UNIT 2 UNDERLYING LAN CONCEPTS

LAN connectivity for small businesses – Integration – Token-Ring – Ethernet – ATM LAN emulation –
InterLAN Switching – LAN to Mainframe – Building network

LOCAL AREA NETWORKS (LANS)

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a private network that connects computers and
devices within a limited area like a residence, an office, a building or a campus.
On a small scale, LANs are used to connect personal computers to printers.
However, LANs can also extend to a few kilometers when used by companies,
where a large number of computers share a variety of resources like hardware
(e.g. printers, scanners, audiovisual devices etc), software (e.g. application
programs) and data.

The distinguishing features of LAN are

 Network size is limited to a small geographical area, presently to a

few kilometers.
 Data transfer rate is generally high. They range from 100 Mbps to
1000 Mbps.
 In general, a LAN uses only one type of transmission medium,
commonly category 5 coaxial cables.
 A LAN is distinguished from other networks by their topologies.
The common topologies are bus, ring, mesh, and star.
 The number of computers connected to a LAN is usually restricted.
In other words, LANs are limitedly scalable.
 IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet is the most common LAN. They use a
wired medium in conjuncture with a switch or a hub. Originally,
coaxial cables were used for communications. But now twisted pair
cables and fiber optic cables are also used. Ethernet’s speed has
increased from 2.9 Mbps to 400 Gbps.
LAN Connectivity Options for the Small Business:
SMALL BUSINESSES OF 2 TO 100 USERS are part of the fastest-growing
segments of the networking market.
The most popular network topology among small businesses is Ethernet because
it is relatively inexpensive, easy to set up and use, and very fast. There are
currently three categories of Ethernet. Standard Ethernet operates at 10M bps,
which is quick enough for most networking tasks. Fast Ethernet moves data 10
times faster at 100M bps, making it ideal for desktop video, multimedia, and
other bandwidth-hungry applications. The latest category of Ethernet is Gigabit
Ethernet, which moves data 100 times faster than standard Ethernet, making it
suited for uplinks among high capacity hubs or switches as well as links among
high-capacity servers. Although there are other types of LANs available, (e.g.,
token ring, fiber distributed data interface, and asynchronous transfer mode
As in any type of network, several elements merit consideration when building
an Ethernet network, including cabling, media converters, network adapters,
hubs, network operating systems, and routers for LAN-to-LAN communication
over the wide area network (WAN).
Cable

Cable is the medium through which information usually moves from one
network device to another. There are several types of cable which are
commonly used with LANs. In some cases, a network will utilize only one type
of cable, other networks will use a variety of cable types. The type of cable
chosen for a network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size.
Understanding the characteristics of different types of cable and how they relate
to other aspects of a network is necessary for the development of a successful
network.

The following sections discuss the types of cables used in networks and other
related topics.

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
 Coaxial Cable
 Fiber Optic Cable
 Cable Installation Guides
 Wireless LANs
 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Twisted pair cabling comes in two varieties: shielded and unshielded.

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is the most popular and is generally the best
option for school networks (See fig. 1).

Fig.1. Unshielded twisted pair

The quality of UTP may vary from telephone-grade wire to extremely high-
speed cable. The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket. Each pair is
twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference
from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices. The tighter the twisting, the
higher the supported transmission rate and the greater the cost per foot. The
EIA/TIA (Electronic Industry Association/Telecommunication Industry
Association) has established standards of UTP and rated six categories of wire
(additional categories are emerging).

MEDIA CONVERTERS
All three types of media — twisted pair, thin coax, and optical fiber — can be
used exclusively or together, depending on the type of network. There are even
media converters available that allow segments using different media to be
linked together. For example, some media converters link 10Base-T to 10Base-
2 and 10Base-T to 10Base-FL (single or multimode). There are also media
converters that link 100Base-T to 100Base-FX (single or multimode). Because
media conversion is a physical layer process, it does not introduce significant
delays on the network.

Network Adapter

Network adapters are one of the many pieces that connect us to the internet.
They’re usually an antenna or card built into your device, but can also be plug-
in USB dongles or antennae that allow purely wired devices to receive data
wirelessly.

Network adapters allow computers and other devices to interface with a local
area network (LAN) or another type of network in order to access the internet.
They can work with wireless connections like Wi-Fi or wired ones like
Ethernet.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

One of the most common network adapters available today is the Network
Interface Card (NIC), also called the network interface controller. They’re
usually built into the motherboards of today’s internet-capable devices and
allow both wired and wireless connection to the internet.

NICs all usually use the 802.11 standard for Wi-Fi connectivity, so the one that
comes with your laptop can work with any router using that standard to get
online. Since it’s the standard for most wireless internet connections, it’s pretty
easy for most devices to interface with.

USB Adapters

This type of adapter is typically a USB dongle that plugs into a wired computer.
It will have an antenna attached to receive the signal from a wireless network,
and transmit the data it receives through the USB connection to the computer.

These adapters are a good option for enabling older computers with a wireless
connection because they don’t require physically opening the computer’s case
to install an internal network adapter. A popular choice is the TP-Link N150.

Hubs are networking devices operating at a physical layer of the OSI model
that are used to connect multiple devices in a network. They are generally used
to connect computers in a LAN.
A hub has many ports in it. A computer which intends to be connected to the
network is plugged in to one of these ports. When a data frame arrives at a port,
it is broadcast to every other port, without considering whether it is destined for
a particular destination device or not.

Features of Hubs

 A hub operates in the physical layer of the OSI model.

 A hub cannot filter data. It is a non-intelligent network device that
sends message to all ports.
 It primarily broadcasts messages. So, the collision domain of all
nodes connected through the hub stays one.
 Transmission mode is half duplex.
 Collisions may occurs during setup of transmission when more than
one computers place data simultaneously in the corresponding
ports.
 Since they lack intelligence to compute best path for transmission
of data packets, inefficiencies and wastage occur.
 They are passive devices, they don’t have any software associated
with it.
 They generally have fewer ports of 4/12.

NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM

Every computer that is attached to a network must be equipped with a
network operating system (NOS) to monitor and control the flow of information
between users. NOSs are of two types: peer-to-peer or client/server. Examples
of peer-to-peer NOSs that are commonly used by small businesses are Windows
95, Artisoft LANtastic, and Novell Inc.’s
NetWare Lite. These NOSs are useful for sharing applications, data,
printers, and other resources across PCs that are interconnected by a hub.
Examples of client server NOSs are Windows NT and NetWare, which are used
by large organizations whose users require fast network access to a variety of
business applications.
Client-Server Network:
This model are broadly used network model. In Client-Server Network,
Clients and server are differentiated, Specific server and clients are present. In
Client-Server Network, Centralized server is used to store the data because its
management is centralized.In Client-Server Network, Server respond the
services which is request by Client.

Peer-to-Peer Network:
This model does not differentiate the clients and the servers, In this each and
every node is itself client and server. In Peer-to-Peer Network, Each and every
node can do both request and respond for the services.
Peer-to-peer networks have several advantages over client/server. They are easy
and inexpensive to set up and maintain, and there is no requirement for a
dedicated network administrator. Many vendors offer documentation that is
geared for the novice, and they offer telephone support when the occasional
problem is encountered.
ROUTERS
For LAN-to-LAN communication between remote sites, a router is needed. A
router can be a stand-alone device or it can come in the form of a module that
plugs in to a managed hub. Routers operate at layer 3 of the OSI reference
model (the network layer). Basically, they convert LAN protocols into wide-
area packet network protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP), and perform the process in reverse at the remote location

Features of Routers

 A router is a layer 3 or network layer device.

