Chapter 2 Getting connected to the Internet

2.1 Information Infrastructure

2.1.1 Communication Infrastructure
Communication infrastructure has been dominated by series of advances.

2.1.1.1 Early Messengers In ancient time messengers carried a written message by foot. With time there was a need to improve the speed of messenger to increase the speed of communication. Good roads, fast runners were used to achieve high speed of communication. Later, messengers rode on animals (horses) to achieve the speed required.

2.1.1.2 Postal System With the modern civilization the messengers were replaced by the postal mail system that delivered letters. With the introduction of postal systems there were two advances in communication infrastructure. One is any individual could receive a letter. Second is any individual could send a letter. Thereby Modern postal mail system ensures universal access and delivery.

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2. GETTING CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET 2.1.1.3 Telegraph Telegraphy comes from the Greek words tele means far and graphein means write. It is the long-distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, Telegraphy messages sent by telegraph operators using Morse code were known as telegrams or cablegrams, Telegram services were very popular before long distance telephone services were readily available or aordable. Telegrams were often used to confirm business dealings too. Thereby telegraphy made a major change in communication technology by increasing the speed of message delivery. 2.1.1.4 Telephone System Telephone system caused a dramatic change in communication. In telegraphy one has to write a message and pass it to an operator. But using telephone system one can directly communicate with the other party. Telephone communication became popular quickly. Telephone, in Greek tele means far away and phone means voice. It is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. Most telephones operate through transmission of electric signals over a complex telephone network which allows almost any phone user to communicate with almost any other.

2.1.1.5 Internet Infrastructure The Internet has introduced a signicant change in communication infrastructure. Today the Internet oers a wide variety of services and most of them were not there at the beginning when the Internet was invented.

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2.2 ISPs and network connections

2.2 ISPs and network connections

2.2.1 ISPs and Access Methods
2.2.1.1 Internet Service Providers ISP stands for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the Internet. There are a growing number of ISPs today. They can provide you with the necessary connection to the Internet. Which ISP to choose is largely a matter of personal preference and how much you are willing to pay. For a monthly fee, the service provider gives you a software package, username, password and access phone number. Equipped with a modem, you can then log on to the Internet. In addition to serving individuals, ISPs also serve large companies, providing a direct connection from the companys networks to the Internet. ISPs themselves are connected to one another through Network Access Points (NAPs). ISPs are also called Internet Access Providers (IAPs). 2.2.1.2 Internet Access Methods You can get your Internet connection through various methods such as leased circuits, dial-up access, DSL or wireless. These methods dier from each other in speed (bandwidth), availability, accessibility, controllability, use of existing resources and the most important fact of aordability. Bandwidth is the amount of information or data that can be sent over a network connection in a given period of time. Bandwidth is usually stated in bits per second (bps), kilobits per second (kbps), or megabits per second (mbps). The higher a channels bandwidth, the more information it can carry.

2.2.2 Leased circuits

Among various methods of Internet access, chief advantages of a leased circuit are availability and control. The circuit remains available 24 hours a day. So this would be the choice for a company that needs to keep their site online at all times.

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A leased circuit is dedicated to one customer. Due to this reason theres considerable drop in Internet traffic. But with all these advantages theres one disadvantage: the cost. The cost of a leased circuit is too high.

2.2.3 Dial-up Access

Dial up access means using the telephone system to access the Internet. Here one needs a modem (figure 2.1) connected to the computer. Modem is the hardware part required to access the Internet. In addition you need to install required software to use the modem.

Figure 2.1: Serial Port Modem Here we use the telephone line connected to the modem to dial the Internet service providers (ISP) node. This is an inexpensive way of accessing the Internet even though this method of access also provides the users the same services as a dedicated circuit. But here the speed of accessing the Internet is relatively low so one has to wait for some time to access data over the Internet, because the traffic is high as everybody is sharing the same line. But this is not a problem in leased circuits where a dedicated line is there for a customer. In this method of access, the Internet is not available continuously to the user. A user who has dial-up access usually plans Internet use at a particular time during the day.

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2.2 ISPs and Network Connections

2.2.4 Broadband Internet Access

Customers are always demanding for higher speed data transfer and dedicated Internet connections for lower cost. During 1990s engineers worked to find technologies that oer high speed, dedicated connection at lower cost than a leased digital circuit. Broadband Internet access, often shortened to broadband Internet or just broadband, is a high data-transmission rate Internet connection. DSL and cable modem, are popular consumer broadband technologies. These are typically capable of transmitting 256 kilobits per second or more, approximately nine times the speed of a modem using a standard digital telephone line. 2.2.4.1 Cable Modem A cable modem ( gure 2.2) is a special type of modem that is designed to modulate a data signal over cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access. It uses the unused bandwidth on a cable television network. Cable modems have four advantages. . 1. Deliver data faster than a dial-up connection 2. Provide continuous connectivity 3. Not as expensive as a leased data circuit 4. Use existing wiring The chief disadvantage is that customers share the wiring. If all customers use their cable modems at the same time to access the Internet the bandwidth is shared among the customers so the data transmission speed becomes very low. But still that speed is also faster than dialup access rate. 2.2.4.2 xDSL Technology Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission. Transmission is done over the wires used in the last mile of a local telephone network. But this does not use the telephone system at all.

