UNIT-I

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 Index For Unit-I

Topic Page
No.
1. Definition of Computer 2
2. Types of Computer 4

3. Characteristics of Computer 5-7

4. Classification of Computer 7-14

5. Elements of Computer 15-16

6. Storage Devices 17-23
7. Visual Display Unit (VDU) 24
8. Digital Audio Tape 25-26

9. Directory 27

10. Disc Concept: 28-32

• Disc Formatting
• Disc Booting
• Disc Partitioning
11. Data Communication Equipment 33

12. DBMS 34-47

13. RDBMS 48-49

14. ERP 50
15. Software 51-52
• Types of Software

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COMPUTER INFORMATION
What is computer: - Computer is an electronic device that is designed to work with
information. The word “computer” comes from the word “compute” which means, to
calculate machine. Computer cannot do anything without a program.

OR
A computer is an electronic machine which processing data give us information. Charles
Babbage is called the “Grand Father” of the computer. The first machine computer
designed by Charles Babbage called Analytical Engine (1791-1871). It users read- only
memory in the from punch card.

Punch Card Machine

Data processing consists of their sub activates:-

❖ Computer input data
❖ Managing output data

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Input device: - Keyboard, mouse, touchpad, scanner, webcam, Fingerprint scanner

Keyboard Fingerprint Scanner Webcam

Output device: - Monitor Printer, Projector, Speakers, TV, and Microphone

Printer Monitor Projector

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CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPUTER
1. Automatic
2. High speed
3. Accuracy
4. Diligence
5. Storage
6. Reliability
7. Data base
8. Reduction in paper
9. Reduction the manpower requirement
10. Increased ability to perform computation

Automatic: - Being a programmable machine, modern computer can be

programmed in such as way that it can perform a series of tasks automatically
after it has been started Modern digital computer does not need a human
operator to give different types of command.

High speed: - The computers in the past were did not have very fast speed.
But now days due to the Invention of microprocessor. Now computer is a high
speed device capable of performing arithmetic at unbelievable speed. The unit of
speed in computer is microsecond, the nanosecond.

Accuracy: - Accuracy means correctness. Computer never does any mistakes

if the instruction, input data and hardware devices are correct it always
performs each and every task with 100% accuracy. But sometimes we get the
phrase GIGO (Garbage in Garbage Out) is true to computer.

Diligence: - Unlike the human beings the computer never feels tired and bored to
do a same task repeatedly. It cans continuous work from hours without reading
any error and without grumbling. It works with same concentration even if 100
million instructions are to be performed it will perform the 100th million
instructions with the same accuracy as the first instruction.

Storage: - A modern commuter can store large amount of data information and
program in it. Any data or information can be retrieve at any time. Storage
capacity in computer in measured in following Units.
✓ 0 or 1 = 1 bit
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 ✓ 4 bites = 1 Nibble
✓ 8 bites = 1 Bytes
✓ 1024 Bytes = 1 KB
✓ 1024 KB = 1 MB
✓ 10024 MB = 1 GB
✓ 1024 GB = 1 TB
✓ 1024 TB = 1 PT

Reliability: - The reliability of the computer is indeed very high. Modern electronic
components have long failure free lives. A microprocessor chip is said to have a life of 40
years even under adverse condition. Computer is also design so as to make maintenance
easy.

Data Base:- The use of computer facility in business organist ion facilitates
establishment of database. Database integrated data record and reduces data
redundancy.

Reduces in the Paper work:- Computer eliminates the paper work, it help the storage of
data in elaborately constructed database and files where they can be retrieved when
needed.

Reduces the Manpower :- The number of persons required for performing various
organizational activities will be reduced by using a computer a system.

Increased ability to perform computation:- The user of computer has helped

in performing computation with school.

Limitations of Computers

Computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without instruction

from the user. It possesses no intelligence of its own. 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.

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 The Application logic must be understood: - The computer can only process
jobs which can be expressed in a finite number steps. Each step must be clearly
defined. If the step in the solution can’t be precisely stated, the job can’t be
done.

Environment: - The environment for operating should be suitable to it.

No Felling: - 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.

Dependent on human felling

It requires a lot of looking offer.
It is very sensitive to dust particles even a small dust particles can make great
to it.

Computers Classifications

Computer can be classified in following four ways. These are as follows:-

1. Computer classification according to data representation techniques

according to these techniques, computer can be classified into their
type:-

Computers

Digital Analog Hybrid

Digital Computer:- Digital computer take input in the form of numbers, letter
and Special characters, store it and store it and process it and give the output
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in the form of numbers ,letter and special characters. Such computers process
data (including text, sound, graphics and video) into a digital value.

1 1 1
0 0 0
Digital Signal

Digital computers have the capabilities of adding multiplying and comparing. These
provide highly accurate result.

Example of Digital Computer: - Desk Calculators,

Analog computers: - These computers operate data presented to them in the

form of continuously variable quantities like temperature pressure, reductions
and the like. The representation of the flow of data is shown below:-

Analog Signal

Example of Analog Computer: - Speedometer, Voltmeter, Wall clock, Flight Simulators for
training pilots

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Hybrid Computer (Analog + Digital):- A hybrid computer is a combination of computers
that are capable of inputting and outputting in both digital and analog signals. They are
suitable where digital processing is necessary in respect of data collected in the analog
from both analog hybrid are spinal purpose computers.
Example of Hybrid Computer:- In a hospital institute care unit (ICU) measures a patient’s
heart function, temperature & other vital signs. These measurements are in analog from.
These measurements may then be converted into numbers (Digital From).

2. Classification of Computers According to purpose: - There are two types

of computers according to their purpose

COMPUTER

General Purpose Computers Specific Purpose Computers

General Purpose Computer: - Most computers in use today are General-Purpose

computers those built for a great variety of processing jobs. Simply by using a
general purpose computer and different software, various tasks can be
accomplished. Including writing and editing (word processing), manipulating
facts in a data base, tracking manufacturing inventory, making scientific
calculations, or even controlling organization’s security system, electricity
consumption, and building temperature.
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Example of General Purpose Computer:-computer used in school, college,
office & home.

Specific Purpose Computer:- These computers are designed to handle a

specific problem or to perform a single specific task. A set of instruction for the
specific task is built into the machine. Hence these computers are not versatile.
However, being designed for specific task, they can provide the result very
quickly and efficiently.
Example of Specific Computer: - computer used for airline reservation, air
traffic control, satellite tracking etc.

3. Classification of computer According to use: - According to use

computer can be classified into two type:-
a) Scientific Computers
b) Business Computers

Scientific Computer Business Computer

1. Fast internal processing speed. 1. Relatively slow in processing.

2. Slow input / output device. 2. Fast input / output device.
3. Suitable for mathematical 3. Suitable for jobs involving large input
/ output and few simple calculations
application solution of equations,
(survey data, insurance billing etc.
design of air craft engine, bridges,
building etc

4. Computer classification by capacity performance criteria by : - size

,cost, speed & memory
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 COMPUTER

MICRO MINI MAINFRAME SUPER

Desktop Laptop Palmtop

Micro Computers:-

A micro computer is small and low cost which usually consist of a

microprocessor, a storage unit a power supply ,appropriate
peripherals(keyboard, monitor, printer, disk drive etc) an operator system and
other software programs. The micro computer is generally the smallest of the
computer family.
They are mainly used for managing personal data of a small company or an
individual that’s why they are called Personal computer (PC).
The older pc started 8 bit processor with speed of 3.7MB and current pc 64 bit
processor with speed of 4.66 GB. Some common pc’s suppliers are – HP, Dell,
Compaq, HCL, IBM, Wipro etc.

These are very famous due to following reasons-

i. Useful
ii. Something for everyone
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 iii. Inexpensive
iv. Easy to use

Microcomputer can be classified into 3 types:

i. Desktop
ii. Laptop
iii. Palmtop

i. Desktop: - Desktop computers or Personal computer most used

computers in this world. They are placed on the top of desk. So they
are called desktop computers. A personal computer microcomputer
designed for use by one person at a time.
ii. Laptop Or Notebook: - These are so small that they can be placed on
your lap. They are portable computers and can be easily carried form
one place to another. Since the laptop computer resembles a notebook,
therefore they are also called notebook. The main advantage of this
computer is that one can use this computer anywhere and anytime.
These are expensive as compared to desktop computer

LAPTOP NOTEBOOK
iii. Palmtop Computer: - They are also called as personal Digital
Assistant (PDA). These computers are small in size. These computers
have capabilities of keeping track of appointment, meeting, call list,
short messaging services image & video capturing. These computers
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 are not as powerful as desktop computers. PDA users generally use a
pen or electronic styles instead of a keyboard.

PALMATOP COMPUTER

Mini Computer:- A minicomputer is a medium-sized computer. That is more

powerful than a microcomputer. These computers are usually designed to serve
multiple users system so these are used in interactive application in industry
research, organization, college, and universities. They are more expensive than
microcomputers.

MINI COMPUTER
Example of Mini Computer: - Digital Alpha, Sun Ultra

Mainframe Computer: - Computers with large storage capacities and very

high speed of processing (compared to mini- or microcomputers) are known as
mainframe computers. They support a large number of terminals for
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simultaneous use by a number of users like ATM transactions, banks flight
scheduling, ticket reservation and insurance companies where large number of
people need frequent access to the same data same time. They are also used as
central host computers in distributed data processing system.

MAINFRAME COMPUTER
Example of Mini Computer: - IBM 370, S/390.
Super Computer:- Super computers are the fastest, costing and most
powerfully computer available today. These contain multiple processer that
work together to solve a single problem at a time. The size of these computers
is hundreds of time bigger than a personal computer. Super computers are
designed to maximize the numbers of FLOPS (Floating point operation per
Second).

SUPER COMPUTER
Example of Mini Computer: - IBM Deep Blue
Super computer are primarily used in:-

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 ✓ Weather forecasting
✓ Petroleum exploration and production
✓ Remote sensing
✓ Nuclear reactions
✓ Defence
✓ Electronic design
✓ Chemical reaction
India first super computer is PARM.
ANURAG is another super computer produced in India and the latest one is
PARAM 10,000.

Elements of Computer System:-

A computer system consists of four elements as shown below-

✓ Hardware
✓ Software
✓ Users
✓ Data

Hardware:- Computer hardware is the physical parts or components of a

computer, such as the monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data storage, hard
disk drive (HDD), system unit (graphic cards, sound cards, memory,
motherboard and chips), and so on, all of which are physical objects that can
be touched.

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Software:- Software represents the set of programs Without software,
computers would be useless. For example, without your Internet browser
software you would be unable to surf the Internet or read this page and without
a software operating system the browser would not be able to run on your
computer

Users:- People are the computer operators, also known as users even if a
computer can do its job without a person, people still design , build, program
computer system.

Data: - Data consists of text, numbers, sound and image that the computer can
manipulate.

➢ What are Storage devices?

Storage Devices are the data storage devices that are used in the computers to store the
data. The computer has many types of data storage devices. Some of them can be

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classified as the removable data Storage Devices and the others as the non removable
data Storage Devices.

Alternatively referred to as digital storage, storage, storage media, or storage medium,

a storage device is any hardware capable of holding information on a computer. The
storage device may hold, or save, the information temporarily or permanently.

There are two types of storage devices used in computers: a primary storage device, such
as RAM, and a secondary storage device, like a hard drive. Secondary storage can be
removable, internal, or external storage. The picture shows an example of a Drobo, an
external secondary storage device.

Without a storage device, your computer would not be able to save any settings or
information and would be considered a dumb terminal.

The primary memory is the volatile memory and the secondary memory is the non volatile
memory. The volatile memory is the kind of the memory that is erasable and the non
volatile memory is the one where in the contents cannot be erased. Basically when we talk
about the data storage devices it is generally assumed to be the secondary memory.

The secondary memory is used to store the data permanently in the computer. The
secondary storage devices are usually as follows: hard disk drives – this is the most
common type of storage device that is used in almost all the computer systems. The other
ones include the floppy disk drives, the CD ROM, and the DVD ROM. The flash memory,
the USB data card etc.

Difference between RAM & ROM:-

Read-only memory, or ROM, is a form of data storage in computers and other electronic
devices that can not be easily altered or reprogrammed. RAM is referred to as volatile
memory and is lost when the power is turned off whereas ROM in non-volatile and the
contents are retained even after the power is switched off.