 It connects different networks together and sends data packets from
one network to another.
  A router can be used both in LANs (Local Area Networks) and
WANs (Wide Area Networks).
 It transfers data in the form of IP packets. In order to transmit data,
it uses IP address mentioned in the destination field of the IP
packet.
 Routers have a routing table in it that is refreshed periodically
according to the changes in the network. In order to transmit data
packets, it consults the table and uses a routing protocol.
 In order to prepare or refresh the routing table, routers share
information among each other.
 Routers provide protection against broadcast storms.
 Routers are more expensive than other networking devices like
hubs,bridges and switches.
 Routers are manufactured by some popular companies like −
o Cisco
o D-Link
o HP
o 3Com
o Juniper
o Nortel

ypes of Routers

A variety of routers are available depending upon their usages. The main types
of routers are −
 Wireless Router − They provide WiFi connection WiFi devices
like laptops, smartphones etc. They can also provide standard
Ethernet routing. For indoor connections, the range is 150 feet
while its 300 feet for outdoor connections.
 Broadband Routers − They are used to connect to the Internet
through telephone and to use voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
technology for providing high-speed Internet access. They are
configured and provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP).
 Core Routers − They can route data packets within a given
network, but cannot route the packets between the networks. They
helps to link all devices within a network thus forming the
backbone of network. It is used by ISP and communication
interfaces.
 Edge Routers − They are low-capacity routers placed at the
periphery of the networks. They connect the internal network to the
external networks, and are suitable for transferring data packets
across networks. They use Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for
 connectivity. There are two types of edge routers, subscriber edge
routers and label edge routers.
 Brouters − Brouters are specialised routers that can provide the
functionalities of bridges as well. Like a bridge, brouters help to
transfer data between networks. And like a router, they route the
data within the devices of a network.

Integration
Organizations should consider running their voice traffic over the LAN
infrastructure for several reasons:
• Single infrastructure. VoiceLAN eliminates the need for a cabling plant
dedicated to voice only. Converged voice/data traffic running over a single wire
reduces the upfront cost of equipment procurement (e.g., cable, patch panels,
racks, installation), cable plant management (i.e., dealing with moves, adds, and
changes), and maintenance. 0-8493-0859-3/00/$0.00+$.50 © 2000 by CRC
Press LLC 14 UNDERSTANDING LANs
• Single organization. VoiceLAN allows enterprises to consolidate and
streamline separate support organizations for data and voice networks. This
convergence produces a more efficient, less costly management structure that
spends less time ―coordinating‖ and more time delivering network services and
applications to users.
• Breaking PBX lock-in. For the most part, PBXs are proprietary,
singlevendor systems, which usually means they are inflexible and expensive to
maintain. VoiceLAN deployment paves the way for an open client/server model
to be applied to telephony, creating a less rigid vendor-client relationship.
• New level of CTI. Current CTI systems allow data and voice
application environments to ―talk‖ to each other by means of computer-toPBX
links. CTI is included implicitly in the voiceLAN model. VoiceLAN also
distinguishes itself from CTI because data and voice applications actually share
the same set of standards and software interfaces. ThusvoiceLAN leverages
both media far beyond what is possible under present CTI systems, and has the
potential to give organizations a distinct competitive advantage in the
marketplace.
MIGRATING THE LAN INFRASTRUCTURE
 Migration to voiceLAN is likely to encompass a number of smaller
elements or activities. Migration cannot happen overnight, but is an
evolutionary process that includes beneficial steps along the way. Over time,
organizations can focus on improving elements of their network infrastructure,
their desktop workstations, and their organizations in addition to their telephone
systems. A first step in deploying voiceLAN is to upgrade the present LAN
infrastructure to support the demands of voice traffic without affecting the flow
of existing data traffic. Infrastructure refers to the cabling plant and the local
networking equipment used to carry traffic from end station to end station (i.e.,
hub, bridge, router, switches, and network adapters). The PBX is not considered
part of the infrastructure in a voiceLAN environment; rather, the PBX will
evolve into a call server that can be considered another type of end station on
the LAN. Solutions for Delay-Sensitive Applications Voice bandwidth is not
usually of much concern when using LANs for transmission. An uncompressed
high-quality voice conversation needs only 64 Kbps, and compression or
packetization reduces bandwidth requirements further. This represents only a
small fraction of a dedicated 10 Mbps Ethernet LAN segment. More important,
voice is a delay-sensitive application that demands minimal latency (or minimal
variations in latency, otherwise known as ―jitter‖) in 15 Integrating Voice and
LAN Infrastructures and Applications communications. The vast majority of
LANs today are based on shared-bandwidth media. With Ethernet LANs, all
users contend for bandwidth on a first-come, first-served basis. Token ring
LANs are somewhat more deterministic since each end station transmits only
when that end station holds the token, which passes from end station to end
station at more or less regular time intervals
Desktop Switching
It is Part of the solution to this problem is to provide dedicated bandwidth
to each user end station through desktop LAN switching. In a fully switched
network, end stations do not contend (as in Ethernet) or wait (as in token ring)
for bandwidth with other users; instead, each user workstation gets its own
dedicated LAN segment for connectivity into the network. Migrating to a fully
switched network (i.e., a single workstation or server per dedicated switch port)
entails replacing existing shared-media LAN hubs with LAN switches.
Minimize Routing
LAN switching only addresses bandwidth contention to the desktop.
Links between desktop switches, or from desktop switches to building/campus
switches, must also provide predictable, minimal delays for voice
communications. In most enterprise networks, routers are used to calculate
paths and forward packets between LAN segments at Layer 3 of the OSI model.
These routing algorithms introduce significant delay and usually add noticeable
latency to voice communications. By contrast, switching involves a much
simpler and faster process. Segmenting the network at OSI Layer 2 through
switching, rather than at Layer 3 through routing, increases the capacity of the
network to support delay-sensitive applications such as voice
Controlling LAN Backbone Traffic
Migrating the network from shared-access LANs and routing to switching
is a prerequisite to voiceLAN implementation. However, a major challenge
remains in ensuring that voice can be properly supported on the backbone links
(e.g., trunk) between LAN switches. Supporting both data and voice over a
common backbone LAN infrastructure is essentially a bandwidth-contention
issue — determining how to make sure that delay-sensitive voice traffic is not
preempted by other data traffic traversing the same links.
RSVP
Among the most promising solutions to Ethernet’s lack of prioritization
or guaranteed latency is to handle the problem at Layer 3 via the RSVP. RSVP,
which was developed by the IETF and leading network product vendors,
operates by reserving bandwidth and router/switch buffer space for certain high-
priority IP packets such as those carrying voice traffic.
ATM-Based Backbone Solutions. An alternative solution for delivering
voiceLAN over a common data infrastructure is ATM. ATM was designed
specifically to support both voice and data traffic over a common infrastructure
and provides multiple QoS levels.
ATM to the desktop is more problematic, however. The most common
standard for ATM LANs operates at 155 Mbps over Category 5 UTC cable or
optical fiber
An organization can choose from among several potential access
solutions, including ATM25, Ethernet using IP/RSVP, or Ethernet/CIF. ATM25
Access. ATM25, as its name implies, is a 25 Mbps version of ATM designed
specifically for desktop connectivity to a 155 Mbps ATM backbone. ATM25
provides all of the QoS benefits of higher-speed ATM and can be used to build
end-to-end ATM networks. ATM25 can also operate over Category 3 UTC
cable, whereas 155 Mbps ATM and Fast Ethernet require organizations to
upgrade their UTP cabling to Category 5 UTP cable.
 Ethernet RSVP/IP Access. The most popular desktop connectivity
option for data networking continues to be Ethernet, and the addition of desktop
switching and Fast Ethernet technology only continues this trend. The challenge
is combining IP over Ethernet network access links with ATM in the backbone
in such a way that voiceLAN performance requirements can be satisfied.
One solution requires Ethernet-to-ATM desktop switches to include
routing and RSVP support. The desktop end station sends voice in IP packets
(further encapsulated inside Ethernet frames) to the switch, using RSVP to
request bandwidth to be reserved for the voice conversation. The desktop switch
then terminates the IP connection and converts the voice payload to ATM cells
for transmission across the backbone (or the desktop switch may forward these
IP datagrams across the ATM backbone without terminating the IP connection).
Ethernet CIF Access.
CIF allows a desktop application to place voice traffic in ATM cells that
are subsequently inserted into Ethernet frames by the network adapter driver for
transport over the link from the adapter to switch. At the Ethernet switch, cells
are extracted from the frames and sent across the ATM backbone. CIF’s
primary advantage is that high-priority traffic, such as voice, can be given the
necessary QoS from the desktop across the ATM network without having to
actually install ATM end-to-end in the network
MIGRATING THE DESKTOP
The deployment of voiceLAN also entails a migration of the desktop PC
to become telephony-enabled. Exhibit 2-3 illustrates the voiceLAN-enabled
desktop environment. This migration has two components: hardware and
software.
Hardware Upgrades
In a pure voiceLAN architecture, all voice calls are received via a PC
and its LAN adapter card rather than via a desktop telephone wired to a PBX or
voice switch. There are two alternative human interfaces for people to interact
with the PC to receive voice communications: the PC itself and the traditional
desktop telephone
By using the PC as the interface, voice traffic is processed by a PC sound
card and the user employs a PC-attached microphone and headset. This solution
is appropriate for users who are already using a microphone and headset to keep
their hands free for typing (e.g., telemarketers, travel agents, help desk
operators).
 For most users the desktop telephone is still appropriate as their voice
communications interface. However, in a voiceLAN solution, this phone set
must be able to connect directly to the PC so that voice traffic can be received
directly from the network adapter card without having to passthrough the CPU.
Today this can be accomplished through a third-party plug-in card.

