Computer Networking

12th Class

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications among users and allows users to share resources. A computer network allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. In the world of computers, networking is the practice of linking two or more computing devices together for the purpose of sharing data. Networks are built with a mix of computer hardware and computer software. Early networks of communicating computers included the military radar system Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) and its relative the commercial airline reservation system Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE), starting in the late 1950s. In the 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started funding the design of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for the United States Department of Defense. Development of the network began in 1969, based on designs developed during the 1960s. The ARPANET evolved into the modern Internet.

 A computer network is a system for communicating between two or more computers and associated devices. It is an interconnection of computers for the purposes of sharing information and resources. A network is any collection of independent computers that communicate with one another over a shared network medium. A computer network is a collection of two or more connected computers. When these computers are joined in a network, people can share files and peripherals such as modems, printers, tape backup drives, or CD-ROM drives. When networks at multiple locations are connected using services available from phone companies, people can send e-mail, share links to the global Internet, or conduct video conferences in real time with other remote users. As companies rely on applications like electronic mail and database management for core business operations, computer networking becomes increasingly more important. A popular example of a computer network is the internet, which allows millions of users to share information

An example of a network

Router Hub Bridge Hub

Segment Node

Internet

 File sharing: Networking of computers helps the users to share data files. Hardware sharing: Users can share devices such as printers, scanners, CD-ROM drives, hard drives etc. Application sharing: Applications can be shared over the network, and this allows to implement client/server applications ser communication: Networks allow users to communicate using e-mail, newsgroups, and video conferencing etc. Network gaming: Lot of games are available, which are supports multi-users.

Connectivity and Communication: Networks connect computers and the users of those computers. Individuals within a building or work group can be connected into local area networks (LANs); LANs in distant locations can be interconnected into larger wide area networks (WANs). Once connected, it is possible for network users to communicate with each other using technologies such as electronic mail. This makes the transmission of business (or non-business) information easier, more efficient and less expensive than it would be without the network. Data Sharing: One of the most important uses of networking is to allow the sharing of data. Before networking was common, an accounting employee who wanted to prepare a report for manager would have to produce it on his PC, put it on a floppy disk, and then walk it over to the manager, who would transfer the data to her PC's hard disk. (This sort of shoe-based network was sometimes sarcastically called a sneakernet .) True networking allows thousands of employees to share data much more easily and quickly than this. More so, it makes possible applications that rely on the ability of many people to access and share the same data, such as databases, group software development, and much more. Intranets and extranets can be used to distribute corporate information between sites and to business partners. Hardware Sharing: Networks facilitate the sharing of hardware devices. For example, instead of giving each of 10 employees in a department an expensive color printer (or resorting to the sneakernet again), one printer can be placed on the network for everyone to share.

Internet Access: The Internet is itself an enormous network, so whenever you access the Internet, you are using a network. The significance of the Internet on modern society is hard to exaggerate, especially for those of us in technical fields. Internet Access Sharing: Small computer networks allow multiple users to share a single Internet connection. Special hardware devices allow the bandwidth of the connection to be easily allocated to various individuals as they need it, and permit an organization to purchase one high-speed connection instead of many slower ones. Data Security and Management: In a business environment, a network allows the administrators to much better manage the company's critical data. Instead of having this data spread over dozens or even hundreds of small computers in a haphazard fashion as their users create it, data can be centralized on shared servers. This makes it easy for everyone to find the data, makes it possible for the administrators to ensure that the data is regularly backed up, and also allows for the implementation of security measures to control who can read or change various pieces of critical information. Performance Enhancement and Balancing: Under some circumstances, a network can be used to enhance the overall performance of some applications by distributing the computation tasks to various computers on the network. Entertainment: Networks facilitate many types of games and entertainment. The Internet itself offers many sources of entertainment, of course. In addition, many multi-player games exist that operate over a local area network. Many home networks are set up for this reason, and gaming across wide area networks (including the Internet) has also become quite popular.

Identifying computers and users over a network

Domain Name MAC 'Media Access Control , and IP address

DNS (Domain Naming Service)

An important purpose of domain names is to provide easily recognizable and memorizable names to numerically addressed Internet resources. This abstraction allows any resource (e.g., website) to be moved to a different physical location in the address topology of the network, globally or locally in an intranet. Such a move usually requires changing the IP address of a resource and the corresponding translation of this IP address to and from its domain name. Top-level domains
The top-level domains (TLDs) are the highest level of domain names of the Internet. They form the DNS root zone of the hierarchical Domain Name System. Every domain name ends in a top-level or first-level domain label. When the Domain Name System was created in the 1980s, the domain name space was divided into two main groups of domains. The country code top-level domains (ccTLD) were primarily based on the two-character territory codes of ISO-3166 country abbreviations. In addition, a group of seven generic top-level domains (gTLD) was implemented which represented a set of categories of names and multi-organizations. These were the domains GOV, EDU, COM, MIL, ORG, NET, and INT.

