Internet & Applications – Complete Notes for IBPS, SSC, RRB & Govt Exams

Introduction: Why Internet & Applications is a Banking Exam Favourite

The Internet has transformed banking — from physical passbooks to net banking, from physical cheques to UPI payments, from branch visits to mobile banking apps. Because bank employees work with internet-based systems every day, Internet & Applications is one of the most practically relevant chapters for banking exams.

Questions from this chapter are tested in diverse formats in IBPS, SBI, RRB, and Insurance exams:

• "WWW was introduced by ___?" → Tim Berners-Lee
• "Full form of URL is ___?" → Uniform Resource Locator
• "Which is India's largest payment system?" → UPI
• "BHIM stands for ___?" → Bharat Interface for Money
• "The first graphical web browser was ___?" → NCSA Mosaic
• "Cookie is associated with ___?" → Web browser tracking
• "IRCTC uses which internet service?" → E-reservation / E-commerce

This chapter also overlaps with Cyber Security (phishing, cookies, HTTPS), Networking (ISP, protocols), and Digital India (UPI, DigiLocker). Understanding Internet & Applications gives you a holistic picture of how digital India functions — and earns you points across multiple chapters simultaneously.

What is the Internet?

The Internet (short for International Network) is a worldwide system of interconnected computer networks — literally a "network of networks" — that allows billions of devices to communicate and share information globally.

Key Points:

• The Internet connects millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks worldwide
• It uses the TCP/IP protocol suite as its universal communication language
• It is the world's largest Wide Area Network (WAN)
• No single entity owns the Internet — it is a decentralised, distributed system

Internet vs WWW — Critical Distinction:

Exam Tip: Internet ≠ WWW. The WWW is just one service that runs on the Internet — like how calling is one service that runs on the telephone network.

History of the Internet

Types of Internet Connections

Different technologies are used to connect homes, offices, and mobile devices to the Internet:

Key Terms:

• ISP (Internet Service Provider) — A company that provides internet access to homes and businesses (e.g., Airtel, Jio, BSNL, ACT Fibernet)
• Broadband — High-speed internet connection faster than 512 Kbps; always-on
• FTTH — Fibre to the Home — fibre optic cable directly to the home; fastest residential option

Intranet vs Extranet vs Internet

World Wide Web (WWW)

The World Wide Web (WWW) was introduced on March 13, 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. It is a system of internet servers that supports hypertext and multimedia content, interconnected through hyperlinks.

Tim Berners-Lee also:

• Created the first URL (1991)
• Created HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
• Created the first web server (info.cern.ch)
• Created the first web browser (WorldWideWeb — later renamed Nexus)

Web Page, Website, Home Page

Web Browsers

A web browser is software that locates, retrieves, and displays web content from web servers. It interprets HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to render web pages visually.

Key Browser History:

• First graphical web browser → NCSA Mosaic (1993, Marc Andreessen)
• Internet Explorer → Officially discontinued June 15, 2022 — replaced by Edge
• First web browser ever → WorldWideWeb (1990, Tim Berners-Lee) — renamed Nexus

Search Engines

A search engine is a website that allows users to search for information on the internet by entering keywords. It uses web crawlers (spiders/bots) to index web pages and returns ranked results.

• A successful match = Hit
• An unsuccessful search = Miss

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the unique web address that identifies the exact location of a specific resource (web page, image, file) on the Internet. The first URL was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991.

Structure of a URL

Example URL: https://www.jobsme.in/computer-awareness/basics

Another example breakdown: http://www.google.com/services/index.htm

• http:// = Protocol
• www = World Wide Web
• google.com = Domain name
• /services/ = Directory
• index.htm = Web page file

Domain Name System (DNS) and Domain Extensions

A Domain Name is the human-readable address of a website (e.g., sbi.co.in). DNS translates it into an IP address that computers use.

Common Domain Extensions (TLDs — Top Level Domains):

Internet Services

Email (Electronic Mail)

Email is the electronic version of sending and receiving letters — the most widely used internet service worldwide.

Email Format: username@hostname.domain (no spaces allowed anywhere)

• Example: candidate@sbi.co.in
• candidate = Username (local part)
• @ = Separator (pronounced "at")
• sbi.co.in = Host/Domain name

Key Email Terms:

Chatting and Instant Messaging

Online Chatting is real-time text (and multimedia) communication over the Internet. Unlike email, it is synchronous — both parties must be online.