Universal Serial Bus. A more elegant solution for accomplishing a direct

connection is the USB interface, originally developed by Intel. The
motherboards of most new PCs included USB interfaces as standard
features.The USB supports 12 Mbps of throughput and allows USB-compatible
telephone sets to connect directly to the PC without the need for an additional
plug-in card. This alternative greatly reduces the cost of deploying voiceLAN.
Several vendors have released or will soon release telephones conforming to the
USB standard.
 Firewire Bus. An alternative standard called Firewire — originally
developed by Apple Corp., but currently being promoted by Sony and other
consumer electronics companies — is also being introduced in new products.

Software Upgrades
To take maximum advantage of voiceLAN technology, PC-resident
applications need to communicate with the PBX and PC-attached desktop phone
sets. For this, a standardized software interface is required. Most PBXs today
support several such software APIs, though many of these interfaces provide
translation of commands between the PBX andmainframe hosts for use in CTI
applications such as call center applications. For Windows applications, most
PBXs support Microsoft’s TAPI. TAPI is available for Windows 95
MIGRATING THE PBX
Legacy Telephony
PBX and telephony systems are analogous to the host and dumb terminal
model of the mainframe era. PBXs are relatively inflexible, proprietary, and
expensive to maintain and upgrade in the same way mainframes are. Phone sets
are still the most ubiquitous desktop instrument for telephony communications,
but the PC offers the most intuitive interface to advanced features. Moving from
the traditional PBX model to a serverbased telephony model represents the final
stage in the migration to a fully integrated voice and data network.
Linking Distributed PBX Components
For organizations with large campus environments, an intermediate step
between the legacy PBX and server-based telephony may be an architecture
featuring multiple PBX components distributed throughout the campus. This
type of architecture has traditionally required a dedicated fiber backbone to
connect multiple units. Under a voiceLAN solution, these units, outfitted with
network adapter cards, can be connected over a LAN backbone infrastructure.
This infrastructure is already in place in most larger campus network
environments. In this case, the horizontal connection between the PBXs and the
telephone sets at the desktop can continue to use the traditional voice network
infrastructure.
There are two advantages to this architecture:
1. Distributed PBXs scale more cost-effectively than a single, large PBX.
2. The necessity for installing and maintaining dual backbones, one for
voice and one for data, is eliminated.
Server-Based Telephony
A server-based telephony architecture allows for the traditional functions
of the PBX to be broken down into its components and distributed on the
voiceLAN network. The switching function of the PBX can be handled by the
frame or cell switches of the data network, whereas the call control function can
be moved to a server. Specific telephony applications can also be moved to
distributed application servers and integrated with other networked data
applications.
Desktop Telephony Applications.
Following are some examples of desktop telephony applications that
should be considered for implementation in this initial phase. In these examples,
the applications are enhanced by voiceLAN in that they are melded with real-
time voice communications:

GUI phone. At its basic level, this application running on the desktop
provides a phone handset interface on the PC. The GUI phone prompts users to
take more advantage of advanced call features that they are reluctant to utilize
today simply because of the nonintuitive interface of existing phone handsets.
• Integration with PIM software. Integrating the GUI phone with PIM
software provides a seamless link between the user’s PIM application (e.g., an
advanced electronic Rolodex) and the user’s actual communications interface
(e.g., the GUI phone). This application offers functionality similar to call center
applications to general users right at their desktops.
• GUI voice mail. Voice mail can easily benefit from a graphic
representation. At the click of a mouse, users scroll through a list of voice mail
messages — saving, deleting, or forwarding messages. With this type of
application, voice messages are treated as objects that can be manipulated in the
same way data files are. For users, this method is potentially far more user-
friendly and time-efficient than using the keypad of a phone handset.
 • Integrated messaging. When voice mail is decoupled from the PBX
architecture, full integration with other types of messaging applications (i.e., e-
mail) can more easily take place. VoiceLAN simplifies the process of
combining message media and potentially reduces the cost of integrated
messaging.
MIGRATING USERS
As the voiceLAN network is tested for its reliability as a dedicated voice
network, the organization can begin to migrate the general population of users.
Individual users or entire workgroups can be moved on a line-by-line basis by
installing a USB PC and USB handset at the desktop, eventually eliminating the
legacy phone set connected via the dedicated voice network. The order in which
users/workgroups are moved depends on each user/workgroup’s ability and
willingness to take advantage of integrated voice/data applications.
While the general population of users is being migrated, the organization
should also begin to deploy more advanced applications in the original testbed
workgroups. These applications can be tightly integrated with networked data
applications (as opposed to desktop applications). The client/server applications
that can be deployed in this final stage include:
• Collaborative applications. A server-based telephony architecture
facilitates the integration of voice communications to collaborative software
that allows multiple people to work on the same document while
communicating.
• Voice/database applications. At present, computer telephony integration
permits a certain level of integration between PBXs and databases; however,
deploying such applications is expensive and generally reserved for
telemarketing or customer service applications. A server-based telephony
architecture allows high-end CTI functionality to be deployed on a much wider
scale and to be made accessible to the general user population.