DNS (Domain Naming Service)

Second-level and lower level domains
Below the top-level domains in the domain name hierarchy are the second-level domain (SLD) names. These are the names directly to the left of .com, .net, and the other toplevel domains. As an example, in the domain en.wikipedia.org, wikipedia is the second-level domain. Next are third-level domains, which are written immediately to the left of a second-level domain. There can be fourth- and fifth-level domains, and so on, with virtually no limitation. An example of an operational domain name with four levels of domain labels is www.sos.state.oh.us.
The www preceding the domains is the host name of the WorldWide Web server. Each label is separated by a full stop (dot). 'sos' is said to be a sub-domain of 'state.oh.us', and 'state' a subdomain of 'oh.us', etc. In general, subdomains are domains subordinate to their parent domain.

DNS (Domain Naming Service)

Domain names are used to identify one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html, the domain name is pcwebopedia.com. Every domain name has a suffix that indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to. There are only a limited number of such domains. For example: gov - Government agencies edu - Educational institutions org - Organizations (nonprofit) mil - Military com - commercial business net - Network organizations ca - Canada th - Thailand Because the Internet is based on IP addresses, not domain names, every Web server requires a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate domain names into IP addresses.

Price of Cheap Domain Registration in India TLD TLD com net org biz info in co.in net.in org.in us co.uk 1 Years INR 499.00 INR 499.00 INR 499.00 INR 499.00 INR 499.00 INR 799.00 INR 499.00 INR 499.00 INR 449.00 INR 449.00 INR 700.00 5 Years INR 2,495.00 INR 2,495.00 INR 2,495.00 INR 2,495.00 org.cn INR 2,495.00 tv INR 3,995.00 cc INR 2,495.00 ws INR 2,495.00 de INR 2,245.00 name INR 2,245.00 INR 3,500.00 mobi INR 700.00 INR 3,500.00 INR 499.00 INR 2,495.00 INR 1,000.00 INR 5,000.00 INR 1,500.00 INR 7,500.00 INR 1,500.00 INR 7,500.00 INR 2,200.00 INR 11,000.00 INR 1,500.00 INR 7,500.00 org.uk cn com.cn net.cn 1 Years INR 700.00 INR 1,500.00 INR 1,500.00 INR 1,500.00 5 Years INR 3,500.00 INR 7,500.00 INR 7,500.00 INR 7,500.00

MAC 'Media Access Control

DEFINITIONIn a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is computer's unique hardware number. When we're connected to the Internet from our computer (or host as the Internet protocol thinks of it), a correspondence table relates IP address to computer's physical (MAC) address on the LAN. Short for Media Access Control address, a hardware address that uniquely identifies each node of a network. How to Find a MAC Address To display your MAC address on a Windows NT/2000/2003/XP/Visa computer: Click START Go to ACCESSORIES Select Command Prompt Type: (no quotes) "ipconfig /all" In the "ipconfig /all" results look for the adapter to find the MAC address of. The MAC address is the number located next to "Physical Address" in the list.

MAC 'Media Access Control

The MAC layer addressing mechanism is called physical address or MAC address. A MAC address is a unique serial number. Once a MAC address has been assigned to a particular network interface (typically at time of manufacture), that device should be uniquely identifiable amongst all other network devices in the world. This guarantees that each device in a network will have a different MAC address (analogous to a street address). This makes it possible for data packets to be delivered to a destination within a subnetwork, i.e. a physical network consisting of several network segments interconnected by repeaters, hubs, bridges and switches, but not by IP routers. An IP router may interconnect several subnets.

IP Address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.[1] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there." The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number[1] and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new addressing system (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995. IP addresses are binary numbers, but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 (for IPv6). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations globally and delegates five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks to local Internet registries (Internet service providers) and other entities.

