons in Chat
An emoticon (short for emotion icon) is a meta communicative pictorial representation of
a facial expression which in the absence of body language and prosody serves to draw a
receiver's attention to the tenor or temper of a sender's nominal verbal communication,
changing and improving its interpretation. It expresses — usually by means of punctuation
marks (though it can include numbers and letters) — a person's feelings or mood. Emoticons
are usually sideways to the text. As social media has become widespread, emoticons have
played a significant role in communication through technology. They offer another range of
"tone" and feeling through texting that portrays specific emotions through facial gestures while
in the midst of cyber communication.
Some of the popular emoticons are as follows,
Icon Meaning
:-) :) :D :o) :] :3 :c) :> =] 8) Smiley or happy face.
=) :} :^) :っ)
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:-D 8-D 8D x-D xD X-D XD =-D Laughing, big grin, laugh with glasses
=D =-3 =3 B^D
:-)) Very happy or double chin
>:[ :-( :( :-c :c :-< :っC :< :-[ :[ :{ Frown, sad
;( Winky frowny, used to signify sadness, with a bit of
sarcasm. It is easily misunderstood.
:-|| :@ >:( Angry
:'-( :'( Crying
:'-) :') Tears of happiness
D:< D: D8 D; D= DX v.v D-': Horror, disgust, sadness, great dismay
>:O :-O :O :-o :o 8-0 O_O o-o Surprise, shock, yawn
O_o o_O o_o O-O
:* :^* ( '}{' ) Kiss, couple kissing
The full list can be found out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emoticons
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon)
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If you log into an IRC server frequently and use the same nick, make sure to register the nick
with nickserv to prevent others from using the same name. See the nickserv definition for
further information about this command.
Finally, if you're running your own IRC channel and want to register the channel use the
chanserv command. See the chanserv definition for further information about this command.
There are thousands of running IRC networks in the world. They run various implementations
of IRC servers, and are administered by various groups of IRC operators, but the protocol
exposed to IRC users is very similar, and all IRC networks can be accessed by the same client
software, although there might be slight incompatibilities and limited functionality due to the
differing server implementations.
The largest IRC networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four"- a designation for
networks that top the statistics. The Big Four networks change periodically, but due to the
community nature of IRC there are a large number of other networks for users to choose from.
Historically the "Big Four" were:
EFnet
IRCnet
Undernet
DALnet
IRC reached 6 million simultaneous users in 2001 and 10 million users in 2003.
As of March 2013 the largest IRC networks were:
freenode – around 85k users at peak hours
IRCNet – around 55k users at peak hours
QuakeNet – around 53k users at peak hours
Undernet – around 43k users at peak hours
EFnet – around 33k users at peak hours
rizon – around 20k users at peak hours
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Today, entire IRC grouped has around 400k users at peak hours.
(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat,
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i/irc.htm)
The first portion all e-mail addresses is the alias, user, group, or department of a company. In
our above example support is the Technical Support department at Computer Hope.
Next, the @ (at sign) is used as a divider in the e-mail address and is always required for all
SMTP e-mail addresses and was first used by Ray Tomlinson. Finally, computerhope.com is
the domain name of where the user belongs.
An alternative way of sending and receiving e-mail and a more popular solution for most people
is an online e-mail service or webmail such as Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Many of the
online e-mail services including the above examples are free or have a free account option.
Writing an e-mail
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Types of Email
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Client-based email
Client-based email requires software, eg Outlook
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3. Lacking the Personal Touch - Some things are best left untyped. Email will never beat a
hand written card or letter when it comes to relationships.
4. Misunderstandings -Emails from people who don’t take the time to read what they write
before clicking ‘send’. Time is wasted, either to clarify or, worse, acting on a misinterpretation
of the message.
5. No Respite -Your email inbox is like a garden; it needs to be constantly maintained. Leave
it and will continue to grow. Ignore it at your peril!
6. Pressure to Reply- Once it’s in your inbox, you feel an ever increasing obligation to act on
it. Procrastinating doesn’t making it go away. Do it, dump it or delegate it.
7. Spam- Having to deal with spam and spoofs is one of the worst avoidable time wasters
online. Use some anti spam software.
8. Sucks up Your Time- Over checking messages is so common, but it is time wasted on low
value, passive activity. Better to check once or twice a day.
9. Too Long- How long is too long? It’s hard to say exactly, but the longer it goes on, the
harder it is to take in. Email is suited to brevity -- keep it short and sweet.
10. Viruses -A virus could seriously affect your computer. If you want to know how to use
email effectively, it's worth learning how to deal with these.
(Source: http://www.time-management-success.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-email.html,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/datacomm/1emailrev1.shtml)
Mailing List
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization
to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people
subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or
simply "the list".
Two common types of email mailing lists are announcement lists and discussion lists.
Announcement lists are are used so that one person or group can send announcements to a
group of people, much like a magazine publisher's mailing list is used to send out magazines.
For example, a band may use a mailing list to let their fan base know about their upcoming
concerts.
A discussion list is used to allow a group of people to discuss topics amongst themselves, with
everyone able to send mail to the list and have it distributed to everyone in the group. This
discussion may also be moderated, so only selected posts are sent on to the group as a whole,
or only certain people are allowed to send to the group. For example, a group of model plane
enthusiasts might use a mailing list to share tips about model construction and flying.
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A "post" typically denotes a message sent to a mailing list. (Think of posting a message
on a bulletin board.)
People who are part of an electronic mailing list are usually called the list's "members"
or "subscribers."
"List administrators" are the people in charge of maintaining that one list. Lists may
have one or more administrators.
A list may also have people in charge of reading posts and deciding if they should be
sent on to all subscribers. These people are called list moderators.
Often more than one electronic mailing list will be run using the same piece of software.
The person who maintains the software which runs the lists is called the "site
administrator." Often the site administrator also administrates individual lists.
Newsgroups
A newsgroup is an Internet-based discussion about a particular topic. These topics range from
sports, cars, investing, teen problems, and some stuff you probably don't want to know about.
Users post messages to a news server which then sends them to a bunch of other participating
servers. Then other users can access the newsgroup and read the postings. The groups can be
either "moderated," where a person or group decides which postings will become part of the
discussion, or "unmoderated," where everything posted is included in the discussion.
To participate in a newsgroup, you must subscribe to it. It typically doesn't cost anything, but
some groups can be hard to get into unless you know people in the group. Nearly all
newsgroups are found on Usenet, which is a collection of servers around the world. Because
of the global spectrum of newsgroups, they make up largest bulletin board system (BBS) in the
world. Last time I checked, there were more than 13,000 newsgroups in existence, with new
ones being added all the time. You can choose from a number of different "Newsreader"
programs that allow you to access and participate in newsgroups. Newsgroup access has also
been integrated into Netscape and Internet Explorer, so you can just use your Web browser if
you want.
Newsgroups are organized into subject hierarchies, with the first few letters of the newsgroup
name indicating the major subject category and sub-categories represented by a subtopic name.
Many subjects have multiple levels of subtopics. Some major subject categories are: news, rec
(recreation), soc (society), sci (science), comp (computers), and so forth (there are many more).
Users can post to existing newsgroups, respond to previous posts, and create new newsgroups.
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Newcomers to newsgroups are requested to learn basic Usenet netiquetteand to get familiar
with a newsgroup before posting to it. A frequently-asked questions is provided. The rules can
be found when you start to enter the Usenet through your browser or an online service. You
can subscribe to the postings on a particular newsgroup.
(Sources: http://www.techterms.com/definition/newsgroup,
http://searchexchange.techtarget.com/definition/newsgroup)
Internet Telephony
Internet telephony refers to the science or technology of integrating telephone services into
computer networks. In essence, it converts analog voice signals into digital signals, transmits
them, then converts them back again. Voice over IP (VoIP) is a common form of this service.
With traditional telephone service, sometimes referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone
Service), voice signals use telephone lines — copper wires — and circuit switches to
communicate. Internet telephony eliminates the telco company all together by using computer
networks to send voice signals. All information is transferred across the Internet in "data
packets." For example, if someone sends a friend an email, the email is broken up into a series
of data packets that each take their own route to the destination mail server. Once there, the
packets reassemble themselves into the full email message.
Internet telephony also transmits using data packets. Analog voice signals are digitized, sent in
discreet packets to the destination, reassembled and reverted back to analog signals. By using
this system, a person can place long-distance calls free of telephone charges. The catch is that
both parties must have the correct software. If this technology is used to call a land-line or cell
phone, charges apply, though they are usually minimal.
Some online VoIP services provide free Internet telephony software and use a prepaid system
to keep monies on account for calling from it to a land line. The charge is a small and made per
minute, per call. The rate does not change, whether calling someone local or in another country.
Again, if both parties use VoIP software, there is no charge at all.
Internet telephony has drastically improved since its first incarnations. Initial VoIP was very
poor quality, but now many users report land line-like quality. There are many advantages to
using the Internet to make calls, not just for family members and friends to stay in touch free
of charge, but for multi-state or multi-national corporate PBXs where routine long distance
calls between offices are significant. A potential disadvantage of using Internet telephony for
corporate environments is that VoIP tends to have more downtime than POTS. Computer or
network problems can interfere with the calls, though many VoIP programs kick calls to POTS
if there is a problem.
Voice mail and other telephone services are often available from these services, and installation
of simple VoIP software is easy for anyone with a small amount of skill. Industry insiders
predict that, in time, Internet telephony technologies and services will supplant much of the
workload currently handled by plain old telephone service.
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(Source: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-internet-telephony.htm)
How is this useful? VoIP can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone
calls. The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free VoIP software that is
available to make Internet phone calls, you're bypassing the phone company (and its charges)
entirely.
VoIP is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to completely rework the world's
phone systems. VoIP providers like Vonage have already been around for a while and are
growing steadily. Major carriers like AT&T are already setting up VoIP calling plans in several
markets around the United States, and the FCC is looking seriously at the potential
ramifications of VoIP service.
Above all else, VoIP is basically a clever "reinvention of the wheel." In this article, we'll
explore the principles behind VoIP, its applications and the potential of this emerging
technology, which will more than likely one day replace the traditional phone system entirely.
The interesting thing about VoIP is that there is not just one way to place a call. There are three
different "flavors" of VoIP service in common use today:
ATA -- The simplest and most common way is through the use of a device called an ATA
(analog telephone adaptor). The ATA allows you to connect a standard phone to your
computer or your Internet connection for use with VoIP. The ATA is an analog-to-digital
converter. It takes the analog signal from your traditional phone and converts it into digital
data for transmission over the Internet. Providers like Vonage and AT&T CallVantage are
bundling ATAs free with their service. You simply crack the ATA out of the box, plug the
cable from your phone that would normally go in the wall socket into the ATA, and you're
ready to make VoIP calls. Some ATAs may ship with additional software that is loaded
onto the host computer to configure it; but in any case, it's a very straightforward setup.
IP Phones -- These specialized phones look just like normal phones with a handset, cradle
and buttons. But instead of having the standard RJ-11 phone connectors, IP phones have
an RJ-45 Ethernet connector. IP phones connect directly to your router and have all the
hardware and software necessary right onboard to handle the IP call. Wi-Fi phones allow
subscribing callers to make VoIP calls from any Wi-Fi hot spot.
Computer-to-computer -- This is certainly the easiest way to use VoIP. You don't even
have to pay for long-distance calls. There are several companies offering free or very low-
cost software that you can use for this type of VoIP. All you need is the software,
a microphone, speakers, a sound card and an Internet connection, preferably a fast one like
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you would get through a cable or DSL modem. Except for your normal monthly ISP fee,
there is usually no charge for computer-to-computer calls, no matter the distance.