Token-Ring

A token ring is a data link for a local area network (LAN) in which all
devices are connected in a ring or star topology and pass one or more tokens
from host to host. A token is a frame of data transmitted between network
points. Only a host that holds a token can send data, and tokens are released
when receipt of the data is confirmed. IBM developed token ring technology in
the 1980s as an alternative to Ethernet.

Also known as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

802.5, a token ring network connects all devices, including computers, in a
circular or closed-loop manner. In this scenario, the word token describes a
segment of data sent through the network.

Token ring networks prevent data packets from colliding on a network

segment because only a token holder can send data, and the number of tokens
available is also controlled. When a device on the network successfully decodes
that token, it receives the encoded data.
It uses a special three-byte frame called a token that is passed around a
logical ring of workstations or servers. This token passing is a channel access
method providing fair access for all stations, and eliminating
the collisions of contention-based access methods.
A Token Ring network can be modeled as a polling system where a
single server provides service to queues in a cyclic order
There are three types of frame formats that are supported on a Token
Ring network such as token, abort, and frame. The token format is the
mechanism by which access to the ring is passed from one computer attached to
the network to another device connected to the network.
Three bits are used as a priority indicator, three bits are used as a
reservation indicator, while one bit is used for the token bit, and another bit
position functions as the monitor bit.
The components of the Token Ring Frame Format are as follows −
 Start Delimiter (SD) − The first field of the data/command frame,
SD, is one byte long and is used to alert the receiving station to the
arrival of a frame as well as to allow it to synchronize its retrieval
timing.
 Access Control (AC) − The AC field is one byte long and includes
four subfields. The first three bits are the priority field. The fourth
bit is called the token bit.
  Frame Control (FC) −The FC field is one byte long and contains
two fields. The first is a one-bit field used to indicate the type of
information contained in the Protocol Data Unit (PDU).
 Destination Address (DA) −The two-to-six-byte DA field contains
the physical address of the frame’s next destination. If its ultimate
destination is another network, the DA is the address of the router
to the next LAN on its path.
 Source Address (SA) − The SA field is also two to six bytes long
and contains the physical address of the sending station. If the
ultimate destination of the packet is a station on the same network
as the originating station, the SA is that of the originating station.
 Data −The sixth field, data, is allotted 4500 bytes and contains the
PDU. A token ring frame does not include a PDU length or type
field.
 Checksum −The checksum field is 4 bytes long. The checksum
field is used to cross-check the data at the sending station. This
field contains the total number of bytes in the frame. The number is
checked at the receiver end after counting the bytes in the received
frame.
 End Delimiter (ED) −The ED is a second flag field of one byte
and indicates the end of the sender’s data and control information.
 Frame Status −The last byte of the frame is the FS field. It can be
set by the receiver to indicate that the frame has been read or by the
monitor to indicate that the frame has already been around the ring.

Ethernet
Ethernet is a type of communication protocol that is created at Xerox
PARC in 1973 by Robert Metcalfe and others, which connects computers on a
network over a wired connection. It is a widely used LAN protocol, which is
also known as Alto Aloha Network. It connects computers within the local area
network and wide area network. Numerous devices like printers and laptops can
be connected by LAN and WAN
 The application layer is the topmost layer that makes capable of users to
download and access data from a mail client or a web browser. Users enter their
queries with the help of the application; then, it is sent to the next layer, where
the request is known as a "packet." The information about the sender and the
destination web address is contained by the packet. Until the packet is reached
the bottom layer, called the Ethernet frame, the packet is transmitted from the
application layer. The layer closest to your device is the first or bottom layer.

Types of Ethernet Networks

An Ethernet device with CAT5/CAT6 copper cables is connected to a fiber

optic cable through fiber optic media converters. The distance covered by the
network is significantly increased by this extension for fiber optic cable. There
are some kinds of Ethernet networks, which are discussed below:

o Fast Ethernet: This type of Ethernet is usually supported by a twisted pair

or CAT5 cable, which has the potential to transfer or receive data at
around100 Mbps. They function at 100Base and 10/100Base Ethernet on
the fiber side of the link if any device such as a camera, laptop, or other is
connected to a network. The fiber optic cable and twisted pair cable are
used by fast Ethernet to create communication. The 100BASE-TX,
 100BASE-FX, and 100BASE-T4 are the three categories of Fast
Ethernet.
o Gigabit Ethernet: This type of Ethernet network is an upgrade from Fast
Ethernet, which uses fiber optic cable and twisted pair cable to create
communication. It can transfer data at a rate of 1000 Mbps or 1Gbps. In
modern times, gigabit Ethernet is more common. This network type also
uses CAT5e or other advanced cables, which can transfer data at a rate of
10 Gbps.
o 10-Gigabit Ethernet: This type of network can transmit data at a rate of
10 Gigabit/second, considered a more advanced and high-speed network.
It makes use of CAT6a or CAT7 twisted-pair cables and fiber optic
cables as well. This network can be expended up to nearly 10,000 meters
with the help of using a fiber optic cable.
o Switch Ethernet: This type of network involves adding switches or hubs,
which helps to improve network throughput as each workstation in this
network can have its own dedicated 10 Mbps connection instead of
sharing the medium. Instead of using a crossover cable, a regular network
cable is used when a switch is used in a network. For the latest Ethernet,
it supports 1000Mbps to 10 Gbps and 10Mbps to 100Mbps for fast
Ethernet.

Baseband uses digital signals, while broadband uses analog signals. Baseband
is further divided into five standard names as follows −
 10 Base 5
 10 Base 2
 10 Base T
 1 Base 5
 100 Base T
The first numbers used in all standards, i.e., 10, 1, 100, indicate the data rate in
Mbps, while the last numbers 2, 5, and letter T indicate the maximum cable
length or type of cable. Only one specification is defined for broadband, and
that is 10 Broad 36. 10 Base 5 means a data rate of 10 Mbps and cable length
restriction of 500 meters.
The network uses Carrier-sense multiple access with collision detection
(CSMA/CD) technique. When multiple users access a single line, there is
always a chance of overlapping and destroying data called collisions. Thus, if
traffic increases on a single line, there are always chances of collision.
The carrier senses several access with collision Detection (ICMP/CD) is a
technique that can help detect a collision, quits the current transmission and
retransmission of data and takes place after waiting for some predetermined
time to get the line cleared.

Electrical Signification for Ethernet

There are various electrical significations for Ethernet, which are as follows:
Signaling
Baseband system uses Manchester digital encoding while the broadband system
uses differential PSK.
Data Rate
The Ethernet LANs supports a data rate between 1 Mbps to 100 Mbps.
Baseband defines 1, 10, and 100 Mbps data rates, while broadband defines a
data rate of 10 Mbps.

