E-Commerce Infrastructures

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E-Commerce Infrastructures

• Internet and Web Technologies

2
Learning Objectives (1/2)

• Growth, and structure of the Internet
• Private and public networks
• Internet infrastructure
• Developing applications for the Web
• Limitations of Web technologies and how to
  address them

3
Learning Objectives (2/2)

• Internets, intranets, and extranets
• Options for connecting to the Internet
• Future developments High speed networks, the
  Semantic Web, mobile networking

4
Technology Overview

• Technical foundations of e-commerce
• Computer networks including the Internet.
• Computing devices (clients and servers) running
• operating systems, database managers, web
  servers, application servers, encryption
  software, security software, multimedia creation
  and viewing software, and the graphical user
  interface

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The Internet

• Hardware
• The hardware that connects the computers together
  
• The hardware that connects the networks together
• Internet protocols.
• Rapid change in these technologies requires
  businesses to be flexible.

6
Packet-Switching

• The Internet uses packet switching
• Files are broken down into packets that are
  labeled with their origin, sequence, and
  destination addresses.
• This fact has very important consequences for
  both the performance and the security of
  e-commerce systems

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Routing

• The programs on these routers use routing
  algorithms that call upon their routing tables
  to determine the best path to send each packet.
• When packets leave a network to travel on the
  Internet, they are translated into a standard
  format by the router.
• These routers and the telecommunication lines
  connecting them are referred to as the Internet
  backbone.
• Between seller and customer there are several
  other actors who have a role to play

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Routing Packets
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Internet Protocols

• The open architecture has four key rules that
  have contributed to the success of the Internet.
• Independent networks should not require any
  internal changes to be connected to the network.
• Packets that do not arrive at their destinations
  must be retransmitted from their source network.
• Router computers act as receive-and-forward
  devices they do not retain information about the
  packets that they handle.
• No global control exists over the network.

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Another look at Domain Names

• Domain names identify who you are (or else
  establishes your corporate identity)
• .com .biz means you are a business
• .org means not for profit
• .uk means you are in the UK
• CNN.com displays your trade name
• Trademark law applies (Domain name wars)
• This has implications for e-commerce with regard
  to customer assumptions about you
• It costs!

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Web Page Delivery

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the set of
  rules for delivering Web pages over the Internet
• HTTP uses the client/server model
• The client opens an HTTP session and sends a
  request to a server
• The server returns an HTTP response message which
  contains data.
• After this, they forget about each other this
  has very significant implications for Web (and
  e-commerce) application development.

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Email

• Email is also transferred over the Internet.
• Email also depends on intermediate systems to
  move from one place to the other
• Email is send to a specific address (is this the
  same as knowing it gets to a particular
  individual?)
• Email Identity (is this true?)
• Email is related to corporate entities (via the
  name system NOT DNS)

13
Web Markup Languages

• Web pages are marked with tags to indicate the
  display and formatting of page elements
• They create static pages
• Useful for developing Uis
• HTML, XML and the like

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Web Markup Languages
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Programming Languages

• Scripts embedded in HTML can execute programs on
  client computers that display those pages in the
  browser
• Scripts at the server can do complex processing
  and produce advanced content
• Language frameworks like J2EE and .NET can be
  used to develop full blown interactive
  applications (more on this next time)

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Persistence

• Cookies
• Data stored at the browser
• Programmatically controlled by the server
• Hidden HTML forms
• URL re-writing

• http//www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/detail/-/0415097
  762/104-6915588-4331902

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Intranets and Extranets

• Intranet
• An intranet is an interconnected network (or
  internet small i intended) that does not
  extend beyond the organization that created it
• Intranets are an extremely popular and low-cost
  way to distribute corporate information
• An intranet uses Web browsers and Internet-based
  protocols (including TCP/IP, FTP, Telnet, HTML,
  and HTTP) and often includes a firewall

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Intranets and Extranets

• Extranet
• Extranets are intranets that have been extended
  to include specific entities outside the
  boundaries of the organization (business
  partners, suppliers, etc.)
• An extranet can be a public network, a secure
  (private) network, or a virtual private network
  (VPN).

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Intranets and Extranets

• A public network is any computer or
  telecommunications network that is available to
  the public
• A private network is a private, leased-line
  connection between two companies that physically
  connects their intranets to one another
• A VPN extranet is a network that uses public
  networks and their protocols to send sensitive
  data to partners, customers, suppliers, and
  employees using a system called IP tunneling or
  encapsulation

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Internet Connection Options

• The Internet is a set of interconnected networks
• Large firms that provide Internet access to other
  businesses are called Internet Access Providers
  (IAPs) or Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

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Connectivity Overview

• The most common connection options that ISPs
  offer to the Internet are telephone, broadband,
  leased-line, and wireless
• Bandwidth is the amount of data that can travel
  through a communication line per unit of time
• Bandwidth can differ for data traveling to or
  from the ISP

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Voice Connections

• The most common way to connect to an ISP is
  through a modem connected to your local telephone
  service provider
• POTS uses existing telephone lines and an analog
  modem to provide a bandwidth of 28-56 Kbps
• ISDN uses the DSL protocol suite to offer
  bandwidths between 128-256 Kbps
• Suitable for consumer (implications for design of
  e-commerce sites)

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Broadband Connections

• Connections that operate at speeds of greater
  than 200 Kbps are called broadband services
• ADSL uses the DSL protocol to provide bandwidths
  between 100-640 Kbps upstream and 1.5-9 Mbps
  downstream
• Cable modems provide transmission speeds between
  300 Kbps-1 Mbps from the client to the server and
  a downstream rate as high as 10 Mbps
• Satellite microwave transmissions handle Internet
  downloads at speeds around 500 Kbps
• Suitable for SMEs

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Leased-Line Connections

• Large firms can connect to an ISP using
  higher-bandwidth connections that they can lease
  from telecommunications carriers
• A T1 (E1) line operates at 1.544 Mbps and a T3
  (E3) line operates at 44.736 Mbps
• Expensive usually can be afforded only by
  larger business

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Internet Options
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Wireless Connections

• Many researchers and business managers see great
  potential for wireless networks and the devices
  connected to them
• The term m-commerce (mobile commerce) is used to
  describe the kinds of resources people might want
  to access using devices that have wireless
  connections
• Cellular vs. WLAN

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Internet2

• Internet2 is an experimental test bed for new
  networking technologies that is separate from the
  original Internet
• 200 universities and a number of corporations
  joined together to create this network
• It has achieved bandwidths of 10 Gbps
• Internet2 promises to be the proving ground for
  new technologies and applications of those
  technologies that will eventually find their way
  to the Internet

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Grid computing

• Computing as utility
• Grid as in the electric grid
• Computation, storage, processes
• Scientific applications currently
• Look at planet-lab.org