INF101 – Business

Information Systems

Week 6 - Network and Cloud

Computing (Chapter 6)

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Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Identify and briefly describe three network topologies and four
different network types
Identify and briefly discuss several types of both guided and
wireless communications
Identify several network hardware devices and define their
functions
Briefly describe how the Internet and the Web work, including
various methods for connecting to the Internet

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Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to (cont’d):
Outline the process and tools used in developing Web content and
applications
List and describe several Internet and Web applications
Explain how intranets and extranets use Internet technologies,
and describe how the two differ
Define what is meant by the Internet of Things (IoT)
Identify and discuss several practical applications of the Internet
of Things (IoT)

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Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to (cont’d):
Categorize and summarize several potential issues and barriers
associated with the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT)
Discuss how cloud computing can increase the speed and reduce
costs of new product launches
Summarize three common problems organizations encounter in
moving to the cloud
Discuss the pros and cons of private and hybrid cloud computing
compared to public cloud computing

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 Network Fundamentals

• Computer network: the communications media, devices, and software needed

to connect two or more computer systems or devices
• Network nodes: the computers and devices on the networks
• Organizations can use networks to share hardware, programs, and databases

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 Network Topology

• Network topology
• The shape or structure of a network, including the arrangement of the
communications links and hardware devices on the network
• Three most common network topologies
• Star network
• Bus network
• Mesh network

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Network Topology

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Network Topology

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Network Topology

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 Network Types

• A personal area network (PAN) supports the interconnection of information

technology close to one person
• A local area network (LAN) connects computer systems and devices within a
small area (e.g., an office or a home)
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) connects users and their devices in an area
that spans a campus or city

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Network Types

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 Network Types

• A wide area network (WAN) connects large geographic regions

• WANs consist of:
• Computer equipment owned by the user
• Data communications equipment and telecommunications links provided by various
carriers and service providers
• Communications may involve transborder data flow

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 Client/Server Systems

• Client/server architecture features multiple computer platforms dedicated to

special functions, e.g., database management, printing, or communications
• A client is any computer that sends messages requesting services from the
servers on the network
• A database server sends only the data that meets a specific query—not the
entire file

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 Channel Bandwidth

• Channel bandwidth: the rate at which data is exchanged

• Usually measured in bits/sec
• Broadband communications: a relative term; a telecommunications system that
can transmit data very quickly

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 Communications Media

• Two broad categories

• Guided (wired) transmission media: signals are guided along a solid medium
• Wireless: the signal is broadcast over airwaves as a form of electromagnetic radiation

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 Communications Media

• Wireless Technologies
• Wireless transmission involves the broadcast of communications in one of three
frequency ranges
- Radio, microwave, or infrared frequencies
• In some cases, use of wireless communications is regulated
- The signal must be broadcast within a specific frequency range to avoid interference with other
wireless transmissions

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 Communications Media

• Near field communication (NFC): a very short-range wireless connectivity

technology
• Designed for consumer electronics, cell phones, and credit cards
• Bluetooth: a wireless communications specification that describes how cell
phones, computers, personal digital assistants, etc., can be interconnected
• Wi-Fi
• A wireless telecommunications technology brand owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance
• Employs a wireless access point (a transmitter with an antenna) that receives the
signal and decodes it
- Translates signals into a radio signal and sends it to device’s wireless adapter
• The area covered by one or more interconnected wireless access points is called a
“hot spot”

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Communications Media

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Communications Media

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Communications Media

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 Communications Media

• Historical perspective
• 1G (first generation) of wireless communications standards: originated in the 1980s;
based on analog communications
• 2G (second generation) employed fully digital networks; superseded 1G networks in
the early1990s
• 3G supports wireless voice and broadband speed data communications in a mobile
environment at speeds of 2 to 4 Mbps
• 4G wireless provides increased data transmission rates
- 3 to 20 times the speed of 3G networks for mobile devices
• 4G networks are based on Long Term Evolution (LTE)
- LTE is a standard for wireless communications for mobile phones based on packet switching