If you're interested in trying VoIP, then you should check out some of the free VoIP software
available on the Internet. You should be able to download and set it up in about three to five
minutes. Get a friend to download the software, too, and you can start tinkering with VoIP to
get a feel for how it works.
Using VoIP
Chances are good you're already making VoIP calls any time you place a long-distance call.
Phone companies use VoIP to streamline their networks. By routing thousands of phone calls
through a circuit switch and into an IP gateway, they can seriously reduce the bandwidth they're
using for the long haul. Once the call is received by a gateway on the other side of the call, it's
decompressed, reassembled and routed to a local circuit switch.
Although it will take some time, you can be sure that eventually all of the current circuit-
switched networks will be replaced with packet-switching technology (more on packet
switching and circuit switching later). IP telephony just makes sense, in terms of both
economics and infrastructure requirements. More and more businesses are installing VoIP
systems, and the technology will continue to grow in popularity as it makes its way into our
homes. Perhaps the biggest draws to VoIP for the home users that are making the switch
are price and flexibility.
With VoIP, you can make a call from anywhere you have broadband connectivity. Since the
IP phones or ATAs broadcast their info over the Internet, they can be administered by the
provider anywhere there's a connection. So business travelers can take their phones or ATAs
with them on trips and always have access to their home phone. Another alternative is
the softphone. A softphone is client software that loads the VoIP service onto your desktop or
laptop. The Vonage softphone has an interface on your screen that looks like a traditional
telephone. As long as you have a headset/microphone, you can place calls from your laptop
anywhere in the broadband-connected world.
Most VoIP companies are offering minute-rate plans structured like cell phone bills for as little
as $30 per month. On the higher end, some offer unlimited plans for $79. With the elimination
of unregulated charges and the suite of free features that are included with these plans, it can
be quite a savings.
Most VoIP companies provide the features that normal phone companies charge extra for when
they are added to your service plan. VoIP includes:
Caller ID
Call waiting
Call transfer
Repeat dial
Return call
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Three-way calling
There are also advanced call-filtering options available from some carriers. These features use
caller ID information to allow you make a choice about how calls from a particular number are
handled. You can:
Forward the call to a particular number
Send the call directly to voice mail
Give the caller a busy signal
Play a "not-in-service" message
Send the caller to a funny rejection hotline
With many VoIP services, you can also check voice mail via the Web or attach messages to an
e-mail that is sent to your computer or handheld. Not all VoIP services offer all of the features
above. Prices and services vary, so if you're interested, it's best to do a little shopping.
Now that we've looked at VoIP in a general sense, let's look more closely at the components
that make the system work. To understand how VoIP really works and why it's an improvement
over the traditional phone system, it helps to first understand how a traditional phone system
works.
VOIP is still a new and emerging technology, and like all new technology there are some kinks
in the system that needs to be ironed out. With many phone companies themselves making the
switch to VOIP, it is inevitable that VOIP will eventually replace the traditional phone service.
Better standards and protocols are developing on a daily basis, making VOIP a more cheap,
reliable and acceptable way of learning English with many ESL students.
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INTRODUCTION TO
DATABASE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
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Example DBMS would include Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, DB/2, SQL Server, Informix, MS-
Access, FileMaker, etc.
DBMS Types
Distributed DBMS
A Distributed Database Management System is a software system that permits the
management of a distributed database and makes the distribution transparent to the
users.
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ORDBMS
An object-relational database (ORD) or object-relational database management
system (ORDBMS) is a relational database management system that allows
developers to integrate the database with their own custom data types and methods.
The term object-relational database is sometimes used to describe external software
products running over traditional DBMSs to provide similar features; these systems
are more correctly referred to as object-relational mapping systems.
OODBMS
In an object oriented database, information is represented in the form of objects as
used in Object-Oriented Programming. When database capabilities are combined with
object programming language capabilities, the result is an object database
management system (ODBMS).
An ODBMS makes database objects appear as programming language objects in one
or more object programming languages.
An ODBMS extends the programming language with transparently persistent data,
concurrency control, data recovery, associative queries, and other capabilities.
RDBMS
A DBMS is said to be a Relational DBMS or RDBMS if the database relationships
are treated in the form of a table.
There are three keys on relational DBMS: relation, domain and attributes
A number of RDBMSs are available, some popular examples are Oracle, Sybase,
Ingress, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Access.
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Database System
Database System = Database + Database Management System
Characteristics of DBMS
Traditionally data was organized in file formats. DBMS was all new concepts then and all the
research was done to make it to overcome all the deficiencies in traditional style of data
management. Modern DBMS has the following characteristics,
Real-world entity: Modern DBMS are more realistic and uses real world entities to design
its architecture. It uses the behaviour and attributes too. For example, a school database may
use student as entity and their age as their attribute.
Relation-based tables: DBMS allows entities and relations among them to form as tables.
This eases the concept of data saving. A user can understand the architecture of database
just by looking at table names etc.
Isolation
of data and application: A database system is entirely different than its data.
Where database is said to active entity, data is said to be passive one on which the database
works and organizes. DBMS also stores metadata which is data about data, to ease its own
process.
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Less redundancy: DBMS follows rules of normalization, which splits a relation when any
of its attributes is having redundancy in values. Following normalization, which itself is a
mathematically rich and scientific process, make the entire database to contain as less
redundancy as possible.
Consistency: DBMS always enjoy the state on consistency where the previous form of
data storing applications like file processing does not guarantee this. Consistency is a state
where every relation in database remains consistent. There exist methods and techniques,
which can detect attempt of leaving database in inconsistent state.
Query Language: DBMS is equipped with query language, which makes it more efficient
to retrieve and manipulate data. A user can apply as many and different filtering options, as
he or she wants. Traditionally it was not possible where file-processing system was used.
ACID Properties: DBMS follows the concepts for ACID properties, which stands for
Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability. These concepts are applied on
transactions, which manipulate data in database. ACID properties maintains database in
healthy state in multi-transactional environment and in case of failure.
Multiuser and Concurrent Access: DBMS support multi-user environment and allows
them to access and manipulate data in parallel. Though there are restrictions on transactions
when they attempt to handle same data item, but users are always unaware of them.
Multipleviews: DBMS offers multiples views for different users. A user who is in sales
department will have a different view of database than a person working in production
department. This enables user to have a concentrate view of database according to their
requirements.
Security: Features like multiple views offers security at some extent where users are
unable to access data of other users and departments. DBMS offers methods to impose
constraints while entering data into database and retrieving data at later stage. DBMS offers
many different levels of security features, which enables multiple users to have different
view with different features. For example, a user in sales department cannot see data of
purchase department is one thing, additionally how much data of sales department he can
see, can also be managed. Because DBMS is not saved on disk as traditional file system it
is very hard for a thief to break the code.
Users of DBMS
DBMS is used by various users for various
purposes. Some may involve in retrieving data
and some may involve in backing it up. Some
of them are described as follows:
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Designer: This is the group of people who actually works on designing part of database.
The actual database is started with requirement analysis followed by a good designing
process. They people keep a close watch on what data should be kept and in what format.
They identify and design the whole set of entities, relations, constraints and views.
End Users: This group contains the persons who actually take advantage of database
system. End users can be just viewers who pay attention to the logs or market rates or end
users can be as sophisticated as business analysts who takes the most of it.
Database Design
The design of a Database Management System highly depends on its architecture. It can be
centralized or decentralized or hierarchical. DBMS architecture can be seen as single tier or
multitier. n-tier architecture divides the whole system into related but independent n modules,
which can be independently modified, altered, changed or replaced.
In 1-tier architecture, DBMS is the only entity where user directly sits on DBMS and uses it.
Any changes done here will directly be done on DBMS itself. It does not provide handy tools
for end users and preferably database designer and programmers use single tier architecture.
If the architecture of DBMS is 2-tier then must have some application, which uses the DBMS.
Programmers use 2-tier architecture where they access DBMS by means of application. Here
application tier is entirely independent of database in term of operation, design and
programming.
3-tier architecture
Most widely used architecture is 3-tier architecture. 3-tier
architecture separates it tier from each other on basis of
users. It is described as follows:
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Multiple tier database architecture is highly modifiable as almost all its components are
independent and can be changed independently.
What is table?
The data in RDBMS is stored in database objects called tables. The table is a collection of
related data entries and it consists of columns and rows.
Remember, a table is the most common and simplest form of data storage in a relational
database. Following is the example of a CUSTOMERS table:
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000.00 |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
What is field?
Every table is broken up into smaller entities called fields. The fields in the CUSTOMERS
table consist of ID, NAME, AGE, ADDRESS and SALARY.
A field is a column in a table that is designed to maintain specific information about every
record in the table.
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What is column?
A column is a vertical entity in a table that contains all information associated with a specific
field in a table.
For example, a column in the CUSTOMERS table is ADDRESS, which represents location
description and would consist of the following:
+-----------+
| ADDRESS |
+-----------+
| Ahmedabad |
| Delhi |
| Kota |
| Mumbai |
| Bhopal |
| MP |
| Indore |
+----+------+
It is very important to understand that a NULL value is different than a zero value or a field
that contains spaces. A field with a NULL value is one that has been left blank during record
creation.
Constraints:
Constraints are the rules enforced on data columns on table. These are used to limit the type of
data that can go into a table. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data in the database.
Constraints could be column level or table level. Column level constraints are applied only to
one column where as table level constraints are applied to the whole table.
NOT NULL Constraint: Ensures that a column cannot have NULL value.
DEFAULT Constraint: Provides a default value for a column when none is specified.
UNIQUE Constraint: Ensures that all values in a column are different.
PRIMARY Key: Uniquely identified each rows/records in a database table.
FOREIGN Key: Uniquely identified a rows/records in any another database table.
CHECK Constraint: The CHECK constraint ensures that all values in a column satisfy
certain conditions.
INDEX: Use to create and retrieve data from the database very quickly.
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Database Keys
Keys are, as their name suggests, a key part of a relational database and a vital part of the
structure of a table. They ensure each record within a table can be uniquely identified by one
or a combination of fields within the table. They help enforce integrity and help identify the
relationship between tables. There are three main types of keys, candidate keys, primary keys
and foreign keys. There is also an alternative key or secondary key that can be used, as the
name suggests, as a secondary or alternative key to the primary key
Super Key:
A Super key is any combination of fields within a table that uniquely identifies each record
within that table.
Candidate Key:
A candidate is a subset of a super key. A candidate key is a single field or the least
combination of fields that uniquely identifies each record in the table. The least combination
of fields distinguishes a candidate key from a super key. Every table must have at least one
candidate key but at the same time can have several.
As an example we might have a student_id that uniquely identifies the students in a student
table. This would be a candidate key. But in the same table we might have the student’s first
name and last name that also, when combined, uniquely identify the student in a student
table. These would both be candidate keys.
Once your candidate keys have been identified you can now select one to be your primary
key
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Primary Key:
A primary key is a candidate key that is most appropriate to be the main reference key for the
table. As its name suggests, it is the primary key of reference for the table and is used
throughout the database to help establish relationships with other tables. As with any
candidate key the primary key must contain unique values, must never be null and uniquely
identify each record in the table.
Primary keys are mandatory for every table each record must have a value for its primary
key. When choosing a primary key from the pool of candidate keys always choose a single
simple key over a composite key.
Foreign Key:
A foreign key is generally a primary key from one table that appears as a field in another
where the first table has a relationship to the second. In other words, if we had a table A with
a primary key X that linked to a table B where X was a field in B, then X would be a foreign
key in B.
An example might be a student table that contains the course_id the student is attending.
Another table lists the courses on offer with course_id being the primary key. The 2 tables are
linked through course_id and as such course_id would be a foreign key in the student table.
