Hardware & Network Servicing L-3 COC Based Note

Apr 2018 ,By: Z.G

[email protected]
TCP/IP and OSI

TCP/IP is not actually a single protocol, but a set of protocols that operate at different levels. The levels involved in TCP/IP do not exactly match those of the OSI reference model. Instead of
seven layers, TCP/IP specifies only four:

 Network interface layer, Internet layer, Transport layer and Application layer
Each of these layers corresponds to one or more layers of the OSI reference model. The table
OSI Layer TCP/IP Protocols
below shows the correspondence between OSI layers and TCP/IP layers.
7=Application Telnet DHCP
OSI Layers TCP/IP Layers
6=Presentation FTP SNMP
Application
5=Session SMTP DNS
Presentation Application
4=Transport TCP UDP
Session
3=Network IP ARP RARP
Transport Transport
2=Datalink Hardware oriented
Network Internet
1=Physical Hardware oriented
Data-link

Physical Network interface

TCP/IP is an industry standard and is an open protocol. This means it is not controlled by a single company, and is less subject to compatibility issues.

OSI Layers
1) Physical
— Physical interface between devices
— Characteristics
• Mechanical - interface specs
• Electrical - voltage levels for bits, transmission rate
2) Data Link
— Basic services: error detection and control, flow control at the link level (point to point)
— Higher layers may assume error free transmission
— Later a sublayer is added to Data Link Layer
— MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer
— to deal with broadcast networks
3) Network
— Transfer of information through communication network
— network related issues
— Network nodes (relays/routers) should perform switching and routing functions
— QoS (Quality of Service) and congestion control are also addressed in this layer
— Several other internetworking issues e.g. differences in addressing, max. Data length, etc.
— Higher layers do not need to know about underlying networking technology
— Not needed on direct links
4) Transport
— End to end exchange of data
— In sequence, no losses, no duplicates
— If needed, upper layer data are split into smaller units
• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
• connection oriented
• reliable delivery of data
• ordering of delivery
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
• connectionless service

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 • delivery is not guaranteed
5) Session
— Control of dialogues
• Whose turn to talk?
• Dialogue discipline (full-duplex, half-duplex)
— Check pointing and recovery
6) Presentation
— Data formats
— Data compression
— Encryption
7) Application
— Support for various applications
• Support for user applications
• A separate module for each different application
• e.g. HTTP, SMTP, telnet

Summary
The 7 layers of OSI (the higher the level, the more complex the task)

 Application: Relates to the services that support user applications (e.g. file transfer, databases, email)

 Presentation: Acts as a translator for different types of system (e.g. IBM, Apple, Sun) – translates into commonly understood intermediate format

 Session: Allows 2 computers on different computers to run a session (highly structure dialogue used for comms)

 Transport: Ensures that packets are sent error-free, in sequence, without loss or duplication

 Network: Responsible for adding addresses and determining the route to the destination computer

 Data-link: Controls the electrical impulses that enter and leave the cable

 Physical: Transmits the bit stream on the cable – totally hardware oriented

o At what level do hardware networking devices operate?

 Repeater, Hub, NIC: Layer 1 Physical

 Switch, bridge: Layer 2 Data link

 Router: Layer 3 Network

Transport Layer Protocol (UDP and TCP)
TCP provides connection-oriented transmission through the use of predefined ports. A port is simply a number that identifies the communicating application on each computer. Applications
using TCP will acknowledge received packets, and if a sent packet is not acknowledged it will be resent. Therefore TCP provides completely reliable delivery. The Telnet and FTP applications
both use TCP.
UDP provides connectionless transmission. There is no acknowledgement of received packets so UDP uses best effort delivery. Because of the lack of acknowledgement packets there are fewer
overheads in UDP compared to TCP, so communication is more efficient, but less reliable. The DHCP and DNS protocols use UDP.
ARP and RARP
Every network device (e.g. NIC, router, bridge, etc.) has a unique hardware address. This address is known as the MAC (media access control) address. MAC addresses are different to IP
addresses: they are a 48-bit binary code and they never change – they are permanently assigned to the device at manufacturing time. IP addresses, on the other hand, are assigned by software
and so they can change during the lifetime of a device. In low-level protocols, all addressing is performed using MAC addresses.
ARP stands for the address resolution protocol. It operates at the Network layer of OSI, and the Internet layer of TCP/IP. ARP is responsible for translating from IP addresses to MAC

addresses.

RARP stands for the reverse address resolution protocol, and is responsible for translating from MAC addresses to IP addresses. Because of the service provided by ARP and RARP, all

protocols above them in the OSI model are able to use IP addresses only when referring to network devices.

ICMP
ICMP is the Internet Message Control Protocol. ICMP is used to transmit status and error messages between network stations. For example, whenever you type a URL into Internet Explorer
and you get the message “Page cannot be displayed”, it is an ICMP packet that is responsible.
DHCP

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There are two ways of ensuring that all computers have unique addresses: static IP addressing and dynamic IP addressing. In static IP addressing each computer is assigned a unique address by
the network administrator. In dynamic IP addressing the assignment of addresses is handled automatically by a program running on the server. This program is responsible for ensuring that
every computer has a unique address.
DHCP stands for the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, and is the protocol used for requesting and assigning dynamic IP addresses. A DHCP application will typically run on the network
server
DNS
DNS stands for the Domain Name Service. DNS is the protocol used to obtain host name to IP address translation information between computers on the network. Typically every network will
have at least one DNS server. Clients needing to know translations will contact the DNS server using the DNS protocol to obtain the required information. On the Internet the name will consist
of a sequence of words separated by dots, for example www.yahoo.com or www.bbc.co.uk.
The DNS server will maintain a list of which IP address maps to which computer name, so that it can translate between the two. The process of translating a computer name into an IP address
is known as name resolution.

