1 Overview

This document provides a number of terms that are used frequently in conjunction with the use of bxp.

1.1 The browser

The Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers. It provides a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardised communication protocols. For more information on the Internet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

An Internet Browser is a computer program that allows the user to view documents from the Internet. No actual document is ever viewed on the Internet, rather, a copy is downloaded to your device and the Internet Browser displays the content.

The content includes references to text, images, sound and video and is written in a special document language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

There are of course many different browsers available, the most popular being:

Microsoft Internet Explorer http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/internet-explorer/download-ie
Mozilla Firefox https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?utm_source=firefox-com&utm_medium=referral
Google Chrome https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/
Apple Safari http://www.apple.com/safari/
Opera Opera http://www.opera.com/

Any device that can connect to the Internet will usually come with some form of browser preinstalled. For competition reasons, the European Union provides a browser choice website to allow you to select and install numerous browsers. http://www.browserchoice.eu/

The Browser Cache (commonly abbreviated to Cache), is a temporary holding area for documents, images and other media. For speed your computer stores a limited amount of images, so if you open a page again, that content does not need to be downloaded again, thus making document display faster.

Cookies are small text files which contain information such as usernames, passwords and other details, which are accessible by the Internet Browser. Cookies relieve your Internet Browser from repeatedly requesting the same details.

A Web Server supplies HTML documents to Internet Browsers. It is in effect a library of HTML documents, images and other multimedia which a user can browse. The Internet Server transfers the documents to the browser using a language / protocol called HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) which is not encrypted. There is a secure version of the protocol called HTTPS which is encrypted.

Devices for connecting to the Internet include:

Computers / PCs (Personal Computers)
Laptops
Smart Phones
Notebooks
Tablets

1.2 Internet Speed

Different devices have different capabilities but, whilst the speed at which the document is displayed is to some extent reliant on the device, it is more dependent on the speed at which the document is transferred from the Internet Server to the Browser. To connect to the Internet, the device will need to connect your device to the services of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The speed of connection you have purchased will greatly affect the speed at which you will experience using Internet based solutions.

A useful tool for testing the speed of your Internet connection can be found at http://www.speedtest.net/

From customer feedback 2 Mb/s download speed provides the optimum BE experience however bxp will work on dial up speeds, i.e. 56.6 Kb/s

1.3 Web servers

The collection of documents on an Internet Server is called a website, effectively a collection of interconnected documents and multimedia. Since the primary use of the Internet is to visit websites it is commonly referred to as The Web. Each website on each web server has a unique web address, usually found in the Address Bar of the browser, which usually takes the form of the http protocol, followed by :// followed by the name of the website, for example:

http://www.google.ie for a standard connection
https://ww3.allnone.ie/client/client_demo/ for a secure connection

Today’s browsers usually don’t need you to add the http:// part because they do it automatically. In addition they also now warn you when you’re interacting with a secure website such as your Bank. A web address is usually found in the Address Bar of the browser. The technical name for a web address is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

1.4 Browser capabilities

A single document on a website is called a Page and it can be shown in a Window or a Tab depending on the facilities of the browser. If a user tears away a tab it becomes a Window.

It is possible to Zoom in and out of a page to make the text bigger or smaller using the menu options in the browser or by holding down ctrl on the keyboard and rolling the mouse wheel forward.

There are a number of functions such as cut, copy and paste which are available through right click menus or using keyboard shortcuts which are combinations of keys.

When troubleshooting it can be useful to take a photograph of the computer screen, this is called a snapshot. By pressing the PrintScreen / PrtScrn button on the keyboard a snapshot is taken. This snapshot can then be pasted into programs such as Microsoft Word or directly into email programs such as Microsoft Outlook.

1.5 Cloud computing

Wixi defines Cloud Computing as:

…a phrase used to describe a variety of computing concepts that involve a large number of computers connected through a real-time communication network such as the Internet. In science, cloud computing is a synonym for distributed computing over a network, and means the ability to run a program or application on many connected computers at the same time…

Essentially it’s a large collection of computers connected together. Since it is not practical to draw all these connections a cloud image is used to represent them.

You can purchase three different types of service in the cloud:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) In brief, this is a net based computer which gives the purchaser direct control of the equipment.
Platform as a Service (PaaS). Slightly less control than IaaS because the equipment is managed through a series of dashboards and control panels.
Software as a Service (SaaS) where no equipment control is provided, you just access the service, for example Google’s. In the commercial world cloud based service is rented, not purchased like traditional software.

For more information on the differences between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS please see http://www.rackspace.com/knowledge_center/whitepaper/understanding-the-cloud-computing-stack-saas-paas-iaas

SaaS requires software to be first installed on the machines. This installation of software is usually an Internet browser. As most Internet connected equipment comes with this software installed, it is often referred to as preinstalled software. Other SaaS solutions require the user to install third party pieces of software to allow their solutions to work. If the SaaS solution can work using only the preinstalled browser, it is referred to as pure SaaS. Pure SaaS gives the user the feeling that it is instantly useable.

JavaScript is a computer programming language, which allows the contents of a HTML document to be dynamically changed. JavaScript has a number of roles, validation of content, moving items and real time alteration of content, amongst many features. For clarity, Java is completely different from JavaScript.

Introduction to the Internet

Contents