Computer Network

What is Network?

A group of two or more similar things or

people interconnected with each other is
called network

.Social Network
Example Mobile Network
Airlines, railway, banks, hospital
What is Computer Network?
•A computer network is an
interconnection among two or more
computers or computing devices.
• Such interconnection allows computers
to share data and resources among each
. other
• The network size may vary from small to
large depending on the number of
computers it connects.
• In a communication network, each
device that is part of computer network
that can receive , create, store or send
data to different network route is called
node.
 Advantages of Network
• Resource Sharing: The primary use of network
is to share programs/application, data, and
peripherals devices connected to the network.
• Improved communication: Manager can
update reports
• Reduced communication cost/ Time Saving
• Increased Storage/ Reliability of Data
• Central storage of data/
 History
• ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork): In
1969, The US govt.formed an agency named ARPANET to
connect computers at various universities and defense
agencies. The main objective of ARPANET was to develop a
network that could continue to function efficiently even in the
event of a nuclear attack.

• Internet (INTERconnection NETwork): The Internet is a

worldwide network ofcomputer networks. It is not owned by
anybody. The internet has evolved from ARPANET. The
internet is a globally connected network system that utilizes
TCP/IP to transmit information.
 Types of Network
PAN- PERSONAL AREA NETWORK

LAN- LOCAL AREA NETWORK

MAN – METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK

WAN- WIDE AREA NETWORK

 PAN
• PANs are small networks used to establish
communication between a computer and
other handheld devices in the proximity of 10
meters using wired USB Connectivity or
wireless system like Bluetooth or Infrared.
• PAN are used to connect computers, laptop,
mobile and other IT-enabled to transfer files,
audio and photos etc.
 LAN
• LAN is a network of communicating devices in a
room, building or campus. It can cover an area
of few meters to few kilometers(1 KM).
• It is the simplest network. Any types of wired or
wireless media can be used to set up LAN
• Data transfer in LAN is quite high, and usually
varies from 10 Mbps.
• LAN is owned controlled and can manage by
single person or organization.
 MAN
• Spread with in a city. Cover an area of a few
kilometers to a few hundred kilometers radius.
Set up using all types of all guided and
unguided media. Owned and operated by a
government body or a large corporation. A
good example of LAN is interconnected offices
of state government.
A MAN is usually formed by interconnecting a number of
LANs and individual computers
 WAN
• It is network of devices crossing the limit of city,
country or continent. It can cover an area of
hundred kilometers radius.
• The Internet is the most basic example of a
WAN, connecting all computers together around
the world.
• A network of ATMs, BANKs, National
Government Offices, International
Organizations‘ Offices etc., spread over a
country, continent, or covering many continents.
 Networking Devices
• Computer hardware devices which are used to
connect computers, printers, or any other
electronic device to a computer network are
called network devices. These devices transfer
data in a fast, secure and correct way with some
specific functionality over same or different
networks. Some devices are installed on the
computer, like Internal modem, NIC card or RJ45
connector, whereas some are part of the network,
like router, switch, etc.
 MODEM
• Modem is short for Modulator Demodulator.
It’s an electronic device used to access the
Internet that modulates carrier waves to
encode information to be transmitted and also
demodulates in coming carrier waves to
decode the information they carry. There are
two types of modems, namely internal modem
(fixed within the computer) and external
modem (connected externally to a computer).
 NIC/ETHERNET CARD
• It acts as an interface between computer and
the network. It is a circuit board mounted on
the motherboard of a computer.
• It is device that enables a computer to
connect to a network and communicate.
 RJ-45 Connector
• A RJ-45 Connector: RJ-45 is a standard type of
connector for network cables. The RJ-45 (Registered
Jack) connectors are the plug-in devices used in
networking and telecommunication applications.
They are used primarily for connecting LANs,
particularly Ethernet.
• RJ-45 connector connected to Ethernet card(NIC)
 HUB
• Hub is a device that allows us to connect
multiple computers/ devices together in a
network. A hub has ports into which the
cables from individuals computers’ NIC are
inserted. This way each computers' NIC is
connected to hub and hence all the computers
are connected together.
Generally HUBs are available with 4,8,12,24,48
ports.
When a hub receives signal on its port, it repeats the
signal and forwards that signal for all ports except
the port on which the signal arrived.
 Types of HUB