Domain Name Service Protocol (DNS) is used to resolve Internet names to IP addresses.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to transfer files that make up the Web pages of the World Wide Web.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) It was developed as a network management tool for networks running TCP/IP. Using SNMP, network administrators can administer servers
and other network devices from remote workstations.
SMTP is the standard protocol for transferring emails between hosts

SMTP is the protocol used to send email on the Internet. The user receiving the email will need to use another protocol to access the incoming mail from the mail server. Two
different protocols exist for this purpose: the Post Office Protocol (POP3) and the newer alternative, Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).
Receiving email can use either the Post Office Protocol (POP3) or the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
 Electronic mail (email) is a way of sending messages consisting of text, video, audio or pictures to a user in a different part of the world

 The World Wide Web (WWW) is a way of browsing multimedia Internet content. The WWW uses the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), which in turn uses the TCP protocol to
communicate
FTP
The file transport protocol (FTP) uses the TCP protocol as the underlying transport protocol. The purpose of FTP is to safely and efficiently transport files over computer networks.
Telnet
The TELNET protocol is used for providing remote terminal access over a network. For example, using TELNET a user can log in to another computer somewhere else on the network and
take part in an interactive session on that computer. TELNET also uses TCP as its underlying basis for communications.
Summary of Key Points

 The TCP/IP protocol UDP (User Datagram Protocol) provides connectionless best effort delivery transmission.

 TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) provides connection-oriented completely reliable delivery.

 The address resolution protocol (ARP) and the reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) are responsible for translating between the 48-bit hardware MAC address and IP
addresses.

 ICMP (Internet Message Control Protocol) is used to transmit status and error messages.

 Every computer on a network must have a unique address. If two computers have the same address an address conflict occurs.

 There are two ways of assigning addresses to computers on a network: static and dynamic addressing.

 In static IP addressing, IP addresses are assigned manually by the network administrator. In dynamic IP addressing they are leased automatically by the program running on the
network server.

 The process of translating between computer names and IP addresses is called name resolution.

 DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the protocol used in assigning dynamic IP addresses.

 DNS (Domain Name Service) is the protocol used in translating between host names and IP addresses.

 SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) can be used by network administrators to remotely administer network devices.

 SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used for transferring email messages.

 FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used for simple file transfers.

 Telnet is used for running remote sessions over a network.

 Ping, tracert, ipconfig, route, nslookup and netstat are useful TCP/IP troubleshooting tools
TCP/IP Utilities
TCP/IP also provides a number of command-line utilities that can be useful when troubleshooting networks. You can use any of these utilities at the DOS command prompt in Windows.

No Utilities Function

1 Ping To test if your network connection is complete between two computers, you can use the Packet Internet Groper, better known as ping. The ping utility works by
sending a message to a remote computer. OR Indicates whether a remote host can be reached.

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 2 Tracert While the ping utility merely lets us know that the connection from A to B is complete, tracert informs us of the route and number of hops the packet of data took to
arrive at its destination.

3 Ipconfig This diagnostic command displays all current TCP/IP network-configuration values. This command is useful on systems running DHCP, allowing users to
determine which TCP/IP configuration values have been configured by DHCP.

4 ifcongif Provides information about the basic configuration of the interface. It is useful for detecting bad IP addresses, incorrect subnet masks, and Improper broadcast
addresses.

5 arp Provides information about Ethernet/IP address translation. It can be used to detect systems on the local network that are configured with the wrong IP address.

6 netstat Provides a variety of information. It is commonly used to display detailed statistics about each network interface, network sockets, and the network routing table.

7 Nslookup Provides information about the DNS name service. OR Nslookup is a utility that can be used to manually query the DNS database. It can be a useful troubleshooting
tool if the DNS server is not working correctly.

8 dig Provides information about name service.

9 ripquery Provides information about the contents of the RIP update packet being sent or received by your system.

10 Route The route command can be used to display and modify the routing table of a computer.

11 traceroute Tells you which route packets take going from your system to a remote system. Information about each hop is printed.

12 etherfind Analyses the individual packets exchanged between hosts on the network. It is most useful for analyzing protocol problems.

13 Nbtstat: (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) is a tool for troubleshooting NetBIOS names over TCP/IP. This tool is helpful when TCP/IP is having problems resolving NetBIOS names
to IP addresses. Type nbtstat at the command prompt to see a list of command-line
options for this command.

14 PathPing: is a combination of the Ping and Tracert tools, and it contains options not found in Ping and Tracert. PathPing pings a host computer and traces the route to that host.

15 (NetDiag.exe) NetDiag is a diagnostic tool that can help you locate networking problems and connectivity problems. The NetDiag tool performs a series of steps to test the

Network Connectivity functionality of the network components. It can provide a lot of information, and it is rather easy to use.

Tester

16 NetCap: is a network monitor capture utility that captures data frames, or packets, entering and leaving a computer.

Another useful software troubleshooting tool is ipconfig.

Peer-to-Peer Networks Vs Client/Server Networks

Peer-to-Peer Networks Client/Server Networks

· Easy to set up · More difficult to set up

· Less expensive to install · More expensive to install

· A variety of operating systems can be supported on the client computers, but the server needs to run an
· Can be implemented on a wide range of operating systems
operating system that supports networking

· More time consuming to maintain the software being used (as computers must be managed · Less time consuming to maintain the software being used (as most of the maintenance is managed from
individually) the server)

· Very low levels of security supported or none at all. · High levels of security are supported,

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· Ideal for networks with less than 10 computers · No limit to the number of computers that can be supported by the network

· Does not require a server · Requires a server running a server operating system

Data Transmission Modes

There are three ways for transmitting data from one point to another

1. Simplex: In simplex mode the communication can take place in one direction. The receiver receives the signal from the transmitting device. In this mode the flow of information

is Uni.-directional. Hence it is rarely used for data communication.