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For example in the table showing candidate keys above we identified two candidate keys,
studentId and firstName + lastName. The studentId would be the most appropriate for a
primary key leaving the other candidate key as secondary or alternative key. It should be
noted for the other key to be candidate keys, we are assuming you will never have a person
with the same first and last name combination. As this is unlikely we might consider
fistName+lastName to be a suspect candidate key as it would be restrictive of the data you
might enter. It would seem a shame to not allow John Smith onto a course just because there
was already another John Smith.
Simple Key:
Any of the keys described before (ie primary, secondary or foreign) may comprise one or
more fields, for example if firstName and lastName was our key this would be a key of two
fields where as studentId is only one. A simple key consists of a single field to uniquely
identify a record. In addition the field in itself cannot be broken down into other fields, for
example, studentId, which uniquely identifies a particular student, is a single field and
therefore is a simple key. No two students would have the same student number.
Compound Key:
A compound key consists of more than one field to uniquely identify a record. A compound
key is distinguished from a composite key because each field, which makes up the primary
key, is also a simple key in its own right. An example might be a table that represents the
modules a student is attending. This table has a studentId and a moduleCode as its primary
key. Each of the fields that make up the primary key are simple keys because each represents
a unique reference when identifying a student in one instance and a module in the other.
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Composite Key:
A composite key consists of more than one field to uniquely identify a record. This differs
from a compound key in that one or more of the attributes, which make up the key, are not
simple keys in their own right. Taking the example from compound key, imagine we
identified a student by their firstName + lastName. In our table representing students on
modules our primary key would now be firstName + lastName + moduleCode. Because
firstName + lastName represent a unique reference to a student, they are not each simple
keys, they have to be combined in order to uniquely identify the student. Therefore the key
for this table is a composite key.
Data Normalization
Normalisation was developed by Dr. E.F.Codd in 1972 as part of the Relational Database
Theory as a means of breaking data into its related groups and defining the relationships
between those groups.
If a database design is not perfect it may contain anomalies, which are like a bad dream for
database itself. Managing a database with anomalies is next to impossible.
Update anomalies: if data items are scattered and are not linked to each other properly,
then there may be instances when we try to update one data item that has copies of it scattered
at several places, few instances of it get updated properly while few are left with there old
values. This leaves database in an inconsistent state.
Deletion anomalies: we tried to delete a record, but parts of it left undeleted because of
unawareness, the data is also saved somewhere else.
Insert anomalies: we tried to insert data in a record that does not exist at all.
Normalization is a method to remove all these anomalies and bring database to consistent state
and free from any kinds of anomalies.
Normalisation is a specific relational database analysis and design technique used to model
groups of related data within an organisation. Its purpose is to ensure data stored within the
database adheres to best practices by following a set of rules with the purpose of eliminating
redundancies and optimising the process of information retrieval. Normalisation leaves us
with a structure that groups like data into relational models referenced by keys and linked to
other relational models to form a relational database schema.
Normalisation is represented by a logical set of steps that follow simple rules that are applied
to each stage of the modelling process. At the highest level the stages are separated into
something called Normal Forms, identified by a particular named process.
Initially there were only three normal forms, First Normal Form (1NF), Second Normal Form
(2NF) and Third Normal Form (3NF), but over time three more were added. In general terms
the first three are more commonly used in database modelling. The additional three are
identification of potential redundancies that could be considered but however when applied
practically can lead to inefficiencies in performance and tend to be used under special
circumstances or for consideration with complex data structures.
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In addition we have something called Un-Normalised Form (UNF), though not generally
considered as part of the normalisation rules, is representative of the very first stages of the
normalisation process.
We can identify each of the normal forms as follows and will define each in detail thereafter:
At this point the un-normalised relation is just a big jumble of data but this preparatory stage
is the most important. As each stage of the normalisation process is dependent upon the
previous it is vital for this, as the starting stage, is set up with the right domains and data to
ensure a smooth transition between the stages.
As with all the normalisation stages, to create an un-normalised relation you simply follow a
set of logical steps.
Based on the form or document you are working from, draw up a table structure
creating column heading for each of the data items. These column headings represent
a normalisation domain and should be named following good naming convention
standards. When selecting the domains make sure you don’t include calculated fields
as in fields that can be derived from other fields.
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Using the form or document from step one, select a sample of data to create rows
under the column headings. Try and create at least 3 rows of data taken directly from
the form then create at least 3 more model data rows to provide a good range of data.
These rows of data represent a normalisation tuple and are a very important part of the
process as without good model data it is harder to achieve good model design.
We now need to select a suitable key from our domains that will allow us to have a
unique reference. Identify the candidate keys and from this select a suitable Primary
Key. Underline the selected domain(s), this will be our starting key.
Our table should be looking complete but the last thing we must do is remove any
repeating data as this will help us with our first normal form. Repeating data is data
that because of its direct relationship with the Primary key, repeats itself in each of the
tuples where the key is the same. You must be careful not to misread domains where
the data appears to repeat but this is due to the restrictions of the model data selected
and not because of its relation with the key.
With our un-normalised relation now complete we are ready to start the normalisation
process. First Normal form is probably the most important step in the normalisation process
as it facilities the breaking up of our data into its related data groups, with the following
normalised forms fine tuning the relationships between and within the grouped data.
With First Normal Form we are looking to remove repeating groups. A repeating group is a
domain or set of domains, directly relating to the key, that repeat data across tuples in order
to cater for other domains where the data is different for each tuple.
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In this example with Student ID as the primary key we see the three domains, StudentName,
Year and Semester repeat themselves across the tuples for each of the different UnitCode and
UnitName entries. Though workable it means our relation could potentially be huge with
loads of repeating data taking up valuable space and costing valuable time to search through.
The rules of First Normal Form break this relation into two and relate them to each other so
the information needed can be found without storing unneeded data. So from our example we
would have one table with the student information and another with the Unit Information
with the two relations linked by a domain common to both, in this case, the StudentId.
1. Identify repeating groups of data. Make sure your model data is of good quality to
help identify the repeating groups and don’t be afraid to move the domains around to
help with the process.
2. Remove the domains of the repeating groups to a new relation leaving a copy of the
primary key with the relation that is left.
3. The original primary key will not now be unique so assign a new primary key to the
relation using the original primary key as part of a compound or composite key.
4. Underline the domains that make up the key to distinguish them from the other
domains.
Taking our original example once we have followed these simple steps we have relations that
looks like this:
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Now our data is grouped into sets of related data we still need to check we are not keeping
more data than we need to in our relation. We know we don’t have any repeating groups as
we removed these with First Normal Form. But if we look at our example we can see for
every UnitCode we are also storing the UnitName.
Would it not seem more sensible to have a different relation we could use to look up
UG45783 and find the unit name ‘Advanced Database’? This way we wouldn’t have to store
lots of additional duplicate information in our Student/Unit relation.
This is exactly what we aim to achieve with Second Normal Form and its purpose is to
remove partial dependencies.
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We can consider a relation to be in Second Normal Form when: The relation is in First
Normal Form and all partial key dependencies are removed so that all non key domains are
functionally dependant on all of the domains that make up the primary key.
Functional Dependency
Functional dependency (FD) is set of constraints between two attributes in a relation.
Functional dependency says that if two tuples have same values for attributes A1, A2,..., An
then those two tuples must have to have same values for attributes B1, B2, ..., Bn.
Functional dependency is represented by arrow sign (→), that is X→Y, where X functionally
determines Y. The left hand side attributes determines the values of attributes at right hand
side.
Before we start with the steps, if we have a table with only a single simple key this can’t have
any partial dependencies as there is only one domain that is a key therefore these relations
can be moved directly to 2nd normal form.
1. Take each non-key domain in turn and check if it is only dependant on part of the
key?
2. If yes
a. Remove the non-key domain along with a copy of the part of the key it is
dependent upon to a new relation.
b. Underline the copied key as the primary key of the new relation.
3. Move down the relation to each of the domains repeating steps 1 and 2 till you have
covered the whole relation.
4. Once completed with all partial dependencies removed, the table is in 2nd normal
form.
In our example above, UnitName is only dependant on UnitCode and has no dependency on
StudentId. Applying the steps above we move the UnitName to a new relation with a copy of
the part of the key it is dependent upon. Our table in second normal form would subsequently
look like this:
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Third Normal Form deals with something called ‘transitive’ dependencies. This means if we
have a primary key A and a non-key domain B and C where C is more dependent on B than
A and B is directly dependent on A, then C can be considered transitively dependant on A.
Another way to look at it is a bit like a stepping stone across a river. If we consider the
primary key A to be the far bank of the river and our non-key domain C to be our current
location, in order to get to A, our primary key, we need to step on a stepping stone B, another
non-key domain, to help us get there. Of course we could jump directly from C to A, but it is
easier, and we are less likely to fall in, if we use our stepping stone B. Therefore current
location C is transitively dependent on A through our stepping stone B.
Before we start with the steps, if we have any relations with zero or only one non-key domain
we can’t have a transitive dependency so these move straight to 3rd Normal Form
1. Take each non-key domain in turn and check it is more dependent on another non-key
domain than the primary key.
2. If yes
a. Move the dependent domain, together with a copy of the non-key attribute
upon which it is dependent, to a new relation.
b. Make the non-key domain, upon which it is dependent, the key in the new
relation.
c. Underline the key in this new relation as the primary key.
d. Leave the non-key domain, upon which it was dependent, in the original
relation and mark it a foreign key (*).
3. Move down the relation to each of the domains repeating steps 1 and 2 till you have
covered the whole relation.
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4. Once completed with all transitive dependencies removed, the table is in 3rd normal
form.
In our example above, we have unitCode as our primary key, we also have a courseName that
is dependent on courseCode and courseCode, dependent on unitCode. Though couseName
could be dependent on unitCode it more dependent on courseCode, therefore it is transitively
dependent on unitCode.
So following the steps, remove courseName with a copy of course code to another relation
and make courseCode the primary key of the new relation. In the original table mark
courseCode as our foreign key.
Sources:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/basics/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.zos.zmiddbmg
/zmiddle_46.htm
http://databases.about.com/od/specificproducts/a/whatisadatabase.htm
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/dbms/
http://rdbms.opengrass.net/
http://www.help2engg.com/dbms/dbms-types
DATA WAREHOUSING
Data Warehousing is the process of constructing and using the data warehouse. The data
warehouse is constructed by integrating the data from multiple heterogeneous sources. This
data warehouse supports analytical reporting, structured and/or ad hoc queries and decision
making. Data Warehousing involves data cleaning, data integration and data consolidations.
Data warehouse is Subject Oriented, Integrated, Time-Variant and Non-volatile collection of
data that support management's decision making process.
Data warehouse possess consolidated historical data which help the organization to
analyse its business.
Data warehouse helps the executives to organize, understand and use their data to take
strategic decision.
The Data warehouse system allows analysis of consolidated historical data analysis.
The operational database is constructed for well-known tasks and workload such as
searching particular records, indexing etc but the data warehouse queries are often
complex and it presents the general form of data.
Operational database query allow to read, modify operations while the OLAP query
need only read only access of stored data.
Operational database maintain the current data on the other hand data warehouse
maintain the historical data.
Subject Oriented - The Data Warehouse is Subject Oriented because it provide us the
information around a subject rather the organization's ongoing operations. These
subjects can be product, customers, suppliers, sales, revenue etc. The data warehouse
does not focus on the ongoing operations rather it focuses on modelling and analysis of
data for decision making.
Time-Variant - The Data in Data Warehouse is identified with a particular time period.
The data in data warehouse provide information from historical point of view.
Non Volatile - Non-volatile means that the previous data is not removed when new data
is added to it. The data warehouse is kept separate from the operational database
therefore frequent changes in operational database is not reflected in data warehouse.
