SURF’S UP

CHAPTER TEN

Behind the Scenes

I am sure that by now you are convinced that after the wheel, the Internet is the next most indispensable thing on earth. From scooping out information on the Tundra region to buying baby diapers, the Internet provides the most convenient and most resourceful means to reach your destination.

But the question that probably plagues you now is, how does the Internet, the most powerful and most dynamic mode of communication, function? Well, understanding the nitty gritty of the Internet definitely requires a wee bit more expertise than knowing two plus two equals four. But a simple tutorial on how the world wide web operates, will make you a more techno savvy person.

About IP addresses and the DNS....

When you type in www.yahoo.com in your address bar, the computer connects to another computer to get an IP address. This computer is called the DNS or Domain Name Server. Thus your computer converts www.yahoo.com into an IP address. An IP address is very similar to a telephone number. To call a friend you dial his telephone number, similarly to connect to a site you need to punch in the IP address like 202.54.1.18 or 203.123.18.124. Each website has its unique IP address. The computer connects to the IP address of the site you wish to visit. The IP address is a string of complicated numbers interspersed with dots (Dotted Decimal Notation), making it difficult for the human mind to remember. Imagine storing complex numbers of all the search engine sites, the email sites, the movie sites and the news sites you visit each day in your tiny brain cells? It won’t only take a toll on your grey matter, but make your hair grey too!! So to make life easier for us, all we need to do is simply type in the name of the site. The computer will automatically convert it into the respective IP address.

The Network Information Center (NIC) assigns IP addresses to the world. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) decides the Internet standards. The Domain Name System or the DNS is a set of rules that decide the names for each site. Every site has to have one of the following domain names present in its URL.

* .com represents a commercial site.

* .edu represents an educational institute.

* .org represents a social service organization.

* .net represents a computer running the Internet.

* .mil represents the military.

* .gov represents a government body.

These domain names are called Top Level Domains or TLD. Besides TLD, each URL ends with a two letter acronym that represents the country where the server is situated. The International Standard Organization (ISO) has devised two letter codes for every country. When a URL does not terminate in a two letter country acronym, it should be understood that the site is created in the United States.

About ISP’s and Internet security...

One enterprising computer decides to contact the local telephone supplier and buy fifteen and a half dozen phone lines. This smart dude, then resells these phone lines to other computer users. In computer parlance this smart dude is called an ISP or an Internet Service Provider. You, a computer user, who buys a connection from him, will connect your computer, via a modem or a lease line to his modem. When you dial, using the number you have bought, your modem will connect to the ISP modem. A long uninterrupted screech, very similar to the screeching of tyres before the start of a race, will be heard. This noise represents the two modems talking to each other. And mind you they ain’t discussing the differences (read: similarities) between Kaun Banega Crorepati and Sawal Das Crore Ka, nor the probable reasons for Aamir Khan’s goatee. Their discussion revolves around slightly more technical dilemmas like the speed at which they should communicate and whether they should use the compression method to send packets of data. Once all this hi-fi chat is over and your modem has successfully connected to the main computer, you get an IP address. Every computer on the Internet is known by an IP address. A program which demands your user name and password commences on the ISP computer. At times you may have to enter PPP, which stands for Point to Point Protocol. ISP’s like VSNL, have already contacted IANA for IP addresses which it randomly distributes to all those who log on to the net via their lines. The role of an ISP is that it transfers and receives your Internet packets to other ISP around the world.

When you dial into VSNL, you need to furnish a user name and password. Unfortunately this information is not encrypted when it travels from our telephone line to the VSNL lines. So anybody who taps your phone lines, can easily obtain this information. To encrypt this information, PAP,CHAP (Password Authentication Protocol, Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol) can be used. Some ISPs implement this protocol, while some are not yet equipped.

About TCP/IP and Routers....

When two machines interact with each other, they are obliged to follow a fixed set of rules. These rules are called networking protocols. In the earlier days, each operating system followed its own unique networking protocol. But with the advent of the Internet a common networking protocol was very much needed, so that two machines, say an IBM compatible machine and an Apple Macintosh, could successfully communicate with each other. And voila, the TCP/IP protocol was born. This networking protocol allowed different machines to talk to each other across the globe. TCP is the abbreviated version of Transmission Control Protocol while Internet Protocol is shortened to IP. The two protocols together are responsible for sending packets of information via the Internet.

When you want to connect to another machine on the net, the TCP/IP sets to work. It follows a three-way procedure before the connection is actually established. This three-way handshake takes place when you see the words `connecting to site` displayed on your status bar.