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Random-access memory, or RAM, is a form of data storage that can be accessed
randomly at any time, in any order and from any physical location in contrast to other
storage devices, such as hard drives, where the physical location of the data determines
the time taken to retrieve it. RAM is measured in megabytes and the speed is measured in
nanoseconds and RAM chips can read data faster than ROM.

Comparison chart
RAM ROM
Read-only memory or ROM is also a form
Random Access Memory or RAM is a
of data storage that can not be easily
form of data storage that can be
altered or reprogrammed. Stores
accessed randomly at any time, in any
Definition instructions that are not necessary for re-
order and from any physical location.,
booting up to make the computer operate
allowing quick access and
when it is switched off. They are
manipulation.
hardwired.

Stands
Random Access Memory Read-only memory
for

RAM allows the computer to read data ROM stores the program required to
Use quickly to run applications. It allows initially boot the computer. It only allows
reading and writing. reading.

It is non-volatile i.e. its contents are

RAM is volatile i.e. its contents are lost
Volatility retained even when the device is powered
when the device is powered off.
off.

The two main types of RAM are static The types of ROM include PROM, EPROM
Types
RAM and dynamic RAM. and EEPROM.

Various Forms of Storage Devices:-

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 1. Floppy discs:-
A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible floppy)
magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks
are read and written by a floppy disk drive.

Application:

Any use where small files such as word processing, small spreadsheets and databases need
to be moved from one computer to another. Useful to backup small data files.

2. Fixed Hard Discs:-

A hard disk drive is the device used to store large amounts of digital information in
computers and related equipment like iPods and games consoles such as the Xbox 360 and
PS3.

Hard disk drives are used to store operating systems, software and working data.
These are suitable for any application which requires very fast access to data for both
reading and writing to. However, Hard disk drives may not be suitable for applications
which need portability.

Almost all computers used a fixed hard disc. Used for on-line and real time processes
requiring direct access. Used in file servers for computer networks to store large amount
of data.

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 3. Portable Hard Discs:-
Portable hard discs are good fun because you can carry data about all over the place and
transfer information, programs, pictures, etc between computers.

Advantages:

• Greatly improved data cargo carrying capacity (relative to the 1.44 Mb floppy discs).
• You don't need to worry about the other person having the same type of special
cartridge drive as yourself.

Disadvantages:

• Hard drives have to be handled quite carefully, and when being transported should
be wrapped in something soft and put in a padded bag.
• More expensive than other forms of removable media.

Application:

Portable disc discs are used to store very large files which need transporting from one
computer to another and price is not an issue.

4. Magnetic Tapes:-
Magnetic tape has been used for data storage for over 50 years. When storing large
amounts of data, tape can be substantially less expensive than disk or other data storage
options. Tape storage has always been used with large computer systems. Modern usage
is primarily as a high capacity medium for backups and archives.

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Drawbacks:

Writing and retrieving data is slow. It uses serial access for reading and writing.

Application

Magnetic tapes are used for application which requires extremely large storage capacity
where speed of access is not an issue.

It is commonly used for backups of file servers for computer networks, in a variety of batch
processing applications such as reading of bank cheques, payroll processing and general
stock control.

5. Optical backing storage media such as CDs and DVDs:-

• CDs tend to be used for large files (but smaller than 1Gb) which are too big for a
floppy disc to hold such as music and general animation.
• DVDs are used to hold very large files (several Gb) such as movie films. Both CDs
and DVDs are portable i.e. they can be transported from one computer to another.
Both can be used to store computer data.
• CD ROM/DVD ROM Applications which require the prevention of deletion of data,
accidental or otherwise. CDs used by software companies for distributing software
programs and data; by Music companies for distributing music albums and by book
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 publishers for distributing encyclopedias, reference books etc. DVDs used by film
distributors.
• CD R/DVD R Applications which require a single ‘burning’ of data, e.g. CDs -
recording of music downloads from the Internet, recording of music from MP3
format, recording of data for archiving or backup purposes. DVDs – recording of film
movies and television programs.
• CD RW/DVD RW Applications which require the updating of information and ability
to record over old data. Not suitable for music recording but is very useful for
keeping generations of files. DVDs have between five and ten times the capacity of
CDs.

Solid state backing storage :

• These are the smallest form of memory available in the market today.
• Widely used as removable storage.
• They are more robust than other forms of storage.
• Though expensive than other forms they can be easily written to and updated.

6. Memory sticks/Pen drives:-

USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, much smaller than a floppy disk.
Storage capacities typically range from 64 MB to 64 GB. USB flash drives offer potential
advantages over other portable storage devices, particularly the floppy disk.

They have a more compact shape, operate faster, hold much more data, have a more
durable design, and operate more reliably due to their lack of moving parts. Flash drives
are widely used to transport files and backup data from computer to computer.

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 7. Flash memory cards:-

A memory card or flash memory card is a solid-state electronic flash memory data storage
device used with digital cameras, handheld and Mobile computers, telephones, music
players, video game consoles, and other electronics.
Nowadays, most new PCs have built-in slots for a variety of memory cards; Memory Stick,
Compact Flash, SD, etc. Some digital gadgets support more than one memory card to
ensure compatibility.

➢ Visual Display Unit:

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VDU stands for "Visual Display Unit." A VDU displays images generated by a
computer or other electronic device. The term VDU is often used synonymously
with "monitor," but it can also refer to another type of display, such as a digital
projector. Visual display units may be peripheral devices or may be integrated
with the other components. For example, the Apple iMac uses an all-in-one
design, in which the screen and computer are built into a single unit.

Early VDUs were primarily cathode ray tube (CRT) displays and typically had a
diagonal size of 13 inches or less. During the 1990s, 15" and 17" displays
became standard, and some manufacturers began producing displays over 20"
in size. At the turn of the century, flat panel displays became more common,
and by 2006, CRT displays were hard to find.

Today, it is common for computers to come with VDUs that are 20" to 30" in
size. Thanks to the recent growth in LCD, plasma, and LED technology,
manufacturing large screens is much more cost effective than before.

➢ DAT (Digital Audio Tape)

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DAT (Digital Audio Tape) is a standard medium and technology for the
digital recording of audio on tape at a professional level of quality. A DAT drive
is a digital tape recorder with rotating heads similar to those found in a video
deck. Most DAT drives can record at sample rates of 44.1 kHz, the CD audio
standard, and 48 kHz. DAT has become the standard archiving technology in
professional and semi-professional recording environments for master
recordings. Digital inputs and outputs on professional DAT decks allow the user
to transfer recordings from the DAT tape to an audio workstation for precise
editing. The compact size and low cost of the DAT medium makes it an
excellent way to compile the recordings that are going to be used to create a
CD master.

As an archiving medium, DAT is an alternative to consider along with:

• Digital Data Storage (DDS1 through DDS3)

• Optical disc
• VHS tape

Uses of DAT:-
Professional recording industry

DAT was used professionally in the 1990s by the professional audio recording
industry as part of an emerging all-digital production chain also including
digital multi-track recorders and digital mixing consoles that was used to
create a fully digital recording.
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Pre-recorded DAT

Several albums from multiple record labels were also released as pre-recorded
DAT tapes in the first few years of the format's existence, in small quantities as
well.

Amateur and home use

DAT was envisaged by proponents as the successor format to analogue audio

cassettes in the way that the compact disc was the successor to vinyl-based
recordings. It sold well in Japan, where high-end consumer audio stores
stocked DAT recorders and tapes into the 2010s and second-hand stores
generally continued to offer a wide selection of mint condition machines. DAT
recorders proved to be comparatively expensive and few commercial
recordings were available.

Computer data storage medium

The format was designed for audio use, but through the ISO Digital Data
Storage standard was adopted for general data storage, storing from 1.3 to 80
GB on a 60 to 180 meter tape depending on the standard and compression. It
is a sequential-access medium and is commonly used for backups. Due to the
higher requirements for capacity and integrity in data backups, a computer-
grade DAT was introduced, called DDS (Digital Data Storage).

➢ Directory

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(1) An organizational unit, or container, used to organize folders and files into
a hierarchical structure. Directories contain bookkeeping information about
files that are, figuratively speaking, beneath them in the hierarchy. You can
think of a directory as a file cabinet that contains folders that contain files.
Many graphical user interfaces use the term folder instead of directory.

Computer manuals often describe directories and file structures in terms of an

inverted tree. The files and directories at any level are contained in the
directory above them. To access a file, you may need to specify the names of
all the directories above it. You do this by specifying a path.

The topmost directory in any file is called the root directory. A directory that is
below another directory is called a subdirectory. A directory above a
subdirectory is called the parent directory. Under DOS and Windows, the root
directory is a back slash (\).

To read information from, or write information into, a directory, you must use
an operating system command. You cannot directly edit directory files. For
example, the DIR command in DOSreads a directory file and displays its
contents.

(2) In networks, a database of network resources, such as e-mail addresses.

See under directory service.

Disc Concepts
➢ Disk Formatting
Hard disks, the primary storage devices on your computer, need to be
formatted before you can use them. When you format a disk, you configure it
with a file system so that Windows can store information on the disk. Hard
disks in new computers running Windows are already formatted. If you buy an

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additional hard disk to expand the storage of your computer, you might need
to format it.

Storage devices such as USB flash drives and flash memory cards usually come
preformatted by the manufacturer, so you probably won't need to format
them. CDs and DVDs, on the other hand, use different formats from hard disks
and removable storage devices. For information about formatting CDs and
DVDs, see Which CD or DVD format should I use?

Disk formatting process

Formatting a disk for use by an operating system and its applications typically
involves three different processes.[NB 3]

1. Low-level formatting (i.e., closest to the hardware) marks the surfaces of

the disks with markers indicating the start of a recording block (typically
today called sector markers) and other information like block CRC to be
used later, in normal operations, by the disk controller to read or write
data. This is intended to be the permanent foundation of the disk, and is
often completed at the factory.
2. Partitioning divides a disk into one or more regions, writing data
structures to the disk to indicate the beginning and end of the regions.
This level of formatting often includes checking for defective tracks or
defective sectors.
3. High-level formatting creates the file system format within a disk
partition or a logical volume. This formatting includes the data structures
used by the OS to identify the logical drive or partition's contents. This
may occur during operating system installation, or when adding a new
disk. Disk and distributed file system may specify an optional boot block,
and/or various volume and directory information for the operating
system.

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 ➢ Disk Booting
A boot disk is a removable digital data storage medium from which a computer
can load and run (boot) an operating system or utility program. The computer
must have a built-in program which will load and execute a program from a
boot disk meeting certain standards.

A boot disk (sometimes called a startup disk) was a type of removable media,
such as a floppy disk, CD, or DVD, that contained Windows startup files that
your computer could use to start Windows if the Windows system files on the
hard disk became damaged or unusable.

Boot disks are used for:

• Operating system installation

• Data recovery
• Data purging
• Hardware or software troubleshooting
• BIOS flashing
• Customizing an operating environment
• Software demonstration
• Administrative access in case of lost password is possible with an
appropriate boot disk with some operating systems
• Games (e.g. for Amiga home computers)

While almost all modern computers can boot from a hard drive containing the
operating system and other software, they would not normally be called boot
disks. CD-ROMs are the most common forms of media used, but other media,
such as magnetic or paper tape drives, zip drives, and more recently USB flash
drives can be used. The computer's BIOS must support booting from the device
in question.

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 ➢ Disk partitioning
Disk partitioning is used to mean the partitioning or division of certain kinds
of secondary storage (such as hard disk drives (HDDs)), via the creation of
multiple partitions. Partitions are[2][3] logical containers which are usually used
to house filesystems, where operating systems, applications, and data are
installed on. A single partition may span the entirety of a physical storage
device.

A partition editor software program can be used to create, resize, delete, and
manipulate these partitions on the HDD. A partition on a traditional
mechanical hard drive consists of a range of cylinders of HDD—i.e. each
partition is defined by both a start and end cylinder (the size of cylinders
varying from disk to disk).

