Anatomy of a network

A set of interconnected resources Hosts that run network applications software Clients and servers Set of peers The network infrastructure that interconnects the hosts The networking hardware and software Network node devices such as routers and switches Links: cables, connectors, network interfaces
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Transmission links

Convey bits, bytes, packets Physical medium Copper (or aluminium) Optical fibre Glass, plastic Free-space optical Laser Radio Satellite, microwave link, mobile, wireless LAN, Bluetooth Mode Point-to-point Shared medium (multicast) Broadcast
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Representing data: bits and bytes

Bits Different codes used in different interface standards Images, multi-media Require special bit pattern as delimiter Bytes Text is usually ASCII or Unicode characters Text files, documents Character set includes special control characters
Bits Bytes 00000010 10000000 10100001
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01100001011000111 01110101

Computer network
An interconnected collection of computers

Client-Server Model

File Servers
Computer Network

Workstations (Local Processing)

Application Servers

 Based on size:

Classifications of Networks
within the same room

System/Storage area networks (SAN) Local area networks (LAN)

in a close proximity

Metropolitan area networks (MAN)

span a city

Wide area networks (WAN)

connecting computers situated anywhere Connects many networks together
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Interconnecting LANs and WANs

Host systems usually connect into a LAN switch Number of hosts limited by the number of ports on the switch Routers have two main uses Interconnecting LANs Connecting to a WAN or to the Internet Routers interconnect LANs To separate the users To separate the traffic

switch

router
To the Internet

To offsite LANs

Basic terminologies
Web Server
Machine that initiates internet request

Web Server
Machine that services internet request

Browser
Software at the client side to interact with data

Basic terminologies
Intranet
An internal network of computer confined to a simple place.

Extranet
When two or more intranets are connected with each other, they form an Extranet eg. Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Internet
Global network of networks
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Basic terminologies
World Wide Web (WWW)
It is a protocol that uses the internet as the communication structure.

Protocol
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Native protocol of WWW designed for making web page requests
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Whats the Internet

The Internet is a collection of networks connected by interconnecting devices.

The connecting devices

are specialized computing devices, e.g. routers 10 forward data from one network to another.

Network Protocol
a human protocol and a computer network protocol:
Hi Hi
Got the time? TCP connection req.
TCP connection reply.
Get http

2:00
time

<file>

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 A collection of networks

Internetwork

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The Internet Topology

See http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/topology.html for more Internet topologies.

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Communicating over the Internet

To communicate over the Internet, the computers must:
use a common language or a protocol to govern the exchange of messages. have a way to address one another.

Protocol:
specifies exact format, order of messages sent and received among network entities, and actions taken on message transmission and receipt.

Addressing:
defines where to deliver the messages.
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Protocol Layering
Internet has a large collections of protocols organized in a layering model.
Application: enables the user, whether human or software, to access the network. Transport: responsible for reliable source-to-destination (end-to-end) delivery of the entire message. Network: responsible for routing a packet (also called datagram) from source-to-dest (possibly) across multiple (different) networks. Data link (also called network interface): specify how to organize data into frames and how to deliver a frame over a network. Physical: coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over a physical medium.
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Protocol Layering
Two key protocols are:
IP (Internet Protocol)
Oversee end-to-end delivery of individual packets Does not recognize relationships among packets Treats each packet independently, as if they belong to different message

TCP (Transport Control Protocol)

Ensure whole message arrive intact and in order (eg, check if packets are missing or arrive out of order)

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Internet Addresses
Every Computer Is Assigned A Unique Address
Each computer attached to the Internet must be assigned a unique address.

IP Addresses Are Not Random

Computers on the same network have the same prefix (Netid).
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Internet Addressing
IP or Internet address is a 32-bit (4 byte) address that uniquely defines every computing devices on the Internet.

Decimal notation to make it easier to read.

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3.2 Classes of IP addresses

Designers chose a compromise - multiple address formats that allow both large and small prefixes Each format is called an address class

Class of an address is identified by first four bits

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