E- Commerce

Introduction
 Definition
• E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a
methodology of modern business, which
addresses the requirements of business
organizations.
• It can be broadly defined as the process of
buying or selling of goods or services using an
electronic medium such as the Internet.
• E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a
methodology of modern business, which addresses the
need of business organizations, vendors and customers
to reduce cost and improve the quality of goods and
services while increasing the speed of delivery.
• Ecommerce refers to the paperless exchange of
business information using the following ways −
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
 Electronic Mail (e-mail)
 Electronic Bulletin Boards
 Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
 Other Network-based technologies
 SIGNIFICANCE OF E COMMERCE
It includes the entire online process of developing, marketing,
selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products and services.

Today E commerce is an integral part of business because of various

reasons like:
• Ease of use
• Accessibility all across the globe
• Great variety & easy compassion of products from different
vendors
• Trusted payment channels
• Shopping can be done sitting in the convenience of home
shopping, hence it is less time consuming.
 Features
E-Commerce provides the following features −
• Non-Cash Payment − E-Commerce enables the use of credit cards, debit cards, smart
cards, electronic fund transfer via bank's website, and other modes of electronics
payment.
• 24x7 Service availability − E-commerce automates the business of enterprises and the
way they provide services to their customers. It is available anytime, anywhere.
• Advertising / Marketing − E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products
and services of businesses. It helps in better marketing management of
products/services.
• Improved Sales − Using e-commerce, orders for the products can be generated anytime,
anywhere without any human intervention. It gives a big boost to existing sales volumes.
• Support − E-commerce provides various ways to provide pre-sales and post-sales
assistance to provide better services to customers.
• Inventory Management − E-commerce automates inventory management. Reports get
generated instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very
efficient and easy to maintain.
• Communication improvement − E-commerce provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable
communication with customers and partners.
 Traditional Commerce
Traditional Commerce or Commerce is a part of business, which
encompasses all those activities that facilitate exchange.
Two kinds of activities are included in commerce, i.e.
• Trade
• Auxiliaries to trade.
• The term trade refers to the buying and selling of goods and
services for cash or kind and auxiliaries to trade, implies all
those activities like banking, insurance, transportation,
advertisement, insurance, packaging, and so on, that helps in
the successful completion of exchange between parties.
Difference between Traditional Commerce and E-commerce :

• Traditional commerce refers to the

commercial transactions or exchange of
information, buying or selling product/services
from person to person without use of
internet.
• E-commerce refers to the commercial
transactions or exchange of information,
buying or selling product/services
electronically with the help of internet.
 Differences contd.....
2. In traditional commerce it is difficult to establish
and maintain standard practices.
In e-commerce it is easy to establish and maintain
standard practices.

3. In traditional commerce direct interaction through

seller and buyer is present.
In e-commerce indirect interaction through seller
and buyer occurs using electronic medium and
internet.
 Differences contd.....
4. In traditional commerce processing of
transaction is manual. In e-commerce
processing of transaction is automatic.
5.In traditional commerce delivery of goods is
instant. In e-commerce delivery of goods
takes time.
6. Traditional com-accessibility is for limited
time in a day.E-com-accessibility is 24×7×365
means round the clock.
 Differences contd.....
7.In traditional commerce customers can inspect
products physically before purchase. In e-
commerce customers can not inspect products
physically before purchase.
8.Traditional Com-business scope of business is a
limited physical area. E Com-business scope is
worldwide as it is done through digital
medium.
 E-commerce Advantages
E-Commerce advantages can be broadly
classified in three major categories −
• Advantages to Organizations
• Advantages to Consumers
• Advantages to Society
 Advantages to Organizations
• Using e-commerce, organizations can expand their market
to national and international markets with minimum
capital investment.
• An organization can easily locate more customers, best
suppliers, and suitable business partners across the globe.
• E-commerce helps organizations to reduce the cost to
create process, distribute, retrieve and manage the paper
based information by digitizing the information.
• E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
• E-commerce helps organization to provide better
customer services.
• E-commerce helps to simplify the business processes and
makes them faster and efficient.
• E-commerce reduces the paper work.
 Advantages to Customers
• It provides 24x7 support. Customers can enquire about a product or service
and place orders anytime, anywhere from any location.
• E-commerce application provides users with more options and quicker
delivery of products.
• E-commerce application provides users with more options to compare and
select the cheaper and better options.
• A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what
others are buying, or see the review comments of other customers before
making a final purchase.
• E-commerce provides options of virtual auctions.
• It provides readily available information. A customer can see the relevant
detailed information within seconds, rather than waiting for days or weeks.
• E-Commerce increases the competition among organizations and as a result,
organizations provides substantial discounts to customers.
 Virtual Auction
• An online auction is a service in which auction users
or participants sell or bid for products or services
via the Internet. Virtual auctions facilitate online
activities between buyers and sellers in different
locations or geographical areas. Various auction
sites provide users with platforms powered by
different types of auction software.