Benefits of multiple partitions:

Logical partitions require extended partitions. In Windows, extended partitions

can be used to create many logical partitions.
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Creating more than one partition has the following advantages:

• Having a separate area for operating system virtual memory

swapping/paging.
• Keeping frequently used programs and data near each other.
• Having cache and log files separate from other files. These can change
size dynamically and rapidly, potentially making a file system full.
• Use of multi-boot setups, which allow users to have more than one
operating system on a single computer. For example, one could install
Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows or other operating systems on
different partitions of the same HDD and have a choice of booting into
any compatible operating system at power-up.
• Separation of the operating system (OS) and program files from user files.
This allows image backups (or clones) to be made of only the operating
system and installed software.
• Protecting or isolating files, to make it easier to recover a corrupted file
system or operating system installation. If one partition is corrupted,
other file systems may not be affected.
• Raising overall computer
• "Short stroking", which aims to minimize performance-eating head
repositioning delays by reducing the number of tracks used per HDD.
• Partitioning for significantly less than the full size available when disk
space is not needed can reduce the time for diagnostic tools such as check
disk to run or for full image backups to run.

Disadvantages of multiple partitions:

Creating more than one partition has the following disadvantages, as
compared to having a single partition spanning the same disk area:

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 • Reduces the total space available for user storage on the disk, as it forces
the operating system to duplicate certain file system administration
areas on the disk for each partition.
• Reduces overall disk performance.
• Increases disk fragmentation because it lowers the average size of
contiguous free blocks on each partition – as compared to a single
partition of the same overall size – after the same amount of data has
been written to them.
• May prevent using the whole disk capacity, because it may break free
capacities apart.
• Hurts portability and might impose constraints on how entities might be
linked together inside the file system.
• Moving files across volumes will require actual copying (of bytes),
whereas moving files within a volume generally requires only the "meta-
data" to be updated.

Data Communications Equipment (DCE) :

Data Communications Equipment (DCE) can be classified as equipment that

transmits or receives analogue or digital signals through a network. DCE works
at the physical layer of the OSI model taking data generated by Data Terminal
Equipment (DTE) and converting it into a signal that can then be transmitted
over a communications link. A common DCE example is a modem which works
as a translator of digital and analogue signals.

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DCE may also be responsible for providing timing over a serial link. In a complex
network which uses directly connected routers to provide serial links, one serial
interface of each connection must be configured with a clock rate to provide
synchronization.

Other common DCE examples include:

• ISDN adapters
• Satellites (including base stations)
• Microwave stations
• NIC (network interface cards)

DCE is sometimes said to stand for Data Circuit-terminating Equipment.

DBMS
Data: - Data is a collection of facts in row form that become information after
people processing. Data is represented with the help of characters like-
alphabets (A-Z, a) digits (0-9) or special characters (+, - , @, #, &) etc.

Information: - Processed data useful output- the result of data processing

which can be used to help the individuals to make decisions.
Data Processing:- It is a series of actions & operations that convert input into
output.

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Field/Data element/ item: - A meaningful collection of related character like
name of a student in a class is represented by data item – Name
Record:- A meaningful collection of related fields.
A payroll record for an employee contains such data fields as –name, age,
qualification, sex, basic pay etc.
File:- A meaningful collection of related records.
Roll no. Name Marks Data item
1001 Anil 76
1002 Rita 80
1003 Aman 90 Record

Database:- A collection of data file integrated & organized into a single

comprehensive file system to minimize duplication of data to provide convenient
access to information within that system to satisfy a wide variety of user needs.

DBMS:- A collection of programs required to store & retrieve the data from
a database.

Examples of Data & Information:-

Marks obtained in different subjects in a particular examination of a student
act as data by processing this data, result may be obtained. The result is the
information, teacher user to declare a student pass or fail.

Characteristics of Information:-
1. Timeline – Means that information should be made available when it is
needed for a particular purpose not behavior of an event as it really is.

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 2. Accuracy:- Information if it is to be of value, should be accurate should
truly reflect the situation or behavior of an event as it really is.
3. Completeness:- Information is considered as complete if it tells its users
all what he wishes to know about a particular situation/ problem. The
more the completeness of information the higher is its value.
4. From:- Information is of value if it is provided to the user in the form it is
useful best understood by it.
5. Reliability: - The information should be reliable.
6. Relevance:- It refers to current utility of information in decision making
or problem solving. Thus in gains in value inf” it is relevant.
7. Purpose:- Information must have purpose at the time it is transmitted to
a person or machine otherwise it is simply data.
8. Validity: - it measures the closeness of information to the purpose.

The need of Information:-

1. Information is useful for making decisions.
2. Information helps managers or users in lowering the level of uncertainties
where they have to make a choice among several available alternatives.
3. Information helps the users in tackling problem relating to their
respective functional area.
4. Information is used by management to plan the objective of organization.

Traditional File Processing system:- In early days, data was stored in files.
For an application multiple files are required. Evan file store maintains its own
related data.
Example:- A student inf” system will include file student profile student fees
programs are dependent on the file & vice versa. When the physical format of
file is changed the program has also to be changed.
Disadvantages:-
Duplicate Data:- in file PS, separate file are used for different ape which lead
to unnecessary repetition of data . This unnecessary repetition of data is known
as Redundancy.
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File Student profile
Student id Student Study course Student Student
name address age
A001 Mona Comp sci. Delhi 18
A002 Nisha Physics Noida 18

Data inconsistency:- In FPS, data is not consistent if a data item to be changed

then all the fees containing that all the files must not be supported causing
inconsistence.
The files can be accessed concurrently by multiple users uncontrolled
concurrent update data in a file at same time.
Poor Data Security:- Data is stored in different files causing security problem.

Objectives / Characteristics/ Advantage of Database

Approach:-
Minimal Redundancy:- in files system each application has its own private
files. This can lead to considerable redundancy in store data with resultant
waste in storage data.
Example:- A personal appe” & an education record app” may each own
containing department inf” for employees. These 2 files can e integrated &
redundancy eliminated if the DBA is aware of the data requirements for both
applications. Database system keeps data at place in database.

Data inconsistency is reduced:- Minimizing data redundancy using database

system reduces data in consists too. Updating of data values becomes simple &
there is no agreement in stored values.

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Data is shared:- Means sharing the same data among more than one user can
access to the same data though they may use it for different location and
different computer. The database is designed to support-2 shared data.
Authorized users are permitted to use the data from database.

Integrity: - Integrity of data means that data in database is always accurate,

such that incorrect information cannot be stored in database. In order to
maintain the integrity of data, some integrity constraints are enforced on the
database. A DBMS should provide capabilities for defining and enforcing the
constraints.
Example: Let us consider the case of college database and suppose that college
having only B Tech, M Tech, M.Sc., BCA, BBA and BCOM classes.
Privacy as Security: - Data in database must be kept secrets & private data
security refers to protection of data against accident or intention discloser to
unauthorized or unauthorized modifications.
The database is kept secure by limiting access to the database by authorize
personnel. Authorized users are generally retired to the particular data they
can access & whether they can update it or not. Access is often controlled by
passwords.

The following requirement is essential for data base security-

- The data should be protected from the fire, theft or other form of
destruction.
- Data should be reconstructed able.
- Users of data base must be positively identifying before they can use it
- The sys. Must be able to check that user’s actions are authorized.
- User’s action should be monitored so that if they do something wrongs
they are likely to be found.

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Backup and Recovery: A DBMS must provide facilities for recovering from
hardware or software failures. The backup and recovery subsystem of the
DBMS is responsible for recovery.
Example:- if the computer system fails in the middle of a complex update
program, the recovery subsystem is responsible for making sure that the
.database is restored to the state it was in before the program started executing.
Standards can be enforced:-Since DBMS is a central system, so standard can
be enforced easily may be at Company level, Department level, National level
or International level. The standardized data is very helpful during migration
or interchanging of data. The file system is an independent system so standard
cannot be easily enforced on multiple independent applications.
Data Migration:-Some data are referred very frequently & other only
occasionally. It is desirable to store the frequently reference data in a tape &
frequently accessed data may be store on disk or drum.
Simplicity: - Its means that database is used to represent the overall logical
view in a simple & neat fashion.
In many system pointers are used in logical representation to show relationship
between data in logical pointers is that as more & more relationships are
added, the overall collection of pointers become highly & it difficult to
represent.

Data Approach: - Database provides solutions for handling the problem of file
system. In database approach, data is defined & stored centrally.
Definition of Database: - The major components of database are:-
Data:-A database is both integrated & shared. By integrated we mean the
several distinct data files are unified in a manner that redundancy among these
data files is wholly or partially eliminated.
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Example: - A database may contain files for – Student Profile having student
name, course etc. marks file having the marks of student in various subjects.
To prepare a report card, there is a need to get complete student profile along
with the marks obtained in each subject.
By shared means that the data stored in database can be shared by multiple
users such that each users has access to the some data, which the users could
use for diff. purpose
Example:- Data for course enrolled in student profile file is shared by ncc &
the library dep. Both use the same data for different purpose.
Hardware:-It is physical device on which database system resides. Hardware
consists of secondary storage volumes- disks, drums, magnetic disk drivers, I/O
device controller, printers, connecting cable etc.
Software: - Between the hardware and the users there is a layer of software
usually called the database management system or DBM. All requests from
users for access to the database are handled by the DBMS.
Database Users:- There are three classes of users.

Application Programmer End Users DMA

Application Programmer: - Professional programmers are those who are
responsible for developing application programs or user interface. The
application programs could be written using general purpose programming
language or the commands available to manipulate a database.
End User:- Used for accessing the database from a terminal used these are of
two type:-
Casual Users:- Are trained in the use of the on the on line query language and
access data by entering queries at terminals.

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Navie Users: - Access data through appl” programs that have been written for
them. They don’t need to know any detail of the structure or language of the
database system.

Database administrator: - Data is a person or group of person responsible for

overall control of database. The administrator needs both technical and
managerial skills key functions of a database administrator are:-
❖ Interaction with users & all levels of management.
❖ \design & coordination of data security measure to restrict unauthorized
access.
❖ Responsibility and control over all database documentation

Some of the main Activities of DBA are following:-

1. Deciding the information contents of database system: - It is the DBA who
decides information contents of database system DBA decides field, type
of field and range of values that can be stored in field. In other words,
DBA decides schema of database(schema is the structure of database
files)
2. Deciding hardware device to be used:- It is a database administrator job
to decide which hardware device will be most suitable for current
database applications.
3. Deciding the users & data to be used by users: - it is the DBA who decide
users of the database system. DBA also decides which information
contents are to be used by any particular users.
4. Decides the backup and recovery method:- To avoid accidental loss of
data backup of the data is maintained on regular intervals. It is the DBA
who decides which data is to be backed up and when. If data is loosed
then it is the DBA how to recover data from the existing backup.
5. Deciding the validation check on the data:- it is the DBA who decides
which check are to be maintained on existing data in database system.
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 6. Deciding database dictionary & user’s manual:- It is the responding of
DBA to design database dictionary or user’s manual which gives
standardized procedures for access to database.
7. Monitoring Performance & responding to changing requirements: - The
DBA is responsible for organizing the system as to get the performance
that is “best for the enterprise and for making.

DBMS and its Functions: -

A DBMS performs several important functions that guarantee integrity and
consistency of data in the database. Most of these functions are transparent to
end-users. There are the following important functions and services provided
by a DBMS:

Function of DBMS:-
Data Definition: - The DBMS accepts the data definitions such as external
schema, the conceptual schema, the internal schema, and all the associated
mappings in source form. In other words DBMS must include language
processor, component for each of the various data definition language (DDL).
Data manipulation: - DBMS must include a DML processor component. The
DBMS me be able to handle request from the users to see, retrieve update,
delete or add the new records to the database.
Data Security & Integrity: - DBMS must monitor users request & reject any
attempt to update the security & integrity rules define by the DBA.

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Data recovery & concurrency: - DBMS must enforce certain recovery &
concurrency control.
Data Dictionary: - DBMS must provide a data dictionary function. The
dictionary contains data about the data rather than just raw data. Data
dictionary contains the information about entries attributes.