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 Communications Media

• 5G Wireless Communications
• Expected characteristics
- Higher data transmission rates
- Lower power consumption
- Higher connect reliability and more coverage
- Lower infrastructure costs
• Commercial deployment expected to start by 2017

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Communications Hardware

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 Communications Software

• Network operating system (NOS)

• Systems software that controls the computer systems and devices on a network
• Linux, UNIX, Windows Server, and Mac OS X are common NOSs
• Network-management software:
• Protects software from being copied, modified, or downloaded illegally
• Locates telecommunications errors and potential network problems

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The Internet and World Wide Web

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 The Internet and World Wide Web

• The Internet is international in scope with users on every continent

• Internet sites have a profound impact on world politics
• Internet censorship
• Some countries try to control Internet content and services
• ARPANET
• Ancestor of the Internet
• Project started by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in 1969
• Internet Protocol (IP) enables computers to route communications traffic from
one network to another

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 How the Internet Works

• Internet backbone: one of the Internet’s high-speed, long-distance

communications links
• IP protocol
• The set of rules used to pass packets from one host to another
• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): the widely used transport layer protocol
that most Internet applications use with IP
• IP address: a 64-bit number that identifies a computer on the Internet

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How the Internet Works

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How the Internet Works

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 Accessing the Internet

• Connecting via LAN server

• Connection method of businesses and organizations that manage a local area network
(LAN)
• Connecting via Internet service providers
• Internet service provider (ISP) is any organization that provides Internet access to
people
• You must have an account with the service provider along with software and devices
that support a connection via TCP/IP

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Accessing the Internet

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 How the Web Works

• The Internet
• The infrastructure on which the Web exists
• Made up of computers, network hardware such as routers and fiber-optic cables,
software, and the TCP/IP protocols
• The World Wide Web (Web)
• Consists of server and client software, the hypertext transfer protocol (http),
standards, and markup languages that combine to deliver information and services
over the Internet

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 How the Web Works

• Hyperlink: highlighted text or graphics in a Web document that, when clicked,

opens a new Web page
• Web browser: Web client software used to view Web pages
• Examples: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari
• Web site: a collection of pages on one particular topic, accessed under one
Web domain

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 How the Web Works

• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): the standard page description language

for Web pages
• Tells the browser how to display font characteristics, paragraph formatting, page
layout, image placement, hyperlinks, and the content of a Web page
• HTML tags tell the Web browser how to format text and elements to be
inserted
• Extensible Markup Language (XML): a markup language designed to transport
and store data on the Web
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): a file or portion of an HTML file that defines the
visual appearance of content in a Web page
• Uses special HTML tags to globally define characteristics for a variety of page elements
as well as how those elements are laid out on the Web page

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How the Web Works

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 Web Programming Languages

• JavaScript
• A popular programming language for client-side applications
• Use to create Web pages that respond to user actions
• Java
• An object-oriented programming language from Sun Microsystems based on C++
• Allows small programs (applets) to be embedded within an HTML document

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 Web Services

• Standards and tools that streamline and simplify communication among Web
sites
• XML
• The key to Web services
• Used within a Web page to describe and transfer data between Web service
applications
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Basic infrastructure that Amazon employs to make the contents of its online catalog
available to other Web sites or software applications

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 Developing Web Content and Applications

• Popular tools for creating Web pages and managing Web sites
• Adobe Dreamweaver, RapidWeaver (for Mac developers), and Nvu
• Many products make it easy to develop Web content and interconnect Web
services
• Example: Microsoft’s .NET platform which allows developers to use various
programming languages to create and run programs

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 Internet and Web Applications

• News
• The Web is a powerful tool for keeping informed about local, state, national, and
global news
• Education and Training
• Web is ideally suited as a tool for sharing information and a primary repository of
information on all subjects
• Distance education offers classes via the Web
• Job Information
• Providing information about a businesses and its products via Web site and social
media increases the company’s exposure and reputation
• The Web is an excellent source of job-related information
• Examples: www.linkedin.com, www.monster.com, and www.careerbuilder.com