Frame Format

IEEE 802.3 specifies only one type of frame format that includes seven fields.
These fields are as follows−
 Preamble − It contains seven bytes (56 bits) and is used for
synchronization.
 Start frame delimiter (SFD) − It is a one-byte field and is used to
signal the frame's beginning.
 Destination Address and Source Address fields are six bytes' fields
containing sender and receiver address as declared by the Network
Interface Card.
 The next field length/type is a two-byte field and indicates the
number of PDU bits and its type. It provides a base for other
protocols.
 The PDU or 802.2 frames contain the entire 802.2 frames as a
modular removable unit. It can start from the 46th byte and can
continue up to the 1500th byte. It is generated by the LLC sublayer
depending on the size and type of the PDU, and then it is linked to
an 802.3 frame.
 The last field is CRC, which contains error detection information.
The frame format is demonstrated in the figure
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a telecommunications standard
defined by ANSI and ITU-T (formerly CCITT) for digital transmission of
multiple types of traffic.
ATM is a form of data transmission that allows voice ,video and data to
be sent along the same network in the form Time Division
Multiplexing(TDM).ATM has its similarities with the frame
relay,particularly in the term of data unit size ,frame replay used a
variable length data unit called frame.ATM used fixed data unit named as
―cell‖, we can say ATM as Cell-Relay in analog to frame relay.ATM is a
high speed data communication technology which can run in any
medium.

ATM Features:
 ATM provides functionality that uses features of circuit
switching and packet switching networks by using asynchronous time-
division multiplexing
 ATM is a packet network like X.25,frame relay.
 ATM integrates all different types of traffic into one network
 ATM supports multiplexing of multiple logical connections over single
physical channel.
 ATM does not provide flow control and error control at data link layer.
  ATM can serve as a LAN or WAN backbone without requiring any
network replacement.
 ATM can be used in existing physical channels and networks. It is also
compatible with wireless and satellite communications.
ATM Cell:
In ATM these frames are of a fixed length (53 octets or bytes) and
specifically called cells.

ATM transfers data in fixed-size units are known as cells. Each cell includes 53
octets or bytes, as shown in the figure. The first 5 bytes contain cell-header
data, and the remaining 48 include the payload (user information).
Small, fixed-length cells are well appropriated to transfer voice and video
traffic due to such traffic is biased to delays that result from having to wait for a
huge data packet to download, among other things.

Header Payload

5 Bytes 48 Bytes

ATM Cell Format

An ATM cell header can be two formats, such as User Network Interface (UNI)
or Network to Network Interface (NNI). The UNI header can be used for
communication between ATM endpoints and ATM switches in private ATM
networks. The NNI header can be used for communication between ATM
switches.
The figure shows the ATM UNI cell header format and the ATM NNI cell
header format. Unlike the UNI, the NNI header does not contain the Generic
Flow Control (GFC) field. The NNI header has a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)
field that appears in the first 12 bits. It is allowing for high trunks between
public ATM switches.
ATM Cell Header Fields

The following definitions summarise the ATM cell header fields as shown in
the figure above −
 Generic Flow Control (GFC) − It supports local functions, such as
recognizing multiple stations that send a single ATM interface. This field
is generally not used and is set to its default value of 0 (binary 0000).
 Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) − In conjunction with the Virtual Channel
Identifier (VCI), it recognises the next destination of a cell as it transfers
through a series of ATM switches on the way to its destination.
 Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) − In conjunction with the VPI, it
recognizes the next destination of a cell as it transfers through a series of
ATM switches on the way to its destination.
 Payload Type (PT) − It denotes in the first bit whether the cell includes
user data or control data. If the cell includes user data, the bit is set to 0. If
it includes control data, it is set to 1. The second bit denotes congestion (0
= no congestion, 1 = congestion), and the third bit denotes whether the
cell is the last in a sequence of cells that define a single AAL5 frame (1 =
last cell for the frame).
 Cell Loss Priority (CLP) − It denotes whether the cell should be
removed if it encounters extreme congestion as it transfers through the
network. Suppose the CLP bit similar is to 1, and the cell should be
discarded in preference to cells with the CLP bit equal to 0.
  Header Error Control (HEC) − It evaluates checksum only on the first
4 bytes of the header. It can be valid a single bit error in these bytes,
thereby preserving the cell instead of discarding it.

Working of ATM:
ATM standard uses two types of connections. i.e., Virtual path connections
(VPCs) which consist of Virtual channel connections (VCCs) bundled together
which is a basic unit carrying a single stream of cells from user to user. A
virtual path can be created end-to-end across an ATM network, as it does not
rout the cells to a particular virtual circuit. In case of major failure, all cells
belonging to a particular virtual path are routed the same way through the
ATM network, thus helping in faster recovery.
Switches connected to subscribers use both VPIs and VCIs to switch the cells
which are Virtual Path and Virtual Connection switches that can have different
virtual channel connections between them, serving the purpose of creating
a virtual trunk between the switches which can be handled as a single entity.
Its basic operation is straightforward by looking up the connection value in the
local translation table determining the outgoing port of the connection and the
new VPI/VCI value of connection on that link.

ATM Layers:
 Physical Layer –
It manages the medium-dependent transmission and is divided into two
parts physical medium-dependent sublayer and transmission convergence
sublayer. The main functions are as follows:
 It converts cells into a bit stream.
 It controls the transmission and receipt of bits in the physical medium.
 It can track the ATM cell boundaries.
 Look for the packaging of cells into the appropriate type of frames.

ATM Layer –
It handles transmission, switching, congestion control, cell header
processing, sequential delivery, etc., and is responsible for simultaneously
sharing the virtual circuits over the physical link known as cell
multiplexing and passing cells through an ATM network known as cell
relay making use of the VPI and VCI information in the cell header.
It accepts the 48 byte segments from the upper layer, adds a 5 byte header to
each segment and converts into 53 byte cells. This layer is
responsible for routing of each cell, traffic management, multiplexing and
switching.
ATM Adaption Layer (AAL) –
It is meant for isolating higher-layer protocols from details of ATM
processes and prepares for conversion of user data into cells and segments
it into 48-byte cell payloads. AAL protocol excepts transmission from
upper-layer services and helps them in mapping applications, e.g., voice,
data to ATM cells. It accepts the data and converts them into fixed sized
segments. The transmissions can be of fixed or variable data rate. This layer
has two sub layers − Convergence sub layer and Segmentation and
Reassembly sub layer.

The functionalities of all the ATM protocol layers are categorized into control
plane, user plane and management plane.
➨User plane layers handle user information transfer and required associated
controls e.g. error control and flow control.
➨Control plane takes care of call and connection related control signals.
➨Management plane is divided into plane and layer management. Plane
management manages whole system functionality. Layer management takes
care of management of all resources and parameters of the protocol entities.

ATM LAN EMULATION:

LAN Emulation ,also Known as LANE, ia an Asynchronous Transfer
Mode(ATM) technology that enables local area network(LAN) traffic such as
Ethernet frames to be carried over an ATM network. ATM as a backbone for
connecting LANs

Ethernet and ATM technologies are difficult to connect because ATM is a

connection oriented technology and Ethernet is a broadcast-based
connectionless technology,Also Ethernet frames and ATM cells are different in
format and addressing
For an ATM network to act as a backbone for connecting Ethernet LAN,it must
support MAC-to-ATM address mapping.LANE converts variable-length
Ethernet frames into fixed-length ATM cells for transmission over the ATM
backbone.LANE services run on one or more network servers and map ATM.
When a user on an ATM network wants to access a resource on the Ethernet
LAN, the client sends an address resolution message(ARM) to the LANE server
,which forwards the message to a bridge or router connected to the Ethernet
network If the bridge or router knows the destination MAC address ,it acts as a
proxy and forwards the message to the destination client ; if it doesn’t know the
destination MAC address it relays the message to the broadcast unknown
server(BUS),a LANE service that broadcasts the message to all stations on the
Ethernet LAN.
LANE operation:
 Workstationsuses ATM adapter card
  Frames converted to cells by segmentation and reassembly(SAR)
 Maps Ethernet addresses to ATM addresses
 SAR converts ATM cells to Ethernet frames

