Internet and Internet Activities

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BTEC National Certificate                Unit 29: Introduction to Internet and e-Business

(P1) Internet and Internet Activities (P2)

Introduction:

This report was produced by undertaking research into how the Internet operates and what kind of services it is used for.  The report also outlines different types of businesses making use of the Internet.  These businesses are either Business to Business (B2B) or Business to customers (B2C) use.  The report was produced by Haroon Sheikh and requested by Websters Supermarket.  The report was compiled and submitted on 25th FBY 2008.

Internet Technology is more than fifty years old.  The World Wide Web is not yet twenty.  Together they are a business-, life-, and world-changing force.  It is the "web" that has made the Internet such a vital part of our lives today, without the basis of techniques that enable computers to talk to each other, the web would be useless.

The Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fibre-optic cables, and wireless connections etc.  The Internet is used mainly for Communication; Finding Information; Publishing; e-Commerce; and for On-line Learning.  The Web is the most popular and fastest growing part of the Internet.  It provides easy access to a large amount of information stored on computers all over the world.

Findings:

The Internet works on the basis that some computers act as 'servers'.   These computers offer services for other computers that are assessing or requesting information these are know as 'clients'.  Servers are high capacity computers that offer services to client computers that can connect to it.  This means sitting in the rooms at home, school or college computer workshop, people are able to access the Internet because every PC has a connection to a server.  Every PC has software loaded on it called a browser.  This software is often Internet Explorer, but possibly Netscape or Morzilla Firefox takes the requests for the Internet access and services and then displays the results on the PC.

Development of a Broadband

Originally, Internet users were connected by means of a computer with a modem and narrow band connection which transferred data at fairly slow rate.  Individual users had a 'dial-up' service through their ISP (Internet Service Provider) which meant that they used the telephone line to gain access to the Internet and which also means that their phone line was engaged whenever they were surfing the Internet.  In addition, it could take a long time to download some web pages and files particularly with elaborate graphics.  Video content was impossible to access but after the development, Broadband connections enable data to be transferred much faster than narrow band and there is also a permanent connection that does not tie up the normal phone line as the user can choose to get online connection by an ADSL connection which uses the phone line but also allows simultaneous telephone calls with a cable line, wireless adapter or a satellite dish.

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Businesses Online

The online world is littered with jargon, but some it is useful to hand to distinguish are field of Internet business from another.  The most important distinctions are now well-established business concepts:

  • Business to Business (B2B)

One of the most common online businesses, where business interact with one another, creating efficiencies and cost savings along the way. In trading exchanges, for example, large numbers of buyers and sellers meet and transact.  Examples are E Steel, Chemdex or Paper exchange, each servicing their industries and more often than not, set up by veterans of those ...

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