2. Half-duplex: In half-duplex mode the communication channel is used in both directions, but only in one direction at a time. Thus a half-duplex line can alternately send and

receive data.

3. Full-duplex: In full duplex the communication channel is used in both directions at the same time. Use of full-duplex line improves the efficiency as the line turn-around time

required in half-duplex arrangement is eliminated. Example of this mode of transmission is the telephone line.

Digital and Analog Transmission

Analog signal is measured in Volts and its frequency in Hertz (Hz).

A digital signal is a sequence of voltage represented in binary form.

A technique used to convert digital signal to analog form is known as modulation.

The conversion of analog signal to its digital form, is known as demodulation.

The device, which converts digital signal into analog, and the reverse, is known as modem.

A network medium (transmission medium) is a material on which data is transferring from one device to another device. The network medium can be two types i.e.

 Wired (Line based) transmission medium &

 Wireless transmission medium

Wired transmission medium

This type of transmission medium uses wire or cable lines to connect the devices physically. Wired transmission medium includes the different cabling types that are used to connect the computers

physically.

The different types of cables include:

1. Twisted pair cable

2. Coaxial cable &
3. Fiber-optic cable

1. Twisted pair cable

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 Twisted pair cable is the oldest, least expensive and most commonly used type of transmission medium.

 Twisted pair cable consists of strands of insulated copper wires that are twisted together in pair to form a cable.

 There are two types of twisted-pair cable:

1. Unshielded Twisted Pair cable (UTP cable)
2. Shielded Twisted Pair cable (STP cable)

Unshielded Twisted Pair cable (UTP cable)

Unshielded Twisted Pair cables have not any protective sheath that covers the wires.

There are 6 standard categories of UTP:

Category 1- This refers to traditional telephone cable that can carry voice but not data transmissions.

Category 2- This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 4 mega bits per second (Mbps).

It consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.

Category 3- This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 16 Mbps.

It consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.

Category 4- This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 20 Mbps.

It consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.

Category 5- This category certifies UTP cable for data transmissions up to 100 Mbps.

It consists of four twisted pairs of copper wire.

Category 5e (6)- Improved version of cat 5 category. The bandwidth is up to 250 Mbps.

One potential problem with all types of cablings is crosstalk. Crosstalk is defined as the situation in which, signals from one line interfering with signals from another line.

UTP is particularly sensitive to crosstalk.

Twisted Pair Cabling Components

As it is with telephone cabling, a twisted-pair cable network requires connectors and other hardware to ensure proper installation.

Connection Hardware:

Twisted pair cabling uses RJ-45 telephone connecters to connect to a computer. These are similar to RJ-11 telephone connectors.

Although RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors look similar, there are crucial differences between them.

The RJ-45 connector is slightly larger and will not fit in to the RJ-11 telephone jack. The RJ-45 connecter houses eight cable connections, while the RJ-11 houses only four.

UTP Advantages:

It is relatively inexpensive

Easy to install

It is a familiar technology

UTP Disadvantages:

High quality UTP systems require specialized installation procedures

UTP is potentially more sensitive to external electromagnetic interference (i.e. crosstalk) and attenuation (a decrease in the strength of a transmitted signal) than other media

 Not recommended for LAN that requires a high level of security

 Not suitable for transmitting data over long distances at high speeds

Shielded Twisted Pair Cable (STP Cable)

Shielded twisted pair (STP) is similar to UTP except it contains a copper braid jacket to ‘shield’ the wires from electrical interference. It can support transmissions over greater distances than UTP

STP provides better performance than UTP cables in environments with high noise levels - high levels of unwanted electrical signals.

2. Coaxial cable

 In its simplest form, coaxial cable consists of a core of copper wire surrounded by insulator, a braided metal shielding, and outer cover.

 The term shielding refers to the woven or stranded metal mesh that surrounds some types of cabling.

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 Coaxial cable is more resistant to electromagnetic interference and attenuation than twisted pair cabling.
There are two types of coaxial cable:

1. Thin coaxial cable (thinnet)

2. Thick coaxial cable (thicknet)
The type of coaxial cable you select depends on the needs of your particular network.

Thinnet Cable:

Thinnet coaxial cable is a flexible coaxial cable about 0.64 centimeters thick.
Because this type of coaxial cable is flexible and easy to work with, it can be used in almost any type of network installation.
Thinnet coaxial cable can carry a signal for a distance of up to approximately 185 meters before the signal starts to suffer attenuation.
Thicknet Cable:

Thicknet cable is a relatively rigid coaxial cable about 1.27 centimeters in diameter.
Thicknet cable’s copper core is thicker than a thinnet cable copper core.
The thicker the copper core, the farther the cable can carry signals. This means that thicknet can carry signals farther than thinnet cable.
Thicknet cable can carry a signal for 500 meters
Therefore, because of thicknet's ability to support data transfer over longer distances, it is sometimes used as a backbone to connect several smaller thinnet-based networks.
Thick coaxial cable has an extra protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the center conductor. This makes thick coaxial a great choice when running longer lengths in a liner
bus network.

Thinnet Vs Thicknet Cable:

Thinnet cables are flexible, easy to install and relatively inexpensive. However, a thicknet cable does not bend easily and is therefore, harder to install. In addition, thicknet cable is more expensive than

thinnet cable, but will carry a signal farther.

 Both thinnet and thicknet cables use a connection component, known as a BNC connector, to make the connections between the cable and the computers.

 The origin of the acronym "BNC" is unclear, and there have been many names ascribed to these letters, from "British Naval Connector" to "Bayonet Neill-Councelman." Because there is no

consensus on the proper name and because the technology industry universally refers to these simply as BNC-type connectors.

