LAN – local area network

A local computer network that covers a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group
of buildings.

WAN – wide area network

A wide area network that allows transmission of data over greater geographical distances. A WAN is slower than a
LAN. An Internet connection is an example of a WAN.

Home network - A small LAN that normally has only one router to connect to the Internet.

Business network - A larger LAN that can have multiple routers to connect to different networks.

Protocols
In a network, computers communicate through protocols, which are sets of predefined rules that describe how
things should be, the order in which they should happen, and what to do in case of errors.
Just as a house has a street number (unique and non-transferable), on the Internet and in networks, IP (Internet
Protocol) is the protocol used to give computers an address. A computer has a numerical address called “IP
address”.
An IP address consists of four numbers separated by dots, each of which may vary from 0 to 255.
For example, 23.37.224.170.

Bit
It means binary digit, which is the smallest unit of information that can be stored or transmitted. The computer
communicates through a binary system, which will be explained further below.
A bit can only have two values, 0 or 1.
• 1 byte = 8 bits
• 1 kilobyte (KB or Kbyte) = 1024 bytes
• 1 megabyte (MB or Mbytes) = 1024 kilobytes
• 1 gigabyte (GB or Gbyte) = 1024 megabytes
• 1 terabyte (TB or Tbytes) = 1024 gigabytes

The amount of bytes defines the size of the data traveling on the network. Typically, the information to be
transmitted has several bytes, and therefore must be divided into what we call “packets”.
On the Internet, the network breaks an email message, for example, into parts that are called “packets”. Each of
these packets receives a source IP address and a destination, and it is then sent over the network.

Each of these packages can be compared to a letter that has the both the recipient's and the sender’s addresses, and
it is sent by the Post Office, which is responsible for transporting it to its destination.

In networks, routers play the role of the Post Office, and are responsible for forwarding packets through the
network until they reach their destination.

Router
The router is a device used to connect different computer networks to each other, enabling the routing of packets.
It directs which path the traffic of information should follow, which facilitates communication between networks.
Elements:

Home router - It bridges the gap between a home network and the Internet, and provides connectivity, usually to
computers, TVs and mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

Firewall - An application or piece of equipment, which is usually between the LAN and the WAN.
It checks and filters the data stream, controlling communications passing over the network, either allowing or
blocking them.

Corporate router - A more sophisticated, and therefore more expensive, piece of equipment dedicated to
forwarding packets and finding the best path between networks (networks that are larger than domestic networks),
located both within and outside of the company.

Switch - A piece of equipment that connects computers within the same network. In order to reduce costs and
popularize the technology, home routers have a switch module built in. On the other hand, corporate models use
equipment dedicated to the function of the switch.

On the Internet, you can connect with other people and get important information on things, such as first aid,
diseases, doctors, addresses using maps, etc.
Nowadays, you do almost everything online: shopping, research, manage your bank account, study, play, access
email, visit chat rooms, visit forums, use instant messaging programs, and you can even talk on the phone.
However, if you search for something, you should be careful about the information available online, because the
content may not be very reliable. Always look for websites of companies, organizations or institutions that are well
known and are credible.

Theme 2: The Internet

Some terms used on the WWW or web:
Website - Also known as a site, this is a set of web pages.
Hypertext - An electronic document that contains hyperlinks.
Hypertext is organized to promote non-linear navigation, where the users create their own reading choices, unlike a
book, where it's usually necessary to read the first chapter in order to understand chapter 2, and so on.
Homepage - The homepage of a site.
Hyperlink - A hyperlink is a location in the hypertext, which the user clicks to open another page. Typically,
hyperlinks are underlined.
URL - A web address. For example, http://www.cisco.com.

Some of the most important services on the Internet are:

Browsing the World Wide Web (WWW); Email (electronic mail)

Through this and other services, you can access:

Search mechanisms (google, yahoo and bing); social networks (facebook and whatsapp); wikis; videos;
microblogging; blogs; photos; instant messages; voIP

Internet access provider (ISP) – connection needed to access the internet

Connection types:
Dial-up connection - Also known as dial-up connection. With this type of Internet access, a person uses a modem
and a standard telephone line.
DSL connection - This type of access is provided through the conventional telephone network, but it is different
from dial-up, since even if the user is logged on and surfing the Internet, the phone line will be released and may be
used anytime for voice calls.
This is a type of broadband connection, offering speeds faster than dial-up.
Cable connection - A cable connection uses the same infrastructure as cable TV service, where both the TV service
and the Internet data pass through the same connection at the same time.
This is also a type of broadband connection.
Other ways: satellite connection; radio connection; connection via mobile phone (3g, 4g)

Encryption - A set of rules that put information into code so that only the sender and the receiver are able to
understand it.
Morse code - a binary representation of numbers, letters, and graphical signals, which uses short and long sounds,
and dots and dashes to communicate messages. It was developed in 1835 by the painter and inventor, Samuel Finley
Breese Morse.