An online auction is also known as a virtual auction.

• Ebay is the best example of an auction site
 Advantages to Society
• Customers need not travel to shop a product, thus
less traffic on road and low air pollution.
• E-commerce helps in reducing the cost of products,
so less affluent people can also afford the products.
• E-commerce has enabled rural areas to access
services and products, which are otherwise not
available to them.
• E-commerce helps the government to deliver public
services such as healthcare, education, social services
at a reduced cost and in an improved manner.
 E commerce Disadvantages
The disadvantages of e-commerce can be
broadly classified into two major categories −
• Technical disadvantages
• Non-Technical disadvantages
 Technical Disadvantages

• There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards

owing to poor implementation of e-commerce.
• The software development industry is still evolving and keeps
changing rapidly.
• In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue.
• Special types of web servers or other software might be
required by the vendor, setting the e-commerce environment
apart from network servers.
• Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate an e-commerce
software or website with existing applications or databases.
• There could be software/hardware compatibility issues, as
some e-commerce software may be incompatible with some
operating system or any other component.
 Non-Technical Disadvantages
• Initial cost − The cost of creating/building an e-commerce
application in-house may be very high. There could be delays
in launching an e-Commerce application due to mistakes, and
lack of experience.
• User resistance − Users may not trust the site being an
unknown faceless seller. Such mistrust makes it difficult to
convince traditional users to switch from physical stores to
online/virtual stores.
• Security/ Privacy − It is difficult to ensure the security or
privacy on online transactions.
• Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping is a
drawback.
• Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use
for many potential customers, for example, those living in
remote villages.
 E-commerce business models
• E-commerce business models can generally be
categorized into the following categories.
Business - to - Business (B2B)
Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
Business - to - Government (B2G)
Government - to - Business (G2B)
Government - to - Citizen (G2C)
 Business - to - Business

• A website following the B2B business model sells its

products to an intermediate buyer who then sells
the product to the final customer.
• As an example, a wholesaler places an order from a
company's website and after receiving the
consignment, sells the endproduct to the final
customer who comes to buy the product at one of
its retail outlets.
Business - to - Business
 Business - to - Consumer

• A website following the B2C business model sells its

products directly to a customer.
• A customer can view the products shown on the
website.
• The customer can choose a product and order the same.
• The website will then send a notification to the business
organization via email and the organization will dispatch
the product/goods to the customer.
Business - to - Consumer
 Consumer - to - Consumer

• A website following the C2C business model helps

consumers to sell their assets like residential
property, cars, motorcycles, etc., or rent a room by
publishing their information on the website.
• Website may or may not charge the consumer for
its services.
• Another consumer may opt to buy the product of
the first customer by viewing the
post/advertisement on the website.
Consumer - to - Consumer
 Consumer - to - Business

• In this model, a consumer approaches a website

showing multiple business organizations for a
particular service.
• The consumer places an estimate of amount he/she
wants to spend for a particular service. For example,
the comparison of interest rates of personal loan/car
loan provided by various banks via websites.
• A business organization who fulfills the consumer's
requirement within the specified budget,
approaches the customer and provides its services.
Consumer - to - Business
 Business - to - Government

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such

websites are used by governments to trade
and exchange information with various
business organizations. Such websites are
accredited by the government and provide a
medium to businesses to submit application
forms to the government.
 Government - to - Business

Governments use B2G model websites to

approach business organizations. Such
websites support auctions, tenders, and
application submission functionalities.
 Government - to - Citizen
• Governments use G2C model websites to approach
citizen in general. Such websites support auctions
of vehicles, machinery, or any other material.
• Such website also provides services like registration
for birth, marriage or death certificates.
• The main objective of G2C websites is to reduce
the average time for fulfilling citizen’s requests for
various government services.
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange. EDI
is an electronic way of transferring business
documents in an organization internally,
between its various departments or externally
with suppliers, customers, or any subsidiaries.
• In EDI, paper documents are replaced with
electronic documents such as word
documents, spreadsheets, etc.
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange. EDI
is an electronic way of transferring business
documents in an organization internally,
between its various departments or externally
with suppliers, customers, or any subsidiaries.
• In EDI, paper documents are replaced with
electronic documents such as word
documents, spreadsheets, etc.
 EDI Documents

Following are the few important documents

used in EDI −
– Invoices
– Purchase orders
– Shipping Requests
– Acknowledgement
– Business Correspondence letters
– Financial information letters
 EDI Users:

• Central and state government agencies

• Industry
• Banking
• Retailing
• Manufacturing
• Insurance
• Healthcare
• Automotive
• Electronics
• Grocery
• Transportation
 Steps in an EDI System

• Following are the steps in an EDI System.

