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Candidates should be able to:

OCR 2.1.6 (i) describe the nature of the Internet as a worldwide
collection of computer networks

The Internet is a network of networks. It consists of millions of computers worldwide that use
the Internet Protocol to communicate.

Each Network can involve telephone lines, fibre-optic cable, satellite, microwaves and other
wireless links.

Once a computer is connected to the Internet it can communicate with any other computer
that is also connected and uses the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP).

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a collection of web pages and other resources, linked by
hyperlinks and URLs and is just one of the services that use the Internet.

OCR 2.1.6 (j) describe the hardware needed to connect to the Internet
including modems, routers etc

A Modem - this device allows a computer to connect to the Internet via a standard phone line.
There are two main categories:

Dial-up Modem - this device modulates a digital signal from a computer into analogue sounds
which can be sent along standard phone lines. At the other end the sounds are demodulated
back into a digital signal and passed to a computer. Since the signal is transmitted as an
audible sound, the phone line cannot be used for conversation at the same time. A data
transmission speed of up to 56 Kbit/s is possible.


Broadband Modem - this device also modulates a digital signal from a computer into an
analogue signal but uses a frequency band that is much higher than that used by voice
communications, and is split into 3 channels, upload, download and so the phone line can be
used for conversation at the same time. A broadband modem requires a Digital Subscriber
Line (DSL), a standard phone line equipped to transmit and receive the high frequency digital
signal. Data transmission speeds from 256 Kbit/s up to 4 Mbit/s and higher are possible,
depending on the phone line quality and the distance from the telephone exchange.
Broadband Router - this device allows a computer network to connect to the Internet via a
standard phone line. It combines a broadband modem, a hub or switch and usually a firewall.
It may also contain a wireless access point to allow wireless Internet access.




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Cable modem - These are used if a subscriber already has cable TV. They use frequencies
originally intended to carry television channels.
OCR 2.1.6 (k) explain the need for IP addressing of resources on the
Internet and how this can be facilitated by the role of DNS servers

IP Addresses

An IP address is designed to allow one computer (or other digital device) to communicate with
another via the Internet. IP addresses allow the location of literally billions of digital devices
that are connected to the Internet to be pinpointed and differentiated from other devices. In the
same sense that someone needs your mailing address to send you a letter, a remote
computer needs your IP address to communicate with your computer.

IP addresses can be either static or dynamic. Static IP addresses never change. They serve
as a permanent Internet address and provide a simple and reliable way for remote computers
to contact you. Static IP addresses reveal such information as the continent, country, region,
and city in which a computer is located; the ISP (Internet Service Provider) that services that
particular computer; and such technical information as the precise latitude and longitude of the
country, as well as the locale, of the computer. Many websites provide IP address look-up
services to their visitors, free of charge. If you're curious about your own IP address, you can
locate these websites by performing a Google search.

Dynamic IP addresses are temporary and are assigned each time a computer accesses the
Internet. They are, in effect, borrowed from a pool of IP addresses that are shared among
various computers. Since a limited number of static IP addresses are available, many ISPs
reserve a portion of their assigned addresses for sharing among their subscribers in this way.
This lowers costs and allows them to service far more subscribers than they otherwise could.

Static IP addresses are generally preferable for such uses as VOIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol), online gaming, or any other purpose where users need to make it easy for other
computers to locate and connect to them. Easy access can also be facilitated when using a
dynamic IP address through the use of a dynamic DNS service, which enables other
computers to find you even though you may be using a temporary, one-time IP address. This
often entails an extra charge, however, so check with your ISP.

Static IP addresses are considered somewhat less secure than dynamic IP addresses, since
they are easier to track for data mining purposes. However, following safe Internet practices
can help mitigate this potential problem and keep your computer secure no matter what type
of IP address you use.
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DNS Servers
DNS stands for Domain Name System and translates names to IP addresses, as it is much
easier for people to remember names rather than a 12-digit number.

When you type the domain name, www.bbc.co.uk into the browser a request is sent to a
Domain Name System (DNS) server on the internet. The DNS server has a table of
domain names linked to IP addresses so it can translate the domain name into an IP address.
There are a large number of DNS servers in the internet and are regularly updated. If your
local DNS server does not have the domain name listed, the request can be forwarded to
another DNS. If the IP addresses change at some point the DNS servers can be updated.

