ITEC 1010

Information and Organizations

Chapter 7
The Internet, Intranets, and
Extranets
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
The Internet
The internet
A network of networks
The internet transmits data from one computer
(called a host) to another
Internet networks
Linked networks that work much the same
way -- they pass data around in packets, each
of which carries the addresses of its sender and
receiver
Schematic
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Internet Discussion (1)
A global network connecting millions of computers. As of 1999, the
Internet has more than 200 million users worldwide, and that number
is growing rapidly. More than 100 countries are linked into
exchanges of data, news and opinions.

Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, the Internet is
decentralized by design. Each Internet computer, called a host, is
independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to
use and which local services to make available to the global Internet
community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Internet Discussion (2)
well.

There are a variety of ways to access the Internet. Most online
services, such as America Online, offer access to some Internet
services. It is also possible to gain access through a commercial
Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Note: York Universitys CCS (Computer and Communications
Services) is an ISP.
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
How the Internet Works
Transport control protocol (TCP)
A protocol that operates at the transport layer and is
used in combination with IP by most Internet
applications
Backbone
An Internet high-speed, long distance communications
links (like a bus; wire that connects nodes)
Uniform resource locator (URL)
An assigned address on the Internet for each computer
E.g., http://www.yorku.ca/
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Domain Affiliations
Domain Affiliations
arts cultural and entertainment activities
com business organizations
edu educational sites
firm businesses and firms
gov government sites
info information service providers
mil military sites
nom individuals
net networking organizations
org organizations
rec recreational activities
store businesses offering goods for purchase
web entities related to World Wide Web activities
net networking organizations
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Information and Organizations
Access to the Internet
LAN servers
Local servers can provide access to the Internet through
normal connections (e.g., Ethernet)
Serial line internet protocol (SLIP) and
Point-to-point protocol (PPP)
Communications protocol software that transmits packets over
telephone lines, allowing dial-up access to the Internet
Connection via an on-line service
Examples are America Online and Microsoft Network. These
services usually require sign-up procedures
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Information and Organizations
Three Ways to Access the
Internet
Schematic
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Information and Organizations
Internet Service Providers
Internet service provider (ISP)
Any company that provides individuals or
companies with access to the Internet
Thousands of providers including large
communications companies
Need an account with the ISP and software
that links with TCP/IP

ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
ISP Examples
Internet Service Provider Web Address
AT&T WorldNet Service www.att.com
Digex, Inc. www.digex.net
GTE Internetworking www.gte.net
IBM Internet Connection www.ibm.net
MCI Internet www.mci2000.com
NetCom On-Line Communication
Services
www.netcom.com
PSINet, Inc. www.psinet.com
Sprint Internet Services www.sprint.net
Uunet Technologies, Inc. www.us.uu.net
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Internet Services
E-mail
Telnet
FTP
Usenet and newsgroups
Chat rooms
Internet phone
Internet videoconferencing
Content streaming
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Information and Organizations
Selected Usenet Groups
alt.fan.addams.family alt.life.itself
alt.pets alt.fan.bevis-n-butthead
alt.autos.camaro alt.fan.leonardo-dicaprio
alt.cloning alt.history
alt.fan.u2 alt.music.blues
alt.sports.baseball.cinci-red alt.music.zz-top
alt.politics.socialism alt.sports.college.sec
alt.sports.soccer.european.uk
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Information and Organizations
Internet Services
Internet telephony
Also called voice-over-IP (VOIP)
Technology that enables network managers to route
phone calls and fax transmissions over the same
network they use for data

ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
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Information and Organizations
VOIP Discussion
Internet telephony is a category of hardware and software that
enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for
telephone calls. For users who have free, or fixed-price, Internet
access, Internet telephony software essentially provides free
telephone calls anywhere in the world. To date, however, Internet
telephony does not offer the same quality of telephone service as
direct telephone connections.
There are many Internet telephony applications available. Some,
like CoolTalk and NetMeeting, come bundled with popular Web
browsers. Others are stand-alone products. Internet telephony
products are sometimes called IP telephony, Voice over the Internet
(VOI) or Voice over IP (VOIP) products.
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Information and Organizations
Content Streaming
Content streaming
A method for transferring multimedia files over the
Internet so that the data stream of voice and pictures
plays continuously, without a break, or very few of
them
It also enables users to browse large files in real
time

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Information and Organizations
The World Wide Web
World Wide Web
A collection of tens of thousands of independently-
owned computers that work together as one in an
Internet service


