Unit 1: World Wide Web

The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW and commonly known as the Web, is a system of interlinked
hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain
text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them via hyperlinks. Using concepts from
earlier hypertext systems, English engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, now the Director of
the World Wide Web Consortium, wrote a proposal in March 1989 for what would eventually become the
World Wide Web.[1] At CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, Berners-Lee and Belgian computer scientist Robert
Cailliau proposed in 1990 to use "HyperText ... to link and access information of various kinds as a web of
nodes in which the user can browse at will",[2] and publicly introduced the project in December.[3]

"The World-Wide Web (W3) was developed to be a pool of human knowledge, and human culture, which
would allow collaborators in remote sites to share their ideas and all aspects of a common project."[4]

Internet Vs World Wide Web:

The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used in every-day speech without much
distinction. However, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not one and the same.
Internet World Wide Web
The Internet is a global The Web is one of the services that run on the Internet. It is a collection of
system of interconnected documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and
interconnected URLs. In short, the Web is an application running on the Internet.
computer networks

Viewing a web page on the World Wide Web normally begins either by typing the URL of the page into a web
browser, or by following a hyperlink to that page or resource. The web browser then initiates a series of
communication messages, behind the scenes, in order to fetch and display it.

First, the server-name portion of the URL is resolved into an IP address using the global, distributed Internet
database known as the Domain Name System (DNS). This IP address is necessary to contact the Web
server. The browser then requests the resource by sending an HTTP request to the Web server at that
particular address. In the case of a typical web page, the HTML text of the page is requested first and
parsed immediately by the web browser, which then makes additional requests for images and any other
files that complete the page image. Statistics measuring a website's popularity are usually based either on
the number of page views or associated server 'hits' (file requests) that take place.

URL
In computing, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
that specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it. In
popular usage and in many technical documents and verbal discussions it is often incorrectly
used as a synonym for URI.[1] The best-known example of the use of URLs is for the
lladdresses of web pages on the World Wide Web, such as http://www.example.com/.

Every URL consists of some of the following: the scheme name (commonly called protocol),
followed by a colon, then, depending on scheme, a domain name (alternatively, IP address), a
port number, the path of the resource to be fetched or the program to be run, then, for
programs such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, a query string,[7][8] and an
optional fragment identifier.[9]
The syntax is scheme://domain:port/path?query_string#fragment_id

Scheme
The scheme name defines the namespace, purpose, and the syntax of the remaining part of the
URL.
Software will try to process a URL according to its scheme and context. For example, a web
browser will usually dereference the URL http://example.org:80 by performing an HTTP
request to the host at example.org, using port number 80.
Other examples of scheme names include
https:, gopher:, wais:, ftp:

Secure Website
URLs with https as a scheme (such as https://example.com/) require that requests and
responses will be made over a secure connection to the website.
Some schemes that require authentication allow a username and perhaps a password too, to be
embedded in the URL, for example ftp://asmith@ftp.example.org. Passwords embedded in
this way are not conducive to secure working, but the full possible syntax is
scheme://username:password@domain:port/path?query_string#fragment_id

Domain Name
The domain name or IP address gives the destination location for the URL.
The domain google.com, or its IP address 209.85.153.104 , is the address of Google's website.
The domain name portion of a URL is not case sensitive since DNS ignores case:
http://en.example.org/ and HTTP://EN.EXAMPLE.ORG/ both open the same page.

Port Number
The port number is optional; if omitted, the default for the scheme is used.
For example, http://vnc.example.com:5800 connects to port 5800 of vnc.example.com, which
may be appropriate for a VNC remote control session.
If the port number is omitted for an http: URL, the browser will connect on port 80, the default
HTTP port.
The default port for an https: request is 443.

