Ch07

Introduction to Information Technology 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 7: The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets Prepared by: Roberta M. Roth, Ph.D. University of Northern Iowa Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-1

Chapter Preview In this chapter, we will study: The evolution, operations, and services of the Internet The segment of the Internet called the World Wide Web Organizational applications of Internet technology (intranets and extranets) Specialized Internet applications Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-2

What is the Internet?  The largest computer network in the

world (a network of networks)  Information exchange is seamless using open, non-proprietary standards and protocols, within interconnected networks  A true democratic communications forum producing a democratization of information  Spirit of information sharing and open access underlies the Internet. Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-3

The Internet Today  The Internet is international, with users

on all continents  The cost of personal computers and Internet connections are prohibitively high for most of the world’s population  Political, cultural, and regulatory barriers have slowed the rate of Internet adoption internationally  The vast majority of sites are in English  The vast majority of content is generated in the United States Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-4

The Infrastructure of the Internet  Commercial communications companies

are primary providers of the physical network backbone of the Internet  The U.S. government contributes some funds to essential administrative processes  The Internet infrastructure is supplied by network service providers  Connections between and flow of information between backbone providers has been open and free of charge Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-5

Future Internet Initiatives  Internet2  A collaboration among more than 180 U.S. universities to develop leading-edge networking and advanced applications for learning and research.  A group of very high bandwidth networks on the Internet.  Partnership between universities, industry, and government.  Next Generation Internet (NGI)  Federal government led initiative to advance Internet technology and applications. Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-6

The Operation of the Internet  Packets of information flow between machines

governed by common rules (protocols):  Internet protocol (IP)  Transport control protocol (TCP)

 Internet is a packet-switching network  Messages are decomposed into packets, containing part of the message, plus information on the sending and receiving machines and how the packet relates to the other packets  Packets travel independently and possibly on different routes through the Internet  Packets are reassembled into the message at the receiving machine. Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-7

The Operation of the Internet (continued)  Each computer on the Internet is identified by an IP address  Most computers also have domain names  Network Solutions, Inc. had a monopoly on domain name registration until 1999.  Today, some 82 companies can register domain names.  Cybersquatting – purchase of domain name with intent to resell it. Legislative action resulted in Nov. 2000 Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-8

The Operation of the Internet (continued)  New top-level domain zones: In November 2000, the first addition of a global top-level domains to the Internet since the 1980s occurred.  .aero (for the air-transport industry)  .biz (for businesses)  .coop (for cooperatives)  .museum (for museums)  .name (for individuals)  .pro (for professions). Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-9

The Operation of the Internet (continued)

Accessing the Internet Connect via LAN Server Connect via Serial Line Internet Protocol/Point Protocol (SLIP/PPP) Connect via an Online Service (AOL, MSN)

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-10

Internet Services Communications  E-mail – electronic messaging

 USENET newsgroups

– forums that collect groups of messages from users based on common themes

 LISTSERV – distributes email messages to all subscribers

 Chatting – live, interactive, written conversations based on topic groups Introduction to Information Technology, 2 Edition

 Instant messaging – instant text messaging between Internet users

 Telnet – user on one

computer doing work on another computer

 Internet telephony – conducting voice conversations over the Internet

 Internet fax – real time document transmittal

 Streaming audio and

video

nd

Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-11

Internet Services – Information Retrieval

 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) – electronic transfer of files from one computer to another  Archie – tools to enable searching for files at FTP sites  Gophers – menu-driven information search tool  Veronica – text search through Gopher sites  Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) – database search tool

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-12

Internet Services – Web Services Delivery of software components

via a web site rather than through traditional means (disks, CDs) .NET – Microsoft’s new platform for XML Web services. Integrates web sites and programs to deliver applications.