In most browsers you can also type the IP address of a site into the address bar to get to a
site. The domain name and IP address both point to the same page.

A new standard for IP addresses (version 6) has recently been released.

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
Your browser adds http:// in front of the any domain name you type. This is another example
of a protocol. HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and is the protocol used to
request and deliver web pages.








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OCR 2.1.6 (l) explain the importance of HTML and its derivatives as a
standard for the creation of web pages

HTML stands for Hypertext Mark up Language. It is the main language used for web pages and
can be accessed by any type of computer with a browser installed , for example Internet
Explorer or Firefox. The browser downloads the webpage file and uses the HTML elements
embedded in it to display the content correctly and enable functionality such as hyperlinks. The
HTML elements will also inform the browser of the locations of other files such as image, audio,
video, flash etc. that it needs to download and then incorporate into the web page. It is important
to realise that such files are downloaded separately and are not embedded in the webpage file.

HTML is made up of tags (an instruction, often with additional attributes, between a pair of
angled brackets <>). Tags are usually in pairs, with the content that they apply to in between
them.










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OCR 2.1.6 (m) describe common file standards associated with the
Internet such as JPG, GIF, PDF, MP3, MPEG

JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
This is a compressed bitmap image file format commonly used for photographs. You can
choose how much compression you want, so for a small image on a web page a large
compression factor can be chosen for a small file size.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
This is a lossless bitmap image compression standard, but it is only suitable for vector images
with limited numbers of colours such as logos. A sequence of GIF images can be displayed to
produce simple animations.

PDF (Portable Document Format)
This is an open standard for exchanging documents. Text and graphics are displayed exactly
as in the original, with no need to have the software that created the document.
Many applications are capable of reading or creating PDF documents.

MP3 (Moving Pictures Expert Group Audio Layer 3)
This has become the standard for distributing digital music files on the internet. It uses lossy
compression to reduce file sizes to about a tenth of the original. The compression algorithm is
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intended to remove sounds that are generally beyond the limits of most peoples hearing
although some claim that the loss in quality is noticeable.

MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group)
This is a set of standards designed to encode audio/visual information. It uses lossy
compression for both the sound and the visual components. Various versions of MPEG are
used for digital transmissions, such as via cable and satellite, as well as terrestrial digital
channels. It is used to encode DVD movies as well and can be decoded by most domestic dvd
players.

OCR 2.1.6 (n) explain the importance of compressing files that are
transmitted via the Internet

File compression is the process of encoding information using fewer bits so that the
compressed file size is smaller. It is important for files transmitted over the Internet because if
they are not compressed then there would be considerably more data to transmit. This would
result in more network traffic, slower download times and delays in viewing web pages,
particularly those with multimedia content. Streaming audio and video would be impractical
without file compression.

However, compressed data may be of lower quality (if using lossy compression) and must be
decompressed to be used. This extra processing may slow some applications and in the case
of video decompression, require dedicated hardware such as graphics cards for the video to
be viewed as it is actually being decompressed.

The level of data compression for files transmitted over the Internet therefore involves a
balance between the gain in transmission speed set against a possible loss in quality and the
requirement for greater computational resources.
OCR 2.1.6 (o) describe the differences between lossy and lossless
compression.
Lossless compression
This allows the original file to be re-created exactly from the compressed file. It works by
searching for patterns in the file so, instead of repeatedly storing a block of identical data, the
data is stored once and then indexed. Further occurrences are simply stored as the index
number so the decompression software can simply look up the data and place it back in the
correct position.

Text files compress well because certain letters and words will often appear together in the
same pattern. Software files also compress well for similar reasons, they are made up of a
relatively small number of different instructions, often arranged in a set pattern.

In both cases, the larger the original file, the better the compression ratio as there are more
likely to be repeating patterns and each pattern will be repeated more frequently.

Lossy compression
Files that include a lot of unique information, such as bitmap graphics, sound or video files,
cannot be compressed much with lossless compression because there is so little repeated
data.

Lossy compression works differently, it removes data that is not needed, either because a
drop in quality is acceptable or the difference cannot be detected by the human eye or ear.

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With lossy compression you don't get the original file back when it has been decompressed.
This sort of compression would not therefore be suitable for anything that needed to be
reproduced exactly such as software, databases or text.