Unit-1

Introduction to web essentials and HTML

1.1 Origins
Development of Large-Scale
Computer Networks in the 1960s
• Initiator: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
• Purposes:
• Enhance communications among researchers
• Facilitate program sharing
• Enable remote access to computers for defense-related
research
• Key Requirement:
• Network robustness to ensure continuity despite potential
node losses due to sabotage, war, or other causes
ARPAnet Creation and Funding
• Funding Agency: Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) of the DoD
• Construction: Network connecting ARPA-funded
research labs and universities
• First Node: Established at UCLA in 1969
• Network Name: ARPAnet, named after ARPA
Initial Use and Limitations of
ARPAnet
• Primary Use:
• Simple text-based communications via electronic mail
(email)
• Access Restriction:
• Available only to ARPA-funded laboratories and
universities
• Majority of educational institutions were excluded
Emergence of Other Networks
(BITNET and CSNET)
• Reason for Emergence:
• Need for wider access beyond ARPAnet's limited reach
• BITNET (Because It’s Time Network):
• Origin: City University of New York
• Initial Purposes: Provide electronic mail and file transfers
• CSNET (Computer Science Network):
• Connections: University of Delaware, Purdue University,
University of Wisconsin, RAND Corporation, Bolt, Beranek,
and Newman (BBN)
• Initial Purpose: Provide electronic mail
Introduction and Expansion of
NSFnet (1986)

• Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)

• Initial Connections: NSF-funded supercomputer
centers at five universities
• Expansion:
• Opened to other academic institutions and research
laboratories
• Facilitated broader research collaboration
Transition and Growth of NSFnet
• 1990: NSFnet replaced ARPAnet for most nonmilitary
uses
• Rapid Growth:
• By 1992: Connected over 1 million computers worldwide
• 1995: Transition of a small part of NSFnet back to
research
• Remainder became known as the Internet
Evolution of the Internet
• Early Use of the Term "Internet": Applied to both
ARPAnet and NSFnet prior to 1995
• Internet's Expansion:
• Became a global network with diverse applications
• Integral to modern communication, commerce, and
information sharing
Impact and Legacy