IP Addressing
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique identifier for a node or host connection on an IP network. An IP address is a 32 bit binary number usually represented as 4 decimal values, each representing 8 bits, in the range 0 to 255 (known as octets) separated by decimal points. This is known as "dotted decimal notation. Example: 140.179.220.200 It is sometimes useful to view the values in their binary form. 140 .179 .220 .200 10001100.10110011.11011100.11001000 Every IP address consists of two parts, one identifying the network and one identifying the node. The Class of the address and the subnet mask determine which part belongs to the network address and which part belongs to the node address.

Address Classes
There are 5 different address classes. We can determine which class any IP address is in by examining the first 4 bits of the IP address. Class A addresses begin with 0xxx, or 1 to 126 decimal. Class B addresses begin with 10xx, or 128 to 191 decimal. Class C addresses begin with 110x, or 192 to 223 decimal. Class D addresses begin with 1110, or 224 to 239 decimal. Class E addresses begin with 1111, or 240 to 254 decimal. Addresses beginning with 01111111, or 127 decimal, are reserved for loopback and for internal testing on a local machine. [You can test this: you should always be able to ping 127.0.0.1, which points to yourself] Class D addresses are reserved for multicasting. Class E addresses are reserved for future use. They should not be used for host addresses. Now we can see how the Class determines, by default, which part of the IP address belongs to the network (N) and which part belongs to the node (n). Class A -- NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn.nnnnnnn.nnnnnnn Class B -- NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn.nnnnnnnn Class C -- NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.NNNNNNNN.nnnnnnnn In the example, 140.179.220.200 is a Class B address so by default the Network part of the address (also known as the Network Address) is defined by the first two octets (140.179.x.x) and the node part is defined by the last 2 octets (x.x.220.200). In order to specify the network address for a given IP address, the node section is set to all "0"s. In our example, 140.179.0.0 specifies the network address for 140.179.220.200. When the node section is set to all "1"s, it specifies a broadcast that is sent to all hosts on the network. 140.179.255.255 specifies the example broadcast address. Note that this is true regardless of the length of the node section.

Subnetting
Subnetting an IP Network can be done for a variety of reasons, including organization, use of different physical media (such as Ethernet, FDDI, WAN, etc.), preservation of address space, and security. The most common reason is to control network traffic. In an Ethernet network, all nodes on a segment see all the packets transmitted by all the other nodes on that segment. Performance can be adversely affected under heavy traffic loads, due to collisions and the resulting retransmissions. A router is used to connect IP networks to minimize the amount of traffic each segment must receive. Subnet Masking Applying a subnet mask to an IP address allows you to identify the network and node parts of the address. Performing a bitwise logical AND operation between the IP address and the subnet mask results in the Network Address or Number. For example, using our test IP address and the default Class B subnet mask, we get:
10001100.10110011.11110000.11001000 11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000 10001100.10110011.00000000.00000000 140.179.240.200 255.255.000.000 140.179.000.000 Class B IP Address Default Class B Subnet Mask

------------------------------------------------------------------------Network Address Default subnet masks: Class A - 255.0.0.0 - 11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000 Class B - 255.255.0.0 - 11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000 Class C - 255.255.255.0 - 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000

IP versions
Two versions of the Internet Protocol (IP) are in use:
IP Version 4, and IP Version 6.

IP Address Format
The 32-bit IP address is grouped eight bits at a time, separated by dots and represented in decimal format known as dotted decimal notation. Each bit in the octet has a binary weight (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1). The minimum value for an octet is zero (0) and the maximum value for an octet is 255.

IP version 4 Addresses
In IPv4 an address consists of 32 bits which limits the address space to 4294967296 (232) possible unique addresses. IPv4 reserves some addresses for special purposes such as private networks (~18 million addresses) or multicast addresses (~270 million addresses). IPv4 addresses are canonically represented in dot-decimal notation, which consists of four decimal numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, separated by dots, e.g., 172.16.254.1. Each part represents a group of 8 bits (octet) of the address. In some cases of technical writing, IPv4 addresses may be presented in various hexadecimal, octal, or binary representations.

IP version 6 Addresses
IPv6 routing is almost exactly like IPv4 routing except for the length of the address and the subnet mask. Although IPv4 uses a dotted-decimal representation of the network prefix known as the subnet mask, a subnet mask is not used for IPv6. Only the prefix length notation is supported. IPv6 increases the IP address size from 32 bits to 128 bits to support more levels of the addressing hierarchy, a much greater number of addressable nodes, and simpler auto-configuration. IPv6 supports approximately 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 possible IP addresses. IPv6 text representation is very different from IPv4. The address form can be written three ways (preferred, compressed, and mixed) and it offers three different types of addresses (unicast, anycast, and multicast). With the growth of the Internet and its possible extension to additional devices, such as TVs, toasters, and coffee makers, all IPv4 solutions proposed for scaling the Internet address space will only delay the inevitable. There are just not enough IPv4 addresses. The IETF has produced a comprehensive set of specifications to define what is commonly known as the next-generation IP protocol ( IPng or IPv6 ).