Path
The path is used to specify and perhaps find the resource requested. It is case-sensitive, though
it may be treated as case-insensitive by some servers, especially those based on Microsoft
Windows. If the server is case sensitive and http://en.example.org/wiki/URL is correct,
http://en.example.org/WIKI/URL/ or http://en.example.org/wiki/url/ will display an HTTP 404
error page, unless these URLs point to valid resources themselves.
Parts of URL
The first part is the protocol. In this case, we are requesting to view a file using hypertext transfer protocol.
Another popular protocol is ftp (file transfer protocol).

The protocol is followed by ://

The next part, wiki, is usually the name of the server that stores the file you will view through
the browser. http://www.answers.com/ is not the same as http://wiki.answers.com/ even
though you see answers.com in both URLS.

The next part: answers.com is the domain. This is made up of two parts. The first is the host
name (in this case "answers") and the second is the top-level domain. Other top level domains
include .org and .mil

Some urls include directories and files. For example, in the URL
http://www.answers.com/main/business.jsp there is a directory called main and in that
directory is a FILE called business.jsp.

Notice that the domain, directories, and files are separated by slashes and the filename and the file extension
are separated by a period. There endless types of files on the Web including .pdf, .php, .html and others.

You'll notice that many times you do not see a filename in a URL. In cases like that, you are
actually looking at a default file. Many sites default to a file called index.html. If you go to
http://wiki.answers.com/index.html and http://wiki.answers.com/ you are actually looking at
the same page. You just don't have to type the entire url to see the main/default page.

The optional port number defines the port with which to connect to the server or service (this
is specified by the server and you can only connect to a special port if one exists on the
server). By default websites communicate over port 80 so when no port is specified port 80 is
assumed however other ports can be defined in the following format:
http://somesite.com:port/ (eg. http://somesite.com:1010/).

The file path defines the path to the page or file to be viewed. When you load a website
without the file path ie. http://www.google.com/ you are directed to the root level of the
Public_Html or www folder and if it exists the file in that directory named index.htm,
index.html, index.asp or index.php. Defining a file path will take you to a different location
such as http://www.somesite.com/My_pet_photos.htm.

Finally, the optional query string defines any variables when the file path is a script such as
php, asp or cgi. Query strings can cause the script to react in different ways. For example:
http://www.somewiki.com/wiki/Page_Name&Action=edit.
Query String
The query string contains data to be passed to software running on the server. It may contain
name/value pairs separated by ampersands, for example ?first_name=John&last_name=Doe.
The fragment identifier, if present, specifies a part or a position within the overall resource or
document. When used with HTTP, it usually specifies a section or location within the page,
and the browser may scroll to display that part of the page.

Many people use the terms Web and Internet synonymously. In casual conversation such as "I
was on the Internet" or "I was on the Web," there is no difference. However, in fact, the Web
is just one of the services deployed on the Internet. Just as cargo is transported by a truck on a
highway, a Web page is transported by packets on the Internet. When information is sent over
the Internet, it is broken apart and packaged inside Internet Protocol packets or "IP packets."

Internet World Wide Web (WEB)

The Internet is a massive
network of networks, a
networking infrastructure. It
connects millions of computers
together globally, forming a
network in which any computer
can communicate with any other
computer as long as they are
both connected to the Internet.
Information that travels over the
Internet does so via a variety of
languages known as protocols.
The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing
information over the medium of the Internet. It is an
information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet.
The Web uses the HTTP protocol, only one of the languages
spoken over the Internet, to transmit data. Web services,
which use HTTP to allow applications to communicate in
order to exchange business logic, use the the Web to share
information. The Web also utilizes browsers, such as
Internet Explorer or Firefox, to access Web documents
called Web pages that are linked to each other via
hyperlinks. Web documents also contain graphics, sounds,
text and video.

