What is a client?
The requesting system in a client/server relationship, e.g., the user of an organization system making client requests for records from the server.
What is a server (general definition)?
A special computer that provides services to other computers in the same or other computers.
List the specifications to consider when choosing a server.
Most powerful processor; operating systems supported (Windows Server 2008); appropriate number of licenses; appropriate memory; UPS with software to perform proper shutdown.
What is a web browser? Give examples.
The web client: software that allows you to interact with information available on the Internet, e.g., Netscape Navigator, MS Explorer and Firefox.
What is HTML, and why is it a standard?
A tagging language used to compose documents viewed by a web browser. It is a standard so that, whatever computer platform is used, the browser knows how to display the document.
Web page vs. web site
Web page: a mixture of text, graphics, sound and animation in HTML format. Web site: a collection of web pages connected (linked) by hypertext clickable links.
What is web site storage/hosting?
After a web site is designed, it must be stored on a computer that can be accessed through the Internet and the World-Wide Web.
Define protocol.
A set of conventions governing the processing and especially the data in an electronic communications system.
What is TCP/IP, and which basic services does it provide?
A set of protocols developed to allow cooperating computers to share resources across a network. Basic services: file transfer, electronic mail, remote logon, etc.
What is HTTP? What does the "s" in HTTPS stand for?
HTTP: the set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, other multimedia) on the World Wide Web; an application protocol. The "s" stands for security: HTTPS works the same way as HTTP but is used securely.
Which protocol does e-mail use, and what is it?
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): the standard protocol used to exchange Internet mail between TCP/IP hosts.
What is FTP, and why can almost any computer use it?
The standard used to transfer (copy) any kind of file over the Internet. It is not platform-specific, so any computer (DOS, Macintosh, Unix, etc.) connected to the Internet can copy files.
What is Telnet?
The way you can access someone else's computer, assuming they have given you permission.
What is a URL, and what general form does it take?
A "standard" way of easily expressing the location and data type of a resource. General form: "protocol://address" (protocol e.g. HTTP, FTP, telnet; address = the server name of the resource or page).
What does DNS do? Give an example.
A network service that associates host names (alphanumeric) with their equivalent TCP/IP address using a standard look-up table, e.g., translating http://www.afterzed.com/ into 65.108.17.93.
What is a domain on the Internet?
A registration category identifying geographic or purpose commonality.
Name the seven top-level domains currently in use.
com, edu, gov, int, net, org, mil.
Which two top-level domains are strictly reserved for the U.S.? Which is the largest?
gov (a branch of the U.S government) and mil (a branch of the U.S military) are strictly reserved. com is the largest domain extension currently used.
Outside these top-level domains, what does the final part of a domain name often represent?
The country in which the server is located, like sd for Sudan.
What technically distinguishes the Internet, and where does the term come from?
Its use of a set of protocols called TCP/IP. The term "Internet" comes from the concept of "internetworking".
How is the WWW distinguished from the Internet it runs on?
They are not the same. The WWW is a pair of software applications that allow distribution of and access to information on the Internet; it is a means of distributing and accessing the information that is on the Internet.
Who started the Internet's early projects, and what changed in 1991?
The US military in the early 1960s (DARPAnet). In 1991 the National Science Foundation backed off its subsidy of the backbone network and allowed commercial access.
What does a web server do? Give examples.
It stores and transmits web documents (files), using the HTTP protocol to connect to other computers and distribute information. Examples: IIS, Apache, Sun Java System Web Server.
What is an ISP?
A company that provides individuals and other companies access to the Internet and other related services such as web site development and hosting.
What is a firewall?
A program, usually an Internet gateway server, that protects the resources of one network from users from other networks.
Name two screening methods a firewall can use.
Check requests come from acceptable domain names and IP addresses; or do not allow Telnet access except for your own users.
What is e-commerce?
The buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially on the World-Wide Web.
What is a Java applet, and what is its advantage?
A small program run on the Web using Java (object-oriented). Sent along with a web page, it can perform interactive animations and immediate calculations without sending the user's request back to the server.
Who can use XML, and who recommends it?
Any individual, group or company that wants to share information in a consistent way. It is a formal recommendation from the World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
How are XML and HTML similar, and what is HTML's limitation?
Both contain markup symbols to describe the contents of a page or file. HTML describes a page's content only in terms of how it is to be displayed and interacted with (e.g., <P> starts a new paragraph).
What is e-mail, and how important is it on the Internet?
The exchange of computer-stored messages by telecommunication. One of the first uses of the Internet and probably still the most widely used application; a large percentage of Internet traffic is e-mail.
Search engine vs. meta-search engine
Search engines store information in databases and return a list of sites as hyperlinks. Meta-search engines keep no database; they combine results from multiple search engines.
Define intranet.
Private corporate information and collaboration systems that use Internet software and standards.
Give four reasons for a company to use an intranet.
Any four from the slides: increases market share, profitability and efficiency; ideal for publishing continuously updated corporate information; not expensive, information anywhere at any time; usable across WANs; easy to install and inexpensive to administer; eliminates printing and out-of-date information.
Define extranet.
A collaborative network that uses Internet technology to link businesses with their suppliers, customers or other businesses that share common goals.
Two ways an extranet can be viewed
As part of a company's intranet that is made accessible to other companies, or as a collaborative Internet connection with other companies.
Give two extranet applications and what an extranet usually requires.
Any two: private newsgroups; shared training programs; shared product catalogs for wholesalers; project management and control for companies in a common project. It usually requires a degree of security and privacy from competitors.