The OSI Seven-Layer Model

The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) seven-layer model was developed by a International standards organization called ISO. ISO wanted a framework into which the major network hardware and software components and protocols could be placed to give every item a common reference point: a means of relating the components and their functionality to each other and a way of standardizing some of the components and protocols.

Note: All People Seems TO Need Data Processing.

OSI Model
Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference model has become an International standard and serves as a guide for networking. This model is the best known and most widely used guide to describe networking environments. Vendors design network products based on the specifications of the OSI model. It provides a description of how network hardware and software work together in a layered fashion to make communications possible. It also helps with trouble shooting by providing a frame of reference that describes how components are supposed to function.

OSI Seven Layers

Layer 1: Physical Layer Layer 1 is responsible for defining the network standards relating to electrical signals, connectors, and media types and the way that data is placed on the network media. Layer 2: Data Link Layer Layer 2 is responsible for gathering together and completing all of the elements that make up a data packet and putting the whole thing together so that it can be passed to a Physical layer device and on to the network. The Data Link layer assembles outgoing packets and generates the CRC. For incoming packets, it checks the data for validity by comparing its locally generated CRC value with that sent in the packet. The Data Link layer also determines whether it is possible or permissible at any instant to try and send data to the network. At any instant, another computer may already be using the network. If you transmit data at the same time, both packets will become corrupted. Layer 3: Network Layer Layer 3 understands addressing how to find the ultimate destination address for a data packet and routing, to make sure the packet ends up in the right place.

OSI Seven Layers

Layer 4: Transport Layer If the data being sent is bigger than the allowable packet size, the Transport layer breaks the data into smaller, manageable chunks that will fit inside two or more packets. Breaking up data into smaller chunks is also known as fragmentation. The Transport layer is also responsible for confirming whether transmitted packets have reached their destination intact (or at all) and retransmitting them if they haven t (error correction/management). For incoming packets, the Transport layer reassembles the fragmented data (performs defragmentation), carefully ensuring that received packets are processed in the right order. The Transport layer also manages the flow of data to ensure that packets are sent at a pace that s suitable for the receiving device and for general network conditions. Sending data too quickly is like speaking too fast: you may have to keep repeating yourself to get the message understood, which is actually counterproductive. Layer 5: Session Layer Layer 5 sets up, manages, and terminates the data connections (called sessions) between networked devices. These sessions enable networked systems to exchange information.

OSI Seven Layers

Layer 6: Presentation Layer Layer 6 is responsible for managing and translating information by catering to differences in the ways some computer systems store and manage their data. Presentation layer protocols are also responsible for data encryption. Layer 7: Application Layer Layer 7 represents the network-related program code and functions running on a computer system. This program code provides network support for the main applications being run, such as the redirector software discussed earlier, allowing a shared network location to appear on a machine as drive W: and providing services such as login authentication. Some application layer functions do exist as user-executable programs. Some file transfer and e-mail applications, for example, exist entirely on this layer.

Using the Seven-Layer Model

The seven-layer model is only a theoretical representation of how networks function. The conceptual use of the model assumes that an event on one computer system (for example, a user pressing ENTER on a login screen) creates some data that sets off a chain of events. The data runs down through the layers on the sending machine and then leaves the system in a data packet, which travels across the network and then up through the layers on the receiving machine, until the data arrives intact at the application layer and causes something to happen.

TCP/IP Protocols
The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite has become the industry-standard method of interconnecting hosts, networks, and the Internet. As such, it is seen as the engine behind the Internet and networks worldwide. The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite is the engine for the Internet and networks worldwide. Its simplicity and power has led to its becoming the single network protocol of choice in the world today. The TCP/IP protocol suite is so named for two of its most important protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP). The main design goal of TCP/IP was to build an interconnection of networks, referred to as an internetwork, or internet, that provided universal communication services over heterogeneous physical networks. The clear benefit of such an internetwork is the enabling of communication between hosts on different networks, perhaps separated by a large geographical area.