Coaxial cable advantages and Disadvantages

Coaxial cable advantages:

It is less sensitive to electromagnetic interference than twisted pair cable

They can transmit data for greater distances than is possible with less expensive cabling.
Offer a familiar technology with reasonable data security
Coaxial cable Disadvantages:

Due to its high metallic content, coax cable is usually more expensive than other cable types.

3. Fiber-optic Cable

Optical fiber of fiber optics cables are created by binding together hundreds to thousands of strands of smooth, very thin (as human hair) glass or plastic fiber.

Fiber-optic Cable contains glass fibers rather than copper wire. Signals are transmitted across these fibers in the form of light pulses rather than electrical pulses.

Fiber-optic cable consists of pure silicon glass cylinders or strands surrounded by cladding. Signals are transmitted as light pulses through the core of the optical fiber (i.e. through the strands).

Unlike copper cable, the signals on fiber-optic cable are not subject to the problems of attenuation, or crosstalk. This greatly increases the potential transmission distance. In addition fiber-optic cable is more
secure than copper wire.

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Fiber-optic cable is generally more expensive than copper cable (i.e. twisted pair cable & coaxial cable).

Fiber-Optic Connection Hardware

The most common connector used with fiber optic cable is an ST connector.
Fiber-optic cable advantages and Disadvantages

Fiber-optic cable advantages Fiber-optic cable Disadvantages

Fastest transmission rate Most expensive

Not susceptible to electrical interference Relatively difficult to work with
There is high security

Protocol Acronym Function

Transfer/Transmission Control ProtocolTCP / IP Backbone protocol. The most widely used protocol

Point To Point PPP Used to manage network communication over a modem

Internetwork package exchange IPX Standard protocol for Novell NOS

NetBIOS extended user interface NetBEUI Microsoft protocol that doesn’t support routing to other network. Running only Windows-based clients.

File transfer Protocol FTP used to send and received file from a remote host

Simple mail Transfer protocol SMTP Used to send Email over a network

Simple Network Management SNMP Used to remotely manage network devices

Protocol.

Hyper text transfer protocol HTTP Used for Internet to send document that encoded in HTML.
This protocol, the core of the World Wide Web, facilitates retrieval and transfer of hypertext (mixed media) documents.

Apple Talk Apple Talk Protocol suite to network Macintosh computer and a peer-to-peer network protocol

OSI Model OSI Layers A way of illustrating how information functions travels through network of its 7 layers.

Telnet Telnet A remote terminal emulation protocol that enables clients to log on to remote hosts on the network.

Serial Line Internet Protocol SLIP/ PPP SLIP and PPP encapsulate the IP packets so that they can be sent over a dial up phone connection to an access provider’s modem.

Domain Name System. DNS Provides meaningful names like achilles.mycorp.com for computers to replace numerical addresses like 123.45.67.89.

Network Extending Devices

1) Repeater

o A Repeater is a physical layer device used to interconnect the media segments of an extended network.

o It enables a series of cable segments to be treated as a single cable.

o Repeaters receive signals form one network segment and amplify, retime, and retransmit those signals to another network segment.

2) Hub

 A Hub is a physical layer device that connects multiple user stations, each via a dedicated cable.

 Another name for hub is a concentrator.

 Hubs do not have any processing Power; it is just a box where you plug cables, and works in half-duplex manner.

 They are cheap and are not intelligent.

 Physically similar to switches and logically similar to repeaters.

3) Bridges

o Bridges are data communication devices that operate at layer 2, (data-link layer).

o They use to connect two LAN segments.

o They forward frames, but do not forward noise or collisions.

o Bridges learn addresses by using source address to learn the location of computers.

o So they are intelligent devices. They understand frames.

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 o A bridge functions by blocking or forwarding data, based on the destination MAC address written into each frame of data.

o Today, network switches have largely replaced bridges.

4) Switches

• Switches are communication devices operating at data-link layer.

• They are physically similar to hubs, but logically similar to bridges.

• They operate on frames; understand addresses and only forward when necessary.

• Usually work in full-duplex and higher cost than hubs.

• It looks at the MAC addresses of the devices connected to it to determine the correct port.

• By forwarding data only to the system to which the data is addressed, the switch decreases the amount of traffic on each network link dramatically.

• Another name for switch is an intelligent hub.

5) Router

 Router is a processor that connects two networks and whose primary function is to relay data form one network to the other on its route from the source to the destination

end system.

 Router is an intermediate system used to connect two networks they may or may not be similar.

 The basic requirement for a router is that it must have at least two network interfaces.

 If they are LAN interfaces, the router can manage and route the information between two LAN segments.

 More commonly, a router is used to provide connectivity across wide area networks

 The router employs an internet protocol (IP) present in each router and each end systems of the network.

 The router operates at layer 3 (network layer) of the OSI model.

6) Brouter

• Brouter – is the combination of router and a bridge.

• Used on networks that has both routable and non-routable protocols.

• Brouters operate at the data-link and network layers of the OSI model.

• A brouter is a device that can route traffic that can be routed and bridge anything that cannot be routed.

• As bridges have been replaced by the more flexible routers, brouters have also fallen out of favor.

7) Gateway

• Two dissimilar networks can be connected by means of a gateway.

• Unlike routers, a gateway converts the format of data sent between two networks.

• A router adds only addressing information to the data packet.

• A router that can route data from an IPX network to an IP network is, technically, a gateway.

• But a gateway has to identify the protocols used in the networks, and recognize the data format, and convert the message format into suitable format to be accepted by

the other network.

• Gateway provides good connectivity to different kinds of networks on the Internet.

• They operate at the layers above the network layer of the OSI model.

