PA R T 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION (6 Hours)

1. An overview of computers
2. Data representation
3. Computer System
Hardware
 Input devices
 Output devices
 System unit
 Secondary storage devices
Software
 Operating system
 Application software
Human ware

4. Introduction to Computer Networking

 Benefits of Network Computing
 Networks types
5. Introduction to Internet
Technical requirements of Internet

Importance
 Communication
 Information retrieval
 World Wide Web

1. An Overview of Computers
1.1 Computers: Mind Tools
Computers have been called “mind tools” because they enhance our ability to perform
tasks that require mental effort. Computers are adept at performing activities such as
making calculations quickly, sorting large lists, and searching through vast
information libraries. Human can do all these activities, but a computer can often
accomplish them much more rapidly and more accurately. Our ability to use a
computer complements our mental capabilities and may make us more productive.
The key to making effective use of the computer as a tool is to know what a computer
does, how it works, and how you can use it.

A computer system typically include a computer, peripheral devices, and software.

The electronic and mechanical devices that manipulate data are known as hardware.
The term “hardware” refers to the computer itself and components called peripheral
devices that expand the computer’s input, output, and storage capabilities. Computer
hardware in and of itself does not provide a particularly useful mind tool. To be
useful, a computer requires a computer program or software, which is a set of
instructions that tells a computer how to perform a particular task. Computers can
become even more effective when connected to other computers so that people can
share information.

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1.2 Definition of computer
A Computer can be thought of as an electronic device that is capable of doing the
following tasks:

 Accept data in some prescribed form as an input

 Process the data according to pre-established instructions or procedures

 Provide the desired information in a suitable output format and medium.

 Store data, instruction, and information (processed data) for further and
future use.

A computer accepts input: Examples of the kinds of input a computer can process
include the words and symbols in a document, numbers for a calculation, pictures,
audio signals from a microphone, and instructions for completing a process.

A computer processes data: Data refers to the symbols that represent facts and
ideas. Computer manipulate data in many ways, and we call this manipulation “
processing”. Some of the ways that a computer can process data include performing
calculations, sorting list of words or numbers, etc. In the context of computers, then,
we can define a process as a systematic series of actions that a computer uses to
manipulate data. A computer process data in a device called the central processing
unit (CPU) which we will see in more detail later.

A computer stores data: A computer must store data so that it will be available
for processing. Computer typically have more than one location for storing data,
depending on how the data is being used. The computer puts data in one place while
it is waiting to be processed and in another place when it is not needed for immediate
processing. Memory is an area of a computer that holds data that is waiting to be
processed. Storage is the area where data can be left on a permanent basis while it is
not needed for processing.

A Computer produces output: Computer out put is the results produced by a

computer. The word “output” is also a verb that means the process of producing
output. Some examples a computer output include reports, documents, music, graph,
and pictures. An output device displays, prints or transmits the result of processing.

Research is also being conducted that would replace the keyboard with a means of
using voice or handwriting for input. Currently these types of input are imprecise
because people pronounce and write words very differently, making it difficult for a
computer to recognize the same input from different users. However, advances in this
field have led to systems that can recognize a small number of words spoken by a
variety of people. In addition, software has been developed that can be taught to
recognize an individual's handwriting

1. 3 Characteristics Of Computer

The characteristics of a computer shows the capability and the potential of the
computer for processing data. This saves time, space, money, labour etc.

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Some of the basic characteristics of computer are:-

 Speed
The most important characteristic of a computer is its speed. Computer
works only one step at a time.
It’s speed is measured by the amount of time it took to perform or carry out
a basic operation. Computer speed measured in terms of micro second (10-6
one millionths), nano second (10-9 one billionths), and pico second (10-12 one
trillionths).
 Storage
A computer can store large amount of information in a few numbers of
disks. And the time it took to retrieve or process a single information is not
more than a micro or a nano seconds. In general a computer has a capacity
to store a very large amount of information in organised manner so that
accessing information is very fast.
 Accuracy

Now a days computers are being used for surgical purposes which needs
almost hundred percent accuracy. From this we can understand that
computer is accurate and consistent. Unless there is an error in the input
data or unreliable program the computer processes with a very accurate.
 Automatic
Once necessary information and program is feed to the computer, it
performs processing without human intervention.

