P1 Glossary

Web server

A web server is the hardware part of the system that sends services to end users over the internet. This is where the copy of the web page is held and anyone with a browser can gain access to the information on the web server if it is publicly available and they have the ‘url’. (Techopedia, 2015) For example, when we type in ‘www.google.com’ on our search bar and we click enter the browser request information about google from the web server and the server delivers google to the client.

Mail server

A Mail server is what allows us to send e-mails to each other. The mail server makes sure that the e-mail gets sent to the correct recipient and to no one else. The mail server also allow us to send e-mails to different domains so e.g. yahoo.com can send an email to Hotmail.com. Without this server this would be impossible.

Proxy server

This is a server that acts as a connector to other servers, either for security and speed. Proxy server also have a firewall function where it acts as an intermediary between client network devices on the web so when a client request for information from another network the proxy server mirrors the request and receives the information in a way that stop the other network from knowing the location of the request, this is done to avoid intruders.

Protocol

Protocol is the agreed language that is used to communicate between systems. Protocol allows network devices to make connections with each other and to know when the connection is being made.

Browsers

Browsers is another important aspect of e-commerce, this technology is used to convert the information received from the web server in a visual display. Browsers such as Google chrome are used nowadays to buy and sell online. Features of browsers includes history list so a user can easily find a site they previously visited which had a product they wanted to buy. The layout of browsers also make it easy to navigate around e-commerce sites such as eBay. Browsers cache sites which means that webpages previously visited are stored in the RAM which makes it quicker to load up items that have been visited previously. This comes in handy when you are on eBay and you are switching through seller profiles and you want to go back to a certain one, you can just click on the back button instead of typing in a link for that seller.

TCP/IP addresses

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is a standard protocol used by the internet to transmit data over a network. It is important that the computers on the same network use the same protocol or else it will be impossible for data two be transmitted between both parties. The computers on the network are identified through their unique IP address, through this unique number the systems would be able to identify the correct system to send the data to. This means that when we type into our search bar www.argos.com what the browser is actually looking for is an IP address – particular computer on the internet where the Argos site information is saved so that it can be retrieved.

 

 

 Application layer

Application layer which is the highest layer that contains the following protocols:

HTTP – This is used to send out a request to the client in order for data to be transferred. So when you type in google.com this sends a request to the server in order for data to be received by the browser.

HTTPS – This does the same thing as HTTP but the S stands for secure so when you see HTTPS on banking and e-commerce sites it means that the site verified and secure to use.

SMTP – This is the main protocol for transferring of e-mail, this is what most mail domains use to transfer data between them.  Other protocol used regarding receiving and sending of e-mails would include Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

References

Amazon.com, (2015). Amazon.com General Help Forum. [online] Available at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/forums?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2NFGOONPZEXIP&cdThread=Tx36UD4X84IF3P6 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015].

Darrow, B. (2012). How Oracle (yes Oracle!) helped Amazon suck the cost out of database backup. [online] Gigaom.com. Available at: https://gigaom.com/2012/10/10/how-oracle-yes-oracle-helped-amazon-suck-the-cost-out-of-database-backup/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015].

Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, (2013). Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. [online] Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015].

Techopedia.com, (2015). What is a Web Server? - Definition from Techopedia. [online] Available at: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4928/web-server [Accessed 9 Oct. 2015].