Syllabus outcomes Describes and applies problem-solving processes when creating solutions Designs, produces and evaluates appropriate solutions to a range of challenging problems Critically analyses decision-making processes in a range of information and software solutions.

The Internet (the Net) is a connected set of networks using the TCP/IP standard. An intranet is a private network that uses a similar interface to the Web. It is essentially a smaller version of the Internet that exists within an organisation.

It links millions of computers all around the world. The Internet provides instant access to information such as news, weather reports, sports scores, share prices and educational material. The Interent provides services such as sending messages, banking, shopping, playing games and listening to music and watching videos.

ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) was the basis of the Internet. ARPANET was established in 1969 by the US Department of Defence. The aim of ARPANET was to allow scientists at different locations to share information and protect against a nuclear attack. Telenet was the first commercial version of ARPANET and was launched in The Internet arrived in 1982 when ARPANET adopted the TCP/IP standard. The number of hosts on the Internet reached one thousand in The domain naming system (DNS) was first implemented in In 1991 the World Wide Web (or Web) was introduced using this HTTP protocol. Muirfield connected to the Internet in 1996 via a single 14.4kbs dial-up connection.

Each computer connected to the Internet has a unique address called an IP address (Internet Protocol address). Most IP addresses use four bytes (32 bits) grouped in four 8- bit segments, separated by a full stop (period). For example, the IP address for Microsoft is A domain name is the address of a specific computer on the Internet. Domain names are translated into IP addresses. Domain names are easier for people to remember than IP addresses as they are based on natural languages. A domain name consists of a number of separate parts. Each part is separated by a full stop and is called a domain. For example, the domain name www stands for World Wide Web hi is the name of the specific computer com is the organisational domain (commercial) au is the geographical domain (Australia).

A URL is the address of a file or resource on the Web. It is usually in lowercase in a single unbroken line, with no spaces, such as: There are three parts to a URL: Protocolindicates access to a particular resource on the Web. For most cases the protocol will be It allows access to web pages based on hypertext. Domain nameaddress of the specific computer where the resource is located such as The domain name is interchangeable with the IP address. File pathfull path to the file to be retrieved. It may be a simple file name or a directory path, such as /heinneman/default.htm.The domain name and the file path are separated by a forwardslash (/). The file being retrieved in this example is default.htm.