There are two types of HUB

• Passive HUB:-It only forwards the signal on all
ports without amplifying the signal.
• Active HUB:-It forwards the signal with
improvement in the quality of data signal by
amplifying it. That’s why such hubs need
additional power supply
 SWITCH
• Switch is also used to connect multiple
computers together in a LAN workgroup, just
like hub. Switches are available with
4,8,12,24,48,64 ports.
• When data arrives, the switch extracts the
destination address from the data packet and
looks it up in a table to see where to send the
packet. Thus it sends signals to only selected
devices instead of sending to all.
• switch sends signal to recipient only and that’s
why switches are called as intelligent hub.
 ROUTER
• Router is a networking device which chooses
the best optimal path from available paths to
send the signals. It interconnects different
networks.
• The simplest function of a router is to receive
packets from one connected network and pass
them to second connected network.
 ROUTER
• These days, home Wi-Fi routers perform the
dual task of a router and a modem or switch.
These routers connect to incoming broadband
lines, from ISP (Internet Service Provider), and
convert them to digital data for computing
devices to process.
 ROUTER
• Compared to a hub or a switch, a router has
advanced capabilities as it can analyze the data
being carried over a network, decide or alter
how it is packaged, and send it to another
network of a different type.
• For example, data has been divided into packets
of a certain size. Suppose, these packets are to
be carried over a different type of network which
cannot handle bigger packets, in such a case, the
data is to be repackaged as smaller packets and
then sent over the network by a router.
 GATEWAY
• A gateway is a device that connects dissimilar
networks.
• When two or more networks using different
hardware and software have to be connected,
some device is needed which can translate
one network’s language into other’s
• Gateway is capable to convert protocols so
that two different network architecture based
system can communicate with each other. It
works as protocol convertor
 GATEWAY
• For e.g. Company x and z do business with
each other and therefore they want to
interconnect their computers networks.
 GATEWAY
• In internet, several networks are
communicating with each other and each
network has a different configuration.
• Router primarily manages data traffic within
and between networks, whereas a gateway
facilitates communication between networks
with different protocols.
 BRIDGE
• Bridge is a computer networking device that
creates a single aggregate network from
multiple communication networks or network
segments.
• Bridge connects two different LAN working on
same protocol.
 REPEATER
• Data are carried in the form of signals over the
cable. These signals can travel a specified
distance (usually about 100 m).
• Signals lose their strength beyond this limit
and become weak. In such conditions, original
signals need to be regenerated.
• A repeater is an analog device that works with
signals on the cables to which it is connected.
• The weakened signal appearing on the cable is
regenerated and put back on the cable by a
repeater.
• The arrangement of computers and other
nodes in a network
 TYPES OF
NETWORK
TOPOLOGIES

Bus Ring
Topolo Topolog
gy Star y
Topolo
gy
Mesh Tree
Topolog Topolog
y y
 Bus Topology
• In bus topology each communicating
device connects to a transmission
medium, known as bus ,which acts as
backbone. A small device called
terminator is attached at each end of the
backbone.
 Bus Topology
• Nodes are connected by drop lines and taps. A
drop line is a connection between the long
cable and devices and taps are the connectors
that are punctured inside the main cable.
• The data flows from one end of the cable to
the other. When the signal reaches the end of
backbone, it is absorbed by the terminator
and backbone gets free to carry another
signals.
 Advantages/ Disadvantages
• It is easy to install.
• It requires less cable length hence it is cost
effective.
• Failure of node does not affect the network.
Disadvantages:
• In case of cable(backbone) or terminator fault,
the entire network breaks down.
• Fault diagnosis is difficult.
• Less secure and less reliable.
• At a time only one node can transmit data.
Star Topology
 Star Topology
• In star topology each node is directly
connected to hub/switch. If any node has to
send some information to other node, it sends
signals to the hub/switch.
• The signal is then broadcast(in case of hub) to
all the nodes but it is accepted by the
intended node. In case of switch it is sent only
to the intended node.
 Advantages/ Disadvantages
• It is more efficient compare to bus topology.
• It is easy to install.
• Easy to diagnose fault in star topology.
• Easy to expand depending on the specification
of central hub/switch.
 Disadvantages
• Extra hardware is required for installation of
central controller known as hub.
• Failure of hub/ switch leads to failure of
network.
• The performance of the entire network is
directly dependent on the performance of the
hub. If the server is slow, it will cause the
entire network to slow down.
 Ring Topology
• In ring topology every computer is connected
to the next computer in the ring and each
transmit the signal, what it receives from the
previous computer. The messages flow around
the ring in one direction.
 Advantages
• A central server is not required in ring topology as
the data is passed between two nodes which then
passes through the entire network.
• The data is transmitted in one direction only and,
hence, the transmission rate increases.
• Adding or removing of network nodes is easy as the
process requires changing only two connections.
• The configuration makes it easy to identify faults in
network nodes.
• It is relatively cheaper as compared to star topology
 Disadvantages
• If there is a fault in a single node, it can cause
the entire network to fail.
• The movement or changes made to network
nodes affect the entire network’s
performance.
• Transmission speed becomes slower with an
increase in the number of nodes.
• For proper communication between each
node, it is required that each computer must
be turned on
 Mesh Topology
• In mesh topology, separate cable is used to
connect each device to every other device on
the network, providing a straight
communication path
 Mesh Topology
• A fully connected mesh network has n(n–1)/2
links, where n is the total number of
connecting nodes
• In this type of topology, the link carries traffic
only between the two connected devices..
 Advantages
• Each communicating device carries its own data
through its own dedicated link, hence eliminating
traffic problems.
• A mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes
unusable, it does not affect the entire system.
• Expansion and modification in topology can be
done without disrupting other nodes.
• There is the advantage of privacy or security of
data. When every message travels along a dedicated
line, only the intended recipient sees it.
• Point-to-point links make fault identification and
fault isolation easy.
 Disadvantages
• Mesh topology is highly expensive to set up
and involves high maintenance costs because
of the amount of cabling and the number of
I/O ports required.
• The hardware required to connect each link
(I/O ports and cable) can be prohibitively
expensive.
• Wiring is complex and there are many
redundant or unutilized connections.
 Tree Topology
• Tree topology is a combination of bus and star
topologies. It is used to combine multiple star
topology networks. All the stars are connected
together like bus.
 Advantages
• The tree topology is useful in cases where a star or bus cannot be
implemented individually.
• It is most suited in networking multiple departments of a
university or corporation, where each unit (star segment)
functions separately, and is also connected with the main node
(root node).
• The advantages of centralization that are achieved in a star
topology are inherited by the individual star segments in a tree
network.
• Each star segment gets a dedicated link from the central bus.
Thus, failing of one segment does not affect the rest of the
network.
• Fault identification is easy.
• The network can be expanded by the addition of secondary
nodes. Thus, scalability is achieved.
 Disadvantages
• As multiple segments are connected to a
central bus, the network depends heavily on
the bus. Its failure affects the entire network.
• Owing to its size and complexity, maintenance
is not easy and costs are high. Also,
configuration is difficult in comparison to
other topologies.
• Though it is scalable, the number of nodes
that can be added depends on the capacity of
the central bus and on the cable type.
 Transmission Media
• Guided Vs Unguided Transmission Media | Diff
erences & Comparison | Types of Transmission
Media (youtube.com)
• Twisted Pair Cable Co-axial cable

