Internet, Web Technology and Digital Communication
What this domain tests
How the internet works at a user level - addressing, the web, browsers, email and digital communication etiquette - rather than deep protocol theory.
Core concepts
- Network sizes: PAN, LAN, MAN, WAN; the internet is the largest WAN.
- IP address identifies a device; DNS translates a domain name into an IP address; a URL has scheme, host and path.
- HTTP/HTTPS move web pages; HTTPS encrypts the session with TLS, so look for the padlock before entering data.
- Browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) renders pages; a search engine (Google, Bing) indexes and finds them - not the same thing.
- Email protocols: SMTP sends, POP3 downloads and usually removes from the server, IMAP keeps mail synchronised on the server.
- Digital communication tools: email, instant messaging, video conferencing, discussion forums, social media; each has etiquette rules (subject line, no all-caps, reply-all only when needed, mute when not speaking).
Worked example
Break down https://www.example.com/products/list.html. Reasoning: https is the scheme (encrypted HTTP); www.example.com is the host or domain, resolved by DNS; /products/list.html is the path to the file on that server. Anyone who says the whole string is the 'domain name' loses the mark, because the domain is only the host part.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling a browser a search engine.
- Saying POP3 is better because it keeps copies everywhere - IMAP is the synchronising protocol.
- Writing that HTTPS makes a site 'safe' in general; it only secures the connection.
- Ignoring netiquette in scenario questions about forwarding a colleague's email without consent.