– A program generates a file that contains the
processed document.
– The document is converted into an agreed standard
format.
– The file containing the document is sent
electronically on the network.
– The trading partner receives the file.
– An acknowledgement document is generated and
sent to the originating organization.
 How EDI works?

• The data or the information that one company

sends the other first gets prepared to be sent,
then the information/document is translated
into EDI format. The document is then
connected and transmitted to the other
business, the connection is direct and point to
point.
 Advantages of an EDI System

• Following are the advantages of having an EDI system.

– Reduction in data entry errors. − Chances of errors are much less

while using a computer for data entry.
– Shorter processing life cycle − Orders can be processed as soon as
they are entered into the system. It reduces the processing time of
the transfer documents.
– Electronic form of data − It is quite easy to transfer or share the
data, as it is present in electronic format.
– Reduction in paperwork − As a lot of paper documents are replaced
with electronic documents, there is a huge reduction in paperwork.
– Cost Effective − As time is saved and orders are processed very
effectively, EDI proves to be highly cost effective.
– Standard Means of communication − EDI enforces standards on the
content of data and its format which leads to clearer
communication.
 Disadvantages of EDI:

• The initial setup of the EDI is very Time-consuming.

• EDI standards keep on changing after some
amount of time.
• A very systematic and proper back up is required
as the entire data relies on EDI.
• The setup and maintenance of the EDI is very
Expensive.
 Architectural framework of E-commerce

• Architectural framework of E-commerce

includes the synthesizing of various existing
resources like DBMS, data repository,
computer languages, software agent based
transactions, monitors or communication
protocols to facilitate the integration of data
and software for better applications.
Architectural Framework for e-commerce

• The architectural framework for e-commerce consists of

six layers of functionality or services as follows:
– 1.Application services.
– 2.Brokerage services, data or transaction management.
– 3.Interface and support layers.
– 4.Secure messaging, security and electronic document
interchange.
– 5.Middleware and structured document interchange, and
– 6.Network infrastructure and the basic communication
services.
 1.Application layer services
• In the application layer services of Ecommerce, it
is decided that what type of Ecommerce
application is going to be implemented.
• There are three types of distinguished E-
commerce applications, which include C2B E-
commerce (Consumer to Business E-commerce),
B2B Ecommerce (Business to Business E-
commerce), and intra-organizational applications
 2.Information Brokerage and Management
Layer
• This layer deals with the voluminous amounts of information on the networks.
• This layer works as an intermediary that provides service integration between
customers and information providers, given some constraint such as low price,
fast services or profit maximization for a client.
• For example, a person wants to go to USA from India, the person checks the
sites of various airlines for the low-price ticket with the best available service.
For this he must know the URL‟s of all the sites.
• Secondly, to search the services and the best prices, he also has to feed the
details of the journey again and again on different sites.
• If there is a site that can work as information broker and can arrange the ticket
as per the need of the person, it will save the lot of time and efforts of the
person.
• This is just one example of how information brokerages can add value. Another
aspect of the brokerage function is the support for data management and
traditional transaction services. Brokerages may provide tools to accomplish
more sophisticated, time-delayed updates or future-compensating transactions
 3.Interface and Support Services
• The third layer of the architectural framework is interface layer.
• Interactive catalogs and directory support services are the examples of this
layer.
• Interactive catalogs are the customized interface to customer applications
such as home shopping.
• Interactive catalogs are very similar to the paper-based catalog except that
the first one has the additional features such as use of graphics and video to
make the advertising more attractive.
• Directory services have the functions necessary for information search and
access. The directories attempt to organize the enormous amount of
information and transactions generated to facilitate e-commerce.
• The main difference between the interactive catalogs and directory services
is that the interactive catalogs deal with people while directory support
services interact directly with software applications.
 4. Secure Messaging Layer
• In any business, electronic messaging is an important issue.
• The commonly used messaging systems like phone, fax and courier
services have certain problems such as if phone line is dead or the
phone number is wrong. In the case of courier service, if you want to
deliver the messages instantly, it is not possible as it will take some time
depending on the distance between the source and destination places.
• Electronic messaging services like e-mail, enhanced fax and EDI are the
solution for such type of problems.
• The major advantage of the electronic messaging is the ability to access
the right information at the right time across diverse work groups.
• The main constraints of the electronic messaging are security, privacy
and confidentiality through data encryption and authentication
techniques.
• Messaging layer includes the following i.e., digital encryption standard
(DES), advanced encryption standard (AES), public key encryption (PKE),
digital signature (DS) and electronic data interchange (EDI) protocol.
 5.Middleware Services
• The enormous growth of networks, client server
technology and all other forms of communication
among unlike platforms is the reason for the invention
of middleware services.
• The middleware services are used to integrate the
diversified software programs and make them talk to
one another.
• Middleware services layer consists of the following:
value added networks, digital signature, electronic
payment schemes, E-payment, electronic cash (E-cash)
and hosting services.
 6. Network Infrastructure
• The effective and efficient linkage between the
customer and the supplier is a precondition for E-
commerce.
• Therefore, this layer is also known as information
superhighway in which the data flow from sender to
receiver is noticed.
• Network service layer includes e-mail, WWW (World
wide web), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), HTML
(Hyper Text Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup
Language), SE (Search Engines) and SA (Software
Agents).
 E-commerce Architecture
• E-commerce is based on the client-server architecture.