LANE Components:
LANE is made up of four components:
1. LAN Emulation Client(LEC)
2. LAN Emulation Server(LES)
3. Broadcast and Unknown Server(BUS)
4. LAN Emulation and Configuration Server(LECS)

Fig:ATM LAN Emulation

1.LAN Emulation Client (LEC)
- An end system (host, bridge, or router) on an emulated LAN

- Represents one or more end users, identified by their MAC

addresses

- The LAN emulation software (LAN emulation layer) provides a

MAC level emulated 802.3 or 802.5 interface to higher level
protocols, such as IP, or IPX
 - Performs address translation (between MAC addresses and ATM
addresses), address resolution, data forwarding, and other control
functions

2. LAN Emulation Server (LES)

- A component of the LANE service, implements control and

coordination functions for the ELAN

- Controls the joining of LECs to its ELAN

- Provides registration service to LECs

- An LEC registers its MAC and ATM addresses with the LES

- Responsible for address resolution from MAC address to ATM

address

- Has unidirectional point-to-point VCs for ARP data coming from

LECs and unidirectional point-to-multipoint VCs for ARP data
going to LECs

- Each ELAN has one LES

3. Broadcast and Unknown Server (BUS)

- A component of the LANE service, used by an LEC to forward

frames to broadcast/multicast addresses

- Also used by an LEC to send unicast frames to all clients before

the destination is known

- All broadcast, multicast, and unknown traffic to and from an LEC

passes through this single entity

- The multicast server function provided in the BUS is required as

part of LANE to provide the connectionless data delivery
characteristics of a shared-media network to LECs

- Has unidirectional point-to-point VCs for data coming from LECs

- Has unidirectional point-to-multipoint VCs for data going to LECs

- Each ELAN has one BUS

 - Must always exist in the ELAN

- All LECs must join its distribution group

4. LAN Emulation Configuration Server (LECS)

- A component of the LANE service, responsible for initial

configuration of LECs

- Provides configuration information to LECs prior to joining the

emulated LAN

- Responsible for the assignment of individual LECs to different

ELANs based on administrative policies

- Provides the LES’s ATM address to LEC

- One LECS serves one network that consists of many ELANs

Bridge
- To connect legacy LANs (802.3 and 802.5) to the emulated LAN

- To implement features required in the LUNI interface to support

both transparent and source routing bridging

LAN Emulation Conceptual Configuration

Emulated LAN Connections

The following are the functions of LANE operation
- Initialization

- Joining and Registration

- Address Resolution

- Data Transfer

Initialization
- The main goal of the initialization procedure is to reduce the
required manual configuration of LEC when it first joins an ELAN

- Ideally, all configuration and initialization is done automatically

without human interaction (plug-and-play)

- This is achieved by using LECS

- The LECS contains all the information required by an LEC such as

0 The ATM address of its LES

0 LAN type (Ethernet or Token Ring) to be emulated

0 Maximum data frame size (1516, 4544, 9234, or 18190)

0 Name of the emulated LAN (Engineering/Marketing)

- Prior to joining the emulated LAN, an LEC (after power-up) uses

the following order to locate the LECS

0 Get the LECS address via ATM Forum defined Interim

Local Management Interface (ILMI) procedure which takes
place between the LEC and the ILMI software in the switch
 0 If the ILMI procedure fails, use the well known LECS
address defined by the ATM Forum’s LANE standards

0 If the well known address fails, use the ATM Forum defined
LECS PVC (VPI = 0, VCI = 17)

- LECS connection

= Once the location of LECS is known, the LEC establishes a

configuration Direct VCC to the LECS

- Configuration

= Once a connection is established between the LEC and the

LECS, the LEC is configured automatically with the
information provided by the LECS

Joining and registration

- To join an ELAN, LEC establishes a bi-directional point-to-point
Control Direct VCC to its LES

- Transmits join request with ATM address, MAC address, proxy

indication (workstation or bridge) to LES

- If the LEC is a proxy for a number of end systems on a legacy

LAN (a bridge), it sends a list of all MAC addresses on the legacy
LAN

- This information will be used by the LES to perform address

resolution functions.

- If accepted, LES responds with a join response indicating

acceptance

0 Then a Control Distribute point-to-multipoint VCC is

established from LES to LEC used for address resolution
functions

0 LES provides LEC with the ATM address of the BUS

0 LEC creates a bidirectional multicast send VCC to BUS

 0 LEC accepts a unidirectional multicast forward VCC from
BUS

0 At this point, the LEC is registered and ready to transfer data

Data Transfer
- Once a client is registered, it is able to send and receive MAC
frames

- There are three cases to consider:

0 Unicast MAC frame, ATM address known

0 Unicast MAC frame, ATM address unknown

0 Multicast or broadcast MAC frame

- If the client knows the ATM address of the unicast frame (in its
internal cache), it checks whether it has a virtual data connection
already established to the destination client

- If so, it sends the frame over that connection (as a series of ATM
cells)

- Otherwise, it uses the ATM signaling to set up a connection and

then sends the frame

- If the destination ATM address is unknown, the LEC asks LES for
address resolution

- While waiting, the LEC transmits frame(s) via BUS

- When an LES response is received, the LEC establishes a direct

connection with the destination

- Connections are timed out on inactivity

- If the MAC frame is a multicast or broadcast frame, the LEC sends

the frame to the BUS

- The BUS replicates that frame and sends it over the virtual data
connections to all clients on the ELAN

Address Resolution
 - In ELAN, the destination stations are usually known by their MAC
addresses

- Only ATM addresses can be used for connection set up in the

ATM network

- LES allows LECs to request the resolution of a target MAC

address into ATM address to to be used to establish a direct VCC
to the target end system

- For MAC group address, a single ATM address is returned as the

root of a point-to-multipoint VCC for the support of multicast
service.

LANE features include:

 Flexibility: All existing and legacy LAN applications operate over ATM
networks without applying substantial changes. All Ethernet components
are connected to an ATM network that is only used as needed.
Additionally, ATM backbones may be directly connected to a logical
LAN.
 Data transmission: LANE uses different protocols to establish
connectivity. Multiple stages required for data transmission include
initialization, configuration and joining.
 Emulation architecture: Four LANE components work as a single
backbone. The LANE Client (LEC) is an end-system that uses LANE
applications to communicate with other clients. The LANE Configuration
Server (LECS) is used to configure the LEC and LANE Server (LES).
Each LANE network has one LES, which defines all network clients.
Finally, because ATM does not support broadcast communication, a
Broadcast Server bus is used to broadcast, unicast and multicast LEC
traffic.
 Fault tolerance: The best LANE feature. If a LEC is disconnected from a
network, LANE efficiently recovers the client status from the fault point.
If the LES fails and restarts, the LEC is automatically self-configured.

InterLAN Switching
A variety of LAN topologies are available to fit any network:

 Ethernet technology is most widely used because of its efficiency and its
cost. Ethernet technology is constantly evolving to maintain its status and to
stay ahead of the network demands. Ethernet is fairly easy to install because
of the wide variety of equipment on the market and the standards that
accompany it. Ethernet speed ranges from 10Mbps to 10,000Mbps, for a
wide variety of networks.

 Token Ring is the second most widely used technology in today's networks.
Token Ring uses a ring topology and a Token-passing method to access the
physical medium, which consist of a virtual ring.