 Diligence
A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It can
work for hours without creating any error. If millions of calculations are to be
performed, a computer will perform every calculation with the same accuracy.
Due to this capability it overpowers human being in routine type of work.

 Versatility
It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work. You may
use your computer to prepare payroll slips. Next moment you may use it for
inventory management or to prepare electric bills.

1-4 Limitations of computers

 No IQ
Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction from
the user. It performs the instructions at tremendous speed and with accuracy. It
is you to decide what you want to do and in what sequence. So a computer cannot
take its own decision as you can. Hence computers do not think.

 No Feeling
It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and experience. Thus it
does not get tired even after long hours of work. It does not distinguish between
users.

 Computers are not self-directing machines:

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 They can not instruct themselves & they are not independent machines.
Once computers are fed the desired instruction, they can perform what they have
been ordered.
 Computer can not sympathize (feel sorry for)
 Computer can not do in trial and error
1. 5 Capabilities Of A Computer

A computer cannot perform any operation which cannot be performed by human, but the
computer executes operations with such speed that it is in a different class. The speed of
execution by computers ranges from several hundred million operations per second for a
very large computer to tens of thousands of operations per second for a rather slow
computer.

The three basic operations of computer are:

1) Storage and retrieval
2) Arithmetic operation
3) Logical operation

1. 6 Applications of computers
Why we use Computers?
The following are some of the capabilities and potential of Computers, which are
reasons for using Computers.

I. Data Processing and Data Management:

E.g. census analysis, weather forecasting
II. Operations Control in Real time systems

E.g. rocket guidance, Production control, booking …

III. Entertainment
IV. Areas where no real-time response is required but the number of computations
involved is so large that the results would be obtained too late to be useful unless a
computer is used
V. Maintenance of Safety & secrecy
VI. Overcoming Shortage of Professionals
VII. Communication
VIII. Routine tasks of repetitive nature, such as report printing, maintenance of
accounts,
payroll and inventory control etc.

Therefore, computers are applicable for any functions, task or process that
requires these abilities.

2. Data Representation

Data in a computer system is represented by a flow of an electric current through a

circuit. The presence (on) or absence (off) of this current is interpreted as 1 and 0.
Any data that is manipulated or stored in a computer is treated as a combination of 0
and 1. This is called a binary system as only two digits (0 and 1) are used.

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2. 1 Units Of Data Representation
 When data is stored, processed or communicated within the computer system,
it is packed in units;
 Arranged from the smallest to the largest, the units are called bit, byte and
word;
 These units are based on the binary number system;
BIT
 Bit (derived from binary digit) is the basic unit of data storage
 Bits are the smallest units and can convey only two possible states 0 or 1;
 In the computer “ON” is represented by the existence of current and “OFF” is
represented by the non existence of current
 On a magnetic disk, the same information is stored by changing the polarity or
magnetised particles on the disk’s surface;

BYTE
 Bits can be organised into large units to make them represent more and
meaningful information;
 This large unit is called a byte and is the basic “unit of data representation” in
a computer system;
 The commonly used byte contains 8 bits;
 Since each bit has two states and there are 8 bits in a byte, the total amount of
data that can be represented is 28 or 256 possible combinations;
 Each byte can represent a character(a character is either a letter, a number or
a special symbol such as +,-,?,*, $, etc
 A byte is then used as a unit of measurement in the computer memory,
processing unit, external storage and during communication;
 If the computer memory is 524288 byte, this is expressed in short by saying
512KB, where KB stands for kilobyte.
 1 Kilobyte(1KB) is 210 or 1024 bytes
 1 Megabyte(MB) is 220 bytes or 210 kilobytes
 1 Gigabyte(GB) is 230 bytes or 220 kilobytes or 210 megabytes

WORD

 Word refers the number of bits that a computer process at a time or a

transmission media transmits at a time
 Although bytes can store or transmit information, the process can even be
faster if more than one byte is processed at a once;
 A combination of bytes, then form a “word”
 A word can contain one, two, three or four bytes based on the capacity of the
computer;
 Word length is usually given in bits
 We say that a computer is an 8-bits, a 16 bit, a 32 bit or a 64 bit computer to
indicate that the amount of data it can process at a time;
 The large the word length a computer has the more powerful and faster it is.