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Figure 2.2: Cable Modem It only uses the underline telephone wires to send an electrical signal to transfer data at high speed. (You know analog voice signals are used to transfer voice signal in telephone system). So it does not aect normal telephone service which means while some one is using the Internet, the telephone can ring and be answered. Not only incoming calls but one can make a call too. Typically, the download speed of DSL ranges from 128 kilobits per second (kbps) to 24,000 kbps. But this depends on DSL technology and service level implemented. In Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) upload speed is lower than download speed and hence download from the Internet will be faster than upload The goal of ADSL is to lower the cost of DSL connections for users who need fast download speeds, but not so fast upload speeds. This is similar to cable modems. ADSL provides continuous and instantaneous connectivity. Another advantage is that ADSL is not as expensive as a leased circuit. In Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL) upload speed is equal to down-load speed.

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2.3 Internet Protocol (IP)

2.2.5 Wireless Technology

Examples of wireless technology include cellular phones, GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mice and keyboards, satellite television and cordless telephones. The chief advantage of wireless technology is the ability to reach remote areas. Wireless technology also provides high data rates and continuous and instantaneous connectivity.

2.3 Internet Protocol (IP)

2.3.1 Protocol
A protocol is an agreement for communication. Two humans cannot communicate unless they agree to speak a common language known to both. The same is true for computers also. Two computers cannot communicate if they dont share the same language. The term, protocol, is used to refer to the rules of communication. A computer communication protocol is a common language or rules computers use to exchange messages. This defines the format and meaning of each message. Also this includes the conditions under which a computer should send a message and how a computer should respond when a message arrives.

2.3.2 Internet Protocol

Internet protocol is the protocol or agreement for communication used in the Internet. This protocol denes how a packet must be formed and how routers forward each packet to the destination. Therefore each computer that connects to the Internet must follow the rules of the Internet protocol. Data packets are called IP datagrams. A datagram travels across the Internet independent of the sender, just as a telegram travels to its destination independent of the person who sent the message. A computer must have Internet Protocol to use the Internet services. Normally the operating system of the computer keeps a copy of the IP software in memory at all times.

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So it is ready to send a packet or receive a packet at any time.

2.3.3 Packet Switching

On the Internet the data transmission path between two computers consists of say for simplicity wires. When a computer on the Internet wants to send data to another computer and if it is a long message the computer can divide the data into pieces or packets. But if it is a short message it will fit into a single packet or a few. Each of these packets sent across the Internet is labeled. The label says which computer sent the packet and which computer should receive the packet. The IP address of source and destination computer is used here. Packet switching technique allows multiple computers to communicate without delay as the computers divide data into small packets. Packet switching systems requires additional communication software to ensure that the data is delivered.

2.3.4 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

2.3.4.1 TCP guarantee Delivery TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) controls how information gets transmitted in packets over the Internet. By doing this, TCP makes the Internet more reliable. TCP solves several problems in packet switching. If a router becomes overrun with datagrams it must discard them. Due to this reason some datagrams might be lost during transmission. It is the TCP that handles this problem of data loss by automatically checking for the lost datagrams. Another problem is when hardware in a router or network system fails, other routers start sending data-grams. As a result, some datagrams arrive in a dierent order than they were sent. TCP automatically checks incoming datagrams and put in order. TCP checks for duplicate datagrams too.

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2.3 Internet Protocol (IP) 2.3.4.2 TCP and IP Work Together TCP handles the problems that IP does not handle without duplicating the work that IP does. TCP and IP are so important and work together so well that the entire set of communication protocols the Internet uses is known as the TCP/IP protocol suite.

2.3.5 Client-Server Computing

Client Some computers request services. For example a client program can contact a server to request a copy of one of the les. Users usually run client software on the client computers when they want to access a service. A client program contacts a server, sends a request to the server and displays the servers response.

Server Some computers on the Internet offer services that others access. They are called servers. For example some servers manage les that contain information. Computers that offer services on the Internet or the servers, start the server software running automatically when the computer is powered on. So the server remains ready to accept any incoming request at any time. The server computers must always be ready to receive requests. If the computer loses power or say the operating system crashes, all servers running on that computer are lost. When the server crashes like this any clients using the server right then will get an error message. Also the clients who try to communicate with that particular server will also receive an error message.