Components of DBMS:-
1. Data Definition Language (DDL) compiler: - DDL compiler takes the
data definition statement that is in the source from & convert them the
object from.
2. Data manager: - The data manager is the central software component of
the DBMS. It is sometimes referred to as the database control system. One
of the functions of the data manager is to convert operations in the user's
queries coming directly via the query processor or\ indirectly via an
application program from the user's logical view to a physical file system.
The data manager is responsible for interfacing with the file system as
show. Manager to provide the synchronization in the simultaneous
operations performed by concurrent users and to maintain the backup and
recovery operations.
3. File manager: - File manager takes care of structure of the files&
managers the file space.
4. Disk Manager: - The disk manager is part of the operating system of the
host computer and all physical input and output operations are performed
by it. The disk manager transfers the block or page requested by the file
manager so that the latter need not be concerned with the physical
characteristics of the underlying storage media.
5. Data files: - It contains the data portion of the database.
6. Query Processor: - It is used to the online users query and converts it into
efficient series of operation in from capable of being sent to the data
manager for execution. It uses data dictionary.
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 7. Data Dictionary: - DBMS must provide a data dictionary function. The
dictionary contains data about the data. Rather than just raw data D.D
contains

Architecture of DBMS:- The Architecture of a database system provides a

general framework for database system. He architecture for database system is
proposed by ANSI/ SPARC study group & is called ANSI / SPARC architecture.
ANSI (American national standards institute) or SPARC (Standard planning
and requirement committee).

The DBMS architecture is divided into their level:-

❖ External level (view level)
❖ Conceptual level (Global level)
❖ Internal level ( Physical level)
Internal level (physical level):- it is concerned with the way in which the data
is actually stored. The internal level schema describes the physical storage
structure of the database. It is concerned about how data is stored physically.
It describe the organization of files, the access path to the database etc.
External level (view Level):- It is the users' view of the database. This level
describes that part of the database that is relevant to each user. External
level is the one which is closest to the end users. This level deals with the
way in which individual users vie\v data. Individual users are given different
views according to the user's requirement.
Conceptual level: - It is the users' view of the database. This level describes
that part of the database that is relevant to each user. External level is the
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 one which is closest to the end users. This level deals with the way in which
individual users vie\v data. Individual users are given different views
according to the user's requirement.
There level are
External view-1 External view-2 External view- 3 Externalview-4

External External External External Conceptual

mapping-1 Conceptual mapping-2 Conceptual mapping-3 Conceptual mapping-4

Conceptual View
DBMS
Conceptual / Internal mapping

“Mapping” is the process of transforming request

Internal view result bet levels.
(storage
view)
Two types of mapping with different views-
A. External / conceptual mapping:- it defines the correspondence between a
particular external view and the conceptual view. The user sees and
manipulates a record corresponding to the external view.
B. Conceptual/ internal Mapping: - It defines the correspondence between
the conceptual view and the store database. It specifies how conceptual
records and fields are represented at the internal level.

DBMS:-

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 A collection of interrelated data. This part of DBMS is usually referred to
as the database.
A set of application program used to access, update and manage that data.
This portions’ from the Data Management system. The interrelated set
of data that forms the database needs to be stored & managed. So that the
database can be accessed for the retrieval of data for insertion, deletion
& update of data.
DBMS handles all access to the database & manages the database
managing the database implies that it provides a convenient environment
to the users perform operation on the database for creation, insertion,
deletion, updating & retrieval of data. DBMS defines the use of database.
This keeps data secure from unauthorized access.

Function of DBMS, Architecture

Mapping – It is a term used for transforming requests & he results
between different levels of DBMS architecture.

Example of DBMS is – oracle, Microsoft access.

File Oriented system versus Database system:-

Data Independence:- It is the ability to use the database without knowing the
representation detail.
It is defined as capacity to change the schema at one level of database system
in such a way that the schema at next higher level needs not to be changed
Reasons for data independence as follows:-

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✓ To allow the DBMS is changes in the content, location, representation,
organization of a database without causing reprogramming of ‘appl”
programs which use the database.

A. Logical Data Independence:- Means that the overall logical structure of

data may be changed without changing the application program. Changes
include – Adding a record, adding a data item, updating constraints etc.
B. Physical data independence:- Means that the physical layout &
organization of data may be changed without changing either the overall
logical structure of data or the “apl” programs.
The concept of data of data independence languages, where the interface
is presented to user & the implementation (representation) details are
hidden.
C. Data redundancy:- In non- database system, each application has its own
private files. Due to decentralization of the data, the file oriented system
leads to uncontrolled duplication of data. This can lead to redundancy in
stored data, which result in the wastage of storage location with
controlled redundancy under DBMS, which saves space, this eliminations
redundancy don’t inconsistency.
D. Data integrity:- it describes the problem of ensuring that the data in the
database is accurate. Integrity constraints can be viewed as a set of
assertions to be obeyed when updating a database to preserve an error-
free skate. Even if redundancy is eliminated, the database may still I
contains incorrect data. Integrity checks which are important are check
on data item records types.

Disadvantages of Database/ DBMS:-

1. High cost of DBMS:- A significant disadv of DBMS system is cost
because a complete DBMS is very large sophisticated piece of
software, it is expensive to purchase.

46
 2. High hardware cost:-Additional memory and processing power may be
required to run the DBMS, resulting in the need to upgrade the
hardware.
3. High programming cost:- Because a DBMS is a comples tool with
many feature, it requires experienced programmers resulting in extra
payment for their hire and expertise.
4. Backup & recovery are more difficult:- Determining the exact sate of
database at the time of failure may be a problem. It may be even more
difficult to determine what should be done next. Even the failure of just
one “apl” program may pose serious problem
5. Complex :- Database processing tends to complex, large amounts of
data in many different formats can be interrelated in the database. Both
the database system the application program must be able to process
this structure.
6. High conversion cost:- which an organization converts to a database
system, data has be removed from files and loaded into the database
which may be difficult and time consuming process.
7. Data integrity:- A failure in one component of an integrated system can
stop the entire system.

What is RDBMS?
RDBMS stands for Relational Database Management System. RDBMS data is structured
in database tables, fields and records. Each RDBMS table consists of database table rows.
Each database table row consists of one or more database table fields. RDBMS store the
data into collection of tables, which might be related by common fields (database table
columns). RDBMS also provide relational operators to manipulate the data stored into the
database tables. Most RDBMS use SQL as database query language. Edgar Codd
introduced the relational database model. Many modern DBMS do not conform to the
Codd’s definition of a RDBMS, but nonetheless they are still considered to be RDBMS.

The most popular RDBMS are MS SQL Server, DB2, Oracle and MySQL.

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What is NULL value?

A NULL value in a table is a value in a field that appears to be blank, which means a field
with a NULL value is a field with no value. It is very important to understand that a NULL
value is different than a zero value or a field that contains spaces. A field with a NULL value
is one that has been left blank during record creation.

SQL Constraints:

Constraints are the rules enforced on data columns on table. These are used to limit the
type of data that can go into a table. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data
in the database.

Constraints could be column level or table level. Column level constraints are applied only
to one column where as table level constraints are applied to the whole table.

Following are commonly used constraints available in SQL:

• NOT NULL Constraint: Ensures that a column cannot have NULL value.
• DEFAULT Constraint: Provides a default value for a column when none is specified.
• UNIQUE Constraint: Ensures that all values in a column are different.
• PRIMARY Key: Uniquely identified each rows/records in a database table.
• FOREIGN Key: Uniquely identified a rows/records in any another database table.
• CHECK Constraint: The CHECK constraint ensures that all values in a column satisfy
certain conditions.
• INDEX: Use to create and retrieve data from the database very quickly.

Data Integrity:

The following categories of the data integrity exist with each RDBMS:

• Entity Integrity: There are no duplicate rows in a table.

• Domain Integrity: Enforces valid entries for a given column by restricting the type,
the format, or the range of values.
• Referential integrity: Rows cannot be deleted, which are used by other records.
• User-Defined Integrity: Enforces some specific business rules that do not fall into
entity, domain or referential integrity.

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Database Normalization

Database normalization is the process of efficiently organizing data in a database. There

are two reasons of the normalization process:

• Eliminating redundant data, for example, storing the same data in more than one
tables.
• Ensuring data dependencies make sense.

Both of these are worthy goals as they reduce the amount of space a database consumes
and ensure that data is logically stored. Normalization consists of a series of guidelines
that help guide you in creating a good database structure.

Normalization guidelines are divided into normal forms; think of form as the format or the
way a database structure is laid out. The aim of normal forms is to organize the database
structure so that it complies with the rules of first normal form, then second normal form,
and finally third normal form.

It's your choice to take it further and go to fourth normal form, fifth normal form, and so
on, but generally speaking, third normal form is enough.

• First Normal Form (1NF)

• Second Normal Form (2NF)
• Third Normal Form (3NF)

ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning:-

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business management software—typically a suite
of integrated applications—that a company can use to collect, store, manage and
interpret data from many business activities, including:

• Product planning, cost

• Manufacturing or service delivery
• Marketing and sales
• Inventory management
• Shipping and payment

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ERP provides an integrated view of core business processes, often in real-time, using
common databases maintained by a database management system. ERP systems track
business resources—cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business
commitments: orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the
system share data across the various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales,
accounting, etc.) that provide the data. ERP facilitates information flow between all
business functions, and manages connections to outside stakeholders.

Software
The term 'software' refers to the set of electronic program instructions or data a computer
processor reads in order to perform a task or operation. In contrast, the term 'hardware'
refers to the physical components that you can see and touch, such as the computer hard
drive, mouse, and keyboard.

Software means computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically
is software, in contrast to storage devices and display devices which are called hardware.

50
The Difference between Software and Hardware

The terms software and hardware are used as both nouns and adjectives. For example, you
can say: "The problem lies in the software," meaning that there is a problem with the
program or data, not with the computer itself. You can also say: "It is a software problem."

The distinction between software and hardware is sometimes confusing because they are
so integrally linked. Clearly, when you purchase a program, you are buying software. But
to buy the software, you need to buy the disk (hardware) on which the software is recorded.

Software can be categorized according to what it is designed to accomplish. There are two
main types of software: systems software and application software.

Systems Software

Systems software includes the programs that are dedicated to managing the computer
itself, such as the operating system, file management utilities, and disk operating system
(or DOS). The operating system manages the computer hardware resources in addition to
applications and data. Without systems software installed in our computers we would have
to type the instructions for everything we wanted the computer to do!

Applications Software

Application software, or simply applications, are often called productivity programs or

end-user programs because they enable the user to complete tasks such as creating
documents, spreadsheets, databases, and publications, doing online research, sending
email, designing graphics, running businesses, and even playing games! Application
software is specific to the task it is designed for and can be as simple as a calculator
application or as complex as a word processing application. When you begin creating a
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document, the word processing software has already set the margins, font style and size,
and the line spacing for you. But you can change these settings, and you have many more
formatting options available. For example, the word processor application makes it easy to
add color, headings, and pictures or delete, copy, move, and change the document's
appearance to suit your needs.

Microsoft Word is a popular word-processing application that is included in the software

suite of applications called Microsoft Office. A software suite is a group of software
applications with related functionality. For example, office software suites might include
word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and email applications. Graphics
suites such as Adobe Creative Suite include applications for creating and editing images,
while Sony Audio Master Suite is used for audio production.

A Web browser, or simply browser, is an application specifically designed to locate,

retrieve, and display content found on the Internet. By clicking a hyperlink or by typing
the URL of a website, the user is able to view Web sites consisting of one or more Web
pages. Browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari
are just a few of the many available to choose from.

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UNIT-2

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UNIT-III

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 Topic Page No.

1. Single User & Multi User 3-5

• Single user Operating System 3
• Multi User operating System 4
• Comparison between Single & Multi user 5

2. Workstation 6

3. Client Server Model 7-8

4. Computer Network 9-16

Types of Network
• LAN 12
• MAN 13
• WAN 13-14
• PAN 14
• CAN 15
• SAN 15
• VPN 16
• EPN 16

5. Network Protocol 17

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 6. Network Topology 18-26
Types of Network Topology
• Bus Topology 19-20
• Star Topology 20-21
• Ring Topology 22-23
• Mesh Topology 23-24
• Tree Topology 24-25
• Hybrid Topology 25-26

Single User & Multi User

Operating System is system software. This is software acts as an interface between the user
and the computer. It also controls and coordinates different operations of computer. These
operating systems are categorized of basis of users and their tasks.

