Introduction to Information and

Communication Technology
(CIS-ICT-111)

BEEE1, BETE1 & BBME1

Internet
By:

Mwamvani Kaunde
Computer Science and Information Systems Department
Internet Background
´Begun in 1957 when Soviet Union Launched
Sputnik.
´In 1969 ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects
Agency) connected Computers at UCLA,
Stanford Research Institute.
´In 1985, National Science Foundation (NSF) used
ARPANET Technology to create a larger
Network, Connecting entire LANs to each other.
´The NSF network was internet, as this network
grew throughout the world, it became Internet.
Internet Background (Cont’d)
Internet Infrastructure
´Internet is not owned or operated by any single
organization or government. It is network
connected to other networks and to the internet
backbone.
´Several organizations set standards
 Internet Infrastructure (Cont’d)
Internet Backbone
´ Is a network of high-capacity communications links that provides
the main routes for data traffic across the internet.
Network Service Providers (NSPs)
´ NSP Maintain internet backbone links and routes.
´ NSP Equipment and links are tied together by Network Access
Points (NAPs) to transfer data from source to destination.
Internet Service Provide (ISP)
´ Is a company that offers Internet access to individuals, businesses,
and smaller ISPs.
Internet Infrastructure (Cont’d)
Internet Infrastructure (Cont’d)
´How can you connect to the Internet?
 Internet Protocols
´Rules that govern communication on the Internet.
´The Internet uses a variety of communications
protocols to support basic data transport and services,
such as e-mail, web access and downloading.
´Some of the Main Protocols used on the Internet
include:
1. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
´Creates connections and exchange packets of data
2. Internet Protocol (IP)
´Provides devices with unique addresses
Internet Protocols (Cont’d)
3. User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
´Alternative to TCP used for DNS, VoIP and File
Sharing
4. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
´Exchanges information over the web
´HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is the
secure version of HTTP
5. File Transfer protocol(FTP)
´Transfers files between local and remote host
computers
 Internet Protocols (Cont’d)
6. Post Office Protocol (POP)
´Transfers mail from an e-mail server to client Inbox
7.Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
´Transfers e-mail messages from client computers to an
e-mail server.
8. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
´Transmits voice conversations over the Internet
9. Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
´Transmits text messages in real time between online
users.
Protocol Suite
´Is a combination of protocols that work
together, example TCP/IP.
´TCP Breaks a message or file into packets. IP is
responsible for addressing the packets so that
they can be routed to their destination.
´TCP/IP provides a protocol standard for the
internet that is public, free, extensible and easy
to implement.
 Domain Name
´Text version of Internet protocol (IP) address
´ Number that uniquely identifies each computer or device connected
to Internet
´Example:
IP Address 69.63.176.13
Domain Name www.facebook.com

