Data Communication and Networking

Chapter Two
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS
 What is a computer network?
Is system which number of independent computers linked together to share
data and peripherals
Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are able to exchange
information.
The connection need not only be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves,
infrared, and communication satellites can also be used.
They usually connected together to make larger networks, with the Internet
being the most well-known example of a network of networks.
It is network of data processing nodes that interconnected for purpose of
data communication.
 Cont’d….
Network is a system of interconnected computers and computerized
peripherals such as printers is called computer network.
This interconnection among computers facilitates information sharing among
them.
 Computers may connect to each other by either wired or wireless media.
Computer network is a computer network is a system in which a number of
independent computers are linked together to share data and peripherals,
such as files and printers.
In the modern world, computer networks have become almost indispensable.
All major businesses and governmental and educational institutions make use
of computer networks to such an extent that it is now difficult to imagine a
world without them.
 Cont’d….
• The nodes that one may find on a network can include:
 Servers: computers used to store shared information and have all the
other computers reference that information over a network.
 Clients: computers on network that use, but do not provide,
network resources.
 Peers: computers on a network that both use and provide network
resources.
 Computer Network and its Applications
Computer systems and peripherals are connected to form a network. They
provide numerous advantages:
Resource sharing such as printers and storage devices
Exchange of information by means of e-Mails and FTP
 Information sharing by using Web or Internet
Interaction with other users using dynamic web pages
IP phones
Video conferences
Parallel computing
Instant messaging etc.
 Classification of Computer Network
Computer networks are classified based on various factors. They include:
 Geographical span
 Inter-connectivity
 Administration
Architecture
Geographical Span
Geographically a network can be seen in one of the following categories:

 It may be spanned across your table, among Bluetooth enabled devices, Ranging not more than few meters.

 It may be spanned across a whole building, including intermediate devices to connect all floors.

 It may be spanned across a whole city.

 It may be spanned across multiple cities or provinces.

 It may be one network covering whole world.

Cont’d…
Interconnectivity
• Components of a network can be connected to each other differently in
some fashion. By connectedness we mean either logically, physically, or
both ways.
Every single device can be connected to every other device on network, making
the network mesh.
All devices can be connected to a single medium but geographically
disconnected, created bus-like structure.
Each device is connected to its left and right peers only, creating linear structure.
All devices connected together with a single device, creating star-like structure.
All devices connected arbitrarily using all previous ways to connect each other,
resulting in a hybrid structure.
 Cont’d…
Administration
• From an administrator’s point of view, a network can be private network which
belongs a single autonomous system and cannot be accessed outside its physical or
logical domain.
• A network can be public, which is accessed by all.
Network Architecture
• Computer networks can be discriminated into various types such as Client-Server,
peer-to-peer or hybrid, depending upon its architecture.
There can be one or more systems acting as Server. Other being Client, requests the Server
to serve requests. Server takes and processes request on behalf of Clients.
Two systems can be connected Point-to-Point, or in back-to-back fashion. They both reside
at the same level and called peers.
There can be hybrid network which involves network architecture of both the above types.
 Types Computer Network
Generally, networks are distinguished based on their geographical span.

A network can be as small as distance between your mobile phone and its Bluetooth
headphone and as large as the internet itself, covering the whole geographical world.
Personal Area Network
A Personal Area Network (PAN) is smallest network which is very personal to a user.

This may include Bluetooth enabled devices or infra-red enabled devices.

 PAN has connectivity range up to 10 meters.

PAN may include wireless computer keyboard and mouse, Bluetooth enabled headphones,
wireless printers, and TV remotes.
 Cont’d…
For example, Piconet is Bluetooth-enabled Personal Area Network which may
contain up to 8 devices connected together in a master-slave fashion.
Local Area Network
A computer network spanned inside a building and operated under single
administrative system is generally termed as Local Area Network (LAN).

Usually, LAN covers an organization offices, schools, colleges or universities.