• A client can be an application, which uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that
sends request to a server for certain services.

• The server is the provider of the services requested by the client.

• In E-commerce, a client refers to a customer who requests for certain services

and the server refers to the business application through which the services are
provided.

• The business application that provides services is deployed on a Web' server. The
E - Commerce Web server is a computer program that provides services to "other
computer programs and serves requested Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML)
pages or files.

• In client-server architecture, a machine can be both a client as well as a server.

• There are two types of client server
architecture that E-commerce follows:
– two-tier architecture
– three-tier architecture
E- Commerce System Architecture: Two-tier
architecture:
• In two-tier client-server architecture the user
interface runs on the client and the database
is stored on the server.
• The business application logic can either run
on the client or the server.
• It allows the client processes to run separately
from the server processes on different
computers.
 E- Commerce System Architecture: Three-
tier architecture:
• The three-tier architecture emerged in the 1990s
to overcome the limitations of the two-tier
architecture.
• In three-tier architecture, the user interface and
the business application logic, also known as
business rules and data storage and access, are
developed and maintained as independent
modules.
• The three-tier architecture includes three tiers: top
tier, middle tier and third tier.
 The Network Infrastructure for E-Commerce
Introduction:

• E-commerce needs a standard network infrastructure to transport the

content.
• Internet and intranet are the basic tools to implement e-commerce. The
network infrastructure is provided by I-way or business super highway.
• The information super highway may be defined as a high-capacity
electronic pipeline that is capable of simultaneously supporting a large
number of e-commerce applications and provide interactive phone like
connectivity between users and services and among users.
• The ability to translate the content (media) into digital form is
fundamental to all the changes associated with the I-way.
• Digitization refers to the process by which all media video, audio, text,
graphics are processed by computers: manipulated, mixed, transform
and delivered in new way.
 Information Super Highway (I-Way):
• Electronic commerce needs a network infrastructure to transport the content-text, audio,
video, graphics etc.
• The network infrastructure that provides such a data transmission facility is called I-Way or
information super highway.
• Thus, information super highways can be defined as the high capacity, electronic and
interactive pipeline to the consumer or business premise that is capable of supporting large
number of e-commerce applications simultaneously.
• It is called interactive because it provides two-way communication between users and service
providers or between one user and another user.
• It is called high-capacity electronic pipeline because it must provide broadband link.
• Historically, the voice and data networks have evolved separately, with voice networks relying
on circuit switching and data networks using packet switching techniques.
• Thus, a business user requiring voice, data, and video conferencing services often had to use
three separate networks- a voice network, a data network, and a videoconferencing network.
• I-way provides integration solution to the shortcoming of the need to have separate network
for voice, data and video services respectively.
• Now a days information super high way is emerged as basic network infrastructure for all
ecommerce activities due to its capability of providing integrated text, graphics, audio, and
video services.
Components of the I-Way:
 Consumer Access Equipments:

• These are the devices at consumer end and enables

consumers to access the network. It consists of hardware and
software.
• Hardware component includes devices such as computers,
modems, routers, switches etc. for computer networks, set-
top boxes, TV signal descramblers etc. for television networks,
Cell phones etc. for cellular networks and so on.
• And software systems installed in those hardware devices
includes browsers, operating systems etc.
• The type of consumer access equipment used depends upon
the communication mode used. These equipments are also
called customer premise equipments or terminal equipments.
 Access Roads/Media
(Local on Ramps)

