Syllabus Focus: Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

Specific Objective 7: Explain how the growth of the Internet impact on data handling and
data processing;

Explain how the growth of the Internet impact on data handling and data processing
Growth of the Internet since its introduction have affected the way in which data is stored and retrieved
across several File Servers that is used to process and support Network Management (network traffic).
With the Internet being so developed to well over 5000 Servers, many users find that their requests for
documents and information needed can be accessed quickly. In reality, local processing is done at the
nearest Web Server and then other contact is made to several other servers located across the world.

Rapid employment growth is expected in web search portals and data processing, hosting, and related
services, while
employment in internet service providers is expected to decline.
Telecommunications includes voice, video, and Internet communications services.

Employment will grow because technological advances will expand the range of services offered.

With rapid technological changes in telecommunications, those with up-to-date technical skills will have the
best job opportunities. Average earnings in telecommunications greatly exceed average earnings throughout
private industry. http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs055.htm

Many Servers have been commissioned to store the vast amount of documents that exists on the Internet
since 1993 when only a few Servers existed. As such with more and more information being loaded
daily, the processing power of the Internet to facilitate user request would lower significantly. As such,
daily or monthly, operators of the Internet keeps loading more Servers to the Internet Backbone, so as to
ensure that the processing power and response time of the Internet does not fail. We must consider that
with so many hundreds of websites and web applications to run, massive and powerful Severs are going to
be needed if we are to ensure that the Internet can be used to support business functionality

E-Business, Web Business

Web Transactions, Web Application development;

and even support Telecommuting, Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, etc.

Many users might argue that the Internet takes care of itself during the unpredicted expansion of its
services to areas it was not originally designed for. This includes:

Voice Over IP, Web Video transmission

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

Support of Information Systems of businesses (Business Catalogue JC Penny, Walmart, etc.)

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

What is your feedback?

Think about the response to this cartoon:

Internet Reading:
The ability to quickly transmit information over long distances has become an important part of modern
life. The Internet has changed the way people find and use information to communicate, work, shop,
learn, and live.
Goods and services: Internet Service Providers, Web Search Portals, and data processing services are the
backbone of the Internet and provide the infrastructure for it to operate smoothly. By processing and
storing data, and allowing people to access and sort these data, they facilitate the flow of information that
has become vital to the economy.
Industry organisation: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) directly connect people, businesses, and
organizations to the Internet by routing data from one location to another. ISPs develop and maintain the
physical, technical, and contractual connections and agreements needed for the internet to function. In
order to maintain the necessary flow of data, ISPs use peering pointsphysical connections to the
computer equipment of other ISPsto share networks. These connections provide a nearly unlimited
number of potential pathways through which information can travel.
In addition to forming the infrastructure of the Internet, service providers must also connect with clients.
These clients may range from individual homes to large office buildings. To allow end users to access
their networks, establishments in the industry may provide them with proprietary software, user
identification names, e-mail addresses, or equipment. Like telephone or electric service, ISPs offer access
to customers on a subscription basis. They may also provide related services beyond Internet access, such
as Web hosting, Web page design, and consulting services related to networking software and hardware.
While ISPs connect clients to the Internet by routing data, the physical connections that carry the
information to end users are often the wires or cables of telecommunications establishments.

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

Web search portals canvas the Web to create databases of web pages and their corresponding Internet
addresses. These databases can then be searched by typing key words into a prompt on the search portals
Web site. These sites, commonly called search engines, enable users to sort through the huge amount of
information on the Internet quickly. In order to find as much information as possible, search engines
automatically follow every link on a Web page, catalogue each new page found, and store their location
along with text that can be searched at a later point. Because the Internet offers such a vast array of sites,
advanced algorithms must be developed to rank the results of a search according to their relevance. Some
Web search portals also offer additional services, such as news, e-mail, maps, and local business
directories. The key distinction of Web search portals is that the information is gathered automatically
from across the Web, rather than manually edited and entered into a predetermined directory.
Data processing, hosting, and related services are involved primarily in handling large amounts of data for
businesses, organizations, and individuals. Data hosting often takes the form of Web hosting, in which
Web site content is placed on a server that allows it to be accessed by users over the Internet. While
establishments in this industry host Web sites, the content is typically produced by someone else and then
made accessible through the Web hosting service. Other data hosting services allow clients to place
electronic data, such as streaming music and video or company databases, onto servers that can be
accessed directly through specialized computer programs. An additional service provided by this industry
is to store old data for archival purposes with no Internet access to it.
Data processing covers a broad range of data services, including data entry, conversion, and analysis.
Organizations with large quantities of data on paper may turn to data processing services to enter the data,
either by hand or with optical scanners, into a computer database. Similarly, clients may want old data
files or several databases converted to a single, more easily accessible format. Aside from converting data
to another format, data processing services also produce reports that summarize the data for better analysis
by their clients. While most data hosting companies sell subscription services, data processing services
companies often work on projects of defined scope.
Recent developments: The Internet is constantly expanding and evolving, and so are the industries
associated with it. Many firms in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries now provide
Internet Service. Technology is constantly changing and companies also are frequently upgrading their
existing services, since most new services involve relatively low additional cost, and offering new services
can attract or retain customers.
Telecommunications and the Internet
Goods and services: The telecommunications industry delivers voice communications, data, graphics,
television, and video at ever increasing speeds and in an increasing number of ways. Whereas wire line
telephone communication was once the primary service of the industry, wireless communication services,
Internet service, and cable and satellite program distribution make up an increasing share of the industry.
Industry organization: The largest sector of the telecommunications industry continues to be made up of
wired telecommunications carriers. Establishments in this sector mainly provide telecommunications
services via wires and cables that connect customers premises to central offices maintained by
telecommunications companies. The central offices contain switching equipment that routes content to its
final destination or to another switching center that determines the most efficient route for the content to
take. These companies also maintain the cable network that connects different regions of the country as