Video Conferencing

Video Conferencing allows real-time audio-video communication between geographically separated participants — vital for remote work, telemedicine, and online education.

E-Learning

E-Learning (Electronic Learning) is the delivery of education and training through digital means over the internet.

E-Commerce

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet. It uses EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for business transactions.

Types of E-Commerce:

Popular E-Commerce Platforms:

M-Commerce

M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce) is e-commerce conducted via wireless handheld devices — smartphones and tablets.

• Launched: 1997
• Coined by: Kevin Duffey (at the Global Mobile Commerce Forum)
• Examples: Shopping on Amazon mobile app, UPI payments, mobile banking apps

Social Networking

Social Networking connects people online through shared interests, relationships, and communication.

Other Internet Services

Key Internet Terms

UPI and Digital Payment Ecosystem (India)

India's digital payment ecosystem is one of the most advanced in the world — and a very high-priority topic for banking exams.

Key Digital Payment Distinctions:

Memory Tricks

🔑 Internet vs WWW:

Internet = Infrastructure (the roads) WWW = Service running on it (the cars) "Internet is the ROAD; WWW is the CAR you drive on it"

🔑 WWW History:

Tim Berners-Lee introduced WWW on March 13, 1989 Remember: "TB Lee gave us WWW in '89"

🔑 URL Structure - "PSDD":

Protocol → Subdomain → Domain → Directory/Page Example: https:// → www → google.com → /search

🔑 Email Protocols - "SPI":

SMTP = Send | POP3 = Pull (download) | IMAP = Inbox stays on server

🔑 Email CC vs BCC:

CC = Carbon Copy — everyone can see who got it BCC = Blind Carbon Copy — recipients are hidden from each other

🔑 UPI/NPCI Digital Payments:

UPI + BHIM + RuPay + IMPS + NEFT + RTGS = all under NPCI/RBI NPCI = UPI, RuPay, IMPS, BHIM | RBI = NEFT, RTGS

🔑 E-Commerce Types:

B2B = Big companies deal (Alibaba) B2C = Business to Customer (Amazon) C2C = Customer sells to Customer (OLX)

🔑 First Graphical Browser:

NCSA Mosaic (1993) was the first graphical browser "Mosaic Made the web Mainstream"

One-Liner Recap (Quick Revision)

1. The Internet is a worldwide network of networks using TCP/IP protocols — the world's largest WAN — while the World Wide Web is just one service (web pages) that runs on top of the Internet.
2. Vint Cerf is called the Father of the Internet for co-developing TCP/IP in the 1970s; ARPANET (1969) was the world's first packet-switching network.
3. The World Wide Web was introduced on March 13, 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, who also created HTML, the first URL, and the first web browser.
4. NCSA Mosaic (1993) was the world's first graphical web browser, making the internet accessible to non-technical users for the first time.
5. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the unique address of a resource on the Internet, consisting of protocol, subdomain, domain name, directory, and file name components.
6. An ISP (Internet Service Provider) is a company that provides internet access — examples in India include Jio, Airtel, BSNL, ACT Fibernet, and Hathway.
7. Email format is username@hostname.domain with no spaces — SMTP sends emails (port 25), POP3 downloads emails (port 110), and IMAP syncs emails on the server (port 143).
8. A Cookie is a small file stored by a website in your browser to track user activity, preferences, and sessions — enabling websites to "remember" you across visits.
9. E-Commerce (buying/selling over the internet) types include B2C (Amazon, Flipkart), B2B (Alibaba), C2C (OLX), and G2C (IRCTC, income tax portal).
10. M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce) was coined by Kevin Duffey in 1997 and refers to commercial transactions conducted via wireless handheld devices.
11. UPI (Unified Payments Interface), developed by NPCI, is India's largest and fastest real-time payment system, enabling 24×7 instant bank-to-bank transfers.
12. BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is the government's UPI-based payment app; RuPay is India's own domestic card payment network — both developed by NPCI.
13. NEFT and RTGS are RBI-managed fund transfer systems — NEFT is batch-based (now 24×7, no minimum), while RTGS is real-time for large amounts (minimum ₹2 lakh).
14. A Blog (Web Log) is an online journal or discussion website; a Podcast is a digital audio programme available for automatic download/subscription.
15. BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) in email sends a copy to additional recipients whose identities are hidden from other recipients, while CC (Carbon Copy) makes all recipients visible to each other.

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