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2.4 Names for Computers

2.4.1 IP Address
2.4.1.1 What is an IP Address? Every house in the road network has a unique address to identify itself. Similarly, every Computer is assigned a unique address. Each computer attached to the Internet must be assigned a unique address. This unique number assigned to a computer is known as the Internet Protocol (IP) address ( gure 2.3). In computer networking, this unique address is used by devices in order to identify and communicate with each other on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard (IP). 2.4.1.2 IP address Format An IP(Internet Protocol) address consists of four numbers separated by periods like this 160.111.252.106. This is pronounced as one hundred sixty dot one hundred eleven dot two ve two dot one hundred six. But the numbers which are to be separated by periods cant take any value you like. These numbers can only take values from 0 to 255. So the smallest address is 0.0.0.0 and the largest address is 255.255.255.255,.The smallest and the largest addresses are reserved that is they have special meanings. 0.0.0.0 is used by machines in the network to refer to its own self and 255.255.255.255 can be used to give your message to everybody in your network but not to every body in the Internet (Internet is the network of networks). The above shown IP address notation is often called as the dotted decimal notation. The combination of these four parts provides 4.2 billion (256*256*256*256) possible addresses for us to use. This IP addressing system we are currently using is called IP version 4(IPv4). Due to the growing demand of the Internet there was a concern that the world could run out of IP addresses within a few years. Network engineers came up with a new IP addressing system called IP version 6(IPv6). This new protocol would replace the IPv4 gradually.

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2.4 Names for Computers

Figure 2.3: A unique number assigned to a device is known as an IP addresses

2.4.1.3 Usage of the IP Address Any participating network device including routers, computers, time-servers, printers, and internet fax machines must have its own unique address. The unique nature of IP addresses makes it possible in many situations to track which computer and by extension, which person has sent a message or engaged in some other activity on the Internet. This information has been used by law enforcement authorities to identify criminal suspects.

2.4.2 Naming a Computer

2.4.2.1 Names for Numbers We know IP addresses are used to uniquely identify the computers. Then to access a computer using IP address, say the computer where the BIT web site is, you should be able to give the IP address of that computer. But we know it is very hard to remember IP addresses. Being humans we are good at remembering words I guess thats why we are all given names created by words.

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So a solution to this problem is to give names to computers as it is very easy to use meaningful alphabetic names rather than using meaningless numbers. Users can name their computers. You have the freedom to choose any name for your computer. The names can reect the role of the computer, or name of the owner. The name given to a computer must be unique to distinguish the computer from all others. Normally in organizations naming conventions are there to guide you in nding a name for your computer. You can add sux to names to make them unique. These names given to computers are called as domain names.

2.4.3 Domain Names

Domain names are used instead of IP addresses so it should rst and foremost fulll the purpose of the IP address and that it should uniquely identify a particular computer on the Internet. As you can see a simple and short name would not certainly do the job so domain names consist of several parts separated by periods just like the IP address. The format of the Domain name is, hostname.subdomain.top-level-domain Every domain name ends in a top level domain(TLD) name, which is always either one of a small list of generic names (three or more characters), or a two characters territory code based on ISO-3166 . Top-level domains are sometimes also called firstlevel domains. Some of the examples for Top-level domains(TLDs) are .edu - educational .com - commercial .gov - government .mil - military .net - network support centers .org other organizations. The subdomain refers to the network to which your computer is connected to.Let us take the sarasavi.cmb.ac.lk domain (figure 2.4) name and grasp this idea thoroughly. In this domain name sarasavi is the computers name or the host name, cmb.ac are the subdomains and .lk is top-level-domain.

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2.4 Names for Computers

Figure 2.4:

Domain Names

2.4.4 ICANN
Who assign the unique identifiers on the Internet? The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the authority that coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers on the Internet. Since 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for managing domain names. New TLDs (Top Level Domains) are also introduced by ICANN. ICANNs role in coordinating the assignment of unique identifiers distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body on the global Internet, but the scope of its authority extends only to the Internets systems of domain names, Internet protocol addresses, and protocol port and parameter numbers.

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2.4.5 Domain Name System (DNS)

We know that we use names for computers for us to make things easy. But Internet communication software must use IP address of the computer when it needs to send or receive datagram. Therefore although people can refer to a computer by name, it must be translated into an IP address before an application program can communicate with a program on the named computer. So there is a service to translate a domain name into an IP equivalent address and it is called Domain Name System (DNS). The Domain Name System or Domain Name Server (DNS) is a system that stores information associated with domain names. DNS makes it possible to attach hard-to-remember IP addresses (such as 207.142.131.206) to easy-to-remember domain names.

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