* First, your machine will send across a header of 40 bytes to the machine you are trying to connect.

* The other machine, responds by sending across a header of 40 bytes to your machine.

* Finally your machine will confirm the connection by again sending a header of 40 bytes. Now, the connection is complete.

When two machines talk to each other, it is their respective TCP/IP stacks that act as spokespersons. Each TCP/IP stack is made up of 40 bytes; the first 20 bytes are IP while the subsequent 20 bytes are TCP. These 40 bytes together contain all the information relating to the two machines that are connecting to each other, like their respective IP addresses, their version number etc.

When a packet is travelling on the Internet, it can either encounter another computer or then a router. A router is a special computer that contains additional hardware. It acts as a traffic policeman. Either it connects the packet to its final destination or then it directs it to another router who can further connect it to its destination. These Internet traffic policemen have to be extremely efficient and fast to avoid traffic jams in cyber space. They follow a set of rules and regulations called RIP, Routing Information Protocol.

The machine that is trying to establish the connection is called the Web Client. The TCP/IP stack of the client interacts with that of another machine, called the Web Server. The Web Client sends a message to the Server asking for a particular file. The function of the Server is to satisfy the client by sending across the file demanded. Thus on the screen of the Client, the desired file will be displayed. The commonly used Web Clients are Netscape and Internet Explorer, while the popular Web Servers are Apache, IIS and Netscape Servers.

The past, the present and the future...

Technology knows no bounds. It has proved that the only thing constant is change. With the emergence of new and innovative technology, our lives are constantly undergoing a change for the better. There is a steady transformation from primitive means of communication to revolutionary and dynamic modes of interaction. The telephone was accepted as the pinnacle of communicating with people far and near. This invention of Alexander Graham Bell was put on the pedestal and worshipped with a hundred bows. But the introduction of the Internet made using the telephone as a medium of interaction seem outdated. The net unlike the telephone not only allows you to communicate with others but to send files, photos, download music and shop. And to think that this is just the beginning!! The Internet has a whole load of technology yet to be exploited. Offices, banks, shops and the stock market can all run their businesses merely by clicking on the mouse. Cartons of Harry Potter books can be shipped from the States to your doorstep in just a few days by a simple shopping request while the bulls and the bears can lock horns and paws in cyber city. Internet supercedes the boundaries of the human imagination making it possible for 'virtually' anything to happen.

But the net cannot be abused. Until recently it was believed that the dotcoms were the future of the Internet. Anybody who was everybody was launching a dotcom company. Nearly every twenty year old something was a CEO of either a woman’s portal or then a diamond selling website. Result: the dotcoms are dead. Dying would be living in the past. Dotcoms are certainly not the future of the Internet. Instead, business applications that use information technology represent the future prospects. In the Internet world we come across a graveyard of corpses. Experiments with technology, hyped by the media and worshipped by the lesser intellectual have resulted in their brutal death. An outstanding example would be that of 'interactive television'. This fragment of innovation allowed the viewer seated in a cinema hall to dictate the story of the movie he was watching. Every fifteen minutes a vote was taken to determine the opinion of the audience, according to which the story of the movie was moulded. You wanted a tragic ending with the heroine lying dead in the arms of her lover or then a happy blissful movie sealed with a kiss? Well, simply punch in your vote and your story would be enacted. What the inventors of this technology overlooked was that an average viewer watches a movie to release stress and to relax after a hard day’s work. He does not want to use his head to write the jokes of the stand up comedian. It kills the thrill of watching a movie. And this in turn killed the idea of 'interactive television'.

The recent WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology is soon becoming another corpse in the Internet graveyard. WAP technology aims at bringing the Internet content and services to mobile phones and other wireless terminals. WAP enabled mobile phones claim that from shopping, banking and financial transactions, stock trading, downloading pictures, files and music to paying of bills and booking of tickets, all will be possible through them. But once again the innovators of this dynamic technology overlook the basic facts. The mobile world is yet analogue, thus no matter what, speed through phones will always remain slow. Plus the screens of the mobile phones are too small to accommodate pictures and complex text files. The only option is to widen the screen, which would mean increasing the size of the phone. And we always thought that good things came in small packages. At least that is the message 'the hottest little thing' campaign told us!

So remember the Internet is here, and it is here to stay; provided it is used sensibly.

Ride On

Some more sites to surf

Foreign news

F http://www.cnn.com/

F http://www.bbc.com/

F http://www.news.com/

Indian news

F http://www.chalomumbai.com/

F http://www.indya.com/

F http://www.rediff.com/

Utilities