Summary

 A repeater is a device that boosts a network signal. It is commonly used in the bus topology to extend the usable length of the bus

 Hubs are used to centralize data traffic and localize failures. If one cable breaks, it will not shut down the entire network

 Hubs can be active, passive or hybrid

 Active hubs also act as repeaters, amplifying the signal and passing it on to every port on the hub

 Passive hubs provide no amplification, and require no power supply

 Hybrid hubs allow connections between networks with different types of cabling

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  A bridge acts as the interface between 2 subnets, passing on signals that are intended for a different subnet

 A switch is similar to a bridge, except that it has multiple ports

 A router is also similar to a bridge, except that it can link together networks that use different network technologies

 Wireless networks use infrared, laser or radio waves to eliminate the need for physical cabling

Topologies

• A network configuration is also called a network topology.

• It is the shape (or the physical connectivity) of the network or the layout of connected devices on a network.

• The topology of the network can be viewed in two ways:

• Physical topology - defines the actual layout of the wire or media.

• The topology as seen from the layout of the cable, or the route followed by the electrical signals.

• Logical topology - defines how the hosts access the media to send data.

• The connections between nodes as seen by data traveling from one node to another - reflects the network’s function, use, or implementation without regard to the

physical interconnection of network elements.

• The nodes that one may find on a network can include:

• Servers: computers used to store the shared information and have all the other computers reference that information over a network.

• Clients: computers on a network that use, but do not provide, network resources.

• Peers: computers on a network that both use and provide network resources.

• Network topologies are categorized into the following basic types.

Topology Advantages Disadvantages

Bus Use of cable is economical. Network can slow down in heavy traffic.
 •
Media is inexpensive and easy to work with. Problems are difficult to isolate.
•
System is simple and reliable. Cable break can affect many users.

Bus is easy to extend.

Ring System provides equal access for all computers. Failure of one computer can affect the rest of the network.
 •
Problems are hard to isolate.
•
Network reconfiguration disrupts operation.
 Performance is even despite many users. •
Star Modifying system and adding new computers is easy. If the centralized point fails, the network fails.

Failure of one computer does not affect the rest of the network.

Mesh System provides increased redundancy and reliability as well as ease of troubleshooting. System is expensive to install because it uses a lot of cabling.

• Integrated services digital network (ISDN) was intended to be a world wide public telecommunication network to replace existing public telecommunication networks and

deliver a wide variety of services.

• ISDN has standardized user interfaces, implemented a set of digital switches and paths supporting a broad range of traffic types and providing a value added processing service

• ISDN is multiple networks, but integrated to provide user with single, uniform accessibility and world wide interconnection.

• Attenuation: is the decrease in the strength of a signal.

• Distortion: is the unwanted modification of signals.

Glossary
Active Directory (DC - Domain Controller): Active Directory is a database that keeps track of all the user accounts and passwords in your organization. It allows you to store your user
accounts and passwords in one protected location, improving your organization's security.

Active Directory is subdivided into one or more domains. A domain is a security boundary. Each domain is hosted by a server computer called a domain controller (DC). A domain controller

manages all of the user accounts and passwords for a domain.

Mail server: is an application that receives incoming e-mail from local users (people within the same domain) and remote senders and forwards outgoing e-mail for delivery. A computer

dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server. Microsoft Exchange, qmail, Exim and sendmail are among the more common mail server programs.

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A file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for shared disk access, i.e. shared storage of computer files (such as documents, sound

files, photographs, movies, images, databases, etc.)

Internet is a system of linked networks that are worldwide in scope and facilitate data communication services such as remote login, file transfer, electronic mail, the World Wide Web and
newsgroups. Internet websites now provide personal, educational, political and economic resources to every corner of the planet.
Intranet: An intranet is a private network utilizing Internet-type tools, but available only within that organization. For large organizations, an intranet provides an easy access mode to
corporate information for employees.
1000Base-T Also referred to as Gigabit Ethernet, an Ethernet standard capable of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), or 1,000 Mbps,
Over twisted-pair wiring.
100Base-T Also called Fast Ethernet, an Ethernet standard that has a capacity of 100 Mbps over twisted-pair wiring.
10Base-T An Ethernet standard with a capacity of 10 Mbps over twisted-pair wiring.
Active Directory The directory service used by modern Windows domains. Active Directory holds all user and group accounts as well as information about network resources, policies, and
other objects.
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) A protocol used by computers to resolve IP addresses to physical (or MAC) network addresses, so that traffic can be forwarded appropriately on a
network.
AppleTalk AppleTalk is a networking protocol developed by Apple Computer, Inc. for communication between Apple Macintosh computers.
Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) A service that automatically assigns IP addresses to network clients when no DHCP server is available. APIPA is used by the client to assign an IP
address in the range of 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254. This particular range of addresses was set aside for use by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use only on private,
internal networks.
cookie A small text file that Web servers place on a user’s computer to later identify the individual on subsequent Web site visits; often used to customize the browser’s return experience.
Although cookies facilitate personalized settings for each Web site, they are also a potential source of personal information theft, unsolicited e-mail (or spam), and undesired tracking of Internet
use. Internet Explorer 6 contains cookie management features that can help control cookie usage and protect privacy.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) A broadband Internet access method that runs over standard copper telephone wiring using different channels to transmit and receive data at much higher
speeds than a traditional analog dial-up modem.
ADSL which divides the phone line into three channels. One channel is used for voice, whereas the other two channels are used for data transmission and reception. Symmetric DSL (SDSL) is
a variant that provides equal upload and download speeds.
DNS server A DNS server resolves Domain Name System requests sent by remote clients. DNS servers maintain databases of local host-name-to-IP address mappings and can also
communicate with remote DNS servers to resolve remote addresses.
Internet Information Server (IIS) A full-featured software suite that enables the creation and hosting of Web, FTP, and SMTP
services. The version included in Windows XP Professional allows up to 10 concurrent connections and is designed for eveloping Web sites or hosting small intranet sites.
NetBIOS Extended User Interface (NetBEUI) A network protocol created by IBM and supported in Windows XP for routing network traffic. It has been largely supplanted in Windows XP
by TCP/IP.
NetBIOS The default application programming interface used for networking in earlier versions of Windows. Originally combined with NetBEUI (which is still supported), it can be paired
with other networking protocols such as IP and IPX. NetBIOS uses 15-character names to identify individual computers.
Telnet An insecure protocol designed to provide remote access to a computer by performing terminal emulation, thus allowing a
user to communicate with a computer as though he or she were typing directly at a local console. Telnet is a text-only protocol and is used primarily by UNIX-based systems. Telnet sends all
data, including user names and passwords, in clear text; its use should be avoided for security reasons.
Serial communications The transmission of information from computer to computer or from computer to peripheral device one bit at a time.
Serial communications can be synchronous and controlled by a clock.
Parallel communications The transmission of information from computer to computer or from computer to peripheral device, in which all the bits that make up the character are transmitted at
the same time over a multiline cable.
Parallel port An input/output (I/O) port that manages information eight bits at a time; often used to connect a parallel printer.
Serial port A computer input/output port that supports serial communications, in which information is processed one bit at a time.
RS-232-C is a common protocol used on serial ports when communicating with modems, printers, mice, and other peripherals.
Bandwidth In networking, the transmission capacity of a computer or a communications channel, stated in megabits per second (Mbps). For example, FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)
has a bandwidth of 100Mbps. To relate this to a real-world example, a complete page of text, in English, is approximately 16,000 bits.