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

well as foreign countries, and forms the backbone of the industry. While voice used to be the main type
of data transmitted over the wires, wired telecommunications service now includes the transmission of
all types of graphic, video, and electronic data mainly over the Internet.
These new services are made possible through the use of digital technologies that provide much more
efficient use of the telecommunications networks. One major technology breaks digital signals into
packets during transmission. Networks of computerized switching equipment route the packets. Packets
may take separate paths to their destination and may share the paths with packets from other users. At the
destination, the packets are reassembled, and the transmission is completed. Because packet switching
considers alternate routes, and allows multiple transmissions to share the same route, it results in a more
efficient use of telecommunications capacity as packets are routed along less congested routes.
The transmission of voice signals requires relatively small amounts of capacity on telecommunications
networks. By contrast, the transmission of data, video, and graphics requires much higher capacity.
This transmission capacity is referred to as bandwidth. As the demand increases for high-capacity
transmissionsespecially with the rising volume of Internet datatelecommunications companies have
been expanding and upgrading their networks to increase the amount of available bandwidth.
Cable and other program distribution is another sector of the telecommunications industry.
Establishments in this sector provide television and other services on a subscription or fee basis. These
establishments do not include cable networks.
Distributors of pay television services transmit programming through two basic types of systems. Cable
systems transmit programs over fiber optic and coaxial cables. Direct broadcasting satellite (DBS)
operators constitute a growing segment of the pay television industry. DBS operators transmit
programming from orbiting satellites to customers receivers, known as Mini Dishes. Establishments in
the cable and other program distribution industry generate revenue through subscriptions, providing
Internet access, providing phone service, and advertising sales. They also charge fees for pay-per-view or
video-on-demand programs.
Wireless telecommunications carriers, many of which are subsidiaries of the wired carriers, transmit voice,
graphics, data, and Internet access through the transmission of signals over networks of radio towers. The
signal is transmitted through an antenna into the wire line network. Increasing numbers of consumers are
choosing to replace their home landline phones with wireless phones. Other wireless services include
beeper and paging services.
Resellers of telecommunications services are another sector of the telecommunications industry. These
resellers lease transmission facilities, such as telephone lines or space on a satellite, from existing
telecommunications networks, and then resell the service to other customers. Other sectors in the industry
include message communications services such as e-mail and facsimile services, satellite
telecommunications, and operators of other communication services ranging from radar stations to radio
networks used by taxicab companies.
Recent developments: Telecommunications carriers are expanding their bandwidth by replacing copper
wires with fiber optic cable. Fiber optic cable, which transmits light signals along glass strands, permits
faster, higher capacity transmissions than traditional copper wire lines. In some areas, carriers are

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7

extending fiber optic cable to residential customers, enabling them to offer cable television, video-ondemand, very high-speed Internet, and conventional telephone communications over a single line.
However, the high cost of extending fiber to homes has slowed deployment. In most areas, wired carriers
are instead leveraging existing copper lines that connect most residential customers with a central office,
to provide digital subscriber lines (DSL) Internet service. Technologies in development will further boost
the speeds and services available through a DSL connection.
Changes in technology and regulation now allow cable television providers to compete directly with
telephone companies. An important change has been the rapid increase in two-way communications
capacity. Conventional pay television services provided communications only from the distributor to the
customer. These services could not provide effective communications from the customer back to other
points in the system due to signal interference and the limited capacity of conventional cable systems.
Cable operators are implementing new technologies to reduce signal interference and increase the capacity
of their distribution systems by installing fiber optic cables and improving data compression. This allows
some pay television systems to offer two-way telecommunications services, such as video-on-demand and
high-speed Internet access.
Cable companies are increasing their share of the telephone communications market by using high-speed
Internet access to provide VoIP (voice over Internet protocol). VoIP is sometimes called Internet
telephony, because it uses the Internet to transmit phone calls. While conventional phone networks use
packet switching to break up a call onto multiple shared lines between central offices, VoIP extends this
process to the phone. A VoIP phone will break the conversation into digital packets and transmit those
packets over a high-speed Internet connection. Cable companies use the technology to offer phone
services without building a conventional phone network. Wire line providers high-speed Internet
connections also can be used for VoIP and cellular phones are being developed that use VoIP to make calls
using local wireless Internet connections. All of the major sectors of the telecommunications industry are
or will increasingly use VoIP.
Wireless telecommunications carriers are deploying several new technologies to allow faster data
transmission and better Internet access that should make them more competitive with Wire Line Carriers.
With faster Internet connections speeds, wireless carriers are selling music, videos, and other exclusive
content that can be downloaded and played on cellular phones. Wireless equipment companies are
developing the next generation of technologies that will allow even faster data transmission. The
replacement of landlines with cellular service should become increasingly common because advances
in wireless systems will provide ever faster data transmission speeds.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs020.htm

CAPE NOTES Unit 2 Module 1 Content 7