´DNS server translates the domain name to its associated

IP address so that data and information can be routed
to the correct computer.
Domain Name (Cont’d)
´Examples of Generic Top-Level Domains
Domain Name (Cont’d)
´Examples of Generic Top-Level Domains
 Data Transfer
Downloading
´ Receiving/taking a copy of digital data from a network computer
to a local computer ; e.g., downloading a file from the Internet to
the computer’s hard drive.
Uploading
´ Sending of data from the local computer to network computer ;
e.g., uploading a video to a specialized server on the Internet.
Bitrate
´ Represents speed at which data is transferred through network
´ It is measured in bit/s (bit per second)
 Types of Internet Connections
The data transfer rate varies depending on the network technology used
and the type of connection to the particular computer or the Internet.
Some of the ways to get connected to Internet include:
i. Dial-up Connection
´ The modem of computer uses a standard telephone line to connect to
the Internet. A dial-up connection is a slow-speed technology.
ii. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
´ Is a technology that provides high speed Internet connections using
regular telephone lines
 Types of Internet Connections
iii. Mobile Internet
´ Access to the Internet is provided by a mobile communications
network
´ Connecting by using a mobile network (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA)
iv. Satellite
´ Satellite Modem communicates with a satellite dish to provide high-
speed Internet connections via satellite.
v. Wireless (Wi-Fi)
´ Data is transferred between computers by using radio frequencies
and the corresponding antennas
 Types of Internet Connections
vi. Cable
´ A cable Modem allows access to high-speed Internet services through
the cable television network.
vii. Fiber-optic connection
´ Uses optical fibers instead of metal wires, and transmits pulses of light
rather than electrical signals.
viii. Broadband
´ Broadband is characterized by a high-speed data transfer, permanent
access to the Internet, and thus the risk of unauthorized access to the
network or your personal computer.
Internet Services
´What are some services found on the Internet?
i. E-mail
ii. Web
iii. File transfer
iv. Chat
v. Message board
vi. Instant messaging
 Internet Application
´ Internet can be used in various sectors such as education, health,
agriculture, social, entertainment etc. Some of the applications include:
E-Services
´ e-Services can be received online, without leaving home.
Examples:
i. Online Banking:- allows conducting and reviewing transactions from any
computer connected to the Internet .
ii. E-Commerce:- The most common example of e-commerce is buying and
selling on the Internet.
iii. E-Government:- use of information technology to provide better public
access to government information
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Online Learning
i. Consists of all forms of learning and/or knowledge transfer
that are based on electronic technologies, without direct
teacher-student contact.
ii. Advantages of E-Learning
iii. Adaptive time, place and peace of learning
iv. Access and availability of learning
v. Reduced cost of education
vi. Unlimited repetitive of lectures
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
E-Medicine
i. Is an online clinical medical knowledge database
with a collection of thousands of articles, images,
videos which support you to browse and get
knowledge in any matter related to the medicine
field such as details of diseases, drugs,
medications, health news, first-aid guides, etc.
ii. Further, you can get the answers for your own
health care related question as well.
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Telework
´Substitutes physical commuting to a workplace with
working from home or other location.
´Information and documents are sent with the aid of
electronic communications and Internet technologies.
Advantages
i. Reduce Utility Cost and transportation reimbursement
ii. Reduce time of travelling to and from work
´The main disadvantage is that there is lack of social
contact with colleagues
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Electronic Mail
´Is a method of exchanging messages via computer
networks and the Internet; the addressee receives
the message virtually instant.
´Using e-mail requires creating mailbox with an e-mail
service provider
Advantages
i. Users can access their e-mail account from any
computer connected to the Internet.
ii. Very low direct and indirect costs
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Instant Messaging
´It involves real-time online communication among two or more users.
´Dedicated applications or messaging features in a programme are
typically used for this purpose.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
´Enables digitalization and transfer of sound (and multimedia sessions)
over the Internet.
´It enables sound communication much like the telephone call.
´VoIP protocol enables audio/video communication between users.
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
´Is used to deliver the content of a website in the form of a
brief description with clickable links to the full content.
´RSS enables us to, with use of appropriate software, read
new titles and access news summaries.
Blog (Web log)
´Is an Internet site where a user or organization posts
information on a particular topic (or topics).
´Is a form of Internet media in which users can re-post or
write their opinion on any topic
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Podcast (Personal On Demand + Broadcast)
´Is a digital file containing audio or video content. It is
distributed over the Internet using RSS technology.
´Podcasting means downloading specially prepared audio
files published on the Internet and listening to them on a
portable media player
´Podcasts usually comprise a series of audio files
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
Virtual Communities
´Is a public (social) online network created by using the
Internet environment and technologies.
´Examples:
a. Social Networks:
´Are free online services that provide users with various forms
of presentation and communication, i.e. Facebook,
MySpace, X, Google+, Discord, Telegram, TickTock
b. Forum
´Is a service that allows users to exchange opinions.
 Internet Application (Cont’d)
c. MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online)
´Are network games, played by a large number of players
via the internet.
d. Chatroom:-
´Is a webpage or part of a webpage which allows a real-
time information exchange
 Group Discussion

Dangers of the Internet

´ What do you think are some of the dangers of the
Internet?
 The World Wide Web (W3)
´Is a system for accessing documents supported by the
internet. The W3 is a collection of information often
accessed by navigation through a graphical user interface.
´Web documents can be linked together because they are
created in a format known as Hypertext. Hypertext systems
provide an easy way to manage large collections of data,
which can include text files, pictures, etc.
´To support hypertext documents, the web uses HTTP Protocol
´Hypertext document is encoded file that uses Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML)
 The World Wide Web (W3) (Cont’d)
´HTML allows to embed hypertext links (Links) in the document.
´Hypertext document is called a Web page. By clicking a
word, or a picture encoded as a hypertext link, you are
directed to another location within the same document or to
a different Web page.
´A collection or related Web pages is called a Web Site
´A website is housed on a web server, which is a computer
that delivers requested Web pages to client computer
Web Publishing
´Is the development and maintenance of Website
 The World Wide Web (W3) (Cont’d)
Web Browser
´Is a software application that allows users to access and view
Web Pages.
´To browse the Web you need a computer that is connected to
the Internet and that has a Web Browser.
´Examples of Web Browsers include:- Google Chrome, Microsoft
Edge, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Brave.
Navigating the Web
´This is moving from one web page to another or from one
website to another. URLs (Uniform Resource Locator) are the key
to navigating the web.
 The World Wide Web (W3) (Cont’d)
Example of URL
This address is for an This domain name, the site
Internet server that uses belongs to academic institution
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure Poly