Packet switching: In this mechanism a message is split up into packets of a fixed size. Besides the blocks of data to be sent, a packet has a header that contains destination and source

addresses, control information, message number, number of current and last packet, acknowledgement and error checking bytes.

These chunks are then routed through the network the best way possible to reach the destination.

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 Circuit switching: It is the simplest way of data communication in which a dedicated physical path is established between the sending and receiving stations through the nodes of the

network.

Circuit switching involves three phases: circuit establishment, data transfer and circuit termination.

Packet-switched network A network that consists of a series of interconnected circuits that route individual packets of data over one of several routes, offering flexibility and high reliability.
A packet-switched network may also be called connectionless because it contains many different possible connections and routes that a packet might take to reach its destination. The term
often refers to networks using the international standard X.25.
Circuit switching: dedicated circuit per call: telephone net

Circuit switching is where communication uses a direct dedicated connection for the duration of the transmission

Packet-switching: data sent through net in discrete “chunks

Communication using smaller packets of data is known as packet switching, whereas if a direct dedicated communication line is used for the duration of the transmission it is
known as circuit switching.
There are three different ways in which packets can be addressed:

 Unicast: packet is addressed to a single destination

 Multicast: packet is addressed simultaneously to multiple destinations

 Broadcast: packet is sent simultaneously to all stations on the network

 Baseband & broadband transmission

o Baseband Transmission: o Broadband Transmission:

 Signal is digital  Large bandwidth

 No multiplexing is being used  Uses multiplexing to allow multiple channels
 Only a single channel of data is transmitted  Usually analogue
Access Method

 The set of rules that governs how network traffic is controlled is called the access method

 When using the CSMA/CD access method, a computer waits until the network is quiet and then transmits its data. If two computers transmit at the same time, the data will

collide and have to be re-sent. If two data packets collide, both will be destroyed

 The ports of switches, bridges and routers are on separate collision domains, whereas those of hubs and repeaters are in the same collision domain.

 When using the CSMA/CA access method, a computer transmits its intent to transmit before actually sending the data

A collision domain is a part of a LAN (or an entire LAN) where two computer transmitting at the same time will cause a collision. Because switches, bridges and routers do
not forward unnecessary packets the different ports of these devices operate in different collision domains. Repeaters and hubs broadcast all packets to all ports, so their ports
are in the same collision domain.

Server Types: There are different types of servers based on the need of the organization.

1. File Server: These are servers that provide centralized data storage that will be shared among the network.

2. Printer Server : Printer servers are servers that control one or more printers on the network

3. Database Server: These are servers that centrally store database and provide data to the client computer.

4. Web Server: Web servers are servers that store WebPages that will be viewed using web browsers in the network.

Web browser is a soft ware that runs on the user’s computer & allows them to view different websites. Examples of web browsers includes Internet Explorer, Mozila Fire fox,Opera etc.

5. Mail Servers: Mail servers are servers that are used to manage & control e-mail communications across the network.

IP Address

The first byte of class A addresses is always between 0 and 127

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The first byte of class B addresses is always between 128 and 191

The first byte of class C addresses is always between 192 and 223

The first byte of class D addresses is always between 224 and 239

The first byte of class E addresses is always between 240 and 255

 Class D addresses are used for multicasting; there is only one block in this class.

 Class E addresses are reserved for special purposes; most of the block is wasted.

Network Addresses: The network address (the first address in the block) is the one that is assigned to the organization.

The network address defines the network to the rest of the Internet. Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast Addresses

Unicast communication is one-to-one.

Multicast communication is one-to-many.

Broadcast communication is one-to-all.

The first phase of Ethernet standards had a transmission speed of 10Mbps. Three of the most common of these are known as 10Base2, 10Base5 and 10BaseT. The
following table summarises some of the features of each specification.

ETHERNET STANDARDS

10Base2 10Base5 10BaseT

Topology Bus Bus Star bus

UTP
Cable type Thinnet coaxial Thicknet coaxial
(Cat. 3 or higher)

Simplex/half/full duplex Half duplex Half duplex Half duplex

Data encoding Manchester, asynchronous Manchester, asynchronous Manchester, asynchronous

Connector BNC DIX or AUI RJ45

Max. segment length 185 metres 500 metres 100 metres

GLOSSARY

10Base2 Ethernet specification for thinnet coaxial cable.