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-13

Internet Services – World Wide Web

 An application that uses the Internet

transport functions  A system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information via a client/server architecture  Based on HTML - standard hypertext language used in Web  Handles text, hypermedia, graphics, and sound Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-14

The World Wide Web (continued)  Home Page - a text and graphical screen display; first, introductory page in a web site  Web Site - all the pages of a company or individual  Hyperlinks - ways to link and navigate around the pages on a web site  Webmaster - the person in charge of a Web site  Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - points to the address of a specific resource on the Web  Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) communications standard used to transfer pages across the WWW portion of the Internet Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-15

The World Wide Web (continued) 

Browsers – graphical software that enables WWW users to request and view web documents



Offline Browsers – software that retrieves pages from Web sites automatically at predetermined times



Search Engines - programs that return a list of Web sites or pages that match some user-selected criteria



Metasearch Engines - automatically enter search queries into a number of other search engines and return the results



To be included in a search engine’s database  

Web Crawlers Registration

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-16

The World Wide Web (continued)  Pull Technology - requires web user to actively request information; traditional web mechanism  Push Technology - automatically supplies desirable information to users  provides timely, prioritized distribution of information over a corporate network in the workplace  enhances traditional Web advertising in the consumer market  used for software delivery and updates Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-17

The World Wide Web (continued)  Information Filters – automated methods of sorting/screening WWW content  Clipping Services – automated retrieval of articles and news items from publications  Personalized Web Services – ability to generate personalized Web content  Web Authoring (for page and site design)  Standard HTML is the common denominator  CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is the common format of graphics files  Browsers can be extended through software plug-ins Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-18

Internet Challenges  New Technologies  Adopted by vendors more rapidly than users and customers can implement them  Web developers cannot assume that users can run their innovations successfully  Internet Regulation  Technical organizations (e.g., World Wide Web Consortium) develop standards governing the Internet’s functionality  These organizations are not formally charged in any legal or operational sense with responsibility for the Internet  How to control controversial content on the Web? Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-19

Internet Challenges (continued)  Internet Expansion  Tremendous Internet traffic growth has strained some elements of the network • Slower retrieval times • Unreliable data transmission • Denial of service by overloaded servers

 Approaches to overcoming this congestion include • Improved hardware technology • Improved Web management software

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-20

Internet Challenges (continued)  Internet Privacy - Web sites collect information

with and without consumers’ knowledge  Cookie - small data file placed on users’ hard drives when a site is first visited. Collects data on pages visited and content viewed.  Three potential approaches to the privacy issue • Government lets groups develop voluntary privacy

standards; does not take any action now unless real problems arise • Government recommends privacy standards for the Internet; does not pass laws at this time • Government passes laws now for how personal information can be collected and used on the Internet

 Financial transaction security also a concern Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-21

Intranets A private network that uses

Internet software and TCP/IP protocols Provide employees with easy access to corporate information Used to deploy corporate applications • Examples – policies and procedures

manuals; human resource forms; product catalogs

Security is a concern • Security measures include – public key

security, encryption, digital certificates, Introduction to Information Technology, 2 Edition 7-22 firewalls Turban, Rainer & Potter nd

© 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Extranets  An extension of an intranet to selected

outside business partners, such as suppliers, distributors, and key customers

 Provide business partners with easy access to corporate information and easy collaboration

 Security  Critical to prevent unwanted entry into internal systems  Virtual private networks (VPNs) are often used to add security to Internet communication Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-23

Extranets (continued)  Extranet configurations  One company sets up a Extranet for its dealers, customers, or suppliers  Companies within an industry set up a collaborative Extranet for mutual benefit  Several companies collaborate over an Extranet for joint venture  Benefits include –  Lower communication costs; better communication; improved order entry and customer service; improvement in business effectiveness Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-24

Other Web-based Applications  Enterprise Information Portals  Users have single point of access to internal and external stored information  Mobile Internet  Use of wireless communication telecommunication devices to access Webbased applications

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-25

Chapter Summary  Internet is a network of network  Internet provides communication and

information retrieval services, as well as the World Wide Web  The World Wide Web enables a huge variety of applications for businesses, including intranets and extranets  Many challenges exist when using the WWW, including congestion, privacy, and security Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-26

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted in Section 117 of the 1976 United Stated Copyright Act without the express written permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Request for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his/her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information herein.

Introduction to Information Technology, 2nd Edition Turban, Rainer & Potter © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

7-27