Internet and Web Development Fundamentals

Delve into the fundamentals of internet data transmission and web development with this comprehensive course. Part one of a nine-part series, this course provides a deep dive into how data packets navigate LANs (Local Area Networks) and WANs (Wide Area Networks). You'll gain a solid understanding of essential internet protocols including TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, and FTP. We'll trace the entire data packet lifecycle, from origin to destination, and examine the crucial roles of DNS servers and SMTP servers in routing internet traffic and email. Learn about network security mechanisms like routers, ports, and firewalls that safeguard data movement.

Next, explore the exciting world of web development. This course covers the initial stages of website planning and building complex web applications. Gain an overview of various web hosting solutions, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting, with practical case studies. Understand the importance of domain name registrars and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). You'll learn how to register and manage domain names using the GoDaddy domain management console, covering essential features like name server assignment, auto-renewal, domain privacy, and domain forwarding.

Develop hands-on skills by configuring local testing servers. Learn to install and configure WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP, andMyAdmin) and MAMP (Mac, Apache, MySQL, PHP, andMyAdmin) on your PC or Mac. Understand the function of each service in testing dynamic, database-driven web applications on a local environment.

Transition to production server configuration using popular cloud hosting providers like Linode. This section covers the deployment and administration of Ubuntu on Linux-based distributions and the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, andMyAdmin) on scalable virtual machines. Utilize remote access tools like PuTTY and Terminal to administer virtual servers via the command line. Focus on server security best practices, including multi-user accounts, SSH authentication, and file permission management.

Finally, learn to connect to your virtual machines using remote desktop connection tools such as Tight VNC and Real VNC. Master the Linode management console to perform essential tasks like creating backups, server resizing, changing root passwords, DNS management, and general server administration. Conclude with an exploration of FTP clients and establishing connections from local machines to production servers for uploading web content. We'll demonstrate the FileZilla interface and provide practical guidance on uploading, deleting, and modifying remote server files.