Note: - Data Warehouse does not require transaction processing, recovery and concurrency
control because it is physically stored separate from the operational database.
financial services
Banking Services
Consumer goods
Retail sectors.
Controlled manufacturing
Customer Analysis - The customer analysis is done by analyzing the customer's buying
preferences, buying time, budget cycles etc.
Data Mining - Data Mining supports knowledge discovery by finding the hidden
patterns and associations, constructing analytical models, performing classification and
prediction. These mining results can be presented using the visualization tools.
Bottom Tier - The bottom tier of the architecture is the data warehouse database server.
It is the relational database system. We use the back end tools and utilities to feed data into
bottom tier. These back end tools and utilities performs the Extract, Clean, Load, and
refresh functions.
Middle Tier - In the middle tier we have OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) Server.
The OLAP Server can be implemented in either of the following ways.
By relational OLAP (ROLAP), which is an extended relational database
management system. The ROLAP maps the operations on multidimensional data
to standard relational operations.
By Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP) model, which directly implements
multidimensional data and operations.
Top-Tier - This tier is the front-end client layer. This layer hold the query tools and
reporting tool, analysis tools and data mining tools.
Following diagram explains the Three-tier Architecture of Data warehouse:
Virtual Warehouse
Data mart
Enterprise Warehouse
Virtual Warehouse
The view over a operational data warehouse is known as virtual warehouse. It is easy
to build the virtual warehouse.
Building the virtual warehouse requires excess capacity on operational database
servers.
Data Mart
Data mart contains the subset of organisation-wide data.
This subset of data is valuable to specific group of an organisation
Note: in other words we can say that data mart contains only that data which is specific to a
particular group. For example the marketing data mart may contain only data related to item,
customers and sales. The data mart are confined to subjects.
Window based or Unix/Linux based servers are used to implement data marts. They are
implemented on low cost server.
The implementation cycle of data mart is measured in short period of time i.e. in weeks
rather than months or years.
The life cycle of a data mart may be complex in long run if it's planning and design are
not organisation-wide.
Data mart are small in size.
Data mart are customized by department.
The source of data mart is departmentally structured data warehouse.
Data mart are flexible.
Enterprise Warehouse
The enterprise warehouse collects all the information about all the subjects spanning
the entire organization
This provide us the enterprise-wide data integration.
The data is integrated from operational systems and external information providers.
This information can vary from a few gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes, terabytes or
beyond.
Warehouse Manager
Warehouse manager is responsible for the
warehouse management process.
The warehouse manager consist of third party
system software, C programs and shell
scripts.
The size and complexity of warehouse
manager varies between specific solutions.
The warehouse manager includes the following:
o The Controlling process
o Stored procedures or C with SQL
o Backup/Recovery tool
o SQL Scripts
Detailed information
The following diagram shows the
detailed information
Summary Information
In this area of data warehouse the predefined aggregations are kept.
These aggregations are generated by warehouse manager.
This area changes on ongoing basis in order to respond to the changing query profiles.
This area of data warehouse must be treated as transient.
Points to remember about summary information.
The summary data speed up the performance of common queries.
It increases the operational cost.
It need to be updated whenever new data is loaded into the data warehouse.
It may not have been backed up, since it can be generated fresh from the detailed
information.
(Source: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/dwh/dwh_quick_guide.htm)
(Source: https://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080611040009AAWwvlj)
Disadvantages
However, there are considerable disadvantages involved in moving data from multiple, often highly
disparate, data sources to one data warehouse that translate into long implementation time, high cost,
lack of flexibility, dated information and limited capabilities:
Long initial implementation time and associated high cost
Adding new data sources takes time and associated high cost
Limited flexibility of use and types of users - requires multiple separate data marts for multiple
uses and types of users
Typically, data is static and dated
Difficult to accommodate changes in data types and ranges, data source schema, indexes and
queries
Typically, cannot actively monitor changes in data
(Source: http://www.whamtech.com/adv_disadv_dw.htm)
DATA MINING
Data Mining is defined as extracting the information from the huge set of data. In other words
we can say that data mining is mining the knowledge from data. This information can be used
for any of the following applications:
Market Analysis
Fraud Detection
Customer Retention
Production Control
Science Exploration
Here are the reasons why data mining is needed:
In field of Information technology we have huge amount of data available that need to
be turned into useful information.
This information further can be used for various applications such as market analysis,
fraud detection, customer retention, production control, science exploration etc.
Customer Profiling - Data Mining helps to determine what kind of people buy what
kind of products.
Identifying Customer Requirements - Data Mining helps in identifying the best
products for different customers. It uses prediction to find the factors that may attract
new customers.
Cross Market Analysis - Data Mining performs Association/correlations between
product sales.
Target Marketing - Data Mining helps to find clusters of model customers who share
the same characteristics such as interest, spending habits, income etc.
Determining Customer purchasing pattern - Data mining helps in determining
customer purchasing pattern.
Providing Summary Information - Data Mining provide us various
multidimensional summary reports
Finance Planning and Asset Evaluation - It involves cash flow analysis and
prediction, contingent claim analysis to evaluate assets.
Resource Planning - Resource Planning It involves summarizing and comparing
the resources and spending.
Competition - It involves monitoring competitors and market directions.
Fraud Detection
Data Mining is also used in fields of credit card services and telecommunication to detect fraud.
In fraud telephone call it helps to find destination of call, duration of call, time of day or week.
It also analyse the patterns that deviate from an expected norms.
Other Applications
Data Mining also used in other fields such as sports, astrology and Internet Web Surf-Aid.
Characterization
Association and Correlation Analysis
Classification
Prediction
Cluster analysis
Outlier analysis
Evolution analysis
Data Cleaning
Data Integration
Data Selection
Data Transformation
Data Mining
Pattern Evaluation
Knowledge Presentation
User interface
User interface is the module of data mining system that helps communication between users
and the data mining system. User Interface allows the following functionalities:
Interact with the system by specifying a data mining query task.
Providing information to help focus the search.
Mining based on the intermediate data mining results.
Browse database and data warehouse schemas or data structures.
Evaluate mined patterns.
Visualize the patterns in different forms.
Data Integration
Data Integration is data pre-processing technique that merges the data from multiple
heterogeneous data sources into a coherent data store. Data integration may involve
inconsistent data therefore needs data cleaning.
Data Cleaning
Data cleaning is a technique that is applied to remove the noisy data and correct the
inconsistencies in data. Data cleaning involves transformations to correct the wrong data.
Data cleaning is performed as data pre-processing step while preparing the data for a data
warehouse.
Data Selection
Data Selection is the process where data relevant to the analysis task are retrieved from the
database. Sometimes data transformation and consolidation are performed before data
selection process.
Clusters
Cluster refers to a group of similar kind of objects. Cluster analysis refers to forming group
of objects that are very similar to each other but are highly different from the objects in other
clusters.
Data Transformation
In this step data are transformed or consolidated into forms appropriate for mining by
performing summary or aggregation operations.
Database Technology
Statistics
Machine Learning
Information Science
Visualization
Other Disciplines
(Source: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/data_mining/dm_quick_guide.htm)
Disadvantages
User privacy/security
Amount of data is overwhelming
Great cost at implementation stage
Possible misuse of information
Possible in accuracy of data
(Source: http://bus237datamining.blogspot.in/2012/11/advantages-disadvantages.html)
A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing,
managing, analysing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.
GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that
reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts.
A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that
is quickly understood and easily shared.
GIS technology can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework
Benefits of GIS
GIS benefits organizations of all sizes and in almost every industry. There is a growing
awareness of the economic and strategic value of GIS. The benefits of GIS generally fall into
five basic categories:
Cost Savings and Increased Efficiency
Better Decision Making
Improved Communication
Better Recordkeeping
Managing Geographically
Governments of all sizes use GIS to analyze complex situations and create solutions
across disciplines. GIS helps them increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve coordination,
and deliver transparency and accountability.
National Government
Local Government
Homeland Security
Military Defence
Fire/Emergency Medical Services/Disaster
Law Enforcement
Health
Transportation
GIS technology provides educators with tools to develop a greater understanding of our
world. GIS helps prepare students to meet the demands of the twenty-first-century workforce,
whether they are involved in science, government, or business.
Research
Libraries and Museums
K-12 Education
Higher Education
GIS is a tool that manages, analyzes, and models data from our environment so that we
can make decisions based on that information to better conserve its resources and protect its
biodiversity.
Water
Oceans
Land
Wildlife
Vegetation
Natural resource managers rely on the analytical power of GIS for help in making
critical decisions about managing the earth's resources.
Agriculture
Forestry
Mining
Petroleum
Pipeline
In the late 1960s, US Bureau of the Census created the DIME program (Dual Independent
Map Encoding) for all US streets to support automatic referencing and aggregation of census
data.
In late 1970s, Harvard University's Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis
developed a general-purpose GIS (ODYSSEY GIS).
The first automated cartography developments occurred in the 1960s, and by the late 1970s
most major cartographic agencies were already partly computerized.
GIS began to take off in the early 1980s, when the price of computing hardware had fallen to
a level that could sustain a significant software industry and cost-effective applications.
What are the major components of GISystem?
According to the ESRI, the major components of GIS is hardware, software, data, people,
procedure and network.
Hardware, is the devices that the user interacts directly in carrying out GIS operations, such
as the computer, digitizer, plotter, etc.
Software, normally runs locally in the user's machine, also supports user to carry out multiple
spatial analysis and management.
Data, which is quite critical to GIS, contains either an explicit geographic reference, such as a
latitude and longitude coordinate, or an implicit reference such as an address, postal code,
census tract name, forest stand identifier, or road name.
People is most active components dealing with the design, programming, operation and
management of GIS.
Procedure, more related to the management aspect of GIS, is referred to lines of reporting,
control points, and other mechanism for ensuring the high quality of GIS.
Network allows rapid communication and sharing digital information. The internet has
proven very popular as a vehicle for delivering GIS applications.
E COMERCE
E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business which addresses
the need of business organizations, vendors and customers to reduce cost and improve the
quality of goods and services while increasing the speed of delivery. E-commerce refers to
paperless exchange of business information using following ways.
Features
E-Commerce provides following features
Non-Cash Payment: E-Commerce enables use of credit cards, debit cards, smart cards,
electronic fund transfer via bank's website and other modes of electronics payment.
24x7 Service availability: E-commerce automates business of enterprises and services
provided by them to customers are available anytime, anywhere. Here 24x7 refers to 24
hours of each seven days of a week.
Advertising / Marketing: E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products
and services of businesses. It helps in better marketing management of products /
services.
Improved Sales: Using E-Commerce, orders for the products can be generated any
time, any where without any human intervention. By this way, dependencies to buy a
product reduce at large and sales increases.
Support: E-Commerce provides various ways to provide pre sales and post sales
assistance to provide better services to customers.
Inventory Management: Using E-Commerce, inventory management of products
becomes automated. Reports get generated instantly when required. Product inventory
management becomes very efficient and easy to maintain.
Communication improvement: E-Commerce provides ways for faster, efficient,
reliable communication with customers and partners.
E-Commerce Advantages
E-Commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories:
Advantages to Organizations
Advantages to Consumers
Advantages to Society
Advantages to Organizations
Using E-Commerce, organization can expand their market to national and international
markets with minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more
customers, best suppliers and suitable business partners across the globe.
E-Commerce helps organization to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve
and manage the paper based information by digitizing the information.
E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
E-commerce helps organization to provide better customer services.
E-Commerce helps to simplify the business processes and make them faster and
efficient.
E-Commerce reduces paper work a lot.
E-Commerce increased the productivity of the organization. It supports "pull" type
supply management. In "pull" type supply management, a business process starts when
a request comes from a customer and it uses just-in-time manufacturing way.
