THE INTRANET

An intranet is a private network that works on the same

principle of the Internet but only that it is confined to the
private organization. An intranet uses the internet protocol
technology to share information, operation systems or computing
services within an organization.

Or simply, an intranet is a network that works inside an

organization for communication and information sharing purposes
inside an organization.

THE EXTRANET

An extranet is a computer network that allows controlled access

from outside of an organization’s intranet. Extranets are used
for specific uses; cases including business-to-business (B2B).

THE INTERNET

The Internet is the global network of computer networks. It is

not maintained by any person or entity. To get linked, you must
have a computer, specialised software to communicate with the
Internet (such as the browser to view web pages), and the means
of connection (telephone line, wireless, cable or direct
access).
 Internet is rated one of the most significant human
inventions of all time.
 The Internet offers many possibilities for individuals and
organizations.
There are three main functions of the Internet:

1.COMMUNICATION

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  One can contact and exchange information with friends and
organisations anywhere in the world.

2.RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION

 One can have access to a broad range of data and information

from other computers around the globe.

3.COMMERCE

 One can advertise, buy and sell goods and services on the
Internet.

HISTORY OF THE INTERNET

In 1969, at the height of the cold world war, an agency of the

US department of defence (DoD) built a network of computers that
would allow scientists at different sites (locations) to share
research. The network was named ARPANET after the agency that
created it, the Advanced Research Project Agency.

Up until the early 1990’s, the information on the Internet was

entirely text based. It carried no pictures, audio or video. The
breakthrough came with the inversion of the World Wide Web (WWW)
sometimes called W3 – a software program designed by Tim-
Berners Lee, a British scientist. The web became the Internet-
based standard for sharing information that included graphics,
audio and videos.

CONNECTING A LAN TO THE INTERNET

 To connect a LAN to the Internet you need the following
resources:
 Router
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  Internet software
 Internet service provider (ISP)
 Communications channel (wired or wireless)
 The router is required for two reasons:
 To split the signal into packets for effective
transmission.
 To identify the most convenient route for each packet
to take to its destination.
 Internet software is required for controlling the hardware
and for correcting errors during transmission. One example
of the Internet software is the browser. A browser is a type
of software installed on your computer that enables you to
access and view web pages. Browsers interpret the data so we
can see picture, graphics as well as texts.
 The part of the program in the browser used to search for
information on the Internet is the SEARCH ENGINE.

 Examples of browsers includes:

 Mozilla Firefox
 Google chrome
 Safari
 bing
 An ISP provides advanced and expensive resources for
accessing the Internet.

UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR (URL)

To go to the site on the web, you must type a uniform resource

locator (URL) in the address bar. A URL is an address for the
document on the web. The format of the URL is:

http://www.hotmail.com/story.php

A B C
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A = hypertext transfer protocol (http); which is a protocol
governing communication

B = the domain name of the web address. The domain name refers
to the computer name which hosts the web address.

C = the path name to the file you want to access.

WWW – these letters tend to be the standard part of a web

address, but they are not always present.

Hotmail.com – this is the domain name, or the name of the

computer where the site is located. The dot com (.com) suffix is
short for commercial. You will also encounter other suffixes:

 Org – an organisation, usually non-profit making

 Edu – a university or college
 Gov – a government organization
 Mil – a US military agency
 Net – a network
 Int – international organization

Another part of the url that you may have noticed or seen is the
country code. As the Internet become larger and global, it
became necessary to expand domain names to include the country
of origin. Examples:

 Uk – for United Kingdom

 De – for German
 Au – for Australia
 Ca – for Canada
 Fr – for France

MOVING FROM ONE SITE TO THE NEXT

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 1)By typing the web address in the url manually
2)By clicking on the link available on the web page
3)By clicking on the back or forward button on the browser
4)By selecting your preferred web address from “HISTORY” log
available on the menu option of your browser.
5)Bookmark – you’ll find a site that you would like to visit
frequently, or one that you want to return to at some other
time. To save yourself the trouble of remembering its
address and retyping it each time, use a bookmark feature.
Some browsers refer to this as the favourites feature.
Simply go to bookmark or favourites menu and pull it down
and the click add bookmark.

ELECTRONIC MAIL (E-MAIL)

This is a facility available when one connects to the Internet.

To create an email address, you do the following:

• Start the browser software, e.g. Internet Explorer.

• Click on the mail client, e.g. Gmail in google.

• Click on Create an Account.

• Complete the form which appears and select submit at the end
of the form.

UNDERSTANDING EMAIL ADDRESSES

 Normally an email address consists of three parts.

 These parts are:

 Username
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  Server name

 Top-level domain, i.e. primary domain name.

 The username is separated from the rest by the @ symbol.

 For example, in the address [email protected], the

username is chalawila, the host computer name is gmail, and
the primary domain name is com.

Note that the name that follows the @ symbol immediately is

always the host computer name, i.e. the server name

LIFE ON THE INTERNET

 Everything is connected

 We are now living in e-world such as:

 e-government
 e-human resource
 e-learning
 e-commerce
e-commerce refers to business done using the Internet.

CYBERSPACE

 Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in

which online communication takes place.

 Now, the term has become a conventional means to describe

anything associated with computers, information technology,
the internet and the diverse internet culture.

 Cyberspace includes:

 The Internet,

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  websites computers,
 networks software,
 data storage devices,
 emails electronic devices
 cell phones,
 ATM machines
 etc.
 Cyber Law governs cyberspace

1)Hacking – basically, it means performing any activity in a

computer system or network that is not authorized by the
owner or administrator. It also mean making unauthorized
changes to the system.

All the hacker would need is a laptop computer and a cell

phone. Cyber space is absolutely open to participation by
all. It’s for these kind of people that cyber law was
established.

2)Spams – these are unsolicited e-mails sent to your email

box. The person sending you these kind of mails would want
to flood your network negatively and most of these mails
would carry malicious software that can clash your system.
It is a very good idea to avoid opening mails sent to you by
some unknown persons.

3)Encryption – the humans always felt the need to hide some

personal information from others. This gave birth to the
science of encryption called cryptography – meaning, the
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 information is somehow changed into a certain form, so that
the person whom it is not intended for cannot understand it.
The process of changing the information into such un-
understandable form is called encryption – and the reverse
for that is decryption.

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