• Pioneering Networks: Laid the foundation for modern

internet infrastructure
• Research and Collaboration: Enhanced global
collaboration among researchers
• Evolution: Continuous development leading to the
advanced, ubiquitous network we use today
1.2 What Is the Internet?
Overview of the Internet
• Definition: A vast collection of computers connected in
a communications network
• Diversity: Includes computers of all sizes,
configurations, and manufacturers
• Non-computer Devices: Includes plotters, printers,
etc.
TCP/IP Protocol
• Key Innovation: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Standardization: Became the standard for network
connections in 1982
• Functionality:
• Allows programs on different computers to communicate over
the Internet
• Provides a low-level interface making devices appear uniform
Higher-Level Protocols
• Role of Higher-Level Protocols: Typically run on top of
TCP/IP
• TCP/IP's Importance: Ensures basic connectivity and
uniformity across diverse devices
Network Structure
• Local Networks: Individual computers within an organization
connect to a local network
• Connection to Internet: One node on the local network is
connected to the Internet
• Nature of the Internet: A network of networks rather than
just a network of computers
Unique Identification
• Requirement: All devices connected to the Internet
must have unique identifiers
1.3 Internet Protocol Addresses
Internet Node Identification
• For People: Identified by names (domain names)
• For Computers: Identified by numeric addresses (IP
addresses)
• Analogy: Similar to variable names (for people) and
variable memory addresses (for machines)
IP Address Basics
• Definition: Unique 32-bit number for machines
connected to the Internet
• Format: Four 8-bit numbers separated by periods (e.g.,
192.168.0.1)
• Function: Used by Internet-routing computers to direct
messages to their destination
IP Address Allocation
• Organizations:
• Assigned blocks of IP addresses
• Allocate these addresses to machines needing Internet access
• Example:
• Small organization: 256 IP addresses (e.g., 191.57.126.0 to
191.57.126.255)
• Large organization (e.g., DoD): 16 million IP addresses (e.g.,
12.0.0.0 to 12.255.255.255)
Domain Names and IP Addresses
• Domain Names: Commonly used by people for
convenience
• IP Addresses: Work directly in browsers (e.g., United
Airlines' IP: 209.87.113.93)
• Example: Typing IP in browser connects to the
respective website
Introduction of IPv6
• Approval: New IP standard IPv6 approved in late 1998
• Change: Address size expanded from 32 bits to 128
bits
• Reason: Necessary due to the rapid depletion of
available IP addresses
Importance of Unique Identification
• Requirement: All devices connected to the Internet
must have unique identifiers to ensure proper routing
and communication
1.4 Domain Names
Introduction to Domain Names & IP
Addresses
•Internet relies on numbers (IP Addresses) for identification
• Humans prefer names, so we use domain names
• Domain names are mapped to IPs using DNS
Structure of Domain Names
• •Begins with a host name
• •• Followed by domain hierarchy
• •• Example: movies.marxbros.comedy.com
Domain Name System (DNS) & Name Servers
•DNS translates domain names to IP addresses
• Name servers manage this conversion
• Requests are forwarded if not found locally
Example of a Fully Qualified Domain Name
(FQDN)
• •Example: movies.marxbros.comedy.com
• •• 'movies' is the hostname
• •• 'marxbros' is a subdomain of 'comedy'
• •• 'comedy' belongs to the '.com' domain
Converting Domain Names to IP Addresses
•DNS servers resolve domain names to IPs
• If one DNS server doesn’t have the info, it asks another
• Ensures unique identification across the web
Domain name conversion
Internet Protocols
•Telnet: Remote login to another computer
• FTP: File transfer across computers
• Usenet: Electronic bulletin board system
• Mailto: Sending emails across the internet
Limitations of Early Internet Protocols
•Each protocol had a separate user interface
• Required learning multiple systems
• Limited ease of access and growth
The Birth of the World Wide Web
A historical overview of how the Web was created and
evolved.
Introduction to the World Wide Web
•Invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN
• Aimed to facilitate document sharing among scientists
• Introduced a new protocol for accessing documents over the
Internet
Early Development (1989-1991)
•Initial design developed on a NeXT computer at CERN (1990)
• Expanded to multiple computer platforms by 1991
• Allowed global access to documents over the Internet
Key Innovations in the Web
•Hypertext: Embedded links enabled nonsequential browsing
• Hypermedia: Integrated text, images, and sound into
documents
• Web browsers: Software to retrieve and display web
documents
• Web servers: Systems that host and deliver web content
Naming and Terminology
•The Web: Short for 'World Wide Web'
• Documents vs. Pages vs. Resources:
- Documents: Preferred term, mostly textual
- Pages: Common but misleading term
- Resources: Covers all types of content, including media
The Structure of the Web
•A vast collection of interlinked documents
• Accessed via web browsers (introduced later)
• Hosted and served by web servers (covered in upcoming
sections)
Web vs. Internet: Understanding the
Difference
•The Internet is a network of interconnected computers and
devices
• The Web is a collection of software and protocols running on
the Internet
• Web servers provide documents, while Web browsers request
and display them
• The Internet existed before the Web and remains useful
without it
• Most users today access the Internet primarily through the Web
• Case Study : - Web servers

• Background
• Web servers play a critical role in the functioning of the World Wide Web by delivering web pages to users upon request. These
servers operate using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and respond to requests from browsers by serving documents or
executing programs.
• Problem Statement
• Efficient and reliable web server operations are crucial for the seamless functioning of websites. The challenge lies in handling
multiple requests, ensuring security, and optimizing performance across different platforms.
• Key Concepts
• Web Servers: Programs that provide web documents to browsers upon request.
• Server Operations: Web servers monitor specific ports, accept requests, and deliver content accordingly.
• Common Web Servers:
• Apache (most widely used, open-source, Unix-compatible)
• Microsoft IIS (popular for Windows-based servers)
• nginx (efficient and lightweight, often used for high-performance needs)
• Document Structure:
• Document Root: Stores servable web pages.
• Server Root: Stores configuration files and support software.
• Virtual Hosts & Proxy Servers:
• Virtual Hosts: Allow multiple websites on one server.
• Proxy Servers: Serve content from other machines on the web.
• Real-World Example
• A company runs a large e-commerce website that needs high-speed and secure
access to its product database. They choose Apache for its stability and ability to
integrate with database systems. They also use nginx as a reverse proxy to handle
high traffic efficiently.
• Impact & Importance
• Performance Optimization: Distributing load efficiently across servers.
• Security Enhancements: Using server configurations to protect against cyber
threats.
• Scalability: Virtual hosting allows businesses to host multiple websites on the same
infrastructure.
• Reliability: Open-source communities maintain and improve server software regularly.
Conclusion

