The Bits and Bytes of computer networking

Module 1, Week 1

TCP/IP 5 layer model

1.) Physical Layer: Represents the physical devices that interconnect computers.

2.) Data Link Layer: Responsible for defining a common way of interpreting these signals so network
devices can communicate.

*Ethernet standards also define a protocol responsible for getting data to nodes in the same network or
link.

3.) Network Layer: Allows Different networks to communicate with each other through devices known
as routers.

*Internetwork: A collection of networks connected through routers, the most famous being the internet

*Internet Protocol is the heart of the internet and smaller networks around the world

4.) Transport Layer: Sorts out which client and server programs are supposed to get that data

*TCP protocols have mechanisms to ensure data is reliably delivered while UDP does not.

5.) Application Layer uses protocols that are application specific.

Cables

Cables are connections to different devices that allow data transfer. Most network cables fall into two
categories either copper or fiber. Copper is the most common kind of network cable and the most
common copper cables are Cat5 Cat5e and Cat6.

*older cat 5 cables have been replaced due to cross talking: when an electrical pulse on one cable is
accidentally detected on another wire.

-Fiber Cables contain individual optical fibers, made of tiny glass tubes that transport beams of light to
represent 1’s and 0’s.

Hubs and switches

The primary devices used to connect computers on a single network; commonly referred to as LAN

Hub: A physical layer device that allows for connections from many computers at once.

Collison domain: A network segment where only one device can communicate at a time. If multiple
systems try sending data at the same time, the electrical pulses sent across the cable can interfere with
each other.

It is due to this that hubs have been replaced with network switches. Hubs are a layer 1 device while
switches are a layer 2 device this allows the switch to examine the content of the Ethernet protocol data
being sent through the system and determine which system the data is intended for, and then sending it
only to the intended recipient. This reduces collision domains.

Routers

Routers: Devices that know how to forward data between independent networks. Thus it is a Layer
three device.

Border Gateway Protocol: routers share data with each other via this protocol, which lets them learn
about the most optimal paths to forward traffic.
 Servers and clients

A server provides data, while a client requests data.

Nodes are primarily broken down into client or server status, devices can and most likely have acted as
both servers and clients

The Physical Layer

The physical layer of consists of devices and means of transmitting bits across computer networks.

Bits (ones and zeros) are sent across copper network cables through voltage modulation

The most common cabling for connected computing devices are twisted pair cables, these cables allow
for duplex communication, allowing information to follow in both directions across the cable.

*simplex communication is unidirectional.

Network ports and patch panels

At the end of twisted pair wires is a connector, the most common connector is an RJ-45. Short for
Registered Jack 45 can connect into a RJ45 network port.

*Network ports are generally directly attached to the devices that make up a computer network. Port
lights help trouble shoot based on link and activity lights.
A patch panel contains many net ports and simply functions as a container.

The Digital Link Layer

Ethernet and MAC Addresses

Ethernet prevents Collison domains through CSMA/CD a procedure used to determine when
communication channels are clear and when a device is free to transmit data.

MAC address: a globally unique Identifier attached to an individual network interface, it is a 48-bit
number represented by six groupings of two hexadecimal numbers.

*hexadecimal is a way to represent numbers using 16 digits

MAC addresses can also be represented by octets (any number that can be represented by 8-bits)

The first three octets of a mac address is known as an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) which
allows you to determine the manufacturer.

Ethernet uses MAC addresses to ensure that the data it sends has both an address for the machine that
sent the transmission, as well as the one the transmission was intended for.

Unicast, Multicast, Broadcast

A unicast transmission is always meant for just one receiving address. This is done by setting the first
octet of the destination MAC address to zero.

If the first octet is set to one then you are dealing with multicast frame

Broadcast is sent to every device, this has a special address it is FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF

Ethernet Frames

Data Packet: An all-encompassing term that represents any single set of binary data being sent across a
network link. At the Ethernet level data packets are known as Ethernet frames

An Ethernet frame is a a highly structured collection of information presented in a specific order.

Afterwards comes the destination MAC address (hardware address of recipient), then the source MAC
address (where the frame originates from)

This is followed by the Ethertype field (16bits long and describes the protocol of the contents of the
frame)

*Optionally prior to the ethertype, a VLAN Header (indicates the frame is a VLAN frame) can be included
if you have multiple logical LANs operating on the same physical equipment.

Finally comes payload, which is the actual data being transported, everything that is not a header.

At the end comes the frame check sequence a 4 byte (32-bit) number that represents a checksum value
for the entire frame. This value is calculated by performing a cyclical redundancy check against the
frame.

*A Cyclical redundancy check is an important concept in data integrity used all over computing.