The Internet, not the Web, is
also used for e-mail, which
relies on SMTP, Usenet news
groups, instant messaging and
FTP
The Web is just one of the ways that information can be
disseminated over the Internet.
So the Web is just a portion of the Internet…

Domain
Domain is a group of computers that are part of a N/w and share a common directory address.
A domain is registered as a unit with common rules and procedures. Each domain has a unique
name.
An active directory domain is a collection of computers defined by the administrator of a
windows network.
These computers share a common directory address, security policies, and securities
relationship with other domains. An active Directory domain provides access to the centralized
user accounts and group accounts maintained by the domain administrator.
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address):
This number is an exclusive number all information technology devices (printers, routers,
modems, et al) use which identifies and allows them the ability to communicate with each
other on a computer network. There is a standard of communication which is called an Internet
Protocol standard (IP).
In simple terms it is the same as your home postal address of your computer system. It routes
the packet from its source to your system over the internet. When somebody sends you the
mail, it gives the internet routing protocols the unique information they need to route packets
to your desktop anywhere across the internet.
The IP address is the geographical description of the virtual world and the addresses of both
source and destination systems are stored in the header of every packet.
The address consist of 4 octets, each separated by a dot.

Domain Name System (DNS): This allows the IP address to be translated to words. It is much
easier for us to remember a word than a series of numbers. The same is true for email
addresses.
For example, it is much easier for you to remember a web address name such as
whatismyip.com than it is to remember 192.168.1.1 or in the case of email it is much easier to
remember email@somedomain.com than email@192.168.1.1
Dynamic IP Address: An IP address that is not static and could change at any time. This IP
address is issued to you from a pool of IP addresses allocated by your ISP . This is for a large
number of customers that do not require the same IP Address all the time for a variety of
reasons.
Static IP Address: An IP address that is fixed and never changes. This is in contrast to a
dynamic IP address which may change at any time. Most ISP's a single static IP or a block of
static IP's for a few extra bucks a month.

Domain Name Extensions

gTLDs Description
.com The .com domain extension that stands for ‘commercial’ was established in 1985 and is
used by several commercial and non-commercial websites around the world. It is the most
popular top-level domain.
.org: The .org domain extension stands for organization. It was established in January 1985, with
the purpose of being given to organizations that do not fulfill the requirements of other
generic top-level domains. Organizations all over the world can register for .org domain
extension. It can also be used by individuals. However individuals can also use domain
extensions such as .name and .info. There are no requirements for registration of the .org
extension.
.edu: It stands for education and is widely used by the educational institutions across the United
States. Not all websites using the .edu extension are educational institutions. Some of them
are museums or research organizations linked with education.
.gov: It is a sponsored domain extension that is used by the government entities in the United
States. Federal agencies in the United States use the .fed domain extension. The
Department of Defense and its subordinate organizations use the .mil domain extension.
.net earliest top-level domains in use. Established in 1985, it is currently being managed by
VeriSign. Similar to the .org domain, the .net domain also has no requirements for
registration. It ranks third in the list of most popular top-level domains.
.info and .name for personal use and other domain extensions like .aero, .biz and .pro are some of the relatively new
domain domains added to the list of generic top-level domains. They were developed and began to be used
extensions in the period between 2000 and 2002. The .aero domain stands for ‘aeroplane’ and is used by
businesses associated with aviation. .biz is used by businesses. It was designed with the aim of
providing businesses with an option to the .com domain. The .pro generic top-level domain can be
used by qualified professionals
jobs, .mobi and more recent domains developed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
.travel (ICANN). The company websites intended at seeking employees and dealing with issues related to
the company employment use the .jobs domain extension. The .mobi domain extension is used by
mobile devices gaining an access to the Internet. Supported by Google, Microsoft, the GSM
Association and many prominent telecom industries, .mobi is one of the very important domain
extensions. The .travel domain is meant to be used by travel agents and tourism agencies.
.ae used by the United Arab Emirates
.asia used by organizations and individuals located in the Asia-Pacific region
.uk used by the United Kingdom
.pk by Pakistan

.us used by the state and local governments in the United States

Internet Protocols
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from one
computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the
Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other
computers on the Internet. When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail
note or a Web page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets.
Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address and the receiver's
address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway computer that understands a small
part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and
forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination
address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognizes the packet as
belonging to a computer.