TCP/IP
TCP/IP is modelled in layers. This layered representation leads to the term protocol stack, which refers to the stack of layers in the protocol suite. It can be used for positioning (but not for functionally comparing) the TCP/IP protocol suite against others, such as Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. By dividing the communication software into layers, the protocol stack allows for division of labour, ease of implementation and code testing, and the ability to develop alternative layer implementations.

The 7 layer OSI model has been revised to a 5 layer TCP/IP based Internet Model 1. Application 2. Transport, 3. Internet, 4. Network, and 5. Physical layer.

TYPES of Networks
PAN LAN MAN WAN

Personal Area Network

A PAN is a network that is used for communicating among computers and computer devices (including telephones) in close proximity of around a few meters within a room It can be used for communicating between the devices themselves, or for connecting to a larger network such as the internet PANs can be wired or wireless
PANs can be wired with a computer bus such as a universal serial bus: USB (a serial bus standard for connecting devices to a computer, where many devices can be connected concurrently) PANs can also be wireless through the use of bluetooth (a radio standard designed for low power consumption for interconnecting computers and devices such as telephones, printers or keyboards to the computer) or IrDA (infrared data association) technologies

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Local Area Network

A LAN is a network that is used for communicating among computer devices, usually within an office building or home LANs enable the sharing of resources such as files or hardware devices that may be needed by multiple users Is limited in size, typically spanning a few hundred meters, and no more than a mile Is fast, with speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps Requires little wiring, typically a single cable connecting to each device Has lower cost compared to MANs or WANs

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LAN
Local Area Networks are widely used to share resources and exchange information by connecting personal computers and workstations in company office and factories. A single building or campus of few kilometres in size, LAN acts as privately-owned networks. LANs are limited to a single building or group of buildings. By using telephone lines and radio waves, one LAN can be attached to other LANs over any distance. A system of multiple connections of LANs is called a wide-area network (WAN). In today's world, Local Area Networks become fundamental part of communication. LAN applications are used in hospitals, educational facilities businesses, stock exchanges and warehouses.

LAN basics

LAN s can be either wired or wireless. Twisted pair, coax or fiber optic cable can be used in wired LAN s Nodes in a LAN are linked together with a certain topology. These topologies include: Bus Ring Star Branching tree A node is defined to be any device connected to the network. This could be a computer, a printer, a router, etc. A Hub is a networking device that connects multiple segments of the network together A Network Interface Card (NIC) is the circuit board that has the networking logic implemented, and provides a plug for the cable into the computer (unless wireless). In most cases, this is an Ethernet card inserted in a slot of the computer s motherboard The Network Operating System (NOS) is the software (typically part of the operating system kernel) that communicates with the NIC, and enables users to share files and hardware and communicate with other computers. Examples of NOS include: Windows XP, Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Linux, etc..

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Local Area Network (LAN)

A local area network (LAN) supplies networking capability to a group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office building, a school, or a home. A LAN is useful for sharing resources like files, printers, games or other applications. A LAN in turn often connects to other LANs Most local area networks are built with relatively inexpensive hardware such as Ethernet cables, network adapters, and hubs. Wireless LAN and other more advanced LAN hardware options also exist.

LAN Continue
LAN (Local Area Network)

A collection of nodes within a small area. The nodes are linked in a bus, ring, star, tree, or fully connected topology network configuration. Benefits of LANs:
Sharing of hardware resources. Sharing of software and data. Consolidated wiring/cabling. Simultaneous distribution of information. More efficient person-to-person communication.

Components of LAN
1. Network operating system(NOS) In order for computers to be able to communicate with each other, they must first have the networking software that tells them how to do so. Without the software, the system will function simply as a standalone, unable to utilize any of the resources on the network. Network operating software may by installed by the factory, eliminating the need for you to purchase it, (for example AppleTalk), or you may install it yourself.

Components of LAN
2.
In addition to network operating software, each network device must also have a network interface card. These cards today are also referred to as adapters, as in Ethernet adapter card or Token Ring adapter card. The NIC card amplifies electronic signals which are generally very weak within the computer system itself. The NIC is also responsible for packaging data for transmission, and for controlling access to the network cable. When the data is packaged properly, and the timing is right, the NIC will push the data stream onto the cable. The NIC also provides the physical connection between the computer and the transmission cable (also called media ). This connection is made through the connector port. Examples of transmission media are Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI.