LAN provides a useful way of sharing the resources between end users. The resources
such as printers, file servers, scanners, and internet are easily sharable among
computers.
 Cont’d…
LANs are composed of inexpensive networking and routing equipment. It may contains
local servers serving file storage and other locally shared applications. It mostly operates
on private IP addresses and does not involve heavy routing. LAN works under its own
local domain and controlled centrally.
LAN uses either Ethernet or Token-ring technology. Ethernet is most widely employed
LAN technology and uses Star topology, while Token-ring is rarely seen.
LAN can be wired, wireless, or in both forms at once.
Metropolitan Area Network
The Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) generally expands throughout a city such as
cable TV network.
Metro Ethernet is a service which is provided by ISPs. This service enables its users to
expand their Local Area Networks.
 For example, MAN can help an organization to connect all of its offices in a city.
Backbone of MAN is high-capacity and high-speed fiber optics.
MAN works in between Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. MAN provides
uplink for LANs to WANs or internet.
Wide Area Network
As the name suggests, the Wide Area Network (WAN) covers a wide area which may
span across provinces and even a whole country.
 Generally, telecommunication networks are Wide Area Network.
These networks provide connectivity to MANs and LANs. Since they are equipped with
very high speed backbone, WANs use very expensive network equipment.

WAN may use advanced technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),
Frame Relay, and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET).
 WAN may be managed by multiple administration.
 Internetwork
A network of networks is called an internetwork, or simply the internet. It is the largest
network in existence on this planet.
The internet hugely connects all WANs and it can have connection to LANs and Home
networks.
Internet uses TCP/IP protocol suite and uses IP as its addressing protocol. Present day,
Internet is widely implemented using IPv4.
Because of shortage of address spaces, it is gradually migrating from IPv4 to IPv6.
Internet enables its users to share and access enormous amount of information worldwide.
It uses WWW, FTP, email services, audio, and video streaming etc. At huge level, internet
works on Client-Server model.
Internet uses very high speed backbone of fiber optics. To inter-connect various continents,
fibers are laid under sea known to us as submarine communication cable.
 Cont’d…
 Internet is widely deployed on World Wide Web services using HTML linked pages and is accessible by client software
known as Web Browsers.

 When a user requests a page using some web browser located on some Web Server anywhere in the world, the Web Server
responds with the proper HTML page.

 The communication delay is very low.

• Internet is serving many proposes and is involved in many aspects of life. Some of them are:
 Web sites
 E-mail
 Instant Messaging
 Blogging
 Social Media
 Marketing
 Networking
 Resource Sharing
 Audio and Video Streaming
 Computer Network Topologies
A Network Topology is the arrangement with which computer systems or network devices are
connected to each other.

 The term topology, or network topology, refers to the arrangement or physical layout of computers,
cables, and other components on the network.

 In addition to the term "topology," you will find several other terms that are used to define a network's
design:

