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IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television. But how many of you know what exactly is it? In this post I will explain to you about this new technology in very simple words. IPTV is spreading world wide and very soon it will replace cable connections used for viewing your favorite channels. Since it is expected that nearly every house will have their fast broadband connection hence this technology will enable us to view the television content through technologies used for computer networks. This technology is not possible with slow download speeds. But now with high speed broadband connections IPTV is emerging very rapidly. It will make your experience with TV very interactive and personalized. Imagine that you would be able to reply to the game shows with your TV remote. This is all possible through IPTV. You can watch movies and TV soaps and chat or share files with distant friends at a time. It is believed that IPTV could be integrated with very popular protocol VoIP i.e. Voice Over Internet Protocol.

IPTV uses a two-way broadcast signal sent through the service provider’s backbone network and servers. This allows the viewer to select content on demand, time shift i.e. you can watch any program when you want to watch. IP i.e. internet protocol refers to a method of sending information over a secure, tightly managed network. Building IPTV capability into a network allows a service provider to deliver voice and data as well. That fulfils the promise at last of a single, secure network over which all services can be delivered. Many of the world’s major telecom providers are exploring IPTV as a new revenue opportunity from their existing markets. It will change TV viewing not only for residential viewers but also create a whole new market of customized content delivery. Recent news related to application of IPTV is linked with India where BSNL, the largest service provider, has announced to launch IPTV services in 10 major cities including the metropolitan cities.

Tags: Internet Technology, Tech News by Deepak
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As an engineering student or computer science enthusiast you might be curious to know about how the IP addresses are allocated and managed inside any network. You would definitely want to know the reason why sometimes your Host part of IP address changes within a network. We all know that each machine that can connect to the Internet must have a unique IP address. This IP address is assigned when an Internet connection is created for a specific computer. Now, for every computer in the organization either you have to enter the IP addresses manually or it can be done automatically and managed dynamically. But manual configuration would be tedious task for even medium or large size network. This is where DHCP’s role comes into play. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a communications protocol. DHCP lets network administrator to centrally manage and automate the assignment of IP addresses in an network. This protocol lets to supervise and distribute IP addresses from a central point. whenever a computer is plugged into a different place in the network it automatically sends a new IP address. DHCP leases the IP addresses for some fix amount of time. The default lease time is one week. This lease time may vary also. For those computers which need permanent IP addresses like Web servers etc static addresses are allotted.

The protocol has been designed so that it can it can dynamically reconfigure networks in which there are more computers than there are available IP addresses and where the users change frequently. Actually, DHCP is an extended protocol from BOOTP i.e. Bootstrap Protocol. Though the working of both the protocols are similar but BOOTP is not dynamic. Both the protocols are based on server – client architecture. BOOTP and DHCP clients sends requests to their respective BOOTP and DHCP servers. Both DHCP and BOOTP uses Relay machine which knows the address of DHCP or BOOTP servers. Hence they forward the request from DHCP or BOOTP clients to their respective servers.

Tags: Internet Technology by Deepak
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You might have used or being using POP3 mail service through which you can access contents of your email even when you are offline. You can download your messages from the mail servers to your PC whenever you are connected to the internet. Software like Microsoft Outlook Express, Apple Mail, Microsoft Office Outlook etc are quite popular which lets you access your mail while offline. POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol. There is a similar service known as IMAP i.e. Internet Message Access Protocol which lets you download messages from mail servers onto your computer with the same software as in case POP3. But then the question arises that “Which is better, POP3 or IMAP? And how do they differ?”.

Let me answer it in simple way. IMAP creates a constant connection between mail server and mail clients which can be your PC or devices such as mobile. IMAP establishes 2-way communication between your email client and your web mail. Unlike in case of POP3 when you log into your email account i.e. through a browser on PC or mobile and perform some activities such as moving messages etc, it will automatically be shown in your email account. For example you move a massage to folder “Friends”, and then if you sign in next time via browser you will see the same change there also. Moreover, IMAP provides an efficient method to access your mail from multiple devices. In POP mail there is a risk of loosing messages. I have sometimes faced problems like downloading the same messages multiple times. If you have not used any of them then I would suggest IMAP whenever you would use in future.

One more issue with POP3 and IMAP is that most of the mail servers like Yahoomail charge for these services. But no need to panic as there are some mail servers like Gmail, Zapakmail etc which offer POP3 for free. Gmail also offers IMAP for free. So if you have a Gmail account you can use these services.

Tags: Internet Technology by Deepak
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