2. 2 Data Representation Standards

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The number of characters that can be represented using the binary system in a
computer system is dependent on the number of digits (bits) used for representing a
single character.
Various countries or organisations have adopted different data representation
standards at different times. For example the ASCII standard is discussed below.

 American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) ASCII

standard is a coding method that has been adopted in USA for data
communication. Traditionally, the ASCII code of representation uses 7 bits
(combination of 0 and 1) for representing a single character.
The table below shows the representation of the three alphabets using
ASCII standard.

A 1000001
B 1000010
C 1000011

As only 7 bits are used to represent a single character, the total number of
characters that can be represented using this standard are 128 characters,
(27).

3. Computer System
A computer system is the integration of
1) Data
2) Hardware
3) Software
4) Human ware

Through the interaction of the entire component, a computer system is used to accept
input from users, to process the input data, and finally to generate output that will
be used by the user.

3. 1 Hardware
Associated with the data processing cycle are the physical hardware components of a
computer system. These components are the integrated assembly of electronic devices
connected together to create the greater physical hardware system of the computer.

The hardware of a computer system is categorized into six parts.

These are:
1. Input unit/Devices
2. Output unit/Devices
3. System/processing Unit
4. Memory unit (primary Storage)
5. Secondary Storage Unit
6. Communication hardware
The following figure shows block diagram representation of the microcomputer system

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1. Input unit/ Devices

Input devices are the physical components that the user uses to capture and enter
data and instructions into the computer system. Input devices translate user data
and instructions into a form that the computer can understand. There are several
types of input devices.
 Keyboard – usually for character input
 Pointing devices
o Mouse, trackball, touchpad, touch screen, light pen, joystick –
usually for instruction input
 Reading devices
o Scanner (for graphic input), OCR reader, barcode reader
 Sound, image and video input devices
o Microphone, Digital Video Camera, Digital Video Camera, Web Cam

2. Output Devices

Output devices are the components that are used to present the processed output or
information in a form that is communicable to the user.
The most common output types are:
 Display Devices
 Display devices are the components that are used to generate
output (texts, graphics and video output) in a visual form.
o Examples of display devices include
 Ordinary CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) screens that look like
ordinary TV screens

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  LCD (Liquid Crystal Displays) flat screen such as those used
with laptop computers.
 Plasma Screens
 Data and video projectors
 Printer
o Device that is used to generate hard copy – printed-paper materials.
Printers can be categorised depending on:
 How images are made (impact and non-impact printers)
 Impact printers are those that make physical contact with
the paper, like traditional typewriter. Dot Matrix printer
is an example of impact printer.
 Non-impact printers use a different technology (without
physical contact with the paper) to produce prints on
hardcopy. Inkjet and Laser printers are example of non-
impact printers.
 Speaker
o Speakers are used to generate sound output

3. System/processing Unit

The system unit is the core component of the computer system where the major task of
processing data (converting data into information is carried out). The two main
components of the system unit are Central Processing Unit and Memory.

Central Processing Unit

Central Processing Unit – (CPU) of a computer is the brain of the computer that
actually converts data into information. It manages and controls the overall
functionality of the computer and is a measure of the computing power of the
computer system.
The main components of the processing unit are:

 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

o Performs the mathematical (addition, subtraction, division and
multiplication), comparison (greater than, less than, equal), and
logical (and, or, not) operation.

 Control unit
o Responsible for directing the system to carryout various internal
tasks, such interpreting and executing program instructions
o Controls the electronic flow of information, fetching and storing data
and instruction from/to registers and memory
 Registers
o Under the direction of the control unit, registers are the high-speed
storage area used by the CPU. They are used to temporarily store
data and instruction that relate to the process being executed.

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Usually computer speed is measured using the system clock speed expressed in the
number of clock ticks per second. Clock speed is expressed in megahertz or gigahertz
(one million or billion clock ticks per second). The speed of system clock determines
the speed at which the processor executes instructions. Other things being equal,
computer speed increases with increase in clock speed. Today’s personal computers
have clock speed greater than 2.0 GHz, which is still increasing.