Advantages to Customers
24x7 support. Customer can do transactions for the product or enquiry about any
product/services provided by a company any time, any where from any location. Here
24x7 refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a week.
E-Commerce application provides user more options and quicker delivery of products.
E-Commerce application provides user more options to compare and select the cheaper
and better option.
A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are
buying or see the review comments of other customers before making a final buy.
E-Commerce provides option of virtual auctions.
Readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information
within seconds rather than waiting for days or weeks.
E-Commerce increases competition among the organizations and as result
organizations provides substantial discounts to customers.
Advantages to Society
Customers need not to travel to shop a product thus less traffic on road and low air
pollution.
E-Commerce helps reducing cost of products so less affluent people can also afford the
products.
E-Commerce has enabled access to services and products to rural areas as well which
are otherwise not available to them.
E-Commerce helps government to deliver public services like health care, education,
social services at reduced cost and in improved way.
E-Commerce Disadvantages
E-Commerce disadvantages can be broadly classified in two major categories:
Technical disadvantages
Non-Technical disadvantages
Technical Disadvantages
There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor
implementation of e-Commerce.
Software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.
In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue as there is insufficient
telecommunication bandwidth available.
Special types of web server or other software might be required by the vendor setting
the e-commerce environment apart from network servers.
Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate E-Commerce software or website with the
existing application or databases.
There could be software/hardware compatibility issue as some E-Commerce software
may be incompatible with some operating system or any other component.
Non-Technical Disadvantages
Initial cost: The cost of creating / building E-Commerce application in-house may be
very high. There could be delay in launching the E-Commerce application due to
mistakes, lack of experience.
User resistance: User may not trust the site being unknown faceless seller. Such mistrust
makes it difficult to make user switch from physical stores to online/virtual stores.
Security/ Privacy: Difficult to ensure security or privacy on online transactions.
Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping.
E-Commerce applications are still evolving and changing rapidly.
Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential
customers like one living in remote villages.
Business Models
E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce business models can generally categorized in following
categories.
Example: TradeIndia.com
Example: eBay.in other websites those provide auction services or direct selling services like
Quikr.com, OLX.in, etc..
Payment Systems
E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce sites use electronic payment where electronic payment
refers to paperless monetary transactions. Electronic payment has revolutionized the business
processing by reducing paper work, transaction costs, labour cost. Being user friendly and less
time consuming than manual processing, helps business organization to expand its market
reach / expansion. Some of the modes of electronic payments are following.
Credit Card
Debit Card
Smart Card
E-Money
Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
Security
Security is an essential part of any transaction that takes place over the internet. Customer will
loose his/her faith in e-business if its security is compromised. Following are the essential
requirments for safe e-payments/transactions:
Encryption - It is a very effective and practical way to safeguard the data being
transmitted over the network. Sender of the information encrypt the data using a secret
code and specified receiver only can decrypt the data using the same or different secret
code.
Digital Signature -Digital signature ensures the authenticity of the information. A
digital signature is a e-signature authentic authenticated through encryption and
password.
Security Certificates - Security certificate is unique digital id used to verify identity of
an individual website or user.
(Source: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/e_commerce/e_commerce_quick_guide.htm)
NETWORK SECURITY ON
INTERNET
COMPUTER VIRUS
What is a computer virus?
Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer
to another and to interfere with computer operation.
Computer viruses are often spread by attachments in email messages or instant messaging
messages. That is why it is essential that you never open email attachments unless you know
who it's from and you are expecting it.
Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video
files.
Computer viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit
software or other files or programs you might download.
To help avoid computer viruses, it's essential that you keep your computer current with
the latest updates and antivirus tools, stay informed about recent threats, run your computer
as a standard user (not as administrator), and that you follow a rules when you surf the Internet,
download files, and open attachments.
Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get there is not as important
as removing it and preventing further infection.
(Source: http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/virus-whatis.aspx)
Types of Virus
Viruses: A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For
example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time
the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by
attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.
E-mail viruses: An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and
usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's
e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-click -- they launch
when you view the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software
[source: Johnson].
Trojan horses: A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to
do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may
erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.
Worms: A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security
holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that
has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and
then starts replicating from there, as well.
(Source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm)
If you're truly worried about traditional (as opposed to e-mail) viruses, you should be running
a more secure operating system like Linux and, to a lesser extent, Apple's Mac OS X. You
never hear about viruses on these operating systems because they represent such a small part
of the market they're targeted by far fewer viruses than the Windows operating system. Apple's
OS X has seen its share, but viruses are still predominately a Windows problem.
If you're using an unsecured operating system, then installing virus protection software is a
nice safeguard. Many anti-virus options are available for free online.
If you simply avoid programs from unknown sources (like the Internet), and instead stick with
commercial software purchased on CDs, you eliminate almost all of the risk from traditional
viruses.
You should make sure that Macro Virus Protection is enabled in all Microsoft applications, and
you should NEVER run macros in a document unless you know what they do. There is seldom
a good reason to add macros to a document, so avoiding all macros is a great policy.
To warp up make sure that you have the best security software products installed on your
computer:
Use antivirus protection and a firewall
Get antispyware software
Always keep your antivirus protection and antispyware software up-to-date
Update your operating system regularly
Increase your browser security settings
Avoid questionable Web sites
Only download software from sites you trust. Carefully evaluate free software and file-
sharing applications before downloading them
(Source: http://www.webroot.com/in/en/home/resources/articles/pc-security/computer-security-
threats-computer-viruses)
Spammers harvest recipient addresses from publicly accessible sources, use programs to
collect addresses on the web, and simply use dictionaries to make automated guesses at
common usernames at a given domain.
Spamming is politically debated in several countries, and has been legislated some places with
varying results. Spammers often conceal or forge the origin of their messages to circumvent
laws, service provider regulations, and anti-spammer lists used by anti-spam software.
At the present more than 95% of email messages sent worldwide is believed to be spam,
making spam fighting tools increasingly important to all users of email.
It’s important for all computer owners to install and maintain anti-virus software to avoid
having their computer infected and possibly become a source of spam without their knowing.
Effects of spam
Aside from the amount of junk arriving in the Inboxes of millions of innocent email users every
day, spam can have a more indirect and serious effect on email services and their users. We
will understand the effect of spams through a real case study.
Runbox has, like most email services, been a victim of forgery by spammers using specially
designed software to generate false email headers and From addresses. Using various server
names and domains, they confuse domain administrators, email services, and spam victims,
concealing the true origin of the messages.
Hijacking of real users’ addresses or email accounts is also common. Typically these messages
will have the From field showing something like “Lisa W Harold” <info@runbox.com>. Please
note that such messages have no actual connection to Runbox (to see what a real Runbox header
looks like, look at this example). Runbox does not in any way distribute our customers’ email
addresses, and is not a source of spam — directly or indirectly.
Several email users have been affected by falsified messages claiming to be from the service’s
administrators, stating that users’ account are closed and require some action by the user to be
reopened. Such messages often contain viruses and should be ignored or deleted.
When hijackers succeed in sending spam via an email services, it can be temporarily blocked
by other services and private domains who try to protect themselves. Runbox does everything
we can to prevent this, but it’s important that email users protect their own account with strong
passwords to prevent their account being hijacked.
If you have had email sent from Runbox blocked by the receiving service, please
contact Runbox Support, and also file a complaint to the postmaster or support desk of the
domain in question. Often, setting your From address under preferences as @runbox.no or
@runbox.us will circumvent such domain blocks (all Runbox addresses are synonymous on
the .com, .no, and .us top level domains).
Legitimate services will rarely (if ever) send messages requesting you to click a link and
provide personal or sensitive information. Be sure to verify the source of the message before
complying with such a request.
If you receive messages claiming to originate with payment services such as PayPal, eBay,
financial institutions, or even Runbox, please verify that the message is indeed sent from the
service in question:
Look at the links in the message in plain text (not HTML) view. Verify that
the actual link contains the domain name (e.g. runbox.com or paypal.com), and not
another domain name or IP address, by hovering the mouse pointer over the link while
looking at the status bar of your browser. Remember that links in an HTML message
may be “disguised” and link to a different server than it appears to do.
Check the message headers. Look at the IP address of the sending server and verify
that it resolves to the correct domain and country by using a service such as DNSstuff.
Falsified messages will rarely address you by name or provide any personal
information about you except your email address, because the senders do not have
access to such information.
2. Always check the sender and recipient information of suspicious messages. Spam will
typically be sent from falsified email addresses to conceal the real sender, with a number
of recipients in the BCC (blind carbon copy) field of the message to hide the large number
of recipients.
3. Be careful in setting up autoreplies, as they may verify the existence of your email
address to spammers.
4. When you forward mail to a large number of people, weed out any addresses that are
inappropriate, and put all addresses in the BCC field to hide them from the other recipients.
5. Use firewall software on your computer to stop attacks from people attempting to
compromise your system and possibly use it to send spam.
6. Whenever you receive spam, always examine the message headers. If they look like
a dubious jumble of random servers and domains, they probably are. If the from address
for example is on the format something-fjtr@runbox.com or
gshyt4j5kkds7j6@runbox.com, this is a fake, made up address, and there is nothing much
we can do about it.
7. If any valid message headers indicate what server the message was sent from, contact
the service in question and file a formal complaint.
8. Keep informed by checking the mail provider’s Information and Help sectionsand the
Service Status page.
Don’ts
1. Do not select short or very easy usernames or aliases, as these are far more spam prone
than slightly longer and more unusual ones. Underscores, hyphens and periods are also
recommended as part of your username.
2. It is crucial not to publish valuable email addresses anywhere where it is visible to
others (whom you don’t know). Never leave your email address behind in guestbooks,
petitions, webpages, or similar where spammers might collect your address. If you must
publish your email address, use a disposable one or at least obfuscate your address using
for instance words instead of the special characters (“AT”, “DOT”, etc).
3. Do not use real email addresses for signing up for (free) downloads of any kind online.
4. Do not open suspicious-looking email or attachments. It might contain harmful viruses
that can infect your computer and use it to send spam.
5. Do not make purchases based on spam messages you receive, thus eliminating the
spammers’ economic foundation.
6. Do not use the same email address too much. Vary by using email aliases or disposable
addresses.
7. Do not use message preview if it displays scripts and external images. These elements
might send information back to the sender in the background.
8. Do not use the same username on several domains — it makes it easier for spammers
to find you on other services.
(Source: https://runbox.com/email-school/what-is-spam-and-how-to-avoid-it/)
Cookies
Most Internet cookies are incredibly simple, but they are one of those things that have taken on
a life of their own. Cookies started receiving tremendous media attention back in 2000 because
of Internet privacy concerns, and the debate still rages.
On the other hand, cookies provide capabilities that make the Web much easier to navigate.
The designers of almost every major site use them because they provide a better user experience
and make it much easier to gather accurate information about the site's visitors.
Web sites use cookies in many different ways. Here are some of the most common examples:
Sites can accurately determine how many people actually visit the site. It turns out
that because of proxy servers, caching, and concentrators and so on, the only way for a
site to accurately count visitors is to set a cookie with a unique ID for each visitor.
Using cookies, sites can determine how many visitors arrive, how many are new versus
repeat visitors and how often a visitor has visited. Sites can store user preferences so
that the site can look different for each visitor (often referred to as customization). For
example, if you visit msn.com, it offers you the ability to "change
content/layout/color." It also allows you to enter your zip code and get customized
weather information. When you enter your zip code, the following name-value pair gets
added to MSN's cookie file:
In all of these examples, note that what the database is able to store is things you have selected
from the site, pages you have viewed from the site, information you have given to the site in
online forms, etc. All of the information is stored in the site's database, and in most cases, a
cookie containing your unique ID is all that is stored on your computer.