• Web servers are a fundamental component of

the internet. The choice of a web server depends
on the platform, required features, and security
considerations. Open-source solutions like
Apache dominate, but other options like IIS and
nginx cater to specific use cases.
(More detail in notes)
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1 Overview of HTTP
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the standard protocol
used for communication between web browsers (clients) and
web servers.
• It defines the format and rules for requests and responses in
web transactions.
• The current widely used version is HTTP/1.1, which was
officially defined in RFC 2616 and approved in June 1999.
• HTTP is a stateless protocol, meaning each request is
independent, and the server does not retain session
information by default.
2 Structure of HTTP Transactions
• Every HTTP communication consists of two main phases:
• Request Phase – Sent by the browser (client) to request a
resource.
• Response Phase – Sent by the server in response to the
client’s request.
• Each HTTP message (request or response) consists of:
• Header: Contains metadata about the request or response.
• Body: Contains data (optional) such as HTML content or
submitted form data.
• 3. HTTP Request Phase

AN HTTP REQUEST FOLLOWS A SPECIFIC FORMAT: 1. HTTP METHOD DOMAIN PART OF THE URL HTTP
VERSION
2. HEADER FIELDS
3. BLANK LINE
4. MESSAGE BODY (IF APPLICABLE)
Example of an GET 1 Host: User-Agent: Accept:
HTTP Request /storefront.html www.example.c Mozilla/5.0 text/html
HTTP/1. om
4 HTTP Methods
HTTP Request Header Fields
• Categories of header fields:
1. General: Contains general information (e.g., Date)
2. Request: Included in request headers
3. Response: Used in response headers
4. Entity: Used in both request and response headers
Example of Request Headers
•Accept: text/plain
•Accept: text/html
• Accept: image/gif
• Accept: text/* (Wildcard for any text format)
Important Request Fields
•Host: Specifies the host name (Required in HTTP 1.1)
• If-Modified-Since: Sends the file only if modified after a given
date
• Content-Length: Specifies the body length (used in POST
requests)
Using Telnet for HTTP Requests
•Command:
•> telnet blanca.uccs.edu http
•Response:
•Trying 128.198.162.60 ...
•Connected to blanca
•Escape character is '^]'
Example: HTTP Request via Telnet
•GET /~user1/respond.html HTTP/1.1
•Host: blanca.uccs.edu
HTTP Response Phase
General Form of an HTTP Response
An HTTP response consists of the following components:
• Status Line – Contains the HTTP version, status code,
and status message.
• Response Header Fields – Provides metadata about
the response (e.g., content type, date, server details).
• Blank Line – Separates the header from the body.
• Response Body – Contains the requested resource
(HTML, JSON, images, etc.).
Status Line

• The status line includes:

• HTTP version (e.g., HTTP/1.1)
• Three-digit status code (e.g., 200, 404, 500)
• Short message explaining the status (e.g., "OK", "Not
Found")
• Example:
• CopyEdit
• HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 • HTTP status codes are divided
HTTP Status into five categories:
Code
Categories
Common Status Codes:
• 200 OK – Request was successful.
• 404 Not Found – Requested resource was not found.
• 500 Internal Server Error – Server encountered an
error processing the request.
 • The response header provides additional
Response details about the response.
Header Fields • Essential fields include:
Example Response Header:
• HTTP/1.1 200 OK
• Date: Sat, 25 July 2009 22:15:11 GMT
• Server: Apache/2.2.3 (CentOS)
• Last-Modified: Tue, 18 May 2004 16:38:38 GMT
• ETag: "1b48098-16c-3dab592dc9f80"
• Accept-Ranges: bytes
• Content-Length: 364
• Connection: close
• Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
Response Body
• The response body contains the actual content requested by
the client.
• If the request was for an HTML page, the response body will
contain the HTML code.
Persistent Connection (Keep-Alive)
• In HTTP versions prior to 1.1, the server closed the
connection after sending a response.
• In HTTP/1.1, the connection remains open by default for a
short period.
• This improves efficiency, allowing multiple requests to be
made over a single connection.
Summary
• HTTP responses contain a status line, headers, a
blank line, and the response body.
• The status code informs the client about the outcome
of the request.
• Response headers provide additional information about
the content and server.
• HTTP/1.1 introduced persistent connections,
improving efficiency.