4. Memory unit (primary Storage)

Memory is an internal primary data storage device that is used by the computer
system in start-up and during operation. As the CPU cannot process data directly
from input device or secondary storage devices, data and instructions have to be
loaded to the internal memory before the CPU can process them. Internal memory
stores:
 Whole or part of the program under execution
 Data that is being processed
 Operating system that is used to manage the operation of the computer

There are two major types of memory, Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access
Memory (RAM).

 ROM is a read-only memory that provides start-up instruction when the

computer starts. Information stored in ROM is written only once by the
manufacture and cannot be changed by the user.
In general:
 ROM is memory that cannot be changed.
 It can be read, but not modified in any way other than replacing the memory
chips themselves.
 ROM is used in situations where information must be saved and not altered.
 The primary use of ROM in the computer is during the boot process.
 The ROM on the computer's motherboard contains instructions that tell the
machine how to execute the "boot process".
 ROM is not volatile; data stored there are kept permanently.
 RAM is a temporary volatile memory space used to store data and instructions
by the computer while performing operations. Data stored in RAM exists as
long as power is on. When a computer is turned-off, all the data stored in RAM
is flashed forever. Having a large RAM size increases the processing power of
the computer as more powerful instructions can be run.

The performance of memory is by the amount of bits it can store and speed at which
data can be accessed from the memory.
 The storage capacity is often expressed in MB (megabytes). Today’s personal
computer memory can store hundreds of megabytes.
 The speed at which data is accessed is measured as a fraction of a second, often
in nanoseconds (one-billionth of a second).

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 In General:
 RAM is where data and instructions are temporarily stored while waiting to
be processed.
 It is also where results of execution are stored.
 It is where instructions and data are stored before being executed, and where
the results are placed after execution.
 RAM is volatile; data stored there are not kept permanently. When the data
are executed, they move from the CPU back to RAM, and then are sent to the
designated output device. If power to RAM is lost, so is the data contained
there: nothing in RAM is permanently stored.

5. Secondary Storage unit/devices

Secondary storage devices are internal or external storage devices that are used to
store programs and user data for later access.
Why Secondary Storage?
 Convenience – data store on a secondary storage can be accessed at a latter
time, unlike primary storage which stores data temporarily
 Economical – secondary storage media is less expensive and hence users can
store vast amount data that can be accessed at a latter stage
 Reliability – Data on a secondary storage is usually physically safe

There are different types of secondary storage devices. Three of the major categories
of storage devices are discussed below.

Magnetic tape
 Magnetic tapes are made of thin plastic material coated with magnetic coding.
Magnetic tapes look like an audiocassette, but are used to store data.
o Data is expressed in terms of density, the number of (bytes) or characters
per inch
o Usually can store very large amount of data – tape cartridges can store giga
bytes and tetra bytes
o Sequential data storage and access
o Very slow read/write operation
 Example of magnetic tape include backup Tape Cartridge

Magnetic disk
 Magnetic disk is made of thin metal (for hard disks) or plastic (for floppy disks)
platter coated with magnetic oxide.
o Data is stored on magnetic tracks that are concentric circles
o Data is accessed randomly and it takes same amount of time to access data
from any sector (pie shaped)
o Data is accessed using track number and sector number on a single surface
o Disk performances can be measured in terms of data access time and data
transfer rate
o Magnetic disks have fast read/write operation

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 Currently, there are several magnetic storage devices that are commonly used in
the area of personal computing systems.
o Hard disks - usually 5.25 and 3.5 inches diameter
 Reliable as they are sealed against external contamination
 Very fast read and write speed
 Usually found within the computer
 Can store large amount of data – currently in Giga and tetra bytes
o Diskettes (3.5 inches diameter) with storage capacity of 1.44MB

Optical disks
Optical disks are newly introduced and technologically developing storage devices
that use laser technology for writing/reading data to/from optical spots on disks.
 Examples of Optical disks are:
o Compact Disk (CD)
 CD-ROM - Read Only Memory
 CD-R/W – Read and write
 Storage capacity up to 700MB
o Digital Video (Versatile) disks – DVD
 Read only storage – for movies and large data
 Storage capacity 4.7GB- 17GB

Note: Data and instructions are moved around inside the computer by means of a
bus. The bus carries the data between RAM and the CPU as well as within the CPU
itself.