Single user operating systems:-

A single-user operating system is a system in which only one user can access the computer
system at a time. On the other hand, a multi-user operating system allows more than one
user to access a computer system at one time. Single user operating systems can be split
into two types:
• single user, single application operating systems
• single user, multi tasking operating systems

Single user, single application

This type of operating system only has to deal with one person at a time, running one user
application at a time. An example of this kind of operating system would be found on a
mobile phone. There can only be one user using the mobile and that person is only using
one of its applications at a time.
Single user, multi-tasking
You will find this kind of operating system on a personal computer. The operating system
is designed mainly with a single user in mind, but it can deal with many applications
running at the same time. For example, you might be writing an essay, while searching the
internet, downloading a video file and also listening to a piece of music.
Example operating systems are:
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 • Windows
• Linux
• Mac OS X
The difference compared to the Single-Use, Single Application operating system is that it
must now handle many different applications all running at the same time.
The memory available is also very different, for example it is quite normal to have
Gigabytes of RAM available on a personal computer which is what allows so many
applications to run.

Multi-user:

A multi-user operating system allows many different users to take advantage of the
computer’s resources simultaneously. The operating system must make sure that the
requirements of the various users are balanced, and that each of the programs they are using
has sufficient and separate resources so that a problem with one user doesn’t affect the
entire community of users.

UNIX and Mainframe Operating Systems are examples of multi-user operating systems.
A multi-user operating system lets more than one user access the computer system at one
time. Access to the computer system is normally provided via a network, so that users
access the computer remotely using a terminal or other computer. These terminals
nowadays are generally personal computers and use a network to send and receive
information to the multi-user computer system.
Examples of multi-user operating systems are UNIX, Linux and mainframes such as the
IBM AS400.
The multi user operating systems must manage and run all user requests, ensuring they do
not interfere with each other. Devices which can only be used by one user at a time, like
printers and disks must be shared amongst all those requesting them so that all the output
documents are not jumbled up.

If each user tried to send their document to the printer at the same time, the end result
would be garbage. Instead, documents sent are placed in a queue, and each document is
printed in its entirety before the next document to be printed is retrieved from the queue. It
is similar to a situation where in you are waiting for your turn in a ticket counter to get a
ticket. The ticket issuer issues the ticket when your turn comes. Here also all the printing

83
jobs wait in a queue and jobs are printed one after the other. Some priority can also be set
to some jobs so that they can be taken up early according to some priority.

Comparison between Single User and Multi-User Operating System:

Single User Multi-User

A multi-user operating system has

A single user operating system
been designed for more than one user
Definition provides facilities to be used on one
to access the computer at the same or
computer by only one user.
different time.

Single user, single task: A single Time sharing systems: These

task is performed by one user at a systems are multi-user systems in
time. Example- The Palm OS for which CPU time is divided among
Palm handheld computers. the users. The division is made on the
Types
Single user, multi-task: Several basis of a schedule.
programs are run at the same time Most batch processing systems for
by a single user. For example- the mainframe computers can also be
Microsoft Windows. considered as ‘multi user.’

Attributes Simple Complex

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 Windows 95, Windows NT
Unix, Linux and mainframes such as
Examples Workstation and Windows 2000
the IBM AS400.
professional.

Workstation:

A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications.

Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a
local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has also
been used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe computer terminal to a PC
connected to a network, but the most common form refers to the group of hardware offered
by several current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics,
Apollo Computer, HP and IBM which opened the door for the 3D graphics animation
revolution of the late 1990s.
Workstations offered higher performance than mainstream personal computers, especially
with respect to CPU and graphics, memory capacity, and multitasking capability.
Workstations were optimized for the visualization and manipulation of different types of
complex data such as 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation (e.g. computational
fluid dynamics), animation and rendering of images, and mathematical plots. Typically,
the form factor is that of a desktop computer, consist of a high resolution display, a
keyboard and a mouse at a minimum, but also offer multiple displays, graphics tablets, 3D
mice (devices for manipulating 3D objects and navigating scenes), etc. Workstations were
the first segment of the computer market to present advanced accessories and collaboration
tools.

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It is a type of computer used for engineering applications (CAD/CAM), desktop
publishing, software development, and other types of applications that require a moderate
amount of computing power and relatively high quality graphics capabilities.
Workstations generally come with a large, high-resolution graphics screen, at least 64 MB
(megabytes) of RAM, built-in network support, and a graphical user interface. Most
workstations also have a mass storage device such as a disk drive, but a special type of
workstation, called a diskless workstation, comes without a disk drive. The most common
operating systems for workstations are UNIX and Windows NT.
In terms of computing power, workstations lie between personal computers and
minicomputers, although the line is fuzzy on both ends. High-end personal computers are
equivalent to low-end workstations. And high-end workstations are equivalent to
minicomputers.

Client–Server Model:
The client-server relationship describes the relation between the clients and how it makes
a service request to the server, and how the server can accept these requests, process them,
and return the requested information to the client. The interaction between client and server
is often described using sequence diagrams. Sequence diagrams are standardized in the
Unified Modeling Language.

A computer network diagram of clients communicating with a server via the Internet.

The client–server model of computing is a distributed application structure that partitions

tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and
service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate over a computer
network on separate hardware, but both client and server may reside in the same system.
A server host runs one or more server programs which share their resources with clients.
A client does not share any of its resources, but requests a server's content or service
function. Clients therefore initiate communication sessions with servers which await
incoming requests.
Examples of computer applications that use the client–server model are Email, network
printing, and the World Wide Web

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The basic type of client-server architecture employs only two types of hosts: clients and
servers. This type of architecture is sometimes referred to as two-tier. The two-tier
architecture means that the client acts as one tier and server process acts as the other tier.

Characteristics of Client:
• Always initiates requests to servers.
• Waits for replies.
• Receives replies.
• Usually connects to a small number of servers at one time.
• Usually interacts directly with end-users using any user interface such as graphical
user interface.

Characteristics of Server:
• Always wait for a request from one of the clients.
• Serve clients requests then replies with requested data to the clients.
• A server may communicate with other servers in order to serve a client request.
• A server is a source which sends request to client to get needed data of users.
Advantages
• Client-server architecture enables the roles and responsibilities of a computing
system to be distributed among several independent computers.
• Updating the data are much easier to administrators
• Ensure security, user friendly interfaces, and ease of use.
• It works with multiple different clients of different specifications.
Disadvantages
• Networks traffic blocking
• Failure of one server , clients’ cannot served request

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Computer Network
A computer network is a group of computer systems and other computing hardware devices
that are linked together through communication channels to facilitate communication and
resource-sharing among a wide range of users. It connects a number of computers and other
electronic devices. Computers on a network are sometimes called nodes. Computers and
devices that allocate resources for a network are called servers.

A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network which allows

computers to exchange data. In computer networks, networked computing devices pass
data to each other along network links (data connections). Data is transferred in the form
of packets. The connections between nodes are established using either cable media or
wireless media. The best-known computer network is the Internet.
Network computer devices that originate, route and terminate the data are called network
nodes. Nodes can include hosts such as personal computers, phones, servers as well as
networking hardware. Two such devices are said to be networked together when one device
is able to exchange information with the other device, whether or not they have a direct
connection to each other.

Computer networks support applications such as access to the World Wide Web, shared
use of application and storage servers, printers, and fax machines, and use of email and
instant messaging applications.

The computers and devices which are part of the network can "talk" to each other and
exchange information. In addition to the computers and devices which are connected, other
devices are often needed for the network to operate properly. Examples for such devices
include hubs and switches. A network using one technology can be connected to another
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one using a different technology with a component which is known as router. Firewalls are
commonly used to protect the network. In general, networks that use cables to connect can
operate at higher speeds than those using wireless technology. Networks are either circuit
switched or packet switched.

Computers can be part of several different networks. Networks can also be parts of bigger
networks. The local area network in a small business is usually connected to the corporate
network of the larger company. Any connected machine at any level of the organization
may be able to access the Internet, for example to demonstrate computers in the store,
display its catalogue through a web server, or convert received orders into shipping
instructions.

To set up a network an appropriate media is required. This can be wired or wireless.

Twisted-pair, co-axial or fiber-optic are examples of cable and infra-red, blue-tooth, radio-
wave, micro-wave etc. are wireless media used for networking. When you are working
with a mere LAN, computers, media and peripherals are sufficient. But when you are
working with a wider range you have use some additional devices like bridge, gateway or
router to connect different small or large networks. And obviously a protocol must be
maintained.

To set up a network you have to select an appropriate topology to arrange the hardware
devices using the media. Topologies generally used are bus-topology, ring-topology, star-
topology, tree-topology, object-oriented topology etc. Among these star-topology and tree-
topology are most popular nowadays.

Techopedia Explains Computer Network

One of the earliest examples of a computer network was a network of communicating
computers that functioned as part of the U.S. military's Semi-Automatic Ground
Environment (SAGE) radar system. In 1969, the University of California at Los Angeles,
the Stanford Research Institute, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the
University of Utah were connected as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network (ARPANET) project. It is this network that evolved to become what we now call
the Internet.

Networks are used to:

• Facilitate communication via email, video conferencing, instant messaging, etc.
• Enable multiple users to share a single hardware device like a printer or scanner
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 • Enable file sharing across the network
• Allow for the sharing of software or operating programs on remote systems
• Make information easier to access and maintain among network users

Work Characteristics
• Topology : The geometric arrangement of a computer system. Common
topologies include a bus, star, and ring.
• Protocol : The protocol defines a common set of rules and signals that computers
on the network use to communicate. One of the most popular protocols for LANs
is called Ethernet. Another popular LAN protocol for PCs is the IBM token-ring
network .
• Architecture : Networks can be broadly classified as using either a peer-to-peer
or client/server architecture.

Benefits of networking
There are lots of advantages from build up a network, but the three big facts are-
File Sharing: From sharing files you can view, modify, and copy files stored on a different
computer on the network just as easily as if they were stored on your computer.

Resource Sharing: Resources such as printers, fax machines, Storage Devices (HDD,
FDD and CD Drives), Webcam, Scanners, Modem and many more devices can be shared.
Program Sharing: Just as you can share files on a network, you can often also share
program on a network. For example, if you have the right type of software license, you can
have a shared copy of Microsoft Office, or some other program, and keep it on the network
server, from where it is also run.

Types of Networks:
• LAN (Local Area Networking)
• WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks)
• MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks)
• WAN (Wide Area Networks)
• PAN (Personal Area Network)
• CAN (Campus Area Networks)
• SAN (Storage or System Area Network)
• VPN (Virtual Private Network)
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 • EPN (Enterprise Private Network)

Local Area Network

A local area network, or LAN, consists of a computer network at a single site, typically
an individual office building. A LAN is very useful for sharing resources, such as data
storage and printers. LANs can be built with relatively inexpensive hardware, such as hubs,
network adapters and Ethernet cables.
LAN is used primarily in small areas such as schools, hospitals and office buildings. Local
Area Networking is one of the older types of networks. TCP/IP is used as the method of
communication between computers in Local Area Networking. Due to its small size, it is
possible for one person to administrate a Local Area Network. LANs are viable to quick
change, using a bus network topology that allows for easy access to the Local Area
Network.
The smallest LAN may only use two computers, while larger LANs can accommodate
thousands of computers. A LAN typically relies mostly on wired connections for increased
speed and security, but wireless connections can also be part of a LAN. High speed and
relatively low cost are the defining characteristics of LANs.
LANs are typically used for single sites where people need to share resources among
themselves but not with the rest of the outside world. If a local area network, or LAN, is
entirely wireless, it is referred to as a wireless local area network, or WLAN.
WLAN(Wireless Local Area Networks)

Wireless Local Area Networks are much like LAN networks, except they do not require
network cables to connect each other. Radio and infrared signals are used to communicate
between machines while using a wireless local area network. Wireless LANs allow for
small amounts of mobility while being connected to the internet. Wireless Area Networks
are commonly seen being used by a WiFi internet connection. Wireless LAN connections
offer a surprising amount of mobility for users with laptops and smart phones while being
able to stay connected to the internet by different networking topology.