Network interface card(NIC)

Components of LAN
3. Writing Hub
In order to have a network, you must have at least two devices that communicate with each other. In this simple model, it is a computer and a printer. The printer also has an NIC installed (for example, an HP Jet Direct card), which in turn is plugged into a wiring hub. The computer system is also plugged into the hub, which facilitates communication between the two devices. Additional components (such as a server, a few more PCs, and a scanner) may be connected to the hub. With this connection, all network components would have access to all other network components.

Components of LAN
4. Cables or Transmission Media
Cables are one example of transmission media. Media are various physical environments through which transmission signals pass. Common network media include twisted-pair, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and the atmosphere (through which microwave, laser, and infrared transmission occurs). Another term for this is physical media.
*Note that not all wiring hubs support all medium types.

Components of LAN
5. Network Cabling Cable is the actual physical path upon
which an electrical signal travels as it moves from one component to another. Transmission protocols determine how NIC cards take turns transmitting data onto the cable. Remember that we discussed how LAN cables (baseband) carry one signal, while WAN cables (broadband) carry multiple signals. There are three primary cable types: - Twisted-pair (or copper) - Coaxial cable, and - Fiber-Optic cable

Networking Devices
HUB, Switches, Wireless Access Modems etc. Routers, Points,

Communication Basics of Networks

Types of connections of computers into networks: Physical versus Wireless connections
The first type: The Physical Connection.
Physically connect computers together.
Use of wires or optical cables. The connections are called network links.

Three most common physical links:

Twisted pair Coaxial cable Fiber-optic cable
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Communication Basics of Networks

Twisted pair

Two wires twisted together.

Makes them less susceptible to acting like an antenna and picking up radio frequency information or appliance noise.

Telephone company uses twisted-pair copper wires to link telephones.

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Cable Layout
Typical Crossover Cable Wiring: 1-3 White/Orange 2-6 Orange 3-1 White/Green 6-2 Green 4-4 Blue 5-5 White/Blue 7-7 White/Brown 8-8 Brown

Communication Basics of Networks

Coaxial cable

Also two wires:

One of the wires is woven of fine strands of copper forming a tube. The wire mesh surrounds a solid copper wire that runs down the center. Space between has a non-conducting material. Makes them more impervious to outside noise.

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Communication Basics of Networks

Fiber-optic cable
Light is electromagnetic. Can transmit more information down a single strand.
It can send a wider set of frequencies.

Each cable can send several thousand phone conversations or computer communications.

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Uses of LAN
Effective Customer Service : LAN is very beneficial in
customer service aspect. The customer has not go to a particular terminal in the branch. He can approach to any terminal for multi-purpose.

Shared use of Hardware & Software: Hardware and

Software can be shared. We don t need equal number of printers for equal number of terminals. By using some commands printout can be taken even another room where the printer is kept. Similarly, we have not to load the software in each terminal.

Communication:

Terminals can do the job of intercom. Message can be transferred across the users sitting in other rooms simultaneously. The high channel speed is another quality of LAN. Most Local Area Networks transfer data at the rate of 1 to 10 million bits per second.

Uses of LAN
Security : It is noted that users have access to other users but
the AN system has in-built security and it is virtually not possible to get hold of files of other users.

Additional / Removal of Terminals: As we needed,

new terminals can be attached to the existing ones and old terminals can be attached.

Limitations of LAN
The maintenance cost of the complete system is enough high. Proper care is to be taken for maintenance. High quality software has to be used for the system. Until and unless the Server is started, the terminals attached with it will not function. If the system is not used properly, the cunning user may have access to the data of other user.

Network Topologies
The bus network A continuous coaxial cable to which all the devices are attached. All nodes can detect all messages sent along the bus.

Linking nodes:

The ring network Nodes linked together to form a circle. A message sent out from one node is passed along to each node in between until the target node receives the message.

The Computer Continuum

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Network Topologies
The star network Each node is linked to a central node. All messages are routed through the central node, who delivers it to the proper node.

Linking nodes:

The tree network (hierarchical network)

Looks like an upside-down tree where end nodes are linked to interior nodes that allow linking through to another end node.
The Computer Continuum 7-52

Network Topologies
The fully connected network (Total Link Network)
All nodes are connected to all other nodes.

Linking nodes:

Internetworking Connecting together any number of direct-connected networks. The largest: Internet.

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Star Topology
Advantages of Star Topology:
Due to its centralized nature, the topology offers simplicity of operation. It also achieves an isolation of each device in the network. If one node of the network fails, it does not affect the connectivity. Each and every node involves in this topology only the centralized system and one peripheral. Therefore in this topology access protocols are very simple.