6. Communication hardware

The hardware used for communication purposes.

Example: Network interface card, modem, router, switch etc.

3. 2 Software
Software is a set of program instructions that direct the computer to manage its
resources and that help users to achieve specific objectives (functions) using the
computer system.

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Computer software is categorized as
1. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES (compilers and assemblers)
2. SYSTEM SOFTWARE
3. APPLICATION SOFTWARE
4. COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE
5. OTHERS (GAMES, TUTORS…)

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES are the mediums used by human beings to

communicate their instruction to computers.
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES are also classified as
Machine Languages
Low Level Languages
High Level Languages

Examples of programming languages:

FORTRAN, COBOL, PL/one, BASIC,FOCUS, NOMAD,PASCAL,C,C+, etc ....

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

SYSTEM SOFTWARE are programs that direct and control the overall operation of a
computer system. It also assists programmers and users in making better utilization
of their computer system.

Application Software
Application software is a set of computer programs (instruction) that are developed to
address the user needs to perform specific function or solve specific problems. Some of
the major application software categories are discussed below:
 Word Processing – such application are used for processing and manipulating
text-based data, such as writing documents.
o Example: Microsoft Word
 Spreadsheet - such applications are built-in with various routines that are
used for processing numerical data. Applications that fall in this category are
often used in financial, statistical, mathematical problem solving.
o Example: Microsoft Excel, SPSS, PeachTree
 Data Management – These applications provide a structured system to
manage data that enable to store, retrieve, and manipulate data.
o Microsoft Access, Paradox, Oracle, Sybase
 Desktop Publishing - these applications are similar to word processors
providing a powerful sophisticated routines for creating publications, such as
high quality newsletters, advertising and marketing materials.
o Example: Microsoft Publisher, Quark Express
 Graphics – such software are used in creating, storing, analysing, displaying,
printing of charts, graphs, maps, design drawings. Examples of graphics
applications are:
o Presentation software
o CAD (computer Aided Design) – such as AutoCAD
 Multimedia – multimedia applications are used for processing audio,
animation, video, graphics and images.

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 3-3 Humanware
Information technology professional are responsible for acquiring, developing,
maintain or operating the hardware and software associated with computers and
communication networks. The following IT professionals have the highest profile:
IT PROFESSIONAL DUTY
Programmers use programming languages to create computer
(software Engineer) and communications network software

Systems Analysts work with users to determine the requirements an

application must meet. As part of their job, they may
specify the purchase of software package that gets
the job done or order the development of custom
software.
Project Managers coordinate the development of a project and
manage the team of programmer/analysts
Network Specialists design, operate, and manage computer
communications networks
Trainers work with end-users, helping them to become
comfortable and skilled in using hardware or
software
Computer Operators oversee the operations of computers in data centre
sometimes called computer centres(facilities at
which large and midrange computers systems are
located). These systems are shared by many users
who are interconnected with the system through
communications links. Computer operators also
perform support activities, such starting application,
loading magnetic tape, and anything else that will
ensure the smooth operation of computer facilities.
Computer Engineer the IT professionals who design, develop and oversee
the manufacturing of computer equipment
Systems Engineers The IT professionals who install and maintain
hardware.

4. Introduction to Computer Networking

A computer network is a collection of computers and other devices that communicate to share
data, hardware, and software.

4:1 Benefits of network computing

Networks increase efficiency and reduce costs. Computer networks achieve these goals in
four primary ways:

 Sharing information (or data)

 Sharing hardware(peripheral devices)

 sharing programs/software

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  Centralising administration and support

 A computer that is not connected to a network is referred to as stand-alone computer

 when you physically connect your computer to a network using a cable or other
communication channels , your computer becomes a workstation/client on the
network

 computer that provide shared network resources is server

 Resources any services or device, such as files, printers or other items, made available
for use by members of the network.

Sharing Programs/Software
Application (software) sharing occurs when several users at different locations run
application programs that are installed centrally in one location (application server).
Software (applications) that are installed centrally can be managed and upgraded
centrally. Such systems are mostly common in financial system where the main
application is stored centrally and users in different sections of the finance
department are able to run the system from the network.
It is effective for several reasons

 Less disk storage space is required because the program is stored only once on the
server, instead of being stored on the hard disk s of multiple stand alone computers

 When a new version of the software is released, it is easier to update on copy of the
program on the server than to update many copies stored on stand –alone computer.