10Base5 Ethernet specification for thicknet coaxial cable.

10BaseF Ethernet specification for fibre-optic cable.

10BaseT Ethernet specification for unshielded twisted pair cabling.

100BaseT2 Fast Ethernet specification for unshielded twisted pair cabling.

100BaseT4 Fast Ethernet specification for unshielded twisted pair cabling.

100BaseTX Fast Ethernet specification for unshielded twisted pair cabling.

100BaseFX Fast Ethernet specification for fibre-optic cable.

1000BaseT Gigabit Ethernet specification for unshielded twisted pair cabling.

1000BaseCX Gigabit Ethernet specification for twinax cabling.

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 1000BaseSX Gigabit Ethernet specification for fibre-optic cable.

1000BaseLX Gigabit Ethernet specification for fibre-optic cable.

Access method A set of rules for sending packets of data onto a network.

Access permissions A security model in client-server networks in which a user enters a password to log in to the network. Network permissions are assigned on a user-by-user or
group-by-group basis.

AM Amplitude Modulation. A technique used to encode digital data as an analogue signal to be transmitted over a network, by modulating the amplitude of the
analogue signal.

ARP Address Resolution Protocol. Part of the TCP/IP protocol stack, it is responsible for translating from IP addresses to MAC addresses. Also see RARP.

Asynchronous communication A technique that splits up a bitstream into a number of characters (typically 5-8 bits) to be communicated over a network. A way of overcoming the
synchronisation problem in data communications.

Backbone A cable to which multiple computers or network nodes are attached in the bus topology (see also trunk, segment).

Bandwidth The range of frequencies that can be safely transmitted on an analogue communication channel without loss of signal.

Baseband A communication system in which a single carrier (e.g. cable) is used to transmits digital information, for example the Ethernet.

Bridge Device that connects two subnets that use the same communication protocol, passing only packets that are intended for the other subnet.

Broadband A high bandwidth communication system in which multiple signals are multiplexed onto the same channel, usually using analogue communication.

Collision Two or more computers transmitting at the same time within the same collision domain.

Collision domain A portion of a network where two or more computers transmitting at the same time will interfere with each other.

CSMA/CD Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection. An access method used to share bandwidth among a maximum of 1024 stations. Two or more stations
transmitting at the same time will cause a collision, forcing random waiting periods before retransmission is attempted.

CSMA/CA Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance. An access method in which computers broadcast their intent to transmit before it actually does so, thus
preventing collisions from occurring. Used by AppleTalk and wireless Ethernet specifications.

Datagram A packet of data.

DHCP The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A protocol used to allocate IP addresses dynamically.

DNS The Domain Name System. A protocol used to translate between domain names (e.g. www.yahoo.com) and IP addresses.

Ethernet A common LAN architecture, which typically uses CSMA/CD.

Fast Ethernet A set of Ethernet specifications that support up to 100Mbps transmission rates using category 5 twisted pair or fibre-optic cable.

Fibre-optic cable A cable consisting of a glass core surrounded by plastic that transmits using light pulses rather than electricity.

Firewall A program designed to control/limit traffic into and out of a LAN.

Frame A packet of data.

FTP File Transfer Protocol. A protocol designed to ensure reliable transfer of files between 2 computers.

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol used to exchange multimedia web content over the Internet.

Hub A multiport device that broadcasts packets received on one port to all other ports. All ports are in the same collision domain. Sometimes called a multiport
repeater or concentrator.

ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol. Used by higher-level TCP/IP protocols to send status reports about information being transmitted.

IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol. A protocol used to retrieve email from a mail server.

Intranet Network internal to an organisation that uses Internet protocols

Internet A global network of networks used to exchange information using the TCP/IP protocol suite

IP Internet Protocol. The base (i.e. lowest level) protocol for the TCP/IP protocol suite.

IP address A 32-bit address used to identify computers on a network using the TCP/IP protocol suite. Often written as four numbers (0-255) separated by dots
(e.g. 192.168.0.1)

ISP Internet Service Provider. A company that sells Internet connections.

LAN Local Area Network. A collection of networked computers in a limited geographical area.

MAC address Media Access Control address. A 48-bit address unique to each network interface card or other network device.

MAN Metropolitan Area Network. A network connecting computers over a large geographical area, such as a city.

Manchester encoding Technique used to encode 0s and 1s as transitions, rather than constant voltage levels. A 0 is represented by a 0-to1 transition, and a 1 is represented by a 1-to-0
transition.

Multiplexing A technique that allows multiple signals to be transmitted over the same communications channel. See also FDM and TDM.

Multiplexer A device that allows multiplexing over a channel

NetBEUI NetBIOS Extended User Interface. A protocol used to transport NetBIOS messages over a network.

NetBIOS Network Basic Input Output System. Low-level networking operations that enable networking operations such as file and printer sharing.

Open-source Software in which the source code is made freely available to everybody.

OSI Open System Interconnection. A standard classification of the logical levels at which network communication takes place.

Packet A small block of data together with control information (e.g. source address, destination address, parity bits, sequencing information). The basic building block
of network communications.

Packet switching Communication using packets of data, with no dedicated physical connection between the nodes.

Point-to-point A direct connection between two devices on a network.

POP3 Post Office Protocol. A protocol used to receive emails from a mail server.

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 Ports A connection point for a cable.

Protocol The rules for exchanging information between two objects (e.g. network devices, application programs).

RARP Reverse Address Resolution Protocol. Part of the TCP/IP protocol stack, it is responsible for translating from MAC addresses to IP addresses. Also see ARP.