 ATM is great for high-speed technologies, such as video and voice. Most
companies, however, do not pass large amounts of video or sound, sending
mainly straight data. Because of ATM's large overhead, these companies
don't need to pay the extra money for ATM simply because they won't fully
utilize its capabilities.

 Wireless LANs are very convenient and will likely be highly considered for
short-distance WANs and LANs. Wireless LANs will almost always be
connected to a wired network. Although wireless technology boast speeds
as high as 11Mbps, they are probably running at a speed of 5Mbps to
7Mbps in reality.

Local Area Networking

A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and peripheral devices that
share a common communications line or wireless link to a server within a
distinct geographic area. A local area network may serve as few as two or three
users in a home office or thousands of users in a corporation's central office.
Homeowners and information technology (IT) administrators set up LANs so
that network nodes can communicate and share resources such as printers or
network storage.
LAN networking requires Ethernet cables and Layer 2 switches along with
devices that can connect and communicate using Ethernet. Larger LANs often
include Layer 3 switches or routers to streamline traffic flows.

Setting up a basic local area network

Operating systems (OSes), such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, Apple OS X,
Android and iOS, have Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) and IPv6 networking
capabilities incorporated into them. Additionally, personal computer (PC),
tablet and smartphone hardware all come with an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi chip or
both. This means that, as long as the network administrator has a relatively up-
to-date laptop or desktop PC, it's fairly straightforward to network machines
together onto a wired or wireless LAN.

Setup of a simple wired LAN requires an administrator to connect the end

device to a LAN switch using a twisted-pair Ethernet cable. Once connected,
the devices can communicate with each other on the same physical LAN or
VLAN.

To set up a wireless network, the administrator needs a wireless access point

(WAP). The WAP can be configured to broadcast a network service set
identifier (SSID) and require devices to authenticate to the network using one of
several Wi-Fi authentication techniques. Popular authentication options include
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 pre-shared key and WPA2 Enterprise.

VLAN
VLANs (Virtual LANs) are logical grouping of devices in the same broadcast
domain. VLANs are usually configured on switches by placing some interfaces
into one broadcast domain and some interfaces into another. Each VLAN acts
as a subgroup of the switch ports in an Ethernet LAN.
VLANs can spread across multiple switches, with each VLAN being treated as
its own subnet or broadcast domain. This means that frames broadcasted onto
the network will be switched only between the ports within the same VLAN.
A VLAN acts like a physical LAN, but it allows hosts to be grouped together in
the same broadcast domain even if they are not connected to the same switch.
Here are the main reasons why VLANs are used:
 VLANs increase the number of broadcast domains while decreasing their size.
 VLANs reduce security risks by reducing the number of hosts that receive
copies of frames that the switches flood.
 you can keep hosts that hold sensitive data on a separate VLAN to improve
security.
 you can create more flexible network designs that group users by department
instead of by physical location.
 network changes are achieved with ease by just configuring a port into the
appropriate VLAN.

The following topology shows a network with all hosts inside the same VLAN:

Without VLANs, a broadcast sent from host A would reach all devices on the
network. Each device will receive and process broadcast frames, increasing the
CPU overhead on each device and reducing the overall security of the network.
By placing interfaces on both switches into a separate VLAN, a broadcast from
host A would reach only devices inside the same VLAN, since each VLAN is a
separate broadcast domain. Hosts in other VLANs will not even be aware that
the communication took place. This is shown in the picture below:
InterLAN Switching
LAN interconnection devices offers a number of options, including hubs, LAN
switches, virtual LANs (VLANs), bridges, routers, and IP switches.

LAN Switches
 LAN switches are a very cost-effective solution to the need for increased
bandwidth in workgroups.
 Each port on the switch delivers a dedicated channel to the device or
devices attached to that port, thereby increasing the workgroup's total
bandwidth and also the bandwidth available to individual users.
 Figure 6.8 shows a simple example of a switched Ethernet configuration.
 One workstation requires 100Mbps on its own, so it has the full services
of a 100Mbps port on the switched Ethernet card.
 Five workstations, on the other hand, each need 20Mbps, so one
100Mbps port serves all five workstations.
 These five workstations connect to a hub, and that hub connects to the
actual port. (Today such configurations are largely managed by the local
switches.)
 Servers have extra bandwidth requirements ones in Figure 6.8 require
200Mbps so they are each served by bonding of several 100Mbps ports.
Figure 1. An example of a switched Ethernet configuration

 The key applications for LAN switches are to interconnect the elements
of a distributed computing system, to provide high-speed connections to
campus backbones and servers, and to provide high bandwidth to
individual users who need it.
 Instead of sharing a 10Mbps or 100Mbps LAN among several terminals
in a workgroup, a LAN switch can be used, and an individual workstation
can get the entire 10Mbps or 100Mbps.
 LAN switches provide great scalability because they enable the network
to increase in bandwidth with the fairly simple addition of more switched
ports.
 In addition, switches operate in full-duplex mode and as such use
dedicated outgoing and incoming channels to allow full-speed
transmission in both directions at the same time.
 Thus, LAN switches have many benefits, including scalability in terms of
bandwidth, flexibility, and high performance.
 Figure 1 shows how an Ethernet switch can be used to connect devices
that are on the same segment, some of which are served by one shelf of
the Ethernet switch and others which are served by connecting shelves.
 On the backplane, you can provide internetworking between the Ethernet
segments, so you can provide internetworking on a campus-wide basis.
Figure .2 An Ethernet switch

 As the amount of traffic has grown in enterprises and as the nature of

applications has become more sophisticated, we have been increasing the
bandwidth associated with LANs.
 Today, it is common to see 10Mbps being delivered to an individual
desktop and 100Mbps serving as the cluster capacity.
 To facilitate internetworking between these high-capacity desktops and
Fast Ethernet clusters, Gigabit Ethernet is increasingly being used in the
backbone.
 Gigabit Ethernet switches can connect underlying 100Mbps or 10Mbps
LAN segments, and the 10Mbps or 100Mbps LAN switches can deliver
10Mbps to the desktop and 100Mbps to the segment.

InterVLAN Switching Diagram

LAN TO MAINFRAME
Mainframe computers are powerful computers that can handle vast
quantities of data and offer highly stable transaction processing (a
transaction is a discrete computer operation that must be completed in its
entirety and cannot be sub divided into separate tasks). They find their
greatest usage in corporate and governmental systems to facilitate the
processing of large data flows.

A network is the hardware and software that enables computers to share files
and resources and exchange data. Networks play a significant role in much of
the world's transaction processing. A large corporation conducts daily
operations over one or more networks that connect the business--locally or
remotely--to partners, suppliers, and customers around the world.

 Mainframes and Networks

To support the changing requirements of online transactions, enterprise
networks can be designed, customized, operated, and supported using the
combined features and functions of network protocols, such as SNA and
TCP/IP.
  Networklayers and protocols review
The first step in discussing network technology is to ensure that you
understand the terms and acronyms. Starting from the physical layer,
progressing to the data link layer (Ethernet), and moving up through the
network layer (IP and routing) on to the transport layer (TCP and UDP),
there are a large number of terms to be understood. These terms need to
be clearly understood when z/OS systems programmers communicate
with network administrators in an organization.
 Hardware Connectivity on the Main Frame

Network connections can be made in several different fashions. The

mainframe originally relied upon the channel subsystem to offload I/O
processing to channel programs. DASD is still accessed using ESCON
channels, but for networking connectivity, OSA-Express cards offer better
performance and availability.