• These are the network infrastructure that provides linkage

between businesses, homes, and schools to global
information distribution network. This component is often
called the last mile in telecommunication industry.
• Access road providers can be divided into four categories:
– Telecom based,
– Cable TV based,
– Wireless based, and
– Computer based online systems.
• Main function of access roads is to connect consumers
with e-commerce applications.
 Telecom Based Access Roads
• Telecom industries provides high speed electronic pipeline which is
capable for carrying large volume of audio, video, and text data.
• These industries provide network infrastructure for long distance and
local telephone communication.
• This network infrastructure is useful for ecommerce application to be
connected with Global Information Distribution Network.
• Main limitation of telecom-based access roads is that it continues to
depend on analog transmission of data although the industry is rapidly
introducing advanced digital transmission technologies.
• However, most of the trunk lines are replaced with high-capacity optical
fiber in recent days, local loops are still connected by using copper
wire. The customers are constrained with limited capacity of these
wires.
• Thus, the telecom industries need to replace these copper wires with
high-capacity optical fiber to handle expected flood of information
from ecommerce applications.
 Cable TV Based Access Roads

• Cable television systems also provides high-

capacity broadband network infrastructure to
connect large number of customers with their
system.
• These systems adopt digital transmission of
data and have a lot of unutilized capacity which
can be useful for transmitting information from
ecommerce applications to customers.
• Cable TV based systems can be of two types:
– wired cable TV,
– wireless cable TV.
 Wired cable TV and Wireless cable TV
• In wired cable TV based systems connects customers mainly by using coaxial-cables.
But in recent days they are replacing trunk lines from optical fibers whereas local
loops are based on coaxial-cable links.
•This further strengthened the capacity of cable TV based network infrastructure and
provides ecommerce applications with more capacity links.
• Now, cable TV companies have started to use wireless communication to connect
customer homes in cost effective way rather than using optical fiber or coaxial cable-
based interconnection.
• Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) is used for wireless cable TV transmission. It uses
Super high frequency (SHF) channels to transmit data over the air.
• These signals are received by special antennas mounted in roofs of subscribers and
then it is distributed within the building with help of coaxial cable.
• With help of DBS, it is easy to make cable TV in rural areas at affordable cost.
• Thus, emergence of wireless cable TV infrastructure makes it easy to provide
ecommerce services in rural areas also.
• Although there are lots of benefits of wireless cable TV network infrastructure, it also
suffers from limitations. For example, heavy rainfall may cause picture quality
degradation or interruption.
 Wireless Based Access Roads

• Wireless operators provide network infrastructure by using radio

frequencies which are Omni directional waves and have high
penetration power.
• The wireless-based systems have revolutionized the ways of
thinking about information delivery.
– Apart from the voice calls, the cellular technology today has also facilitated short messaging
services (SMS) using alphanumeric display and the multimedia services.
– Internet connectivity using the cellular networks has been made possible.
– The cellular networks using the analog technology are now upgrading to digital networks to
provide greater capacity at lower costs as well as increase the quality and functionality of
the cellular network.
– Applications have been developed to facilitate mobile workers to exchange messages and
data from their offices while on the road.

• Thus, wireless based access enables customers to access

ecommerce application from anywhere at any time and
ecommerce service providers can provide content and services
to customers on the basis of location.
 Computer Based Online Systems

• The Internet is the global system of interconnected mainframe, personal and wireless
computer networks that use the protocol suite TCP/IP to link billions of devices
worldwide.
• It is a network of networks 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.
• Internet, intranets and extranets are providing online services which provides 24-hour
computer-based supermarkets to customers.
• It targets a wide range of ecommerce applications such as video on demand, home
shopping, e-mail, information publishing, information retrieval, video conferencing
and many more.
• The demand of these online services is increased dramatically due to widespread use of
PCs in homes and businesses.
• Due to low hardware costs and enhanced graphics and multimedia support, customers
are fast attracted towards online services entertainment, education, shopping, and
information services.
• ISP provides Internet access, employing a range of technologies to connect users to
their network and thus provides access roads for ecommerce applications,
 GIDN (Global Information Distribution
Network)
• The global information distribution networks consist of the infrastructure
crossing the countries and continents.

• They include the long-distance telephone lines, satellite networks, and the
internet. Long distance telephone connectivity is provided through cable by
the inter-exchange carriers.

• Long distance cellular networks are using the wireless technologies to

connect the consumers worldwide.

• Satellite networks play a vital role in the communication industry. They have
advantages over the terrestrial networks in that:
1. They are accessible from any point of the globe.
2. They can provide broad band digital services to many points without the cost of
acquiring wire/cable installation.
3. They can add receiving and sending sites without significant additional costs.
 Requirement of I-Way

• The success of e-commerce-based business depends

on the information flow and to make information
flow smooth and capable I-way is required.