(Source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cookie.htm)
In an enterprise that uses the Internet, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary
between a workstation user and the Internet so that the enterprise can ensure security,
administrative control, and caching service. A proxy server is associated with or part of
a gateway server that separates the enterprise network from the outside network and
a firewall server that protects the enterprise network from outside intrusion.
A proxy server receives a request for an Internet service (such as a Web page request) from a
user. If it passes filtering requirements, the proxy server, assuming it is also a cache server,
looks in its local cache of previously downloaded Web pages. If it finds the page, it returns it
to the user without needing to forward the request to the Internet. If the page is not in the cache,
the proxy server, acting as a client on behalf of the user, uses one of its own IP addresses to
request the page from the server out on the Internet. When the page is returned, the proxy server
relates it to the original request and forwards it on to the user.
To the user, the proxy server is invisible; all Internet requests and returned responses appear to
be directly with the addressed Internet server. (The proxy is not quite invisible; its IP address
has to be specified as a configuration option to the browser or other protocol program.)
An advantage of a proxy server is that its cache can serve all users. If one or more Internet sites
are frequently requested, these are likely to be in the proxy's cache, which will improve user
response time. In fact, there are special servers called cache servers. A proxy can also do
logging.
The functions of proxy, firewall, and caching can be in separate server programs or combined
in a single package. Different server programs can be in different computers. For example, a
proxy server may in the same machine with a firewall server or it may be on a separate server
and forward requests through the firewall.
(Source: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/proxy-server)
For detailed uses of Proxy Server visit http://whatismyipaddress.com/using-proxies
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a software program or piece of hardware that helps screen out hackers, viruses,
and worms that try to reach your computer over the Internet. An enterprise with an intranet that
allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from
accessing its own private data resources and for controlling what outside resources its own
users have access to.
If your computer is part of a business, school, or other organizational network, you should
follow the policy established by the network administrator.
(Source: http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/firewalls-whatis.aspx,
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/firewall)
Firewalls are software programs or hardware devices that filter the traffic that flows into you
PC or your network through an internet connection. They sift through the data flow & block
that which they deem (based on how & for what you have tuned the firewall) harmful to your
network or computer system.
Firewalls are setup at every connection to the Internet, therefore subjecting all data flow to
careful monitoring. Firewalls can also be tuned to follow "rules". These Rules are simply
security rules that can be set up by yourself or by the network administrators to allow traffic to
their web servers, FTP servers, Telnet servers, thereby giving the computer
owners/administrators immense control over the traffic that flows in & out of their systems or
networks.
Rules will decide who can connect to the internet, what kind of connections can be made, which
or what kind of files can be transmitted in out. Basically all traffic in & out can be watched and
controlled thus giving the firewall installer a high level of security & protection.
Firewall logic
Firewall Rules
Firewalls rules can be customized as per your needs, requirements & security threat levels. You
can create or disable firewall filter rules based on such conditions as:
IP Addresses
Blocking off a certain IP address or a range of IP addresses, which you think are
predatory.
Domain names
You can only allow certain specific domain names to access your systems/servers or
allow access to only some specified types of domain names or domain name
extension like .edu or .mil.
Protocols
A firewall can decide which of the systems can allow or have access to common
protocols like IP, SMTP, FTP, UDP, ICMP, Telnet or SNMP.
Ports
Blocking or disabling ports of servers that are connected to the internet will help
maintain the kind of data flow you want to see it used for & also close down possible
entry points for hackers or malignant software.
Keywords
Firewalls also can sift through the data flow for a match of the keywords or phrases to
block out offensive or unwanted data from flowing in.
Types of Firewall
Software firewalls
New generation Operating systems come with built in firewalls or you can buy a
firewall software for the computer that accesses the internet or acts as the gateway to
your home network.
Hardware firewalls
Hardware firewalls are usually routers with a built in Ethernet card and hub. Your
computer or computers on your network connect to this router & access the web.
Firewalls are a must have for any kind of computer usage that go online. They protect you from
all kinds of abuse & unauthorised access like trojans that allow taking control of your
computers by remote logins or backdoors, virus or use your resources to launch DOS attacks.
Firewalls are worth installing. Be it a basic standalone system, a home network or a office
network, all face varying levels of risks & Firewalls do a good job in mitigating these risks.
Tune the firewall for your requirements & security levels and you have one reason less to
worry.
Some of the firewall products that you may want to check out are:
A virtual private network can be contrasted with an expensive system of owned or leased lines
that can only be used by one organization. The goal of a VPN is to provide the organization
with the same capabilities, but at a much lower cost.
(Source: http://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-private-network)
Types of VPN
One of the most common types of VPNs is a Virtual Private Dial-up Network (VPDN). A
VPDN is a user-to-LAN connection, where remote users need to connect to the company LAN.
Here the company will have a service provider set-up a NAS (network access server) and
provide the remote users with the software needed to reach the NAS from their desktop
computer or laptop. For a VPDN, the secure and encrypted connection between the company's
network and remote users is provided by the third-party service provider.
Another type of VPN is commonly called a Site-to-Site VPN. Here the company would invest
in dedicated hardware to connect multiple sites to their LAN though a public network, usually
the Internet. Site-to-site VPNs are either intranet or extranet-based.
Other options for using a VPN include such things as using dedicated private leased lines.
Due to the high cost of dedicated lines, however, VPNs have become an attractive cost-
effective solution.
VPN: A network that is constructed by using public wires to connect nodes. For example, there
are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium
for transporting data.
VPDN: A network that extends remote access to a private network using a shared
infrastructure.
Tunnelling: A technology that enables one network to send its data via another network's
connections. Tunnelling works by encapsulating a network protocol within packets carried by
the second network.
Split Tunnelling: The process of allowing a remote VPN user to access a public network, most
commonly the Internet, at the same time that the user is allowed to access resources on the
VPN.
Encryption: The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to
achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or
password that enables you to decrypt it. There are two main types of encryption: asymmetric
encryption (also called public-key encryption) and symmetric encryption.
(Source: http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/virtual_private_network_VPN.asp)
Advantages of VPN
1. Enhanced security. When you connect to the network through a VPN, the data is kept
secured and encrypted. In this way the information is away from hackers’ eyes.
2. Remote control. In case of a company, the great advantage of having a VPN is that the
information can be accessed remotely even from home or from any other place. That’s
why a VPN can increase productivity within a company.
3. Share files. A VPN service can be used if you have a group that needs to share files for
a long period of time.
4. Online anonymity. Through a VPN you can browse the web in complete anonymity.
Compared to hide IP software or web proxies, the advantage of a VPN service is that it
allows you to access both web applications and websites in complete anonymity.
5. Unblock websites & bypass filters. VPNs are great for accessing blocked websites or
for bypassing Internet filters. This is why there is an increased number of VPN services
used in countries where Internet censorship is applied.
6. Change IP address. If you need an IP address from another country, then a VPN can
provide you this.
7. Better performance. Bandwidth and efficiency of the network can be generally
increased once a VPN solution is implemented.
8. Reduce costs. Once a VPN network is created, the maintenance cost is very low. More
than that, if you opt for a service provider, the network setup and surveillance is no
more a concern.
(Source: http://www.ibvpn.com/2010/02/8-advantages-of-using-vpn/)
Limitations of a VPN
Despite their popularity, VPNs are not perfect and limitations exist as is true for any
technology. Organizations should consider issues like the below when deploying and using
virtual private networks in their operations:
1. VPNs require detailed understanding of network security issues and careful installation
/ configuration to ensure sufficient protection on a public network like the Internet.
2. The reliability and performance of an Internet-based VPN is not under an organization's
direct control. Instead, the solution relies on an ISP and their quality of service.
3. Historically, VPN products and solutions from different vendors have not always been
compatible due to issues with VPN technology standards. Attempting to mix and match
equipment may cause technical problems, and using equipment from one provider may
not give as great a cost savings.
(Source: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/vpn/f/vpn_benefits.htm)
We will see the use of keys for encryption and decryption, mainly the use of public key and
private key.
3048 0241 00C9 18FA CF8D EB2D EFD5 FD37 89B9 E069 EA97 FC20 5E35 F577 EE31 C4FB C6E4 4811 7D86 BC8F
BAFA 362F 922B F01B 2F40 C744 2654 C0DD 2881 D673 CA2B 4003 C266 E2CD CB02 0301 0001
Because the key pair is mathematically related, whatever is encrypted with a Public Key may
only be decrypted by its corresponding Private Key and vice versa.
For example, if Bob wants to send sensitive data to Alice, and wants to be sure that only Alice
may be able to read it, he will encrypt the data with Alice's Public Key. Only Alice has access
to her corresponding Private Key and as a result is the only person with the capability of
decrypting the encrypted data back into its original form.
Public Key Cryptography can therefore achieve Confidentiality. However another important
aspect of Public Key Cryptography is its ability to create a Digital Signature.
Public-Key Encryption
Public-key encryption (also called asymmetric encryption) involves a pair of keys-a public key
and a private key-associated with an entity that needs to authenticate its identity electronically
or to sign or encrypt data. Each public key is published, and the corresponding private key is
kept secret. Data encrypted with your public key can be decrypted only with your private
key. Below figure shows a simplified view of the way public-key encryption works.
The scheme shown lets you freely distribute a public key, and only you will be able to read
data encrypted using this key. In general, to send encrypted data to someone, you encrypt the
data with that person's public key, and the person receiving the encrypted data decrypts it with
the corresponding private key.
As it happens, the reverse of the scheme shown in the figure also works: data encrypted with
your private key can be decrypted only with your public key. This would not be a desirable
way to encrypt sensitive data, however, because it means that anyone with your public key,
which is by definition published, could decrypt the data. Nevertheless, private-key encryption
is useful, because it means you can use your private key to sign data with your digital signature-
an important requirement for electronic commerce and other commercial applications of
cryptography. Client software such as Communicator can then use your public key to confirm
that the message was signed with your private key and that it hasn't been tampered with since
being signed.
(Source: http://www.comodo.com/resources/small-business/digital-certificates2.php,
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Introduction_to_Public-Key_Cryptography)
Bob
(Bob's private key)
Bob has been given two keys. One of Bob's keys is called a Public Key, the other is
called a Private Key.
Bob's Co-workers:
Bob's Public key is available to anyone who needs it, but he keeps his Private Key
to himself. Keys are used to encrypt information. Encrypting information means
"scrambling it up", so that only a person with the appropriate key can make it
readable again. Either one of Bob’s two keys can encrypt data, or the other key can
decrypt that data.
Susan (shown below) can encrypt a message using Bob's Public Key. Bob uses his
Private Key to decrypt the message. Any of Bob's co-workers might have access to
the message Susan encrypted, but without Bob's Private Key, the data is worthless.
HNFmsEm6Un
"Hey Bob, how
BejhhyCGKOK
about lunch at
JUxhiygSBCEiC
Taco Bell. I
0QYIh/Hn3xgiK
hear they have
BcyLK1UcYiY
free refills!"
lxx2lCFHDC/A
HNFmsEm6Un
"Hey Bob, how
BejhhyCGKOK
about lunch at
JUxhiygSBCEiC
Taco Bell. I
0QYIh/Hn3xgiK
hear they have
BcyLK1UcYiY
free refills!"
lxx2lCFHDC/A
With his private key and the right software, Bob can put digital signatures on
documents and other data. A digital signature is a "stamp" Bob places on the data
which is unique to Bob, and is very difficult to forge. In addition, the signature
assures that any changes made to the data that has been signed can’t go undetected.
To sign a document, Bob's software will crunch down the data into just
a few lines by a process called "hashing". These few lines are called a
message digest. (It is not possible to change a message digest back into
the original data from which it was created.)