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Metropolitan Area Network
A metropolitan area network, or MAN, consists of a computer network across an entire
city, college campus or small region. A MAN is larger than a LAN, which is typically
limited to a single building or site. Depending on the configuration, this type of network
can cover an area from several miles to tens of miles. A MAN is often used to connect
several LANs together to form a bigger network. When this type of network is specifically
designed for a college campus, it is sometimes referred to as a campus area network, or
CAN.

MANs are not commonly used these days, they are used to create communication between
systems in an entire city. Hence a MAN area falls between the sizes Local Area Networks,
and Wide Area Networks. MANs are used by city specific businesses such as the New
York Times in the state of New York.

Wide Area Network

A wide area network, or WAN, occupies a very large area, such as an entire country or
the entire world. A WAN can contain multiple smaller networks, such as LANs or MANs.
The Internet is the best-known example of a public WAN.
Private Networks
One of the benefits of networks like PAN and LAN is that they can be kept entirely private
by restricting some communications to the connections within the network. This means
that those communications never go over the Internet.
For example, using a LAN, an employee is able to establish a fast and secure connection
to a company database without encryption since none of the communications between the
employee's computer and the database on the server leave the LAN. But what happens if
the same employee wants to use the database from a remote location? What you need is a
private network.

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Wide Area Networks are used to connect server machines and computers across continents
are countries for constant information updates. Wide Area Networks, are used across the
globe, many networks connect with one another across continents to create one giant Wide
Area Network. WANs use optic fiber as their communication medium. The largest example
of a WAN is the internet itself, which connects all users to the information and data that
is available on the internet.

Personal Area Network

A Personal Area Network, or PAN, is a computer network organized around an individual
person within a single building. This could be inside a small office or residence. A typical
PAN would include one or more computers, telephones, peripheral devices, video game
consoles and other personal entertainment devices.
If multiple individuals use the same network within a residence, the network is sometimes
referred to as a home area network, or HAN. In a very typical setup, a residence will have
a single wired Internet connection connected to a modem. This modem then provides both
wired and wireless connections for multiple devices. The network is typically managed
from a single computer but can be accessed from any device.
This type of network provides great flexibility. For example, it allows you to:
• Send a document to the printer in the office upstairs while you are sitting on the
couch with your laptop.
• Upload the photo from your cell phone to your desktop computer.
• Watch movies from an online streaming service to your TV.

CAN (Campus Area Networks)

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Campus Area Networks are usually a connection of many small LAN networks which are
often used on university campuses and office buildings. Campus Area Networks allow for
easy file sharing between different departments as all the files are usually shared on the
server machines of each LAN network. This type of network offers a lot of simplicity in
the transfer and downloading of files.

SAN (Storage Area Network)

Storage Area Networks are primarily used as information databases. They are not usually
used by large organizations or similar entities. They are specifically used for the storage of
information, and easy retrieval of specific pieces of data whenever required. Storage Area
Networks are usually used by websites which offer downloading services.
Storage area networks (SANs) provide a high-speed infrastructure to move data between
storage devices and file servers.
Advantage
• Performance is fast.
• Availability is high because of the redundancy features available.
• Distances can span up to 10 kilometers.
• Management is easy because of the centralization of data resources.
Disadvantage of SANs is their cost.
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VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A virtual private network (VPN) is a special type of secured network. A VPN is used to
provide a secure connection across a public network, such as an internet. Extranets
typically use a VPN to provide a secure connection between a company and its known
external users or offices.
Authentication is provided to validate the identities of the two peers.
Confidentiality provides encryption of the data to keep it private from prying eyes.
Integrity is used to ensure that the data sent between the two devices or sites has not been
tampered with.

EPN (Enterprise Private Network)

One approach to a private network is to build an enterprise private network, or EPN. An
EPN is a computer network that is entirely controlled by one organization, and it is used to
connect multiple locations. Historically, telecommunications companies, like AT&T,
operated their own network, separate from the public Internet. EPNs are still fairly common
in certain sectors where security is of the highest concern. For example, a number of health
facilities may establish their own network between multiple sites to have full control over
the confidentiality of patient records.

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Network Protocol:
A network protocol defines rules and conventions for communication between network
devices. Protocols for computer networking all generally use packet switching techniques
to send and receive messages in the form of packets.
Network protocols include mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections with
each other, as well as formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into messages sent
and received.
Some protocols also support message acknowledgement and data compression designed
for reliable and/or high-performance network communication. Hundreds of different
computer network protocols have been developed each designed for specific purposes and
environments.
Protocols exist at several levels in a telecommunication connection. For example, there are
protocols for the data interchange at the hardware device level and protocols for data
interchange at the application program level. In the standard model known as Open
Systems Interconnection (OSI), there are one or more protocols at each layer in the
telecommunication exchange that both ends of the exchange must recognize and observe.
Protocols are often described in an industry or international standard.
The TCP/IP Internet protocols, a common example, consist of:
• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which uses a set of rules to exchange
messages with other Internet points at the information packet level
• Internet Protocol (IP), which uses a set of rules to send and receive messages at the
Internet address level
• Additional protocols that include the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and File
Transfer Protocol (FTP), each with defined sets of rules to use with corresponding
programs elsewhere on the Internet
There are many other Internet protocols, such as the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and
the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).

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Network Topology:
Computer network topology is the way various components of a network (like nodes, links,
peripherals, etc) are arranged. Network topologies define the layout, virtual shape or
structure of network, not only physically but also logically. The way in which different
systems and nodes are connected and communicate with each other is determined by
topology of the network.

Network Topology is the schematic description of a network arrangement, connecting

various nodes (sender and receiver) through lines of connection. The way in which the
connections are made is called the topology of the computer network.
Network topology specifically refers to the physical layout of the network, especially the
locations of the computers and how the cable is run between them.

Topology can be physical or logical:-

Physical Topology is the physical layout of nodes, workstations and cables in the network;
while logical topology is the way information flows between different components.

An example is a local area network (LAN): Any given node in the LAN has one or more
physical links to other devices in the network; graphically mapping these links results in a
geometric shape that can be used to describe the physical topology of the network.
Conversely, mapping the data flow between the components determines the logical
topology of the network.

In general, Physical Topology relates to a core network whereas Logical Topology relates
to basic network.

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Factors to be taken into consideration while choosing a Network topology

1) Scale of your project (in terms of number of components to be connected).

2) Amount of traffic expected on the network.
3) Budget allotted for the network i.e. amount of money you are willing to invest.
4) Required response time

Most common types of topologies are:

• Bus
• Star
• Ring
• Mesh
• Tree
• Hybrid

1. BUS Topology:

All the devices on a bus topology are connected by one single cable. When one computer
sends a signal up the wire, all the computers on the network receive the information, but
only one accepts the information. The rest regrets the message. One computer can send a
message at a time. A computer must wait until the bus is free before it can transmit. When
the signal reaches the end of the wire, it bounces back and travels back up the wire. When
a signal echoes back and forth along an unterminated bus, it is called ringing. To stop the
signals from ringing, attach terminators at either end of the segment. The terminators
absorb the electrical energy and stop the reflection.

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Features of Bus Topology
• It transmits data only in one direction.
• Every device is connected to a single cable

Advantage of Bus Topology:

• It is cost effective.
• Used in small networks.
• It is easy to understand.
• Easy to expand joining two cables together.
• It is simple, reliable in small network.
• Requires the least amount of cable to connect the computers and less expensive

Disadvantage of Bus Topology:

• Heavy network traffic can slow a bus considerably
• Each barrel connector weakens the electrical signal
• Difficult to troubleshoot a bus
• Cables fails then whole network fails.
• If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the network
decreases.
• Cable has a limited length.
• It is slower than the ring topology.

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 2. STAR Topology:

All the cables run from the computers to a central location, where they are all connected
by a device called a Hub. Each computer on a star network communicates with a central
hub that resends the message either to all the computers or only to the destination
computers. Hub can be active or passive in the star network Active hub regenerates the
electrical signal and sends it to all the computers connected to it. Passive hub does not
amplify or regenerate signal and does not require electrical power to run. We can expand
a star network by placing another star hub.

Features of Star Topology

• Every node has its own dedicated connection to the hub.
• Acts as a repeater for data flow.
• Can be used with twisted pair, Optical Fibre or coaxial cable.

Advantages:
• Easy to modify and add new computers to a star net
• Center of a star net is a good place to diagnose network faults
• Several cable types can be used with the hub
• Fast performance with few nodes and low network traffic.
• Hub can be upgraded easily.
• Easy to troubleshoot.
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 • Easy to setup and modify.
• Only that node is affected which has failed rest of the nodes can work smoothly.

Disadvantages:
• Central hub fails, the whole network fails to operate
• Many star networks require a device at the central point to rebroadcast or switch
network traffic.
• Costs more for cabling in star net than bus.
• Cost of installation is high.
• Expensive to use.
• Performance is based on the hub that is it depends on its capacity

3. RING Topology:

Each computer is connected to the next computer, with the last one connected to the first.
Every computer is connected to the next computer in the ring, and each retransmits what it
receives from the previous computer. The message flow around the ring in one direction.
Some ring networks do token passing. It passes around the ring until a computer wishes to
send information to another computer. The computer adds an electronic address and data
and sends it around the ring. Each computer in sequence receives the token and the
information and passes them to the next until either the electronic address matches the
address of the computer or the token returns to the origin. The receiving computer returns
a message to the originator indicating that the message has been received. The sending
computer then creates another token and places it on the network, allowing another station
to capture the token and being transmitted.

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Features of Ring Topology
• A number of repeaters are used and the transmission is unidirectional.
• Date is transferred in a sequential manner that is bit by bit.

Advantages:

• No computer can monopolize the network

• The fair sharing of the network allows the net to degrade gracefully as more users
are added.
• Transmitting network is not affected by high traffic or by adding more nodes, as only
the nodes having tokens can transmit data.
• Cheap to install and expand

Disadvantages:
• Failure of one computer can affect the total network
• Difficult to troubleshoot
• Adding or removing Computers disrupts the network

4. MESH Topology:

The mesh topology is a point-to-point connection to other nodes or devices. Traffic is

carried only between two devices or nodes to which it is connected. It connects all devices
(nodes) to each other for redundancy and fault tolerance. It is used in WANs to interconnect
LANs and for mission critical networks like those used by banks and financial institutions.
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Implementing the mesh topology is expensive and difficult. Mesh has n (n-2)/2 physical
channels to link hn devices.

Types of Mesh Topology:

• Partial Mesh Topology: In this topology some of the systems are connected in the
same fashion as mesh topology but some devices are only connected to two or three
devices.
• Full Mesh Topology: Each and every nodes or devices are connected to each other.

Features of Mesh Topology

• Fully connected.
• Robust.
• Not flexible.

Advantages:

• Fault tolerance & can be diagnosed easily.

• Guaranteed communication channel capacity
• Easy to troubleshoot
• Each connection can carry its own data load.
• It is robust.
• Provides security and privacy.

Disadvantages:
• Installation and configuration is difficult.

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 • Cabling cost is more.

5. TREE Topology
It has a root node and all other nodes are connected to it forming a hierarchy. It is also
called hierarchical topology. It should at least have three levels to the hierarchy.

Features of Tree Topology

• Ideal if workstations are located in groups.
• Used in Wide Area Network.

Advantages of Tree Topology

• Extension of bus and star topologies.
• Expansion of nodes is possible and easy.
• Easily managed and maintained.
• Error detection is easily done.

Disadvantages of Tree Topology

• Heavily cabled.
• Costly.
• If more nodes are added maintenance is difficult.
• Central hub fails, network fails.

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 6. HYBRID Topology
It is two different types of topologies which is a mixture of two or more topologies. For
example if in an office in one department ring topology is used and in another star topology
is used, connecting these topologies will result in Hybrid Topology (ring topology and star
topology).

Features of Hybrid Topology

• It is a combination of two or topologies
• Inherits the advantages and disadvantages of the topologies included

Advantages of Hybrid Topology

• Reliable as Error detecting and trouble shooting is easy
• Effective
• Scalable as size can be increased easily
• Flexible

Disadvantages of Hybrid Topology

• Complex in design
• Costly

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UNIT-IV

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107
Topic Page No.