• The success or failure of any creativity, product or

services is a key driver of market forces.

• The underlying of market drives of I-way is important

because e-commerce applications are dependent on
the underlying I-way.
 Functions of I-Way

• It develops business relationship among all sorts of

business and with people all around the world by the
help of global information distribution network.
• It is used to communicate between the business
partners at any locations through the network
communications.
• It acts as an information system for any organizations.
• I-Way controls unwanted information distributed
over the complex network.
• It allows multiple forms of messages, sent and
received over the same network.
 Internet as a Network Infrastructure
• The Internet is a meta-network, that is, a network of networks that spans the globe.
• The Internet employ one of standardized protocols which allow for the sharing of resources among different kinds
computers that communicate with each other on the network.
• These standards are sometimes referred to as the Internet Protocol Suite.
• Packet switching technique is employed by Internet to transmit messages from one location to another location
which makes high utilization network resources.
• This is the reason behind low cost of internet The Internet is a distributed system. There is no central store.
• Technically, no one runs the Internet. Rather, the Internet is made up of thousands of smaller networks.
• However, our connection to the Internet is probably controlled by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
• People and organizations connect into the Internet so they can access its massive store of shared information. The
Internet is an inherently participative medium. Anybody can publish information or create new services.
• A computer connected to the Internet is commonly referred to as a host. Connections are made using telephone
lines, cable data lines, fiber optic, or even wireless signals.
• The data passed back and forth between host computers using packets and protocols.
• Internet use client/server model of communication. We (client) make request in the internet by using web browser.
Some computer in the internet (server) makes resources requested by us and responds to our request by using
software called web server.
• 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 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 fomecd.edu.np to a particular IP
address to uniquely identify the computer on which this website is hosted.
 Internetworking Protocols:
• A protocol is a set of rules and regulations that governs data communication.
It ensures that two parties in the communication speak the same language.
• A protocol defines:
– Syntax-What is communicated
– Semantics- How it is communicated, and
– Timing-When it is communicated,
• Protocol represents an agreement between the communicating devices.
Without a protocol two devices may be connected but cannot
communicate.
• Internetworking is a term used by providers of network products and
services as a comprehensive term for all the concepts, technologies, and
generic devices that allow people and their computers to communicate
across different kinds of networks.
• The most common protocols for internetwork communications are: OSI
(Open Systems Interconnection) reference model and TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
 Internet Services

• Internet Services allows us to access huge

amount of information such as text, graphics,
sound and software over the internet.
• Some of the services provided by internet are:
– World Wide Web (WWW),
– Information Retrieval Services,
– Communication Services, and
– Web Services.
1.World Wide Web (WWW)

• It is commonly known as The Web. It is the most popular

Internet service.
• It is a system of interlinked hypertext documents (called
web pages contained on the Internet).
• A web page can contain text, graphics, animations, sound
and video. All of the web pages maintained by an
organization or individual are called a web site.
• WWW uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for fetching
files (web pages) in the Internet.
• It is set of rules and standards that transmit requests and
information between web browsers and web servers.
2.Information Retrieval Service -

• It Involves browsing and information retrieval, and provide customers

the ability to find, view, download, and process information.
• Some of information retrieval services provided by internet are:
– File Transfer Protocol (FTP): FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol. It is
used to transfer files between computers over the network or Internet. It is
commonly used to download a file from a server or to upload a file to a
server by using internet.
– Archie: It is updated database of public FTP sites and their content. It helps
to search a file by its name.
– Gophers: Gophers are tools that are used to search, retrieve, and display
documents on remote sites.
– Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS): WAIS is a client server text searching
system. It is used to search indexed databases or remote servers.
3.Communication Services

• There are various Communication Services available that offer

exchange of information with individuals or groups.
• Some of these services are: o
– Electronic Mail: Email is used to send electronic message over the internet
– Telnet: It is used to log on to a remote computer that is attached to internet
– Newsgroup: Offers a forum for people to discuss topics of common
interests
– Internet Telephony (VoIP): It allows the internet users to talk across
internet to any PC equipped to receive the call
– Instant Messaging: It offers real time chat between individuals and group of
people.
– Internet Relay Chat (IRC): It allows the people from all over the world to
communicate in real time.
4. Web services