Disadvantage of Star Topology:

The network operation depends on the functioning of the central hub. Hence, the failure of the central hub leads to the failure of the entire network. Long Cabling : Each node in Star Topology is directly connected in the central node, therefore, long cables are required.

Ring Topology
Advantages of Ring Topology
There is a lesser number of connections. Each node is connecting to its neighbour node with short cable. The data being transmitted between two nodes passes through all the intermediate nodes. A central server is not required for the management of this topology.

Disadvantages of Ring Topology

The failure of a single node of the network can cause the entire network to fail. The movement or changes made to network nodes affects the performance of the entire network. Reconfiguration is Difficult .When one thinks to modify or extend the geographical scope , it becomes a problem in this network.

Bus Topology
Advantages of Bus Topology
It is easy to handle and implement. It is best suited for small networks. The Bus topology has an inherent simplicity. All the data passes through one cable and there is a smooth propagation. An additional node can be connected to the network at any point its length.

Disadvantages of Bus Topology

The cable length is limited. This limits the number of stations that can be connected. This network topology can perform well only for a limited number of nodes. Fault detection is difficult. Control of the network is not centralized to a particular node.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Metropolitan Area Network - a network spanning a
physical area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically owned an operated by a single entity such as a government body or large corporation.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

Consists of many local area networks linked together. Span the distance of just a few miles.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

WAN - Wide Area Network: As the term implies, a WAN
spans a large physical distance. The Internet is the largest WAN, spanning the Earth. A WAN is a geographically-dispersed collection of LANs. A network device called a router connects LANs to a WAN. In IP networking, the router maintains both a LAN address and a WAN address. A WAN differs from a LAN in several important ways. Most WANs (like the Internet) are not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed ownership and management.

WAN
The Wide Area Network technology is a method of creating an intelligent data sharing network of computers, whose complexity and scale is so huge that it may extend over a city, a region, or a country. It may even be an international network. The Internet is the widest WAN constructed yet. It is like the single most and biggest continuously linked hardware network in the world. What kind of infrastructure and technology makes a WAN possible ? It is a combination of an intelligent network architecture, quantized data interchange and a protocol language that regulates the flow of predestined data. The WAN forms and grows like any other network through the integration of small Local Area Networks (LANs) which in turn are clusters of smaller networks. Nowadays, private organizations like big software companies have their own WANs constructed. It makes their internal communication simpler and more secure. Internet service providers provide connectivity and infrastructure to private LANs and integrate them into the Internet. Wide area networks can be constructed in a variety of ways depending on what kind of linking or Internet connection is used. WANs could also be classified on the basis of what kind of Internet protocol or data sharing technique they use.

Types of WAN
Leased
It is the most expensive of all types and also the most secure. It uses a point to point connection from the WAN hub to the specific LAN point. This option is used by most big software corporations as not only does it offer superior security features but also higher data transfer rate. It uses the PPP(Point to point protocol), the HNAS, the HDLC or SDLC protocol. They are all specialized protocol mechanisms designed for security and errorfree operation.

Line:

Circuit Switching: These are relatively cheaper connections and rely on

making a physical circuit path between two points. The dial up connections are examples of such type. They use the landline telephone infrastructure for data transmission. The speed offered is usually 30 Kbps to 150 Kbps. The protocols used are PPP or ISDN.

Cell Relay: This is quite similar in structure to packet switching type but
divides data into equally sized packets or cells. It is supposed to be very efficient for synchronous voice and video transmission and gives amazing clarity. It uses the ATM (Asynchronous Transfer mode) protocol.

Types of WAN
Packet Switching: They use dynamic circuit paths with single point to
multiple point linking. The data is sliced into variable sized packets irrespective of its type. Varying types of data use the same media link and therefore there is congestion and queuing delays in delivery. It uses the X.25 Frame relay protocol which is one of the first protocols ever developed.

Wireless WAN: WAN technology has also taken the step to the next level of
network integration which is based on the mobile phone platform. It provides Internet connectivity through the wireless telecommunication mode and is called Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). It is a part of the Third Generation (3G) Mobile technologies that are being offered. It takes advantage of the advances in mobile technology and the development of mobile infrastructure to deliver high quality and high speed Internet Access.

