Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Faculty Personal Homepage

INTERNET IN BUSINESS
Traffic Jams
 Internet was not planned for its current users.
 It was meant only for government sites, research and
defense contracting community.
 Today we have millions of users, some surfing for hours at
a time and sending high-volume multimedia data.
 The speed problem affects every aspect of business on
the internet.
 Bandwidth is a measure of the capacity of a
communication link --- expansion of pipes for more data to
flow through.
 Alternatives to a 56kbps modem are satellite, ISDN, DSL
and its variations.
Traffic Jams
Traffic Jams
 Satellite service is wireless and widely available --expensive and may be clogged in peak hours.
 ISDN --- 128 kbps --- requires special equipment.
 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) uses advanced electronics -- conventional telephone lines --- digital to analog
conversion.
 DSL spreads the analog signals over a large range of
frequencies, acting as if dozens of modems were sending
signals at the same time --- lacks industry standards.
 Cable modem --- coaxial cables, normal TV reception,
always on and does not require dialing.
 Major links that tie internet servers across wide
geographical areas are called backbone, e.g. Sprint, MCI
WorldCom.
Traffic Jams
 Internet Congestion --- no charge on usage.
 A heavy user should pay more than an occasional
browser.
 Streaming
– It is the most usable bandwidth user --- downloading of audio,
video and animation.
– Streamed content can be seen and heard while being
downloaded. But the price of this convenience is quality.
– The browser plug-in like RealPlayer lets streaming begin within
seconds of a user’s click. The site, on your click checks your
browser for an audio-video plug-in.
Traffic Jams
 Multicasting
– Sending a document (containing text, graphics, audio and video
clips) over a network.
– Sending a separate copy to each --- wastage of bandwidth --Unicasting
– Sending the same copy to every computer on the network --Broadcast
– Sending one copy to only recipients --- Multicasting
Traffic Jams
 Push Technology
– Businesses have to wait for the users to pull data from their sites.
– Push technology, often called webcasting gathers up customized
information for you from various sites automatically, i.e. you don’t
have to browse and search.
– The concept was pioneered by PointCast Inc. which delivers
information in the form of a screen-saver.
– You download the free software from the company’s web site and
install it.
– Push software’s update button gives you the latest information.
– This technology is bandwidth-hungry. PointCast uses multicast
model --- sending files down the line just once for all users on the
same server.
Traffic Jams
 Push Technology
(a) Note the briefcase image in the upper-left corner, indicating that the category Companies has been clicked.
Users can keep a list of their own stocks. Shown here is a graph with statistics with Electronic Data Systems.
Screens also show commercials; note the Continental Airlines ad in the upper-right corner. (b) The umbrella image
in the upper-left corner indicates that the category Weather has been clicked. Predictions for major cities drift up
the top half of the screen; below are enlargeable maps. The stars in the lower-left corner are part of an
advertisement.
Intranets
 An Intranet/Intranet is a private Internet-like network internal to a
certain company. Its growth is partly due to the ease of setting up.
 Setting up an Intranet
– Hardware: servers and computers
– Software: TCP/IP protocols, browser
 Intranets at Work
– Personal information can be instantly viewed and printed
– Typical applications are internal job openings, vacation requests,
corporate policy information, and perhaps company training courses
 Intranets at Work
– Some parts of a intranet can be linked together --- extranet
– Some customers and suppliers can be handled more easily with extranet
than with traditional EDI systems
Virtual Private Networks
 VPN provides technology that uses the public internet
backbone as a channel for private data communication.
 VPNs are based on Tunneling/Encapsulation --- transfer
data between two similar networks over an intermediate
network.
 Although there is no standard protocol for tunneling,
Microsoft, 3Com and several others are using PPTP. The
original protocol is the standard TCP/IP.
 VPN uses encryption of packets before encapsulation
Consolidation of the Web
 Broadening the scope of the usage of Web.
 Internet has become the preferred medium for all kinds of
ideological, political, cultural, and entertainment
persuations.
 America Online brought Netscape in 1999, the first
consolidation on web.
 Mom-and-pop stores, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and
Blockbuster Entertainment are the other examples.