Lesson 1
Introduction to Internet Technologies
When you are Web surfing, your most important goal is to get what you want. There are a variety of Internet services and tools that enable users to surf, find, and access resources on the Internet.
You might call these search services and tools clients. Most of the terms and concepts are very familiar.
You only have to pick up any new media magazine and chances are you will find them.
They are really at the heart of Internet use, and now you can explore how to apply them.
This module will help you
- Explain the purpose of HTTP
- Define email communication
- Explain the purpose of FTP
- Describe Telnet
- Describe the USENET
- Describe the role of LISTSERV
- Explain how to use Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
- Evaluate Web browsers
- Explore search engines and best practice techniques for searching
Middleware Web Services
Search Services and Search Engines
A web search engine is a software system that is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. The search results are generally presented in a line of results often referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs).
The information may be a mix of web pages, images, and various files. Some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories.
Search engines maintain real-time information by running an algorithm on a web crawler.
Around 2000, Google's search engine rose to prominence and the company achieved better results for many searches with an innovation called PageRank.
The name of the paper proposed was called, "Anatomy of a Search Engine written by Sergey Brin and Larry Page."
This iterative algorithm ranks web pages based on the number and PageRank of separate web sites that link to these target websites.
Yahoo
By 2000, Yahoo! was providing search services based on Inktomi's search engine.
Yahoo! acquired Inktomi in 2002 followed by Overture in 2003. Yahoo! switched to Google's search engine until 2004. In 2004, Yahoo launched its own search engine based on the combined technologies of its acquisitions.
Microsoft
Microsoft first launched MSN Search in the fall of 1998 using search results from Inktomi. In early 1999 the site began to display listings from Looksmart, blended with results from Inktomi. For a short time in 1999, MSN Search used results from AltaVista. In 2004, Microsoft began a transition to its own search technology, powered by its own web crawler (called msnbot).
Microsoft's rebranded search engine, Bing, was launched on June 1, 2009. On July 29, 2009, (Yahoo! and Microsoft) finalized a deal in which Yahoo! Search would be powered by Microsoft Bing technology.
In the next lesson, you will learn about the purpose of HTTP and how to deal with common site problems that are HTTP related.