• Web services allow exchange of information between

applications on the web. Using web services,
applications can easily interact with each other.
• Web services allow different applications from different
sources to communicate with each other without time-
consuming custom coding.
• Web services are not tied to any one operating system or
programming language. For example, Java can talk with
Perl, Windows applications can talk with UNIX
applications,
 Intranet
• An intranet is an internal private network based on
internet and World Wide Web (WWW) technology and
standards.
• Intranets are restricted to the internal members of an
organization.
• Access to intranets is controlled through the use of
usernames, passwords and firewalls, which are security
software programs that keep users that are members of
the organization out of the network.
• Intranet also uses TCP/IP protocol as internet for
communication.
 Extranet
• An extranet is the internal private network where limited numbers of
outsiders are given access to the intranet.
• Like intranet, extranet is also based on internet and World Wide Web
(WWW) technology and standards and uses TCP/IP protocol for
communication.
• Access to intranets is controlled through the use of usernames, passwords
and firewalls, which are security software programs that keep users that
are not members of the organization out of the network.
• The beauty of intranets and extranets is that they don't require any
special software or hardware other than what we would use for the
Internet.
• Some companies are using extranets to replace EDI systems. Smaller
companies that couldn't afford the cost of EDI are using extranets as a
way to allow product ordering and shipment tracking.
 Network Access Equipments
• Network Devices: Network devices, also
known as networking hardware, are physical
devices that allow hardware on a computer
network to communicate and interact with
one another. For example Repeater, Hub,
Bridge, Switch, Routers, Gateway, Brouter, and
NIC, etc.
 1. Repeater
• A repeater operates at the physical layer.
• Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same
network before the signal becomes too weak or
corrupted to extend the length to which the signal
can be transmitted over the same network.
• An important point to be noted about repeaters is
that they do not amplify the signal.
• It is a 2-port device.
 2. Hub
• A hub is a basically multi-port repeater.
• A hub connects multiple wires coming from
different branches, for example, the connector in
star topology which connects different stations.
• Hubs cannot filter data, so data packets are sent
to all connected devices.
• Also, they do not have the intelligence to find
out the best path for data packets which leads to
inefficiencies and wastage
 Types of Hub
• Active Hub:- These are the hubs that have their power supply and
can clean, boost, and relay the signal along with the network. It
serves both as a repeater as well as a wiring center. These are used
to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
• Passive Hub:- These are the hubs that collect wiring from nodes and
power supply from the active hub. These hubs relay signals onto the
network without cleaning and boosting them and can’t be used to
extend the distance between nodes.
• Intelligent Hub:- It works like an active hub and includes remote
management capabilities. They also provide flexible data rates to
network devices. It also enables an administrator to monitor the
traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the
hub.
 3. Bridge
• A bridge operates at the data link layer.
• A bridge is a repeater, with add on the
functionality of filtering content by reading the
MAC addresses of the source and destination.
• It is also used for interconnecting two LANs
working on the same protocol.
• It has a single input and single output port, thus
making it a 2 port device.
 Types of Bridges

• Transparent Bridges:- These are the bridge in which the

stations are completely unaware of the bridge’s
existence i.e. whether or not a bridge is added or
deleted from the network, reconfiguration of the
stations is unnecessary.
• Source Routing Bridges:- In these bridges, routing
operation is performed by the source station and the
frame specifies which route to follow. The host can
discover the frame by sending a special frame called the
discovery frame, which spreads through the entire
network using all possible paths to the destination.
 4. Switch
• Sometimes Hub can be an inefficient (think about the excess traffic
created) and unsecure device.
• Imagine if you wish to send sensitive credit card information over the
network – do you really want every node to receive your electronic
signal?
• To alleviate this, the switch was developed.
• A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can boost
its efficiency(a large number of ports imply less traffic) and performance.
• A switch is a data link layer device.
• The switch can perform error checking before forwarding data, which
makes it very efficient as it does not forward packets that have errors
and forward good packets selectively to the correct port only.
 5. Routers
• A router is a device like a switch that routes
data packets based on their IP addresses.
• The router is mainly a Network Layer device.
• Routers normally connect LANs and WANs and
have a dynamically updating routing table
based on which they make decisions on routing
the data packets.
• The router divides the broadcast domains of
hosts connected through it.
 6. Gateway
• A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to
connect two networks that may work upon different
networking models.
• They work as messenger agents that take data from
one system, interpret it, and transfer it to another
system.
• Gateways are also called protocol converters and can
operate at any network layer.
• Gateways are generally more complex than switches or
routers. A gateway is also called a protocol converter.
 7. Brouter
• It is also known as the bridging router is a
device that combines features of both bridge
and router.
• It can work either at the data link layer or a
network layer.
• Working as a router, it is capable of routing
packets across networks and working as the
bridge, it is capable of filtering local area
network traffic.
 8. NIC
• NIC or network interface card is a network adapter
that is used to connect the computer to the network.
• It is installed in the computer to establish a LAN.
• It has a unique id that is written on the chip, and it has
a connector to connect the cable to it.
• The cable acts as an interface between the computer
and the router or modem.
• NIC card is a layer 2 device which means that it works
on both the physical and data link layers of the
network model.
 9. WAP