Because a message is divided into a number of packets, each packet can, if

necessary, be sent by a different route across the Internet. Packets can arrive in a
different order than the order they were sent in. The Internet Protocol just delivers
them. It's up to another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to put
them back in the right order.

IP is a connectionless protocol, which means that there is no continuing connection

between the end points that are communicating. Each packet that travels through
the Internet is treated as an independent unit of data without any relation to any
other unit of data. (The reason the packets do get put in the right order is because
of TCP, the connection-oriented protocol that keeps track of the packet sequence
in a message.)

The most widely used version of IP today is Internet Protocol Version 4

(IPv4). However, IP Version 6 (IPv6) is also beginning to be supported.

Services provided by IP

The Internet Protocol is responsible for addressing hosts and routing datagrams (packets) from
a source host to the destination host across one or more IP networks.

For this purpose the Internet Protocol defines an addressing system that has two functions.

1. Addresses identify hosts and

2. Provide a logical location service.

Each packet is tagged with a header that contains the meta-data for the purpose of delivery.
This process of tagging is also called encapsulation.

TCP/IP

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol) are two different procedures
that are often linked together. The linking of several protocols is common since the functions
of different protocols can be complementary so that together they carry out some complete
task. The combination of several protocols to carry out a particular task is often called a
"stack" because it has layers of operations. In fact, the term "TCP/IP" is normally used to refer
to a whole suite of protocols, each with different functions. This suite of protocols is what
carries out the basic operations of the Web. TCP/IP is also used on many local area networks.
The details of how the Web works are beyond the scope of this article but I will briefly
describe some of the basics of this very important group of protocols. More details can be
found in the references in the last section.
When information is sent over the Internet, it is generally broken up into smaller pieces or
"packets". The use of packets facilitates speedy transmission since different parts of a message
can be sent by different routes and then reassembled at the destination. It is also a safety
measure to minimize the chances of losing information in the transmission process. TCP is the
means for creating the packets, putting them back together in the correct order at the end, and
checking to make sure that no packets got lost in transmission. If necessary, TCP will request
that a packet be resent.
Internet Protocol (IP) is the method used to route information to the proper address. Every
computer on the Internet has to have it own unique address known as the IP address. Every
packet sent will contain an IP address showing where it is supposed to go. A packet may go
through a number of computer routers before arriving at its final destination and IP controls
the process of getting everything to the designated computer. Note that IP does not make
physical connections between computers but relies on TCP for this function. IP is also used in
conjunction with other protocols that create connections.
Another member of the TCP/IP suite is User Datagram Protocol (UDP). (A datagram is almost
the same as a packet except that sometimes a packet will contain more than one datagram.)
This protocol is used together with IP when small amounts of information are involved. It is
simpler than TCP and lacks the flow-control and error-recovery functions of TCP. Thus, it
uses fewer system resources.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

Web pages are constructed according to a standard method called Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML). An HTML page is transmitted over the Web in a standard way and format
known as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This protocol uses TCP/IP to manage the Web
transmission.
A related protocol is Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS), first
introduced by Netscape. It provides for the transmission in encrypted form to provide security
for sensitive data. A Web page using this protocol will have https: at the front of its URL.

File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) lives up to its name and provides a method for copying files over
a network from one computer to another. More generally, it provides for some simple file
management on the contents of a remote computer. It is an old protocol and is used less than it
was before the Word Wide Web came along. Today, Its primary use is uploading files to a
Web site. It can also be used for downloading from the Web but, more often than not,
downloading is done via HTTP. Sites that have a lot of downloading (software sites, for
example) will often have an FTP server to handle the traffic. If FTP is involved, the URL will
have ftp: at the front.