Optical fiber cable

 INTERNET
• The Internet as we know is the huge global
network of interconnected computers, which
may or may not have any file or webpage to
share with the world.
 Application of Internet
Following are some of the broad areas or
services provided through Internet:
• The World Wide Web (WWW)
• Electronic mail (Email)
• Chat
• Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
 World Wide Web(WWW)
The World Wide Web (WWW) or web in short, is an
ocean of information, stored in the form of trillions of
interlinked web pages and web resources. The
resources on the web can be shared or accessed
through the Internet
Sir Tim Berners-Lee — a British computer scientist
invented the revolutionary World Wide Web in 1990 by
defining three fundamental technologies that lead to
creation of web
• HTML
• URL
• HTTP
 HTML
HyperText Markup Language or HTML is a
language which is used to design standardised
Web Pages so that the Web contents can be
read and understood from any computer across
the globe. It uses tags to define the way page
content should be displayed by the web
browser. Basic structure of every webpage is
designed using HTML
 URL
URL is Uniform Resource Locator and provides the
location and mechanism (protocol) to access the
resource.
Examples of URL identifying resources using location
(i.e., URL) are:
http://www.ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.html
In the above URL, http is the protocol name, it can be
https, http, FTP, Telnet, etc. in is the domain name,
nic is the subdomain of in
ncert is the subdomain of nic
Textbook.html is webpage you are accessing within
textbook folder.
 HTTP
HTTP — The HyperText Transfer Protocol is a set
of rules which is used to retrieve linked web
pages across the web. It’s more secure and
advanced version is HTTPS
Electronic Mail
Chat
 VOIP
Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, allows us to
have voice call (telephone service) over the
Internet, i.e., the voice transmission over a
computer network rather than through the
regular telephone network. It is also known as
Internet Telephony or Broadband Telephony. But
to avail the phone service over the Internet, we
need to have an Internet connection with
reasonably good speed.
 Advantage/Disadvantage
These services are either free or very
economical, so people use them to save on cost.
That is why these days even international calls
are being made using VoIP.
The only disadvantage of VoIP is that its call
quality is dependent on Internet connection
speed. Slow Internet connection will lead to
poor quality voice calls
 Website
• Webpage
• Static and Dynamic Web pages
• Webserver
 Hosting of Website
• Select the web hosting service provider that will
provide the web server space.
• Identify a domain name, which best suits our
requirement, and get it registered through domain
name Registrar.
• Once we get web space, create logins with
appropriate rights and note down IP address to
manage web space.
• Upload the files in properly organized folders on
the allocated space.
• Get domain name mapped to the IP address of
the web server
 Plug-in
• A plug-in is a complete program or may be a
third-party software. For example, Flash and
Java are plug-ins. A Flash player is required to
play a video in the browser.
• A plug-in is a software that is installed on the
host computer and can be used by the
browser for multiple functionalities and can
even be used by other applications as well.
 Add-Ons
• An Add-on is not a complete program and so is
used to add only a particular functionality to
the browser. An add-on is also referred to as
extension in some browsers. Adding the
functionality of a sound and graphics card is
an example of an add-on.
 Cookies
• A cookie is a text file, containing a string of
information, which is transferred by the
website to the browser when we browse it.
This string of information gets stored in the
form of a text file in the browser. The
information stored is retransmitted to the
server to recognize the user, by identifying
pages that were visited, choices that were
made while browsing various menu(s) on a
particular website.
 DNS
• The domain name system (DNS) is a service
that does the mapping between domain name
and IP address. When the address of a website
is entered in a browser, the DNS finds out the
IP address of the server corresponding to the
requested domain name and sends the
request to that server.