 Sample network configuration

Organizations run many of their mission-critical applications on the
mainframe and system availability is a key factor in maintaining an
organization's business. To meet this goal, organizations duplicate
hardware and software components.

Mainframe Network Capabilities :

Mainframe architecture includes a variety of network capabilities. The

following details use the mainframe operating system used at IBM, the z/OS
operating system as an example. Some of these capabilities include:

 IP communication among large numbers of Linux and z/OS operating

systems running as Virtual Machines
 IP communication among independent operating systems running in logical
partitions on the same machine

 Communications via the TCP/IP suite of protocols, applications, and

equipment

 System Network Architecture (SNA)

 SNA integration into IP networks using Enterprise Extender (EE) technology

Mainframe-Based Network
The above figure illustrates a simplified mainframe-based network architecture.
The mainframe is connected to external devices using Open Systems Adapter-
Express (OSA-Express) which is an integrated LAN Adapter. It is equivalent to
a network interface card (NIC) used in Windows and UNIX systems. It supports
various protocols and operational modes. OSA-Express card majorly uses the
Ethernet protocol, running over copper wire or fiber optic cabling. The I/O
systems of mainframe differ from UNIX/Intel systems because of which, OSA
card implements advanced technologies required for networking.

For a particular organization, a redundant backbone switch or router is used to

connect critical business servers to the primary network. The switch or router
provides redundancy by providing more than one physical path to the backbone
network. The backbone network is the organization’s high traffic density
network.

As expected in every network the Backup site takes care of data processing for
planned as well as unplanned outages in the production site. The backup site can
provide a data processing site for a very long time. The level and the type of
services provided by the backup site is determined by the cost of a backup
compared to the cost of failure. Larger the organization, higher is the value
placed on the backup site. The backup and the production sites are connected
using high-speed connections, normally using fiber optics.

Offices used for computer personnel, administration and back-office services

are usually located in the vicinity of the production computer site. These
locations may be in the same building, the same campus, or a few blocks away.
These sites would be connected using high-speed connections.

Remote sites, such as branch offices and remote offices, are connected to the
backbone network. The backbone network normally uses carrier-supplied
communication lines. A carrier-supplied network is a network that is provided
on behalf of another organization. The speed, the protocol and the topology are
designed and implemented by the networking department and the network
users.

The z/OS operating system includes a software component called z/OS

Communications Server. It implements the SNA and TCP/IP protocols.
Z/OS Communication Server

The above figure shows a z/OS Communications Server with three major
components, which are:

 The TCP/IP protocol stack

 The SNA protocol stack

 The Communications Storage Manager (CSM), which provides a shared I/O

buffer area for both TCP/IP and SNA data flow. The CSM function allows
host applications to share data without physically moving the data.

It is to be noted that z/OS application programmers can exploit various

advancements in communications in distinctly different operating systems since
TCP/IP, as well as SNA protocols, are implemented in almost all existing
platforms.

Security in a Network Provided by Mainframe

The mainframe software and hardware are ideally used for network transactions
since they are capable of managing huge amounts of data, users and
applications simultaneously, without external interference. In networks that
support thousands of end-users, the mainframe concepts of data integrity,
security and reliability are extended to include the network.

Most z/OS hosts will be located in secure physical locations with strict
authorization requirements for employee access. Certain data on such a z/OS
host is likely to be considered highly secure. If the data is to be transferred
between two z/OS hosts within that secure physical location, the data transfer
will most likely be classified as highly secure.

The System Authorization Facility (SAF) interface is a standardized function

call available to all applications running on z/OS. The interface call is used to
provide quick and controlled authorization, authentication, and logging services.
The SAF call is forwarded to an external security manager such as the Resource
Access Control Facility (RACF). SAF can collectively restrict end-user
capabilities to any organization.

Requirements of a Mainframe Network

Businesses require their networks to be reliable, always available and fast. They
invest a great amount of time and money creating an IT infrastructure that
supports these goals – by duplicating hardware and software components, in
addition to various other strategies. The extent to which an organization
implements a solution depends on availability and performance goals, balanced
against the cost of the solution.

The sample configuration below is designed to meet these goals, especially for
availability. It illustrates a medium-to-large z/OS data center.
Sample Configuration

The process is divided physically by central processor complexes and logically

by logical partitions.

 CPC-Central Processor Complex includes a physical collection of hardware

that consists of main storage, more than one central processor, channels, and
timers.

 A logical partition (LPAR) is a subset of a single physical system that

contains resources (processors, memory, and input/output devices) and
operates as an independent system.

Other components are

 CICS: Customer Information Control System. Provides transaction

management functions and connectivity to application programs. Runs as an
address space in z/OS.

 CF: Coupling Facility. Enables sharing of data between multiple LPARs

using high-speed channels. Communicates LPAR status information.
 DB2 for z/OS: Relational database product used on most mainframe
customer sites. Runs as an address space in z/OS.

 OSA: Open Systems Adapter. High speed integrated cards used for network
communication.

 OSPF: Open Shortest Path First. The routing protocol used to communicate
between router and mainframe TCP/IP OMPROUTE application.

 TSO: Time Sharing Option. An element of z/OS that enables users to create
an interactive session with the z/OS system. TSO provides a unique user
login capability and a basic command prompt interface to z/OS. This is
similar to a normal PC command prompt window.

 VTAM: Virtual Telecommunications Access Method. The original SNA

networking protocol for mainframes. Provides services to TCP/IP as well.
Runs as an address space in z/OS.

 TCP/IP: TCP/IP server address spaces.

BUILDING HIGHLY RELIABLE COMPUTER NETWORKS

Good networks do not happen by accident. They are the result of hard
work by network designers and technicians, who identify network
requirements and select the best solutions to meet the needs of a business.

The steps required to design a good network are as follows:

Step 1. Verify the business goals and technical requirements.

Step 2. Determine the features and functions required to meet the needs
identified in Step 1.

Step 3. Perform a network-readiness assessment.

Step 4. Create a solution and site acceptance test plan.

Step 5. Create a project plan.

After the network requirements have been identified, the steps to

designing a good network are followed as the project implementation
moves forward.

Network users generally do not think in terms of the complexity of the

underlying network. They think of the network as a way to access the
applications they need, when they need them.

Network Requirements

Most businesses actually have only a few requirements for their network:

■ The network should stay up all the time, even in the event of failed
links, equipment failure, and overloaded conditions.

■ The network should reliably deliver applications and provide

reasonable response times from any host to any host.

■ The network should be secure. It should protect the data that is

transmitted over it and data stored on the devices that connect to it.

■ The network should be easy to modify to adapt to network growth and

general business changes.

■ Because failures occasionally occur, troubleshooting should be easy.

Finding and fixing a problem should not be too time-consuming.

Fundamental Design Goals

When examined carefully, these requirements translate into four

fundamental network design goals:
■ Scalability: Scalable network designs can grow to include new user
groups and remote sites and can support new applications without
impacting the level of service delivered to existing users.

■ Availability: A network designed for availability is one that delivers

consistent, reliable performance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In
addition, the failure of a single link or piece of equipment should not
significantly impact network performance.

■ Security: Security is a feature that must be designed into the network,

not added on after the network is complete. Planning the location of
security devices, filters, and firewall features is critical to safeguarding
network resources.

■ Manageability: No matter how good the initial network design is, the
available network staff must be able to manage and support the network.
A network that is too complex or difficult to maintain cannot function
effectively and efficiently.