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Information and Organizations
WWW Terminology
Home page
The cover page for a Web site that has graphics,
titles, coloured text, etc.
Hypermedia
Tools that connect the data on Web pages, allowing
users to access topics in whatever order they wish
Hypertext markup language (HTML)
The standard page description language for Web
pages
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Some Interesting Web Sites
Library of Congress http://lcweb.loc.gov
PointCast http://www.pointcast.com
In-Box Direct http://www.netscape.com
Online Career Center http://occ.com
New York Times http://www.nytimes.com
Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org
Sportsline USA http://www.sportsline.com
White House http://www.whitehouse.gov
MIT Lab for Computer Science http://www.lcs.mit.edu
The Wall Street Journal http://www.wsj.com
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Information and Organizations
WWW Terminology
Web browser
Software that creates a unique hypermedia-based
menu on your computer screen and provides a
graphical interface to the Web
Web page
A screen of information sent to a requesting user
and presented through a browser
Applet
A small program embedded in Web pages
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Information and Organizations
HTML
The language of WWW pages
Need we say more!!!
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Information and Organizations
Search Engines
Search engines
A search tool for the Web (like card catalogs in
libraries)
E.g.,
Altavista http://www.altavista.digital.com
Excite http://www.excite.com
Galaxy http://www.einet.net
Hotbot http://www.hotbot.com
Infoseek http://www.infoseek.com
Lycos http://www.lycos.com
Webcrawler http://www.webcrawler.com
Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com
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Information and Organizations
Java
Java
An object-oriented programming language
Developed by Sun Microsystems
Based on C++
Allows small programs -- applets -- to be
embedded within an HTML document
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Information and Organizations
Applets
Applets are small java programs that are
downloaded from the server to the local
machine
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Information and Organizations
Push Technology
Push technology
Technology that enables users to automatically
receive information over the Internet rather than
searching for it using a browser
Also called Webcasting
E.g.,
PointCast
InterMind
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Information and Organizations
Webcasting Discussion
Using the Internet, and the World Wide Web in particular, to
broadcast information. Unlike typical surfing, which relies on a pull
method of transferring Web pages, webcasting uses push
technologies.
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Push Discussion (1)
In client/server applications, to send data to a client without
the client requesting it. The World Wide Web is based on a pull
technology where the client browser must request a Web page
before it is sent. Broadcast media, on the other hand, are push
technologies because they send information out regardless of
whether anyone is tuned in.

Increasingly, companies are using the Internet to deliver information
push-style. One of the most successful examples of this is
PointCast, which delivers customized news to users' desktops.
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Information and Organizations
Push Discussion (2)
Probably the oldest and most widely used push technology is e-mail.
This is a push technology because you receive mail whether you ask
for it or not -- that is, the sender pushes the message to the
receiver.
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Business Use of the Web
Uses:
Applications, E-mail, Product Display, Catalogs,
Order placement
Products people are likely to buy on the Web
Software 77%
Books 67%
CDs 64%
Computer hardware 63%
Airline tickets 61%
Magazine subscriptions 53%
Concert/theater tickets 48%
Flowers 45%
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Information and Organizations
Intranets and Extranets
Intranet
An internal corporate network built using Internet
and World Wide Web standards and products that
allows employees of an organization to gain access
to corporate information
Extranet
A network based on Web technologies that links
selected resources of the intranet of a company with
its customers, suppliers, or other business partners
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Information and Organizations
Intranet Discussion
A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an
organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the
organization's members, employees, or others with authorization. An
intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites, but
the firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access.

Like the Internet itself, intranets are used to share information.
Secure intranets are now the fastest-growing segment of the
Internet because they are much less expensive to build and manage
than private networks based on proprietary protocols.
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Information and Organizations
Extranet Discussion
A new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially
accessible to authorized outsiders. Whereas an intranet resides
behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members
of the same company or organization, an extranet provides various
levels of accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only
if you have a valid username and password, and your identity
determines which parts of the extranet you can view.

Extranets are becoming a very popular means for business partners
to exchange information.
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A secure connection between two points across the
Internet
Tunneling
The process by which VPNs transfer information by
encapsulating traffic in IP packets and sending the
packets over the Internet

Schematic
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VPN Discussion
Short for virtual private network, 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. These systems use
encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only
authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot
be intercepted.
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Information and Organizations
Tunneling Discussion
A technology that enables one network to send its data via another
network's connections. Tunneling works by encapsulating a network
protocol within packets carried by the second network. For example,
Microsoft's PPTP technology enables organizations to use the
Internet to transmit data across a virtual private network (VPN). It
does this by embedding its own network protocol within the TCP/IP
packets carried by the Internet. (Note: PPTP = point-to-point tunneling
protocol)

Tunneling is also called encapsulation.
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Information and Organizations
Internet Issues
Management issues
No centralized governing body for the Internet
Service bottlenecks
Phenomenal growth has left a service void
Providers underestimating computing power
needed
Reconciling router addresses needed to
transverse the network
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Privacy & Security
Cryptography
The process of converting a message into a secret code and
changing the encoded message back to regular text
Encryption
The original conversion of a message into a secret code
Digital Signature
An encryption technique used for online financial transactions
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Have a
nice day
Have a
nice day
Encryption
software
running on
sending
computer
Decryption
software
running on
Receiving
computer
E%$&:}{|
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Firewalls
Firewalls
A method of preventing unauthorized access
between a companys computers and the Internet
(looks at the header of a packet)
Assured pipeline
An Internet security method that looks at the entire
request for data and then determines whether the
request is valid

ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
Firewall Discussion (1)
A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a
private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and
software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to
prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private
networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All
messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall,
which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet
the specified security criteria.
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Information and Organizations
Firewall Discussion (2)
There are several types of firewall techniques:
Packet filter: Looks at each packet entering or leaving the network and
accepts or rejects it based on user-defined rules. Packet filtering is fairly
effective and transparent to users, but it is difficult to configure. In addition, it
is susceptible to IP spoofing.
Application gateway: Applies security mechanisms to specific applications,
such as FTP and Telnet servers. This is very effective, but can impose a
performance degradation.
Circuit-level gateway: Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP
connection is established. Once the connection has been made, packets can
flow between the hosts without further checking.
Proxy server: Intercepts all messages entering and leaving the network. The
proxy server effectively hides the true network addresses.
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Information and Organizations
Firewall Discussion (3)
In practice, many firewalls use two or more of these techniques in
concert.

A firewall is considered a first line of defense in protecting private
information. For greater security, data can be encrypted.
ITEC 1010
Information and Organizations
End of Chapter 7
Chapter 8