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1. Structure of internet:
3-10
• Internet
• Intranet 3-6

• WWW
6-8
• Routers
8-10

2. Internet Services: 10
• Email
• WWW
• Domain Name Server (DNS) 11-23

• Mailing List 13-14

• Usenet
8-10, 15
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
• Telnet 15-16

• Chatting 16-17
• Conferencing
17-19
• Telephony
19-20

20
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 21

22

23

Structure of the Internet:

Contents:
1 The Internet
2 World Wide Web (WWW)
3 Intranet
4 Routers

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Internet

It is a worldwide system which has the following characteristics:

• Internet is a world-wide / global system of interconnected computer networks.

• Internet uses the standard Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Every computer in internet is identified by a unique IP address.
• IP Address is a unique set of numbers (such as 110.22.33.114) which identifies a
computer’s location.
• A special computer DNS (Domain Name Server) is used to give name to the IP
Address so that user can locate a computer by a name.
• For example, a DNS server will resolve a name http://www.tutorialspoint.com to
a particular IP address to uniquely identify the computer on which this website is
hosted.
• Internet is accessible to every user all over the world.

A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication

facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication
protocols.

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the
standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link several billion devices worldwide. It is a
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network of networks[1] that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and
government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic,
wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of
information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and
applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support email, and
peer-to-peer networks for file sharing and telephony.

A means of connecting a computer to any other computer anywhere in the world via
dedicated routers and servers. When two computers are connected over the Internet,
they can send and receive all kinds of information such as text, graphics, voice, video, and
computer programs.
No one owns Internet, although several organizations the world over collaborate in its
functioning and development. The high-speed, fiber-optic cables (called backbones)
through which the bulk of the Internet data travels are owned by telephone companies
in their respective countries.
The Internet grew out of the Advanced Research Projects Agency's Wide Area Network
(then called ARPANET) established by the US Department Of Defense in 1960s for
collaboration in military research among business and government laboratories. Later
universities and other US institutions connected to it. This resulted in ARPANET growing
beyond everyone's expectations and acquiring the name 'Internet.'
he development of hypertext based technology (called World Wide web, WWW, or just
the Web) provided means of displaying text, graphics, and animations, and easy search
and navigation tools that triggered Internet's explosive worldwide growth.

Uses of Internet:

1) By using internet now we can communicate in a fraction of seconds with a

Email:
person who is sitting in the other part of the world. Today for better
communication, we can avail the facilities of Email.
2) Information: The biggest advantage that internet offering is information. The internet
and the World Wide Web has made it easy for anyone to access information and it
can be of any type, as the internet is flooded with information.
3) Business: World trade has seen a big boom with the help of the internet, as it has
become easier for buyers and sellers to communicate and also to advertise their

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 sites. Now a day's most of the people are using online classified sites to buy or sell
or advertising their products or services.
4) Social Networking: Today social networking sites have become an important part of
the online community. Almost all users are members use it for personal and
business purposes. It's an awesome place to network with many entrepreneurs
who come here to begin building their own personal and business brand.
5) Shopping: Now a day's almost anything can be bought with the use of the internet.
In countries like US most of consumers prefer to shop from home. We have many
shopping sites on internet like amazon.com, Dealsglobe.com etc.
6) Entertainment: When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be
found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found and shared on the Internet.
There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet for free.
7) E-Commerce: Ecommerce is the concept used for any type of business deals that
involves the transfer of information across the globe via internet.
8) Services: Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job
seeking, purchasing tickets for your favorite movies, and guidance services on array
of topics in the every aspect of life, and hotel reservations and bills paying.
9) Job Search: Internet makes life easy for both employers and job seekers as there are
plenty of job sites which connect employers and job seekers.
10) Dating/Personals: People are connecting with others though internet and
finding their life partners. Internet not only helps to find the right person but also
to continue the relationship.

Intranet
Intranet is the generic term for a collection of private computer networks within an
organization. An intranet uses network technologies as a tool to facilitate communication
between people or work groups to improve the data sharing capability and overall
knowledge base of an organization's employees.

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An Intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to share
information, operational systems, or computing services within an organization. This term
is used in contrast to extranet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a
network within an organization. Sometimes, the term refers only to the organization's
internal website, but may be a more extensive part of the organization's information
technology infrastructure, and may be composed of multiple local area networks. The
objective is to organize each individual's desktop with minimal cost, time and effort to be
more productive, cost efficient, timely, and competitive.

An intranet may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component
and focal point of internal communication and collaboration. Any of the well known
Internet protocols may be found in an intranet, such as HTTP (web services) and FTP (file
transfer protocol). Internet technologies are often deployed to provide modern interfaces
to legacy information systems hosting corporate data.

Some features of Intranet:

• Intranet is system in which multiple PCs are connected to each other.

• PCs in intranet are not available to the world outside the intranet.
• Usually each company or organization has their own Intranet network and
members/employees of that company can access the computers in their intranet.
• Each computer in Intranet is also identified by an IP Address which is unique among
the computers in that Intranet.

Similarities in Internet and Intranet:

• Intranet uses the internet protocols such as TCP/IP and FTP.

• Intranet sites are accessible via web browser in similar way as websites in internet.
But only members of Intranet network can access intranet hosted sites.

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 • In Intranet, own instant messengers can be used as similar to yahoo messenger/
gtalk over the internet.

Differences in Internet and Intranet:

• Internet is general to PCs all over the world whereas Intranet is specific to few PCs.
• Internet has wider access and provides a better access to websites to large
population whereas Intranet is restricted.
• Internet is not as safe as Intranet as Intranet can be safely privatized as per the
need.

Benefits:

• Workforce productivity
• Time
• Communication
• Web publishing
• Business operations and management
• Cost-effective
• Enhance collaboration
• Cross-platform capability
• Built for one audience
• Promote common corporate culture Immediate updates
• Supports a distributed computing architecture.

World Wide Web

World Wide Web - a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet

The first thing to notice is that the World Wide Web is not the internet, but a subset of
what the internet offers. Many people use the terms Internet and World Wide Web, or
just the Web, interchangeably, but the two terms are not synonymous. The World Wide
Web is only one of hundreds of services used on the Internet. The WWW is accessed
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through a web browser linking files together using hyperlinks and was invented by a
British computer scientist, Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
The Web is a global set of documents, images and other resources, logically interrelated
by hyperlinks and referenced with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). URIs symbolically
identifies services, servers, and other databases, and the documents and resources that
they can provide. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the
World Wide Web. Web services also use HTTP to allow software systems to communicate
in order to share and exchange business logic and data.
The internet hosts all forms of data, including games, video, telecommunications etc.
while the WWW only transmits hypertext documents.

The World Wide Web (www, W3) is an information system of interlinked hypertext
documents that are accessed via the Internet and built on top of the Domain Name
System. It has also commonly become known simply as the Web. Individual document
pages on the World Wide Web are called web pages and are accessed with a software
application running on the user's computer, commonly called a web browser. Web pages
may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia components, as well as web
navigation features consisting of hyperlinks.

World Wide Web browser software, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox,
Opera, Apple's Safari, and Google Chrome, lets users navigate from one web page to
another via hyperlinks embedded in the documents. These documents may also contain
any combination of computer data, including graphics, sounds, text, video, multimedia
and interactive content that runs while the user is interacting with the page. Client-side
software can include animations, games, office applications and scientific
demonstrations. Through keyword-driven Internet research using search engines like
Yahoo! and Google, users worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse
amount of online information. Compared to printed media, books, encyclopedias and
traditional libraries, the World Wide Web has enabled the decentralization of information
on a large scale.
The Web has also enabled individuals and organizations to publish ideas and information
to a potentially large audience online at greatly reduced expense and time delay.
Publishing a web page, a blog, or building a website involves little initial cost and many
cost-free services are available. However, publishing and maintaining large, professional
web sites with attractive, diverse and up-to-date information is still a difficult and
expensive proposition. Many individuals and some companies and groups use web logs
or blogs, which are largely used as easily updatable online diaries. Some commercial
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organizations encourage staff to communicate advice in their areas of specialization in
the hope that visitors will be impressed by the expert knowledge and free information,
and be attracted to the corporation as a result.
One example of this practice is Microsoft, whose product developers publish their
personal blogs in order to pique the public's interest in their work. Collections of personal
web pages published by large service providers remain popular, and have become
increasingly sophisticated. Whereas operations such as Angelfire and GeoCities have
existed since the early days of the Web, newer offerings from, for example, Facebook and
Twitter currently have large followings. These operations often brand themselves as
social network services rather than simply as web page hosts.

Router
A router is a device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to
at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP's network.
Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks connect.

It is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. A

router is connected to two or more data lines from different networks (as opposed to a
network switch, which connects data lines from one single network). When a data packet
comes in on one of the lines, the router reads the address information in the packet to
determine its ultimate destination. Then, using information in its routing table or routing
policy, it directs the packet to the next network on its journey. This creates an overlay
internetwork. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. A data
packet is typically forwarded from one router to another through the networks that
constitute the internetwork until it reaches its destination node.

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 Internet Services

Internet service providers (ISP) companies or institutions (such as T-Com, Iskon or CARNet
in Croatia, AT&T in US and MTNL in India), which satellite or optical connections with
several major Internet node abroad (mainly in the direction of America and Europe) and
the thus ensuring high capacity connection to the rest of the Internet world. However,
practice has shown that it can barely follow the needs of the growing number of members
of Internet communities. When selecting an ISP of significance is the number of services
that it provides to its customers.

User from their computers at work or at home by joining the Internet can:

• Exchange electronic mail (e-mail) to any Internet user in any location on the planet.
• Participate in off-line discussions via e-mail with people with similar interests
through 'mailing lists' and 'News Groups'.
• Participate live (in real time) in a conversation with another person via the 'Internet
video phone' (like Skype), or audio-video conferencing between multiple people
using a specially designed computer programs and equipment.
• Participate in on-line (directly, in real time) written discussion with a larger group
of people who use the 'Internet Relay Chat' (IRC) service - chat rooms.
• To work on a remote computer using the 'Telnet' service or some per function quite
the same.
• Read multimedia documents found on WWW (World Wide Web) that contain text,
graphics, sound, and video using intelligent browser web presentation, as 'Google
Chrome', 'Firefox' or 'Internet Explorer' program support.
• Learning and practicing for the exam and achieve appropriate certification.
• Search the Web, documents, various WWW sites or via dedicated international
service, as 'Google' and 'Yahoo!', over subscribed keywords to find the desired
documents.
• Advertise your business in a variety of ways, from setting up video clips to the
creation of their own website.
• Paying bills through the 'Internet Banking'.
• Buy and spend money, advertise and offer for sale.
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 • Read web editions of newspapers or say 'IT Alphabet'.
• Electronic Mail (E-mail)
• News Groups
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• Voice / Video Communication – Skype
• Social networks- FACEBOOK, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, MYSPACE, INSTAGRAM
• Web-Hosting (DATACENTER)
• Electronic Mail (E-mail)
• News Groups
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Various services provided by the Internet

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 1. E-Mail
Short for Electronic mail, e-mail or email is a message that may contain text, files, images,
or other attachments sent through a network to a specified individual or group of
individuals. The first e-mail was sent by Ray Tomlinson in 1971. By 1996, more electronic
mail was being sent than postal mail. The following is a breakdown of an Internet e-mail
address example.

support@computerhope.com

The first portion all e-mail addresses, the part before the @ symbol, contains the alias,
user, group, or department of a company. Next, the @ (at sign) is used as a divider in the
e-mail address; required for all SMTP e-mail addresses. Finally, computerhope.com is the
domain name to which the user belongs.

How to send and receive e-mail:-

To send and receive e-mail messages you can use an e-mail program, also known as an e-
mail client, such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. When using an e-mail
client, you must have a server that stores and delivers your messages; provided by your
ISP or in some cases, another company. An e-mail client needs to connect to the server
to download new e-mail, whereas email stored online (see next section) updates
automatically when you visit the site. An alternative way of sending and receiving e-mail
is an online e-mail service or webmail. Examples include Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail.
Many of the online e-mail services, including the aforementioned ones, are free or have
a free account option.