• A Wireless Access Point (WAP) is a networking device that allows

connecting the devices with the wired network.
• It acts as a bridge between the wired, traditional network and other
wireless devices. Alternatively, it can act as a bridge between
wireless devices and another, linked WAP.
• It typically operates in the Network layer of the OSI model
• A Wireless Access Point (WAP) is used to create the WLAN (Wireless
Local Area Network), it is commonly used in large offices and
buildings which have expanded businesses.
 Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

• Earlier, the transmission of data and voice both were possible

through normal POTS, Plain Old Telephone Systems. With the
introduction of Internet came the advancement in
telecommunication too.
• Yet, the sending and receiving of data along with voice was
not an easy task. One could use either the Internet or the
Telephone. The invention of ISDN helped mitigate this
problem.
• The process of connecting a home computer to the Internet
Service Provider used to take a lot of effort. The usage of the
modulator-demodulator unit, simply called the MODEM was
the essential thing to establish a connection.
 The following figure shows how the model worked in the past.

• The above figure shows that the digital signals have to be

converted into analog and analog signals to digital using
modem during the whole path.
• What if the digital information at one end reaches to the
other end in the same mode, without all these
connections?
• It is this basic idea that lead to the development of ISDN.
 ISDN

• ISDN was first defined in the CCITT red book in

1988.
• The Integrated Services of Digital Networking,
in short ISDN is a telephone network based
infrastructure that allows the transmission of
voice and data simultaneously at a high speed
with greater efficiency.
• This is a circuit switched telephone network
system, which also provides access to Packet
switched networks.
The model of a practical ISDN is as shown below.
 Types of ISDN

• Among the types of several interfaces present, some of

them contains channels such as
– B-Channels or Bearer Channels that are used to transmit
voice and data simultaneously;
– D- Channels or Delta Channels that are used for signaling
purpose to set up communication.
• The ISDN has several kinds of access interfaces such as
– Basic Rate Interface (BRI)
– Primary Rate Interface (PRI)
– Narrowband ISDN
– Broadband ISDN
 Basic Rate Interface (BRI)

• The Basic Rate Interface or Basic Rate Access,

simply called the ISDN BRI Connection uses the
existing telephone infrastructure.
• The BRI configuration provides two data or bearer
channels at 64 Kbits/sec speed and one control or
delta channel at 16 Kbits/sec. This is a standard
rate.
• The ISDN BRI interface is commonly used by
smaller organizations or home users or within a
local group, limiting a smaller area.
 Primary Rate Interface (PRI)

• The Primary Rate Interface or Primary Rate

Access, simply called the ISDN PRI connection
is used by enterprises and offices.
• The PRI configuration is based on T-carrier or
T1 in the US, Canada and Japan countries
consisting of 23 data or bearer channels and
one control or delta channel, with 64kbps
speed for a bandwidth of 1.544 M bits/sec.
 Narrowband ISDN

• The Narrowband Integrated Services Digital

Network is called the N-ISDN. This can be
understood as a telecommunication that carries
voice information in a narrow band of frequencies.
• This is actually an attempt to digitize the analog
voice information. This uses 64kbps circuit
switching.
• The narrowband ISDN is implemented to carry
voice data, which uses lesser bandwidth, on a
limited number of frequencies.
 Broadband ISDN

• The Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network is called the B-

ISDN. This integrates the digital networking services and provides
digital transmission over ordinary telephone wires, as well as over
other media.
• The broadband ISDN speed is around 2 MBPS to 1 GBPS and the
transmission is related to ATM, i.e., Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
The broadband ISDN communication is usually made using the
fiber optic cables.
• As the speed is greater than 1.544 Mbps, the communications
based on this are called Broadband Communications.
• The broadband services provide a continuous flow of information,
which is distributed from a central source to an unlimited number
of authorized receivers connected to the network.
• Advantages of ISDN
– As the services are digital, there is less chance for errors.
– The connection is faster.
– The bandwidth is higher.
– Voice, data and video − all of these can be sent over a
single ISDN line.
• Disadvantages of ISDN
– The disadvantage of ISDN is that it requires specialized
digital services and is costlier.
– However, the advent of ISDN has brought great
advancement in communications. Multiple
transmissions with greater speed are being achieved
with higher levels of accuracy.