Basic Computing Series part 5(Network and Internet Basics)

Network is the combination of one or more devices. Server is a device which controls and monitors all the device in the network .Network can be classified into three types based on its size. They are Local area network(LAN), Wide are network(WAN) Metropolitan area network (MAN). LAN interconnects computer in a small area such as computers in a office, schools,residential buildings, etc. Hence LAN is confined to small areas.Wi-Fi is a Wireless local area network.  It connects the devices by radio waves instead of cables. Range of WAN is larger than that of LAN. Hence,WAN can be used to connect computers over large geographical area that is equivalent to the area of a village. MAN can connect computers over a size metropolitan area.

Network can be classified into three types, based on the arrangement of the devices. They are Bus network, Ring network and Star network. Bus network has no server. All devices in the network are connected to a cable.  If the cable fails, communication between any two devices is not possible. Local area network is usually in the form of bus network. In star network all the devices are connected to the server. If a device needs to communicate to another device, it has to communicate to server and server communicates the message to intended device. Hence, Server acts as a switch. If the server fails, entire network will be down. Ring network is a closed network and has no server. If a device has to communicate to another device, it has communicate via adjoining devices. Every device will act as switch, unless the device is intended receiver. Following is the images for ring,star and bus network(from right to left)

Internet is the networks of network. Internet is the biggest network of computers connecting nearly 3 billion devices. No one owns the internet. In the following passage we will discuss the common terms associated with internet. This list is not exhaustive please do comment if i need to add any other terms.

WWW: World wide web(WWW) is a system of inter connected web pages available in the internet.

Internet Service Providers(ISP): They provide internet connection to client.

URL or Web address: Uniform resource Locator(URL) is the address of a specific page. URL of this page is located in the top of your browser.

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) is programming language that is used to create a website.

HTTP:Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a protocol used for the exchange of data over internet. Protocol means defined rules.

HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol secure is a secured used for secure exchange of data between a user and webpage over internet. It is done via SSL( Secure sockets layer) and Transport layer security(TLS) which are the protocols available to enable secure connection over internet. All the famous sites  such as Facebook, Google,Instagram ,Wordpress and twitter uses HTTPS protocol.More information on computer security and threat will be discussed in upcoming articles.

Hyperlink: It is the link in a webpage that redirects you to another page.

TCP/IP: Transmission control protocol and internet protocol(TCP/IP) is a protocol that ensures the transmission of data is performed without errors.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol(FTP) is a protocol that is used to transfer files over a TCP based networks.

Tel-net :It is a protocol used to provide bi directional text communication.

IMAP: Internet message access protocol (IMAP) is a protocol which is used to create,send,receive and store email.

IP address: Internet protocol address is a unique address assigned to each user in a network. IP address is assigned by Internet protocol.Two major versions are still in use today and they are IPV4 and IPV6. IPV4 is a 32 bit addressing system. It starts in 0.0.0.0 and ends in 255.255.255.255. 2^32 combinations of address is possible.So More than 4 billion devices can be named over internet using IPv4. Since Devices connected to internet has became exorbitantly higher, IPV6 came to help the problem. It is a 128 bit addressing system. Hence 3.4*1038 computers can be connected using IPV6 protocol.

MAC address: Media access control Address is a 48 bit unique address assigned to the devices in the network under MAC protocol.