Writing an e-mail:-

When writing a new e-mail message, it should look something like the example window
below. As can be seen, several fields are required when sending an e-mail. The To field is
where you type the e-mail address of the person who you are sending the message to,
From should contain your e-mail address, If you are replying to a message, the To and
From fields are automatically filled out; if it's a New Message, you'll need to enter them

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manually. Next, the CC or Carbon Copy field allows you to send a copy of the message to
another e-mail address, but is not mandatory. The Subject Line, although not required,
should consist of a few words describing what the e-mail is about. Finally, the Message
Body is the location you type your main message. It often contains your signature at the
bottom; similar to a hand-written letter.

What makes a valid e-mail address?

There are several rules that an e-mail address must follow in order to be valid.

• As mentioned earlier, an e-mail must have a username followed by an @ (at sign)

which is followed by the domain name with a domain suffix.
• The username cannot be longer than 64 characters long and the domain name
should have no more than 254 characters.
• There should be only one @ sign in an e-mail address.
• The space and special characters: ( ) , : ; < > \ [ ] are allowed. Occasionally, a space,
backslash, and quotation mark work but must be preceded with a forward slash.
Although valid some e-mail providers do not allow these characters.

2. World Wide Web (WWW)

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"The World Wide Web is the universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment
of human knowledge."

The World Wide Web is a system of Internet servers that support specially formatted
documents. The documents are formatted in a markup language called HTML (HyperText
Markup Language) that supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and
video files. This means you can jump from one document to another simply by clicking on
hot spots. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.

3. Domain Name Server

DNS is an acronym for Domain Name Server, and is the system used to translate word-based
addresses of systems (such as WWW.EXAMPLE.COM) to the numerical IP (Internet Protocol)
address of the computer or system that should be located at that address. All computers
and systems on the Internet use addresses that look similar to: 5.8.15.16.

Domain Name Server:

• DNS is the way that Internet domain names are located & translated into IP
addresses.
• A domain name is a meaningful, easy-to-remember ‘label’ for an IP address.
• IP addresses are fine for computers, but difficult to recognize and remember for
humans.
• Examples:

203.215.177.33 www.vu.edu.pk
216.239.33.101 www.google.com

• Maintaining a single, central table of domain name/IP address relationships is

impractical
– Billions of DNS-IP translations take place every day
– The DNS-IP tables get updated continuously

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 • Tables of DNs & IP addresses are distributed throughout the Internet on numerous
servers
• There is a DNS server at most ISPs. It converts the domain names in our Internet
requests to actual IP addresses
• In case it does not have a particular domain name in its table, it makes a request to
another DNS server on the Internet

When you use an alphanumeric address such as WWW.EXAMPLE.COM, your computer

needs to understand what numerical IP addresses it needs to contact, and this is
accomplished through DNS servers. The answer is delivered back to the requesting
computer via the DNS listed for the domain name.

All domains have at least two DNS servers as seen through WHOIS lookups such as
NS1.EXAMPLE.COM and NS2.EXAMPLE.COM, and your request for anything related to the
domain name gets sent to one of these servers. In response, the DNS server sends back
the IP address that you should contact. This works for the Web Site, Mail Servers, and
anything else based on the domain name.

4. Mailing List
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an
organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include
the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the
mailing list", or simply "the list".

If you were a magazine publisher, you would have a list of the mailing addresses of all the
subscribers to the magazine. In the case of an electronic mailing list, we use a list of email
addresses from people interested in hearing about or discussing a given topic.

Types of mailing lists

There are two common types of email mailing lists:

(a) Announcement lists

(b) Discussion lists.
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Announcement lists are used so that one person or group can send announcements to a
group of people, much like a magazine publisher's mailing list is used to send out
magazines. For example, a band may use a mailing list to let their fan base know about
their upcoming concerts.

A discussion list is used to allow a group of people to discuss topics amongst themselves,
with everyone able to send mail to the list and have it distributed to everyone in the
group. This discussion may also be moderated, so only selected posts are sent on to the
group as a whole, or only certain people are allowed to send to the group. For example,
a group of model plane enthusiasts might use a mailing list to share tips about model
construction and flying.

Some common terms:

• A "post" typically denotes a message sent to a mailing list. (Think of posting a

message on a bulletin board.)
• People who are part of an electronic mailing list are usually called the list's
"members" or "subscribers."
• "List administrators" are the people in charge of maintaining that one list. Lists may
have one or more administrators.
• A list may also have people in charge of reading posts and deciding if they should
be sent on to all subscribers. These people are called list moderators.
• Often more than one electronic mailing list will be run using the same piece of
software. The person who maintains the software which runs the lists is called the
"site administrator." Often the site administrator also administrates individual lists.

5. Usenet
Usenet is a collection of user-submitted notes or messages on various subjects that are
posted to servers on a worldwide network. Each subject collection of posted notes is
known as a newsgroup. There are thousands of newsgroups and it is possible for you to
form a new one. Most newsgroups are hosted on Internet-connected servers, but they
can also be hosted from servers that are not part of the Internet. Usenet's original
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protocol was UNIX-to-UNIX Copy (UUCP), but today the Network News Transfer Protocol
(NNTP) is used.

Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It was developed from the
general-purpose UUCP dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived
the idea in 1979, and it was established in 1980.[1] Users read and post messages (called
articles or posts, and collectively termed news) to one or more categories, known as
newsgroups. Usenet resembles a bulletin board system (BBS) in many respects and is the
precursor to Internet forums that are widely used today. Usenet can be superficially
regarded as a hybrid between email and web forums. Discussions are threaded, as with
web forums and BBSes, though posts are stored on the server sequentially.

Most browsers, such as those from Netscape and Microsoft, provide Usenet support and
access to any newsgroups that you select. On the Web, Google and other sites provide a
subject-oriented directory as well as a search approach to newsgroups and help you
register to participate in them. In addition, there are other newsgroup readers, such as
Knews, that run as separate programs.

A diagram of Usenet servers and clients. The blue, green, and red dots on the servers
represent the groups they carry. Arrows between servers indicate newsgroup group
exchanges (feeds). Arrows between clients and servers indicate that a user is subscribed
to a certain group and reads or submits articles.

One notable difference between a BBS or web forum and Usenet is the absence of a
central server and dedicated administrator. Usenet is distributed among a large,
constantly changing conglomeration of servers that store and forward messages to one
another in so-called news feeds. Individual users may read messages from and post

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messages to a local server operated by a commercial usenet provider, their Internet
service provider, university, employer, or their own server.

6. FTP: File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard Internet protocol for transmitting files between
computers on the Internet. Like the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which transfers
displayable Web pages and related files, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP),
which transfers e-mail, FTP is an application protocol that uses the Internet's TCP/IP
protocols. FTP is commonly used to transfer Web page files from their creator to the
computer that acts as their server for everyone on the Internet. It's also commonly used
to download programs and other files to your computer from other servers.

As a user, you can use FTP with a simple command line interface (for example, from the
Windows MS-DOS Prompt window) or with a commercial program that offers a graphical
user interface. Your Web browser can also make FTP requests to download programs you
select from a Web page. Using FTP, you can also update (delete, rename, move, and copy)
files at a server. You need to logon to an FTP server. However, publicly available files are
easily accessed using anonymous FTP.
As a user, you can use FTP with a simple command line interface (for example, from the
Windows MS-DOS Prompt window) or with a commercial program that offers a graphical
user interface. Your Web browser can also make FTP requests to download programs you
select from a Web page. Using FTP, you can also update (delete, rename, move, and copy)
files at a server. You need to logon to an FTP server. However, publicly available files are
easily accessed using anonymous FTP.

Basic FTP support is usually provided as part of a suite of programs that come with TCP/IP.
However, any FTP client program with a graphical user interface usually must be
downloaded from the company that makes it.

7. TELNET

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Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol for accessing remote
computers. Through Telnet, an administrator or another user can access someone else's
computer remotely. On the Web, HTTP and FTP protocols allow you to request specific
files from remote computers, but not to actually be logged on as a user of that computer.
With Telnet, you log on as a regular user with whatever privileges you may have been
granted to the specific application and data on that computer.

A Telnet command request looks like this (the computer name is made-up):
telnet the.libraryat.whatis.edu
The result of this request would be an invitation to log on with a user-id and a prompt for
a password. If accepted, you would be logged on like any user who used this computer
every day.

Telnet is most likely to be used by program developers and anyone who has a need to use
specific applications or data located at a particular host computer.

Some features of Telnet are as follows:

• TELNET is a protocol that provides “a general, bi-directional, eight-bit byte oriented

communications facility”.
• Telnet is a program that supports the TELNET protocol over TCP.
• Many application protocols are built upon the TELNET protocol.

8. CHATTING

Chat is a text-based communication that is live or in real-time. For example, when talking
to someone in chat any typed text is received by other participants immediately. This is
different from other text-based communications such as e-mail where it could be a couple
of hours, days, or weeks to receive a response.
There are also several million users chatting through other networks such as IRC. A good
example of a chat on IRC is the Computer Hope chat.

On the Internet, chatting is talking to other people who are using the Internet at the same
time you are. Usually, this "talking" is the exchange of typed-in messages requiring one
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site as the repository for the messages (or "chat site") and a group of users who take part
from anywhere on the Internet. In some cases, a private chat can be arranged between
two parties who meet initially in a group chat. Chats can be ongoing or scheduled for a
particular time and duration. Most chats are focused on a particular topic of interest and
some involve guest experts or famous people who "talk" to anyone joining the chat.

Chats are conducted on online services (especially America Online), by bulletin board
services, and by Web sites. Several Web sites, notably Talk City, exist solely for the
purpose of conducting chats. Some chat sites such as Worlds Chat allow participants to
assume the role or appearance of an avatar in a simulated or virtual reality environment.

Talk City and many other chat sites use a protocol called Internet Relay Chat.

A chat can also be conducted using sound or sound and video, assuming you have the
bandwidth access and the appropriate programming.

9. CONFERENCING
Conference is:
• a meeting for consultation or discussion:
• a conference between a student and his adviser.
• the holding of a series of meetings or conferences.
• participation in a conference that involves use of a particular electronic technology:
• audio conferencing; video conferencing(web conferencing)
• Compare teleconferencing ,videoconferencing.

Conference phones are used to initiate and conduct conference calls, which enable
multiple callers to listen and/or talk on the same call. In a conference call, the host
participants typically run the call with a conference phone, while remote participants dial
in to a number that connects them to a conference bridge that links the various telephone
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lines together. Conference calls are frequently used for business meetings and corporate
earnings reports, and are also commonly paired with Web conferences for online
presentations and sharing documents.

Web conferencing allows users to carry on business meetings and seminars, make
presentations, conduct demonstrations, provide online education and offer direct
customer support. Control of the session can be passed among users so that any attendee
can act as the main presenter. The most effective Web conferencing solutions require
high-speed Internet connections at all user sites.

Several vendors offer Web conferencing services for a nominal monthly fee. System
requirements are modest. Most personal computers have sufficient resources to use Web
conferencing through their existing browsers. Installation of the supporting software, if
any, is easy and there is practically no learning curve.

10. TELEPHONY
Telephony is the technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice, fax, or
other information between distant parties using systems historically associated with the
telephone, a handheld device containing both a speaker or transmitter and a receiver.
With the arrival of computers and the transmittal of digital information over telephone
systems and the use of radio to transmit telephone signals, the distinction between
telephony and telecommunication has become difficult to make.
Internet telephony is the use of the Internet rather than the traditional telephone
company infrastructure and rate structure to exchange spoken or other telephone
information. Since access to the Internet is available at local phone connection rates, an
international or other long-distance call will be much less expensive than through the
traditional call arrangement.

On the Internet, three new services are now or will soon be available:
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 • The ability to make a normal voice phone call (whether or not the person called is
immediately available; that is, the phone will ring at the location of the person
called) through the Internet at the price of a local call
• The ability to send fax transmissions at very low cost (at local call prices) through a
gateway point on the Internet in major cities
• The ability to send voice messages along with text e-mail

You can now add telephone capabilities to your computer by adding a telephony board,
available for under $300,that combines the functions of modem, sound board,
speakerphone, and voicemail system. A telephony board is often integrated into new
machines targeted for small business and home office users.

A Telephony API (TAPI) is available from Microsoft and Intel that allows Windows client
applications to access voice services on a server and that interconnects PC and phone
systems. Both Microsoft and Netscape provide or plan to provide support for voice e-mail.

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