Repeater A device used in a network to amplify the signal, extending the usable length of the segment

Ring A network topology in which the computers are connected together in a circular fashion, with each computer connected to exactly two others.

RJ45 Standard connector used for twisted pair cabling.

Router A multiport device that forwards packets between ports based on their IP address. Each port connects to a different LAN, and possibly even different LAN
technologies. Very commonly found in the infrastructure that forms the basis of the Internet.

Subnet A small portion of a larger network.

Subnet mask Used in CIDR to specify how many bits of an IP address are assigned to the network ID and how many to the computer ID.

Switch A multiport device that forwards packets to a specific port based on their destination MAC address. Each port is in its own collision domain.

Synchronous communication A technique in which two channels are used to transmit a single signal. One carries the signal and the other carries timing information. A way of overcoming the
synchronisation problem.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol. Part of the TCP/IP protocol stack – a protocol that provides connection-oriented completely reliable delivery,

TCP/IP A standard suite of protocols acting at different levels that is used on the Internet.

TDM Time Division Multiplexing. A technique for multiplexing that allocates time-slots to a number of subchannels in turn, each of which can use the entire
bandwidth for a limited amount of time.

Telnet A protocol used for logging on to a remote computer over a network.

Transceiver A device that interfaces between two different network technologies (e.g. RJ45 and BNC).

Unicast Transmitting a packet/frame of data to a single node on a network

UNIX An operating system that is very commonly used in computer networking because of its powerful security features.

UTP Unshielded Twisted Pair. A type of twisted pair cabling.

VPN Virtual Private Network. A connection-oriented packet-switching system in which packets are encrypted and sent through logical tunnels.

WAN Wide Area Network. A collection of LANs connected via routers over a large geographical area.

Wireless network A network that uses radio waves, infrared light or lasers instead of wires. Currently slower and more expensive than conventional networks.

Workgroup The term used in Windows operating systems to refer to a peer-to-peer network.

What’s the difference between a Ethernet hub, a switch, and a router?

In a word, intelligence.
Ethernet hubs, switches, and routers are all devices that let you connect one or more computers to other computers, networked devices, or even other networks. Each has two or
more connectors called ports into which you plug in the cables to make the connection. Varying degrees of magic happen inside the device and therein lies the difference. I
often see the terms misused, so let’s clarify what each one really means.

Ethernet hub

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A Ethernet hub is typically the least expensive, least intelligent, and least complicated of the three. Its job is very simple – anything that comes in one port is sent out to the
others.
That’s it.
If a message1 comes in for computer “A”, that message is sent out all the other ports, regardless of which one computer “A” is on:

And when computer “A” responds, its response also goes out to every other port on the hub:

Every computer connected to the hub “sees” everything that every other computer on the hub sees. The computers themselves decide if they are the targeted recipient of the
message and when a message should be paid attention to or not.
The hub itself is blissfully ignorant of the data being transmitted. For years, simple hubs have been quick and easy ways to connect computers in small networks.

Switches

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A switch does essentially what a hub does, but more efficiently. By paying attention to the traffic that comes across it, it can “learn” where particular addresses are.
Initially, a switch knows nothing and simply sends on incoming messages to all ports:

Even accepting that first message, however, the switch has learned something – it knows on which connection the sender of the message is located. Thus, when machine “A”
responds to the message, the switches only need to send that message out to the one connection:

In addition to sending the response through to the originator, the switch has now learned something else – it now knows on which connection machine “A” is located.
That means that subsequent messages destined for machine “A” need only be sent to that one port:

Switches learn the location of the devices that they are connected to almost instantaneously. The net result is that most network traffic only goes where it needs to rather than to
every port. On busy networks, this can make the network significantly faster.

Routers

an Ethernet cable pluged into a network router

A router is the smartest and most complicated of the bunch. Routers come in all shapes and sizes – from the small, four-port broadband routers that are very popular right now
to the large industrial strength devices that drive the internet itself.
A simple way to think of a router is as a computer that can be programmed to understand, possibly manipulate, and route the data that it’s being asked to handle. Many routers
today are, in fact, little computers dedicated to the task of routing network traffic.
As far as simple traffic routing is concerned, a router operates exactly as a switch, learning the location of the computers on its connections and routing traffic only to those
computers.
Consumer grade routers perform at minimum two additional and important
DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol – is the way dynamic IP addresses are assigned. A device asks for an IP address to be assigned to it from “upstream” and a
DHCP server responds with an IP address assignment. A router connected to your ISP-provided internet connection will typically ask your ISP’s server for an IP address; this
will be your IP address on the internet. Your local computers, on the other hand, will ask the router for an IP address and these addresses are local to your network.

NAT – Network Address Translation – is the way that the router translates the IP addresses of packets that cross the internet/local network boundary. When computer “A”
sends a packet out, the IP address that it’s “from” is that of computer “A” – 192.168.1.2 in the example above. When the router passes that on to the internet, it replaces the
local IP address with the internet IP address assigned by the ISP. It also keeps track, so that if a response comes back from somewhere on the internet, the router knows to do
the translation in reverse – replace the internet IP address with the local IP address for machine “A” and then send that response packet on to machine “A”.
A side effect of NAT is that machines on the internet cannot initiate communications to local machines – they can only respond to communications initiated by those local
machines.
The net effect is that the router then also acts as a firewall:

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What that means is that malware that might spread by trying to independently connect to your computer over the network cannot.
All routers include some kind of user interface for configuring how the router will treat traffic. The really large routers include the equivalent of a full-blown programming
language to describe how they should operate as well as the ability to communicate with other routers to describe or determine the best way to get network traffic from point A
to point B.

I Wish ALL The Best GC Student!!!

[email protected]

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