Bob's software then encrypts the message digest with his private key. The result is
the digital signature.
Finally, Bob's software appends the digital signature to document. All of the data
that was hashed has been signed.
First, Pat's software decrypts the signature (using Bob's public key)
changing it back into a message digest. If this worked, then it proves that
Bob signed the document, because only Bob has his private key. Pat's
software then hashes the document data into a message digest. If the
message digest is the same as the message digest created when the
signature was decrypted, then Pat knows that the signed data has not been
changed.
Plot complication...
Doug (our disgruntled employee) wishes to deceive Pat. Doug makes
sure that Pat receives a signed message and a public key that appears to
belong to Bob. Unbeknownst to Pat, Doug deceitfully sent a key pair he
created using Bob's name. Short of receiving Bob's public key from him
in person, how can Pat be sure that Bob's public key is authentic?
It just so happens that Susan works at the company's certificate authority center.
Susan can create a digital certificate for Bob simply by signing Bob's public key as
well as some information about Bob.
Bob Info:
Name
Department
Cubical Number
Certificate Info:
Expiration Date
Serial Number
Now Bob's co-workers can check Bob's trusted certificate to make sure that his
public key truly belongs to him. In fact, no one at Bob's company accepts a signature
for which there does not exist a certificate generated by Susan. This gives Susan the
power to revoke signatures if private keys are compromised, or no longer needed.
There are even more widely accepted certificate authorities that certify Susan.
Let's say that Bob sends a signed document to Pat. To verify the signature on the
document, Pat's software first uses Susan's (the certificate authority's) public key to
check the signature on Bob's certificate. Successful de-encryption of the certificate
proves that Susan created it. After the certificate is de-encrypted, Pat's software can
check if Bob is in good standing with the certificate authority and that all of the
certificate information concerning Bob's identity has not been altered.
Pat's software then takes Bob's public key from the certificate and uses it to check
Bob's signature. If Bob's public key de-encrypts the signature successfully, then Pat
is assured that the signature was created using Bob's private key, for Susan has
certified the matching public key. And of course, if the signature is valid, then we
know that Doug didn't try to change the signed content.
Although these steps may sound complicated, they are all handled behind the scenes
by Pat's user-friendly software. To verify a signature, Pat need only click on it.
(Source: http://www.youdzone.com/signature.html)
CYBER CRIME
Types of Cyber Crimes & Cyber Law in India
By: Adv. Prashant Mali [BSc (Physics), MSc (Comp Science), LLB] Cyber Law & Cyber Security Expert
What is a cyber-crime?
Cyber-crime is a generic term that refers to all criminal activities done using the medium
of computers, the Internet, cyber space and the worldwide web.
There isn’t really a fixed definition for cybercrime. The Indian Law has not given any
definition to the term ‘cyber-crime’. In fact, the Indian Penal Code does not use the term ‘cyber-
crime’ at any point even after its amendment by the Information Technology (amendment) Act
2008, the Indian Cyber law. But “Cyber Security” is defined under Section (2) (b) means
protecting information, equipment, devices computer, computer resource, communication
device and information stored therein from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption,
modification or destruction.
1. Hacking
What is Hacking?
Hacking is not defined in the amended IT Act, 2000.
According to Wiktionary, Hacking means unauthorized attempts to bypass the security
mechanisms of an information system or network. Also, in simple words Hacking is the
unauthorized access to a computer system, programs, data and network resources. (The term
“hacker” originally meant a very gifted programmer. In recent years though, with easier access
to multiple systems, it now has negative implications.)
Law & Punishment:
Under Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, Section 43(a) read with section
66 is applicable and Section 379 & 406 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 also are applicable. If crime
is proved under IT Act, accused shall be punished for imprisonment, which may extend to three
years or with fine, which may extend to five lakh rupees or both. Hacking offence is cognizable,
bailable, compoundable with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such
offence is pending and triable by any magistrate.
2. Data Theft
What is Data Theft?
According to Wikipedia, Data Theft is a growing problem, primarily perpetrated by office
workers with access to technology such as desktop computers and hand-held devices, capable
of storing digital information such as flash drives, iPods and even digital cameras. The damage
caused by data theft can be considerable with today’s ability to transmit very large files via e-
mail, web pages, USB devices, DVD storage and other hand-held devices. According to
Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, crime of data theft under Section 43 (b) is
stated as - If any person without permission of the owner or any other person, who is in charge
of a computer, computer system of computer network - downloads, copies or extracts any data,
computer data base or information from such computer, computer system or computer network
including information or data held or stored in any removable storage medium, then it is data
theft.
Law & Punishment:
Under Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, Section 43(b) read with Section
66 is applicable and under Section 379, 405 & 420 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 also applicable.
Data Theft offence is cognizable, bailable, compoundable with permission of the court before
which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by any magistrate.
It will then attempt to replicate itself by sending itself to other potential victims.
Law & Punishment:
Under Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, Section 43(c) & 43(e) read with
Section 66 is applicable and under Section 268 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 also applicable.
Spreading of Virus offence is cognizable, bailable, compoundable with permission of the court
before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by any magistrate.
4. Identity Theft
What is Identity Theft?
According to Wikipedia, Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person’s
identity, in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person’s identity,
typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person’s name.
Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, crime of identity theft under
Section 66-C, whoever, fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature,
password or any other unique identification feature of any other person known as identity theft.
Identity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves stealing money or getting other
benefits by pretending to be someone else. The term is relatively new and is actually a
misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person
whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when they are held responsible for the
perpetrator’s actions. At one time the only way for someone to steal somebody else’s identity
was by killing that person and taking his place. It was typically a violent crime. However, since
then, the crime has evolved and today’s white collared criminals are a lot less brutal. But the
ramifications of an identity theft are still scary.
In India, people are very careless when it comes to privacy and personal information. We
give out our address and phone numbers to shops, restaurants etc, which is unnecessary and
carelessness on our part. Identity theft can occur in multiple forms. One of the main areas of
concern and places via which identity theft occurs is, through service providers who have our
personal information. As per the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center, identity thefts can
be sub-divided into four categories. These are financial identity theft, criminal identity theft,
identity cloning, and business/ commercial identity theft.
In many cases the victim is not even aware of what is being done till it is already too late.
Identity theft may be used to facilitate crimes, including illegal immigration, terrorism, and
espionage. It may also be used as a means of blackmail. There have also been cases of identity
cloning to attack payment systems, including online credit card processing and medical
insurance. Sometimes people may impersonate others for non-financial reasons too. This is
often done to receive praise or attention for the victim’s achievements. This is sometimes
referred to as identity theft in the media and is a common trend seen by look-a-likes. One does
not have to think too far back before recollecting a probable victim of identity theft in India.
Law as Applicable:
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008,
Section 66-C is applicable and Section 419 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 is applicable. The
victim of identity theft can file a complaint in the nearest police station where the above crime
has been committed or where he comes to know about the crime. If crime is proved accused
shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to
three years or with fine which may extend to rupees one lakh or with both. As per Section 77-
B of IT Act, 2000 the above offence shall be cognizable and bailable while if Section 419 of
IPC is applied along with other Sections the said offence is cognizable, bailable, compoundable
with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable
by any magistrate
5. E-mail Spoofing
What is Email Spoofing?
According to wikipedia e-mail spoofing is e-mail activity in which the sender addresses
and other parts of the e-mail header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from
a different source. e-mail spoofing is sending an e-mail to another person so that it appears that
the e-mail was sent by someone else. A spoof email is one that appears to originate from one
source but actually has been sent from another source. Spoofing is the act of electronically
disguising one computer as another for gaining as the password system. It is becoming so
common that you can no longer take for granted that the e-mail you are receiving is truly from
the person identified as the sender.
Hackers use this method to disguise the actual email address from which phishing and spam
messages are sent and often use email spoofing in conjunction with Web page spoofing to trick
users into providing personal and confidential information.
Explanation of e-mail spoofing:
This does not mean that your email account was compromised. It means that the sender has
fooled the mail client into believing the email originated from a different address.
This is usually done for malicious reasons, either to distribute unsolicited email or to distribute
email viruses.
Unfortunately, there is no real way to prevent spoofing from occurring. If you receive an
email that has questionable content, it is recommended to delete the email message or use an
antivirus program to scan the message before opening it.
Law as Applicable:
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008,
Section 66-D is applicable and Section 417, 419 & 465 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 are
applicable. The victim can file a complaint in the nearest police station where the above crime
has been committed or where he comes to know about the said crime. If crime is proved accused
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall
also be liable to the fine which may extend to one lakh rupees. As per Section 77-B of IT Act,
2000 the above Offence shall be cognizable and bailable while if Section 417 of IPC is applied
for the said offence is non-cognizable, bailable, compoundable with permission of the court
before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by any magistrate, Section
419 of IPC is applied for the said offence is cognizable, bailable, compoundable with
permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by
any magistrate, Section 417 of IPC is applied for the said offence is non-cognizable, bailable,
non-compoundable with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence
is pending and triable by any magistrate.
6. Email Fraud
What is email fraud?
Fraud whether financial, banking and social committed with the aid of an email would be
called as email fraud.
Many types of fraud exist, and email is an inexpensive and popular method for distributing
fraudulent messages to potential victims. According to the US Secret Service, hundreds of
millions of dollars are lost annually and the losses continue to escalate. Most fraud is carried
out by people obtaining access to account numbers and passwords. Never respond to any email
message that asks you to send cash or personal information.
Some of the most common fraudulent messages are non-monetary hoaxes or non-monetary
chain mail. Treat these as you would spam; for more information.
However, if you receive an email message that appears to involve money or asks for personal
information, do not respond to that email.
Law as Applicable and Illustration:
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008,
Section 66-C & 66-D is applicable and Sections 415 & 420 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 are
applicable. He can file a complaint in the nearest police station where the above crime has been
committed or where he come to know about the crime. If crime is proved accused shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be
liable to the fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
As per Section 77-B of IT Act, 2000 the above Offence shall be cognizable and bailable
while if Section 415 of IPC is applied for the said offence is non-cognizable, bailable,
compoundable with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence is
pending and triable by any magistrate and Section 420 if IPC is applied for the said offence is
cognizable, non-bailable, compoundable with permission of the court before which the
prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by magistrate of first class.
7. Pornography
What is Pornography?
The graphic, sexually explicit subordination of woman through pictures and/or words that
also includes Pornography is verbal or pictorial material which represents or describes sexual
behavior that is degrading or abusive to one or more of the participants in such a ways as to
endorse the degradation.
Behavior that is degrading or abusive includes physical harm or abuse and physical or
psychological coercion. In addition, behavior that ignores or devalues the real interest, desires
and experiences of one or more participants in any way is degrading. Finally that a person has
chosen or consented to be harmed, abused, or subjected to coercion does not alter the degrading
character of such behavior.
Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, crime of Pornography under Section 67-A
whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form
any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct can be called as pornography.
Law as Applicable:
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008,
According to Section 67-A is applicable and Section 292/293/294,
500, 506 & 509 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 are also applicable, and the victim can file a
criminal complaint in the nearest Police Station where the above crime has been committed or
where he comes to know about the crime. If the crime is Proved Accused shall punishable for
first conviction with imprisonment for a term which may extend to Five years and with fine
which may extend to ten lakh rupees and in second conviction with imprisonment for a term
may extend to Seven years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees. As per Section
67-A of IT Act, 2000 the above Offence shall be cognizable and non-bailable while if Section
292/293/294 of IPC is applied it will be cognizable, Bailable, non-compoundable and triable
by any magistrate. If Section 500 and 506 of IPC is applied it will be non-cognizable, bailable,
compoundable by the person defamed/intimidated and triable by any magistrate but if 509 of
IPC is applied it will be cognizable, Bailable, compoundable by the women whom it was
intended to insult or whose privacy was intruded upon and triable by any magistrate.