 Purchasing a software license for a network can be less expensive than purchasing a
single- user license for every workstation on the network

In short sharing programs on a network

 Saves disk space

 Reduces maintenance

 Reduce licensing cost

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Sharing Hardware (Peripheral devices)
Computer networks enable us to share expensive hardware resource among several
computers. A typical example of shared resource is printer. For example, a company
may prefer to acquire one expensive printer and connect it to the network to provide
high quality printing to users. This avoids the need to have separate printer for each
computer in the office.

Central Disk storage – Network system provide the possibility of using a dedicated
file server to store all the company data in one location. Users will be able to access
their data over the network from their workstations. Using central disk storage
system facilitates data backup operations from a central location guarantying
complete data recovery in case of system failures.
Sharing Information/data
 Sharing data – users in a certain network environment have the liberty of
sharing data and information across the network. Data sharing enables
different users to work on a certain file concurrently. Few examples of data
sharing are:
o Database: - databases are often managed centrally and several users
can have access to the database at same time. For example, in a
networked banking system, different bank branches can have access to
the central account database. This enables bank clients to carry their
transactions on any branch bank office.
o Email: email communication can be achieved over the network enabling
networked users in the company to communicate messages across the
network using email.
o Intranet: Intranets are similar to World Wide Web (WWW) where
centrally stored hypertext documents can be accessed using the web.
Unlike the WWW, intranets are available only to user with in the
company network system. Intranet is a very common service in large
networked organizations.
o Extranet: Although similar to intranet, extranet provides selected users
from outside the organization to access data from the internal network.
Extranets are commonly used by suppliers to provide data to company
clients.

4. 2 Network Types

Network can be grouped in two major categories depending on the geographical scope
they cover.

Local Area Network (LAN)

LAN refers to networks that have small geographical coverage usually within a
building or a campus. There are two types of local area networks:

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  Peer-to-peer Network – In such network configuration, all the connected
systems (computers and printers) can communicate directly with each other
without relying on other intermediary server. Implementation of Peer-to-Peer
network is relatively simple, cheap and can connect up to 25 computers.
Although appropriate for small networks, it lacks the ability to implement
centralised management of users, files, and security features and tends to slow
down performance as the number of connected computers increase.
 Client/Server Network: Client/Server architecture consists of client
computers (workstations) that require a network service and servers that
provide the network service. Servers are usually very powerful computers both
in processing power and in their storage capacity. Different servers can be
configured depending on the need of the organizations, such as:

 File servers – servers that provide centralized data storage which

will be shared among the LAN users.
 Print server – servers that control one or more printers and provide
print service to LAN users.
 Database server – servers that centrally store database and provide
data to client application in the LAN.
 Web server – servers that store web pages that will be viewed using
browsers in the network.
 Email server – servers that are used to manage and control email
communications across the network.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Wide area networks are networks that cover very large geographical area such as a
country or the whole world. Typical WANs are the telephone networks operated by
most long distance telephone companies. Large companies having offices scattered
around the world use WAN to connect their computers. WAN usually use
combination of several types of communication media such as cables, satellites,
Microwaves, fiber-optics.

5. Introduction to Internet
Internet is a connection of worldwide independent computer networks that use
specified protocols (rules) to communicate with each other.

Internet evolved from the US Defence System ARPANET in the late 60’s and early
70’s. Nowadays, Internet connects thousands of independent networks into a global
Internet with the general objective of sharing information and resources.

5-1 Technical Requirement of the Internet

There are two major ways to connect to the internet:
Dialup Connection

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Dialup connection is a temporary connection that is established using a modem and
telephone line to connect to the internet server at the ISP (Internet Service Provider).

The main components required to use a dialup service are computer, modem,
telephone line and subscription to the Internet Service Provider.

Note: Because computers represent data in digital form and the telephone system
transmits data using continuous, or analog, wave forms, their combination must
include equipment that converts signals from one to another. The unit that does this
is called a modem, short for modulator-demodulator. Modulation converts digital
signal into analog wave pattern. Demodulation reverses the process.