Communication Basics of Networks

Wireless connections
The link is made using electromagnetic energy that travels over the air instead of along wires or cables. Three types of wireless communications commonly used in networking
Infrared (IR)
Commonly used in TV and VCR remote controls. Use infrared frequencies of electromagnetic radiation that behave much like visible light. line of sight required. Often used to connect keyboards, mice, PDAs, etc

Communication Basics of Networks

Radio frequency (RF) Uses radio frequencies to transmit data Function even though line of sight is interrupted. Interference is a problem with these technologies most use 2.4Ghz radio band (as Microwaves, Cordless Phones) Used in Apple Airport/WiFi (802.11b), Airport Extreme (802.11g), and Bluetooth Microwave Often used to communicate with distant locations. Must be line of sight. Satellite communications use microwaves.

Sending data on the physical layer

To send a packet to another computer on the LAN (local area network)
I set the source and destination of the frame accordingly (the destination is the MAC address of the computer I want to reach) I send the frame out on the wire (I send the bits to my network interface card which will turn those bits into voltage pulses for me and send them on the wire)

B A

C D

All other connected network interfaces on my local network see the frame go across the wire
Because they each know the protocol they will be able to tell one packet from another Only the node with the same MAC address as the destination will accept the frame Other network interfaces will ignore the frame, because it is not addressed to them

Sending data on the physical layer

Shared access may lead to other problems
Our frames (bits/voltages) may collide! (collision)
Collisions are caused by two computers simultaneously attempting to send information to the network

If our frames collide both of our frames become garbage! (corrupt) the packet is no longer the same as what was originally sent The payload can be corrupted (that s bad). The header could be corrupted such that we can t deliver the message any more! Fortunately, network interface cards can detect collisions on the wire so the receiver will know to disregard the packet. Unfortunately, collisions slow down our network by causing time on the wire to be wasted.

Modes of Transmission
Simplex transmission
allows data to travel only in a single, pre specified direction. An example from everyday life is doorbell the signal can go only from the button to the chime. Two other examples are television and radio broadcasting. The simplex standard is relatively uncommon for most types of computer-based telecommunications applications; even devices that are designed primarily to receive information, such as printers must be able to communicate acknowledgement signals back to the sender devices. In Half Duplex transmission messages can move in either direction , but only one way at a time. The press to talk radio phones used in police cars employ the half-duplex standard; only one person can talk at a time. Often the line between a desktop workstation and a remote CPU conforms to the half duplex patterns as well. If another computer is transmitting to a workstation, the operator cannot send new messages until the other computer finishes its message to acknowledge an interruption. In this mode data can be transmitted in both directions. Transmission works like traffic on a busy two way street the flow moves in two directions at the same time. Full-duplexing is ideal for hardware units that need to pass large amounts of data between each other as in mainframe-to-mainframe communications.

Full duplex:

MODEM
Modem is actually an odd acronym for ModulatorDemodulator. A modem takes a digital signal from a computer and converts to an analog signal so that it can be transferred through a phone line. This conversion is necessary because modems make use of regular phone lines which are analog. A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for a conventional copper twisted pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.

MODEM
Modem is an electronic device that converts a computer s digital signals into specific frequencies to travel over telephone or cable television lines. At the destination, the receiving modem demodulates the frequencies back into digital data. Computers use modems to communicate with one another over a network. The modem has significantly evolved since the 1970s when the 300 baud modem was used for connecting computers to bulletin board systems (BBSs). With this type of modem each bit, represented digitally by a 1 or 0, was transmitted as a specific tone. The receiving modem responded with its own dedicated frequencies so that the modems could talk at the same time . The technical term for this type of modem is asynchronous.

MODEM
The designation asymmetric simply means that the modem is faster at downloading (getting data), than uploading (sending data). The ADSL modem has significant, immediate advantages over the dial-up modem. Though it uses a standard telephone line like a dial-up modem, it does not tie up the line, making it possible to use the telephone while cruising the Internet. ADSL service is an always on connection, unlike a dial-up modem that cannot be left connected indefinitely. Finally, the ADSL modem is far faster than a dial-up modem. The ADSL modem can accommodate a telephone conversation because of available bandwidth on the dedicated copper wire, which runs from households and businesses to the telephone company (Telco). Another type of modem uses cable TV wiring rather than the phone line to provide Internet connectivity. A cable modem requires service from a cable TV provider for Internet connectivity. The cable modem works on the same principle as the DSL modem, in that digital data is transferred across wires using frequencies that are translated back into digital data. Frequencies used for data traffic do not interfere with existing TV traffic.

MODEM
A less common modem is a satellite modem, or satmodem. The satellite modem converts digital data into radio waves to communicate with a satellite dish.