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 Internet and Web Applications

• Search Engines and Web Research

• Search engine
- Information on the Web is found by specifying keywords
- The market is dominated by Google
• Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process for driving traffic to a Web site by using
techniques that improve the site’s ranking in search results
• Online research databases allow visitors to search for information in thousands of
journal, magazine, and newspaper articles

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 Internet and Web Applications

• Instant messaging
• Online, real-time communication between two or more people who are connected via
the Internet
• Microblogging, Status Updates, and News Feeds
• Twitter allows users to send short text updates from a smartphone or a Web browser
to their Twitter followers
• Popularity of Twitter has caused social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Tumbler, to include Twitter-like news or blog post feeds

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 Internet and Web Applications

• Conferencing
• The Internet has made it possible for those involved in teleconferences to share
computer desktops
• GoToMeeting enables employees to attend training without leaving their assigned
stations
• Telepresence systems use high-resolution video and audio with high-definition
displays
• Google Voice and Skype allow video chats

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 Internet and Web Applications

• Travel, Geolocation, and Navigation

• The Web has had a profound effect on the travel industry and the way people plan
and prepare for trips
• Mapping and geolocation tools
- MapQuest, Google Maps, and Bing Maps
• Geographic information systems (GIS) provide geographic information layered over a
map
• Geo-tagging is possible on Twitter and Facebook

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 Intranets and Extranets

• Intranet: an internal corporate network built using Internet and World Wide
Web standards and technologies
• Extranet: a network based on Web technologies that links resources of a
company’s intranet with its customers, suppliers, or other business partners
• Virtual private network (VPN): A secure connection between two points on the
Internet
• Tunneling: the process by which VPNs transfer information by encapsulating
traffic in IP packets over the Internet

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 The Internet of Things (IoT)

• Internet of Things (IoT)

• A network of physical objects (things) embedded with sensors, processors, software,
and network connectivity capability to enable them to exchange data with the
manufacturer of the device, device operators, and other connected devices
• Sensor: a device that is capable of sensing something about its surroundings
such as
• Pressure, temperature, humidity, pH level, motion, vibration, or level of light

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 Cloud Computing

• Cloud computing: a computing environment in which software and storage are

provided as an Internet service and accessed with a Web browser
• Advantages to businesses:
• Businesses can save on system design, installation, and maintenance
• Increased efficiency and reduce the costs of new product and service launches
• Employees can access corporate systems from any Internet-connected computer

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 Public Cloud Computing

• A service provider owns and manages the infrastructure with cloud user
organizations (tenants) accessing slices of shared hardware resource via the
Internet
• Public cloud computing can be a faster, cheaper, and more agile approach to
building and managing your own IT infrastructure
• However, data security is a key concern
• Because when using a public cloud computing service, you are relying on someone
else to safeguard your data

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 Public Cloud Computing

• Cloud computing can be divided into three main types of services:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
• Software as a service (SaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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Public Cloud Computing

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 Private Cloud Computing

• Private cloud environment

• A single tenant cloud
• Organization often implement due to concerns that their data will not be secure in a
public cloud
• Can be divided into two types:
- On-premise private cloud
- Service provider managed private cloud

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 Hybrid Cloud Computing

• Hybrid cloud
• Composed of both private and public clouds integrated through networking
• Organizations typically use the public cloud to run applications with less sensitive
security requirements
• Runs more critical applications on the private portion of the hybrid cloud

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 Summary

• A network has many fundamental components, which enable people to meet

personal and organizational objectives
• Together, the Internet and the World Wide Web provide a highly effective
infrastructure for delivering and accessing information and services
• Organizations are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to capture and analyze
streams of sensor data to detect patterns and anomalies in order to have a
considerable impact on the event outcome
• Cloud computing provides access to state-of-the-art technology at a fraction of
the cost of ownership and without the lengthy delays that can occur when an
organization tries to acquire its own resources

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