Direct Connection
Direct connection to the internet is achieved when a user computer is permanently
connected directly to the internet through a local area connection. The local area
network is often connected to the internet host using a high speed digital link and
hence provide very fast and reliable service compared to dialup connections.

6.2 Importance
Although Internet is technically defined as network of networks of computers through
communication media, it much more than having the technical connectivity. It is
about people, communication and sharing of knowledge that overcomes the physical
distance and boundaries among people.
In broader terms, Internet service can be categorized as:
1) Communication
2) Information retrieval
3) World Wide Web (Information Browsing)

1. Communication
Communication refers to the process of transferring messages from one network to
another over the internet. Some of communication service on the internet include
email, USENET, IRC.

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Electronic mail

Electronic mail is a method for sending and receiving messages from one email user to
another through the internet. Although email is mostly used to transfer text based
messages, users can attach other files (such as graphics, audio, video…) with their
emails.
Email users have electronic mailboxes on servers that provide the email service. An
email address has two major components, the username and the domain name
separated by the special character @ (username@domain-name). The username is the
name assigned to the person or organization using the email, and the domain name is
a unique name that identifies the name of the network system connected on the
internet, usually called email server. Domain names have usually more than two
parts separated by dots specifying from the most specific to the general address. For
example, the domains name for an email address provided by Ethiopian Internet
Center is telecom.net.et.
Email users use email client application programs to connect to the email server to
enable them to send and receive electronic messages. There are several client
applications supplied by different software developers, such as Eudora, Pegasus,
Microsoft Outlook, Lotus CC:Mail.

USENET (NEWSGROUP)
USENET, often called newsgroups, is a worldwide network of servers that provide
electronic discussion forums (electronic bulletin boards) among users. USENET uses
pull technology where users have to access the news or discussion information from
remote servers. Newsgroups are organized by topics (sport, politics, science, religion,
entertainment…) where users login into the servers to participate on discussions
(write and read views) on specific topics.
Video Conferencing
Video conferencing means making a conference on the Internet by individuals who live
in different location. This takes place at the same time in different location. It is
similar to conference in a hall except they are at distant.

2. Information Retrieval
Information retrieval service refers to the process of transferring large volume of data
across the internet. Examples of information retrieval application on the internet
include FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and Telnet Service.

File transfer Protocol

FTP is method for transferring files from one internet site to another internet sites.
FTP enables user to download or retrieve files from ftp sites and to upload files to ftp
server. Like many internet applications, FTP is a client server system where there is
FTP server that provides the service and users use FTP client programs to access
resources from the FTP server.

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FTP service is a popular internet service which is widely used to download exciting
games, large documents, program upgrades and other resources from the internet.
Although some FTP sites have restricted access where only authenticated users are
given access to the FTP server, there are still several anonymous FTP sites that allow
anyone to transfer files without prior permission.

Telnet
Telnet is an internet application and protocol that allows users to log onto a remote
computer. Once connected to a remote computer using telnet application, users can
access their files and document, work on their files and save their work on the remote
computer as if they are directly connected to the server on the local area network.

3. World Wide Web (WWW)

World Wide Web is the whole collection of extremely wide spread information that is
accessible freely to users on the internet. Most organizations maintain their presence
on the web to provide information to interested users.
To get access to the information superhighway on the WWW, a browser program
(client application program used to access WWW) must be installed in the user
computer. Few of the browser programs that are most commonly used are Internet
Explorer, Netscape, Mosaic.
Every information on the web is accessed using specific WWW address. WWW
addresses are composed of three components,
1. Protocol (such as http:// , ftp://)
2. Host name (such as www.telecom.net.et) that come after the protocol.
3. File path that show the path of the file you need to access, and comes after
and including the first forward slash

The address is called URL, or Uniform Resource Locator.

Example:
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk

Searching on the Web

There are a lot of specific or general-purpose search engines that enables users to
search for a specific theme on the WWW. Few of the search engines that are
available on WWW are:-
 Altavista – http://www.altavista.com
 Google – http://www.google.com
 Lycos – http://www.lycos.comd
 Yahoo – http://www.yahoo.comI
 Infoseek – http://www.infoseek.com

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