https://www.mubas.ac.mw/home

To find the specific Web page on the site, your

This site is on the part browser follows the URL’s path
of the Internet known to a page named “home,”
as the World Wide Web.
 E-Mail
´Short for electronic mail
´The transmission of messages and files via a computer
network.
´Messages can consist of simple text or can contain
attachments, such as documents, graphics, or audio/video
clips.
´Internet access providers usually provide an e-mail program
´Some Web sites—such as MSN Hotmail, Google and Yahoo!
- provide free e-mail services
´One of the original services on the Internet
 E-Mail (Cont’d)
´To create, send, and receive e-mail messages, you need an
e-mail program and an account on an Internet mail server
with a domain name.
´To use e-mail, a user must have an e-mail address, which
you create by adding your username to the e-mail server's
domain name
´Example
´mkaunde2@gmail.com
´mkaunde@mubas.ac.mw
 E-mail (Cont’d)
Mailing Lists
´A mailing list, also called an e-mail list or distribution list,
is a group of e-mail names and addresses given a single
name.
´When a message is sent to a mailing list, every person
on the list receives a copy of the message in his or her
mailbox
How does an e-mail message travel?
Step 1.
´Using e-mail software, you create and send message
 E-mail (Cont’d)
Step 2
´Your e-mail program contacts software on your service
provider’s outgoing mail server
Step 3
´Software on the outgoing mail server determines the best
route for the data and sends the message, which travels
along Internet routers to the recipient's incoming mail server.
Step 4
´When the recipient uses an e-mail program to check for e-
mail messages, the message transfers from the incoming mail
server to the recipient's computer.
E-Mail (Cont’d)

How an e-mail
message may
travel from a
sender to a
receiver.
 Searching the Web
What is a search engine?
´Program used to find Web sites and Web pages by entering
words or phrases called search text.
How Search Engines Work
´Search Engines collect a database of keywords which are
indexes to records.
´Each record contains URL (addresses) of website that
contain the keyword and ranking information.
´Search engine databases are updated using spiders or
robots. Programs that search the web and return
information about new or altered documents
Searching the Web (Cont’d)

´Your search returns the record that

corresponds to the keyword or keywords that
you have entered
´Meta Search Engines send queries to many
other search engines and combine results
 Search Operators
´Using Keywords
´Example search - Information Technology
´Maybe read as
´Information AND Technology or as Depending on
search engine
´Information OR Technology being used

´AND would return only items containing BOTH keywords

´OR would return all items containing EITHER keyword
 Search Operators (Cont’d)
´Example Search : - “ information technology”
´Will return items containing the exact phrase
“information technology”
´Most search engines would also return items
containing “Information Technology” as a match
Note:
´Most search engines are not case sensitive unless you use
upper case or specify an exact match.
Search Operators (Cont’d)

´Many search engines ignore common words

such as: and, the, if etc.
´Search Example:
´information and the technology
´Would return items as for keyword search for
information technology
´Order of keywords is not generally important.
 Search Operators (Cont’d)
Inclusion And Exclusion Operators (+ and –)
Inclusion Operator (+) Search Example
+ information + technology
´Will return items that contain either of the search
keywords and items that contain both the keywords.
Exclusion Operator (-) Search Example:
+information – technology
´Will return items that contain the keyword information
only if they DO NOT contain the keyword technology
 Search Operators (Cont’d)
Logical Operators (or Boolean Operators)
AND , OR, NOT
Logical AND Operator Search Example
information AND technology
´ Will ONLY return items that contain BOTH keywords
Logical OR Operator Search Example
information OR technology
´ Will return all items that contain EITHER the information or technology
keyword
Note: This search returns more items [or hits] than a search using the AND or
NOT operators
 Search Operators (Cont’d)
Logical NOT Operator Search Example:
information NOT technology
´ Will return items that contain the information keyword but do not
contain the technology keyword.
´ Some search engines use BUT NOT or AND NOT instead of NOT.
Nesting - using brackets
´Parenthesis can be used to refine the search criteria and to create
more complex search statements
´When searching often too many rather than too few ‘hits’.
´Can also combine multiple searches
 Search Operators (Cont’d)
´ Items inside brackets done first then the result is combined with next
operator in the normal way.
´Search Example:
´(Information OR Technology) AND technology

WILD CARDS ( * , the asterisk)

´ Used instead of a number of characters (letters or numerals)
´ Search Example: info*tion
´If you are unsure of how to spell a word, or if there are alternative
correct spellings for a word
 Better Searching Hints
´Use nouns as keywords
´Try alternatives
´Use * (wildcard) for plurals and multiple endings or spellings
´Use lowercase
´Use quotation marks for exact phrases
´Use UPPERCASE for AND, OR, NOT and NEAR
´Read search engine help
´Try other search engines
END