• Physical layout

• Design

• Diagram

• Map
 Cont’d…
Topologies may define both physical and logical aspect of the network. Both logical and
physical topologies could be same or different in a same network.
A network's topology affects its capabilities.
The choice of one topology over another will have an impact on the:
 Type of equipment that the network needs
 Capabilities of the network
 Growth of the network
 Way the network is managed
 Cont’d…
 There are four basic types of computer topology:
 Bus Topology
 Star topology
 Ring Topology
 Mesh Topology
 Bus Topology
 Bus topology is referred as "linear bus" because the computers are connected in a straight
line.
 This is simplest and most common method of networking computers.
 It consists of a single cable called a trunk (also called a backbone or segment) that connects all
of the computers in the network in a single line.
 In case of Bus topology, all devices share single communication line or cable. Bus
topology may have problem while multiple hosts sending data at the same time.
 Therefore, Bus topology either uses CSMA/CD technology or recognizes one host as Bus
Master to solve the issue.
 It is one of the simple forms of networking where a failure of a device does not affect the
other devices.
 But failure of the shared communication line can make all other devices stop functioning.
 Cont’d…
 To understand how computers communicate on a bus, you need to be familiar with three concepts:
• Sending the signal
• Signal bounce
• Terminator
Sending the signal
When sending signal from one computer to another, network data in the form of
electronic signals sent to all the computers on the network.
However, only computer whose address matches the address encoded in the original
signal accepts the information.
All other computers reject the data.
Because only one computer at a time can send data on a bus network, the number of
computers attached to the bus will affect network performance.
 Cont’d…
If more computers there on bus, more computers will wait to put data on the bus and,
consequently, the slower the network will be.
Computers on a bus either transmit data to other computers on the network or listen for data
from other computers on the network.
They are not responsible for moving data from one computer to the next.
Consequently, if one computer fails, it does not affect the rest of the network.
 Signal bounce
 Because data, or electronic signal, is sent to the entire network, it travels from one end of
the cable to the other.
 If signal is allowed to continue uninterrupted, it will keep bouncing back and forth along the
cable and prevent other computers from sending signals.
 Therefore, the signal must be stopped after it has had a chance to reach the proper
destination address.
 Terminator
 To stop signal from bouncing, a component called a terminator is placed at each end of the
cable to absorb free signals.
 Absorbing signal clears cable so that other computers can send data.
 In a bus topology, if break in the cable occurs two ends of cable at the break will not have
terminators, so the signal will bounce, and all network activity will stop.
 This is one of several possible reasons why a network will go "down."
 The computers on the network will still be able to function as stand-alone computers;
however, as long as the segment is broken, they will not be able to communicate with each
other or otherwise access shared resources.
 Star Topology
In the star topology, cable segments from each computer are connected
to a centralized component called a hub.
Signals are transmitted from the sending computer through the hub to all
computers on the network.
Because each computer is connected to a central point, this topology requires a
great deal of cable in a large network installation.
Also, if the central point fails, the entire network goes down.
If one computer - or the cable that connects it to the hub - fails on a star
network, only the failed computer will not be able to send or receive network
data.
 The rest of the network continues to function normally.
 Ring Topology
• The ring topology connects computers on a single circle of cable.
• Unlike the bus topology, there are no terminated ends.
•The signals travel around the loop in one direction and pass through each computer, which can
act as a repeater to boost the signal and send it on to the next computer.
• The failure of one computer can have an impact on the entire network.
• Failure of any host results in failure of the whole ring. Thus, every connection in the ring is a
point of failure.
 Mesh topology
Mesh topology network offers superior redundancy and reliability.
In mesh topology, each computer is connected to every other computer by
separate cabling.
This configuration provides redundant paths throughout the network so that if
one cable fails, another will take over the traffic.
While ease of troubleshooting and increased reliability are definite benefits,
these networks are expensive to install because they use a lot of cabling.
Often, a mesh topology will be used in conjunction with other topologies to
form a hybrid topology.
Cont’d….
 Hybrid Topology
• A network structure whose design contains more than one topology is said to be hybrid topology.
• Hybrid topology inherits merits and demerits of all the incorporating topologies.

• The above picture represents an arbitrarily hybrid topology.

• The combining topologies may contain attributes of Star, Ring, Bus, and Daisy-chain
topologies.
• Most WANs are connected by means of Dual-Ring topology and networks connected to
them are mostly Star topology networks.
• Internet is the best example of largest Hybrid topology.
 Computer Network Components

• Servers - computers that provide shared resources for network users.

• Clients - computers that access shared resources provided by servers.
• Media - the wires that make the physical connections.
• Shared data - files provided to clients by servers across the network.
• Shared peripherals - additional hardware resources provided by servers.
 Cont’d….
• Networks are divided into two broad categories those are: Peer-to-peer networks and Server-
based networks
• The distinction between peer-to-peer and server-based networks is important because each type
has different capabilities. The type of network you choose to implement will depend on factors
such as the:
 Size of the organization.
 Level of security required.
 Type of business.
 Level of administrative support available.
 Amount of network traffic.
 Needs of the network users.
 Network budget.
 Peer-to-Peer Networks
 In a peer-to-peer network, there are no dedicated servers, and there is no
• hierarchy among the computers.
 All the computers are equal and therefore are known as peers.
 Each computer functions as both a client and a server, and there is no
• administrator responsible for the entire network.
 The user at each computer determines what data on that computer is shared on
the network.
Cont’d…
• Size
Peer-to-peer networks are also called workgroups.
The term "workgroup" implies a small group of people.
There are typically 10 or fewer computers in a peer-to-peer network.
• Cost
Peer-to-peer networks are relatively simple.
 Because each computer functions as a client and a server, there is no
need for a powerful central server or for the other components required
for a high-capacity network.
 Peer-to-peer networks can be less expensive than server-based
networks.
 Communicating Over Networks
To reliably communicate to anyone, anywhere, is becoming increasingly important to personal and business lives.