The Internet is changing the way we deal with things on a daily basis. We are increasingly dependent on major
networks to do things, be it a simple, or a more complex, task.

A good example is the digitization of collections that were previously only on paper, and therefore access to their
content was restricted to a few people. Now, with digitization they can be accessed by anyone, anywhere.

Browser

A browser is the software used to surf the Internet. It is a computer program that enables Internet browsing.

There are different browsers that allow Internet browsing, the most common ones being:
Internet explorer; Mozilla firefox; google chrome

You connect to the Internet through an ISP, which is an Internet Service Provider. Normally, you get that
connection by paying a fee, just like utility companies that provide water and light.
Nowadays, the most common way to connect to an ISP is using a broadband connection. Many ISPs offer services,
such as email accounts, exclusive content, personal website hosting, etc.

LAN connections:
WiFi - The term, ”WiFi”, loosely translated, means wireless, or a connection to transmit information without the
use of wires or cables.
WiFi is a wireless technology used to connect devices on a local network.
Bluetooth - This is the name given to a piece of wireless technology for wireless communication, which enables the
transmission of data quickly and securely via mobile devices, notebooks, keyboards, mice and headphones.
The range of Bluetooth is only a few meters.
Ethernet cables - Ethernet cables use twisted pairs of copper wires and connectors, similar to telephones.
They are commonly used for connecting networked computers in businesses.

WAN connections:
Satellite - This is used in places where conventional Internet is not available.
Its area of coverage is global, since the satellites are in space and have an extended reach.
Optical Fiber - An extremely thin fiber optic cable, comparable to the thickness of a hair.
Unlike twisted pair cable, optical fiber does not conduct electricity, instead transmitting the data through light.
Optical fiber reaches great distances, even overseas.
3G and 4G - 3G technology is very common today with regard to mobile phones and Internet. It is an acronym
that represents the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology, replacing 2G.
With this technology, voice transmission and data is enhanced, offering greater connection speeds, among other
features, such as broadcast television signals, voice calls, three-dimensional games, and faster downloading of music
and videos, etc.
4G technology is represented by technologies that provide Internet connections with very high speeds. Therefore,
4G mobile networks achieve speeds close to those of cable or DSL modem connections.
4G allows access to multimedia content, such as HD videos much faster, as well as video-conferencing and music
directly from the Internet, etc.
DSL - An always-on service, which does not require you to dial each time you need to connect to the Internet. It
uses existing copper phone lines to provide digital communication of high speed data between end users and
telephone companies. Voice signals and data are transmitted on different frequencies through copper telephone
wires.
Cable - An Internet connection though cable that does not use phone lines. A cable connection uses coaxial cable
lines, originally developed for transporting television images via cable. A cable modem connects your computer to
the ISP, and as a DSL network, cable offers high speeds and an always available service, which means that even
when the connection is not in use, the Internet connection is still available.

Electronic mail or email, is a service through which people exchange messages over the internet. This can be done
via the Web (Web mail) or by using specific software called email clients.
POP and IMAP: Communication protocols that retrieve messages from an email server and pass them to an email
client.
SMTP: Communication protocol to send messages from the email client to the email server. It is also a
communication protocol between email servers.

Structure of an email address:

Username - This is the login name chosen by the user when creating an email account.
For example, my username is Switch.
At (@) - This is the symbol that separates the user name from the domain.
Domain - This is the name registered by the company that offers the email service.
For example, gmail.com.

Mailbox – where emails are stored and consists of the following items:
Inbox - stores messages that are received
Outbox - stores messages that have not been sent
Sent emails - stores messages that were sent
Draft - stores messages that you have not finished writing
Trash - stores deleted messages

Netiquette - Netiquette is a set of manners that are part of general agreements for full communication in virtual
environments (emails, chats and forums), which means etiquette in the virtual network.

Spam - This refers to unsolicited emails, which are usually sent to a large number of people.
Phishing - This is a form of electronic fraud, characterized by attempts to acquire personal data of various kinds,
e.g. passwords, financial data, etc. The consists of a scammer impersonating a person or trusted company by
sending official electronic communication. This occurs in several ways, mainly by email, instant message, SMS, etc.
Virus - This is a program or part of a computer program, usually malicious, that spreads by inserting copies of itself,
and becoming part of other programs and files. The virus depends on the execution of the host program or file so it
can become active and continue the infection process.
Check the table for some file extensions that may indicate danger. In these cases, you should not click (run) the files
that are included as an attachment in a message.
.exe - Executable program
.com - MS-DOS program
.bat - Batch file
.scr – Screen saver file