8. Child Pornography
What is Child Pornography?
Child pornography refers to images or films (also known as child abuse images) and in
some cases writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child; as such, child
pornography is a record of child sexual abuse.
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by the Information Technology (Amendment) Act,
2008, crime of Child Pornography under Section 67-B say’s, Whoever publishes or transmits
or causes to be published or transmitted material in any electronic form which depicts children
engaged in sexually explicit act or conduct or creates text or digital images, collects, seeks,
browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic
form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner or cultivates, entices
or induces children to online relationship with one or more children for and on sexually explicit
act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resource or facilitates
abusing children online or records in any electronic form own abuse or that of others pertaining
to sexually explicit act with children is known as child pornography.
Law as Applicable:
Under The IT Act, 2000 as amended by Information Technology (Amendment)
Act, 2008, According to Section 67-B is applicable and Section 292/293/294, 500, 506 & 509
of Indian Penal Code, 1860 are also applicable, and the victim can file a criminal complaint in
the nearest Police Station where the above crime has been committed or where he comes to
know about the crime. If Crime is Proved Accused should punishable for first conviction with
imprisonment for a term may extend to Five years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh
rupees and in second conviction with imprisonment for a term may extend to Seven years and
with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
As per Section 67-B of IT Act, 2000 the above Offence shall be cognizable and non-bailable
while if Section 292/293/294 of IPC is applied it will be cognizable, Bailable, non-
compoundable and triable by any magistrate. If Section 500 and 506 of IPC is applied it will
be non-cognizable,Bailable, compoundable by the person defamed/intimidated and triable by
any magistrate but if 509 of IPC is applied it will be cognizable, Bailable, compoundable by
the women whom it was intended to insult or whose privacy was intruded upon and triable by
any magistrate.
The society doesn’t really treat software piracy like other kinds of theft as nothing is
physically taken away. There is no immediate effect on the inventory or productive capacity
of the programmer.
Only copies of the disk or other storage medium are made and the legal owner is still in
possession of the software. With digital technology, perfect copies of the original can be made
in no time. Most often, the actual cost of creating goods is determined by the production cost
of individual item. However with software, the reverse is true. The cost of producing copies is
negligible compared to the cost of constructing the original. Hence it becomes very easy and
This is a more serious offence as it is done in an organized manner and the buyer is also made
to believe that he is buying a genuine product.
Internet Piracy:
Internet Piracy is unauthorized downloading of software over the Internet. Any form of
software piracy that involves the use of the Internet either to market or distribute copyrighted
software programs can be termed as Internet Piracy. Many pirate websites on the internet make
software available as free download or in exchange for uploaded programs. Many online
auction sites offer counterfeit or infringing copyright software. Email, IRC, News Groups and
FTP could be the tools which facilitate in illegally uploading or downloading of copyrighted
software programs over Internet.
Hard-Disk Installation:
Hard-disk Installation occurs when a business that sells new computers, loads illegal copies
of software onto the hard disks to make the purchase of their machines more attractive.
Pre-installed Software Piracy:
When a computer manufacturer uses one licensed copy of software and illegally installs it
on more than one computer it is called Pre-installed Software Piracy. To avoid this type of
piracy the consumers should be on the lookout for proper license documentation when
purchasing a new PC in order to ensure that they’re getting what they paid for.
Client-Server license Overuse:
Client-Server overuse occurs when a software is installed on the server for simultaneous
use by several people over the network. Simply put Client-Server Overuse is having more users
than allowed by the license.
The section also provides for fines up to INR 2,00,000 and jail term up to three years or both.
Any person or company who indulges in unauthorized copying, sale, downloading or loading
of software is punishable under this section.
Section 63-B of Copyright Act is applicable against those who knowingly use infringing
copies of computer programs. Any person, individual or company, using pirated software is
liable under this section.
Section 64 of the Copyright Act empowers any police officer of the rank of Sub Inspector
or above to seize without warrant infringing copies as well as the material that is being used
for the purpose of making such copies.
Those accused who are indulging in software counterfeiting are doing it in an organized
manner by conspiring with each other to cheat both the government in general and copyright
owner as well as the public in particular, hence they are liable for prosecution under Section
120 B r/w 420 IPC.
A counterfeit product is basically a forged electronic document prepared for the purpose of
cheating and it is also sold to the public as genuine, hence the counterfeiters are punishable
under Sections 46 8 and 471 IPC. There are many pirate websites on internet which make
software available for free download or in exchange for uploaded programs. There are also
many online auction sites which offer counterfeit or infringing copyright software. The
webmasters of these websites are punishable under Section 120B IPC r/w Sec 63 of Copyright
Act as they are part of the conspiracy by way of abetting copyright violations and enabling
people to gain access to copyrighted software. Those people who are abetting infringement
(like the webmasters & the illegal replicators) as well as those who are using pirated software
are doing so knowing fully well that they are causing wrongful loss or damage to the
copyrighted owner. They are also diminishing the value of such software by making illegal
copies. All such people are committing offences under Section 66 of Information Technology
Act, 2000 and are therefore punishable under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
Apart from prosecution under Section 66 of IT Act, 2000, all the accused who are
providing assistance to any person to facilitate access or those who are illegally
downloading/copying/extracting software are also liable to pay damages to the affected party
per section 43 of the IT Act, 2000. The Modus Operandi like Client-Server overuse, Hard-disk
loading, Pre-installed software and End-user piracy are generally adopted by companies or
firms or by an association of individuals.
In such cases the company/firm as well as its in charge are liable under section 85 of the
Information Technology Act, 2000. The counterfeit products which are replicated & packaged
abroad are illegally brought into India through various seaports and airports, hence Section 132
of Customs Act can be applied against such importers. It is also suspected that these counterfeit
products are being smuggled into India in active connivance with some officials of Customs
Department. These officials can be booked under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1) (d) of P.C. Act, 1988.
Hence a case u/s 120B r/w 420, 468, 471 of IPC, u/s 63, 63B of Copyright Act 1957, u/s 66,
85 of IT Act 2000, u/s 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of PC Act 1988 and u/s 132 of Customs Act and
substantive offences thereof can be made out against the suspects. The relevance of the above
mentioned sections has to be decided based on the verification.
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking, simply put, is online stalking. It has been defined as the use of
technology, particularly the Internet, to harass someone. Common characteristics include false
accusations, monitoring, threats, identity theft, and data destruction or manipulation.
Cyberstalking also includes exploitation of minors, be it sexual or otherwise.
The harassment can take on many forms, but the common denominator is that it's unwanted,
often obsessive, and usually illegal. Cyberstalkers use email, instant messages, phone calls, and
other communication devices to stalk, whether it takes the form of sexual harassment,
inappropriate contact, or just plain annoying attention to your life and your family's activities.
Kids use the term "stalking" to describe following someone's activities via their social network.
My own children accuse me of being their "stalker" for keeping tabs on their digital lives. It's
important that we not devalue the serious nature of the crime of cyberstalking by using the term
incorrectly. A recent television commercial for a major cellular provider depicts a young
woman spying on her crush through his bedroom window while she monitors his online
activities on her cell phone. While it's meant to be a humorous ad, it's extremely unsettling
when stalking occurs in the real world.
Interestingly, this same ad points to an important fact about cyberstalking; it is often perpetrated
not by strangers, but by someone you know. It could be an ex, a former friend, or just someone
who wants to bother you and your family in an inappropriate way.
Anti-Stalking Tips
Here are a few important pointers to help you thwart cyberstalking, whether it's directed at you,
your PC, or your family:
Maintain vigilance over physical access to your computer and other Web-enabled devices
like cell phones. Cyberstalkers use software and hardware devices (sometimes attached to
the back of your PC without you even knowing) to monitor their victims.
Be sure you always log out of your computer programs when you step away from the
computer and use a screensaver with a password. The same goes for passwords on cell
phones. Your kids and your spouse should develop the same good habits.
Make sure to practice good password management and security. Never share your
passwords with others. And be sure to change your passwords frequently! This is very
important.
Do an online search for your name or your family members' now and then to see what's
available about you and your kids online. Don't be shy about searching social networks
(including your friends' and colleagues'), and be sure to remove anything private or
inappropriate.
Delete or make private any online calendars or itineraries--even on your social network--
where you list events you plan to attend. They could let a stalker know where you're
planning to be and when.
Use the privacy settings in all your online accounts to limit your online sharing with those
outside your trusted circle. You can use these settings to opt out of having your profile
appear when someone searches for your name. You can block people from seeing your posts
and photos, too.
If you suspect that someone is using spyware software to track your everyday activities, and
you feel as if you're in danger, only use public computers or telephones to seek help.
Otherwise, your efforts to get help will be known to your cyberstalker and this may leave
you in even greater danger.
As always, use good, updated security software to prevent someone from getting spyware
onto your computer via a phishing attack or an infected Web page. Check the app store for
your mobile devices to see what security software is available. Security software could
allow you to detect spyware on your device and decrease your chances of being stalked.
(Source: http://us.norton.com/cyberstalking/article)
Copyright
Exclusive privilege to authors to reproduce, distributes, perform, or display their creative
works. As per Indian Copyright Act, Acquisition of copyright is automatic and it does not
require any formality. Copyright comes into existence as soon as a work is created and no
formality is required to be completed for acquiring copyright. So publishing house will not
provide any copyright for the book. However if you wish you can register for the same. You
can find details regarding copyright in India at http://copyright.gov.in/frmFAQ.aspx
Requirements
Must be an original work
expressed in a tangible medium
Rights to owner:
Making copies of the work;
distributing the copies;
display the work publicly
make “derivative works”
Making modifications, other new uses of a work, or translating to another media.
Copyright includes
Literary
Artistic works
Computer programs.
Musical works
2. Descriptive marks (medium distinctiveness) describe function or use, purpose of the goods
(e.g. Video Buyer’s Guide) only trademark protection.
3. Generic Marks (least distinctive) are common name for product or service (e.g. COLA).
Not protected under trademark law Marks turn generic unless used properly: e.g. ASPIRIN;
CELLOPHANE.
Registration procedure for trademarks
Application form
Search
Registration
Advertisement of TM
Filing of opposition
Certificate issued or hearing set
Term- For a period of ten years but may be renewed from time to time for an unlimited
period by payment of the renewal fees.
Geographical Indications(GI)
It refers to an indication which identified such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or
manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or
locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of such goods
is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are
manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or of processing or
preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case
may be. (Source: Ministry of HRD)
It helps in protecting countries biodiversity assets, product like Scotch, whisky, Champagne,
California wine falls under this category. It prevents the others from misleading the public and
present unfair trade practices for the goods that have their origin from a particular, territory,
region or locality.
Patents
A patent describes an invention for which the inventor claims the exclusive right to make,
use and sell an invention for a specific period.
Invention is a new solution to “technical” problem. (Product, process and new use)
Patentable Subject Matter
What can be patented? Section 2(1) (i)
Machines
Articles of Manufacture
Compositions of Matter
Plants (asexually reproducing)
Designs
Processes – Method of purifying a protein or nucleic acid; method of screening
for useful drugs; business methods.
Improvements on the above
Unpatentable Subject Matter
Laws of Nature, discovery, mathematical method or scientific theory.
Benefits of IPR
It encourages and safe guard intellectual and artistic creation.
It encourages investment in research and development efforts.
It provides the consumers with the result of creations and invention.
It enables the dissemination of new ideas and technologies quickly and widely.
(Source: http://agropedia.iitk.ac.in/content/intellectual-property-rights-issues-and-concerns)