Introduction to

Networking

The Business School

University of Kashmir

Rafi A.
Khan
 WHY A COMPUTER NETWORK ?
A network is simply two or more computers that are linked
together.
➨Information sharing: Authorized users can use
other computers on the network to access and share
information and data. This could include special group
projects, databases, etc.
➨Hardware sharing: One device connected to a
network, such as a printer or scanner, can be shared by
many users.
➨Software sharing: Instead of purchasing and
installing a software program on each computer, it can be
installed on the server. All of the users can then access the
program from a single location.
➨Collaborative environment: Users can work
together on group projects by combining the power and
capabilities of diverse equipment.
Transmission Media
Transmission media refers to the many types of
cables and other mediums that carry the signal
from the sender to the receiver
Copper based cable is the most common form of
medium, and is used for virtually all links except
long distance.
The type of cable chosen for a network is
related to the network's topology, protocol, and
size.

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 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable
Twisted pair cabling is made of pairs of
copper wires twisted together. The cable
has four pairs of wires inside the jacket.
Each pair is twisted with a different
number of twists per inch to help
eliminate interference
from adjacent pairs and
other electrical devices.
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 Five Categories of UTP
Type Use
Category 1 Voice Only (Telephone Wire)
Category 2 Data to 4 Mbps (Local Talk)
Category 3 Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet)
Category 4 Data to 20 Mbps (Token Ring)
Category 5 Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)
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UTP has the advantages of
➨ a high installed base
➨ cheap to install
➨ easy to terminate (RFI and EMI)

Its disadvantages are,

➨ very noisy
➨ limited in distance
➨ suffers from interference

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 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
Shielded twisted pair (STP) is
suitable for environments with
electrical interference; however,
the extra shielding can make the
cables quite bulky. Shielded
twisted pair is often used on
networks using Token Ring
topology.

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 Coaxial Cable
It is composed of a copper conductor that
serves as the “core” of the cable. This
conductor is covered by a piece of insulating
plastic, which is covered by a wire mesh
serving as both a shield and second conductor.
PVC or other coating then coats this second
conductor.

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The two types of coaxial cabling are:
thick coaxial and thin coaxial.

Thinnet
Thin coaxial cable is also referred to as thinnet. 10Base2 refers to
the specifications for thin coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals.
The 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being
200 meters. In actual fact the maximum segment length is 185
meters.

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Thicknet
Thick coaxial cable is also referred to as thicknet. It uses thicker
solid core coaxial cable. 10Base5 refers to the specifications for
thick coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 5 refers to the
maximum segment length being 500 meters. One disadvantage
of thick coaxial is that it does not bend easily and is difficult to
install.

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ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
1. Fairly resistant to RFI 1. Can be effected by
and EMI strong interference
2. Supports Faster data 2. More costly than TP.
rates than twisted pair 3. Bulkier and more rigid
3. More durable than TP than TP

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Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core
surrounded by several layers of protective
materials. Whereas a data signal travels over
twisted pair or cable as electricity, signals are
transmitted as light pulses over fiber. Lasers or
LEDs produce the light. A thin coating, called
cladding, prevents the light from leaving the
strand.

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The features of fiber-optic cable systems are,

➨ expensive
➨ used for backbones [linking LAN’s together] (100Mbps)
➨ high capacity [100Mbps]
➨ immune to electromagnetic interference
➨ low loss
➨ difficult to join
➨ connectors are expensive
➨ long distance (2KM)

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Microwave
Using very high frequency signals, microwave support thousands
of telephone channels and several television channels on the one
circuit.
In terrestrial microwave, a signal travels directly between
microwave transmission towers. This requires an unobstructed
straight path between towers. Also, due to the curvature of the
earth, towers must be spaced about 30 miles apart.
They have sufficient bandwidth capacity to support a large number
of voice channels and one or two TV channels(1 to 10 Gbps).

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Microwave systems have the advantage of

• medium capacity
• medium cost
• can go long distances

Its disadvantages are,

• noise interference
• geographical problems due to line of sight requirements
• becoming outdated

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Satellites
Satellite transmission involves sending a signal from a microwave
tower to the satellite, which is basically a microwave station, then
back to another microwave tower. Although this eliminates the
need for a line-of- sight between towers, the delays to upload and
download the signal often make satellite transmission impractical
for sending signals short distance.

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Satellite systems have the advantage of
• low cost per user (for PAY TV)
• Very high capacity
• very large coverage

Its disadvantages are,

• high cost in launching a satellite
• receiving dishes and decoders required
• delays involved in the reception of the signal

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