• To support the immediate delivery of the millions of messages being exchanged between people all over the
world, we rely on a web of interconnected networks.

•These data or information networks vary in size and capabilities, but all networks have four basic elements in
common:

 Rules or agreements to govern how the messages are sent, directed, received and interpreted
 Messages or units of information that travel from one device to another a means of interconnecting these
devices

 Medium that can transport the messages from one device to another Devices on the network that exchange
messages with each other

 Standardization of the various elements of the network enables equipment and devices created by different
companies to work together.
Cont’d….
Cont’d…
• For a network to function, the devices must be interconnected : Network connections
can be wired or wireless.
•In wired connections, the medium is either copper, which carries electrical signals, or
optical fiber, which carries light signals.
• In wireless connections, the medium is the Earth's atmosphere, or space, and the
signals are microwaves.
• Copper medium includes cables, such as twisted pair telephone wire, coaxial cable,
or most commonly, what is known as Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
cable.
• Optical fibers, thin strands of glass or plastic that carry light signals, are another form
of networking media.
 Cont’d…
• Wireless media may include the home wireless connection between a wireless
router and a computer with a wireless network card, the terrestrial wireless
connection between two ground stations, or the communication between devices
on earth and satellites.
•In a typical journey across the Internet, a message may travel across a
variety of media.
 Elements of a Network
elements of a typical network, including devices, media, and services, tied together by
rules, that work together to send messages.
 We use the word messages as a term that encompasses webpages, e-mail, instant messages,
telephone calls, and other forms of communication enabled by the Internet.
Generic symbols are shown for:
• Switch - the most common device for interconnecting local area networks
• Firewall - provides security to networks
• Router - helps direct messages as they travel across a network
• Wireless Router - a specific type of router often found in home networks
• Cloud - used to summarize a group of networking devices, the details of which may be
unimportant to the discussion at hand
• Serial Link - one form of WAN interconnection, represented by the lightning bolt-shaped
line
Cont’d…
 Communication model
• The fundamental purpose of communication system is the exchange of data
between two parties.
• Several types of communication are possible like:
• talking to others,
• exchange of voice signal between two persons using a telephone
• communication between a workstation and a server over a public telephone
network or
• Using a teleconferencing system.
 Computer Network Models
Network engineering is a complicated task, which involves software, firmware, chip level
engineering, hardware, and electric pulses.

 To ease network engineering, the whole networking concept is divided into multiple layers.

Each layer is involved in some particular task and is independent of all other layers.

But as a whole, almost all networking tasks depend on all of these layers. Layers share data
between them and they depend on each other only to take input and send output.
Cont’d…
Layered Tasks
• In layered architecture of Network Model, one whole network process is divided into small tasks.

• Each small task is then assigned to a particular layer which works dedicatedly to process the task only.

• Every layer does only specific work.

• In layered communication system, one layer of a host deals with the task done by or to be done by its peer
layer at the same level on the remote host.

• The task is either initiated by layer at the lowest level or at the top most level.

• If the task is initiated by the topmost layer, it is passed on to the layer below it for further processing.

• The lower layer does the same thing, it processes the task and passes on to lower layer. If the task is
initiated by lowermost layer, then the reverse path is taken.
Cont’d…
OSI Model
• Open System Interconnect is an open standard for all communication
systems. OSI model is established by International Standard
Organization (ISO). This model has seven layers:
• Application Layer
• Presentation Layer
• Session Layer
• Transport Layer
• Network Layer
• Data Link Layer
• Physical Layer
Internet Model
• Internet uses TCP/IP protocol suite, also known as Internet suite.
• This defines Internet Model which contains four layered architecture. OSI Model is
general communication model but Internet Model is what the internet uses for all its
communication.
• The internet is independent of its underlying network architecture so is its Model. This
model has the following layers:
• Application Layer
• Transport Layer
• Internet Layer
• Link Layer
Thank You!