BASIC CONCEPT OF

NETWORKING
DEFINTION & APPLICATIONS
 DEFINTION:
A computer network is defined as the interconnection
of two or more computers. It is done to enable the
computers to communicate and share available
resources.
 APPLICATIONS:
i. Sharing of resources such as printers
ii. Sharing of expensive software's and database
iii. Communication from one computer to another
computer
iv. Exchange of data and information among users via
network
v. Sharing of information over geographically wide areas.
THE USEOF COMPUTER NETWORK

 BusinessApplications
online buying
 Home Applications
mail, chat
 Mobile Users
wireless: laptops, PDA, mobile, in plane
 SocialIssues
THE USEOF COMPUTER NETWORK

• Sharing information — i.e. data

communication

• Do you prefer these?

• Or this?
 THE USES OF COMPUTER NETWORK
• Sharing hardware or software
• E.g. print document

• Centralize administration and support

• E.g. Internet-based, soeveryone can access the same administrative or
support application from their PCs
COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER
NETWORK
➢ Two or more computers
➢ Cables as links between the computers
➢ A network interfacing card(NIC) oneach
computer
➢ Switches
➢ Software called operating system(OS)
 TOOLS OF COMPUTER NETWORK
PUNCH DOWN TOOL

CRIMPING TOOLS

CABLE TESTER
MULTITEC CUTTER

BATTERY

RJ-45 CONNECTOR
UTP CABLE CONNECTION
NETWORKBENEFITS
 The network provided to the users can be
divided into two categories:
i. Sharing
ii. Connectivity
SHARINGRESOURCES
 Types of resources are:
1. Hardware: A network allows users to share
many hardware devices such as printers ,
modems, fax machines, CD ROM, players, etc.
2. Software: sharing software resources reduces
the cost of software installation, saves space on
hard disk.
OTHER BENEFITS OF COMPUTER
NETWORK
o Increased speed
o Reduced cost
o Improved security
o Centralized software managements
o Electronic mail
o Flexible access
DISDAVATAGESOF NETWORKS
o High cost of installation
o Requires time for administration
o Failure of server
o Cable faults
CLASSIFICATION OF AREA BY THEIR
GEOGRAPHY
LOCAL AREA NETWORK(LAN)
 LAN is a network which is designed to operate
over a small physical area such as an office,
factory or a group of buildings.
 LAN’s are easy to design and troubleshoot
 Exchange of information and sharing of resources
becomes easy because of LAN.
 In LAN all machines are connected to a single
cable.
 Different types of topologies such as star, tree,
bus, ring, etc Can be used
 It is usually a privately owned network.
WIDE AREA NETWORK(WAN)
 When network spans over a large distance or
when the computers to be connected to each other
are at widely separated locations a local area
network cannot be used. A wide area
network(WAN) is installed.
 The communication between different users of
WAN is established using leased telephone lines,
satellite links and similar channels.
 It is cheaper and more efficient to use the phone
network for the link.
 Most WAN networks are used to transfer large
blocks of data between its users.
PERSONAL AREA NETWORK(PAN)

 A personal area network is a computer network

organized around an individual person.
 It generally consists of a mobile computer, a cell
phone or personal digital assistant. PAN enables
the communication among these devices.
 It can also be used for communication among
personal devices themselves for connecting to a
digital level network and internet.
 The PANs can be constructed using wireless or
cables.
CAMPUS AREA NETWORK(CAN)

 The campus area network is made up of an

interconnection of LAN with limited
geographical area.
 Network equipments suchas switches, routers
and the transmission media i.e. optical fibre
etc are almost entirely owned by the campus
owner.
METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK(MAN)

 It is in between LAN & WAN technology that

covers the entire city.
 It usessimilar technology asLAN.
 It can be a single network suchas cable TV
network, or a measure of connectinga
number of LAN’s o a large network sothat
resources can be shared LAN to LAN as well as
device to device.
 WAN
LAN

PAN

CAN
MAN
 DISTINGUISH BETWEEN LAN,WAN,MAN
PARAMETERS LAN WAN MAN
Ownership of
Private Private or public Private or public
network

Geographical
Small Very large Moderate
area covered

Design and
Easy Not easy Not easy
maintenance
Coaxial cables,
Communication PSTN or satellite PSTN, optical
Coaxial cable
medium links fibre, cables,
wireless

Bandwidth Low High moderate

Data
High Low moderate
rates(speed)
NETWORKCLASSIFICATIONBY THEIR
COMPONENT ROLE

LOCAL AREA NETWORK

PEER TO PEER NETWORK CLIENT SERVERNETWORK

PEERTO PEER NETWORK
 In peer to peer network each computer is responsible for
making its own resources available to other computers on the
network.
 Each computer is responsible for setting up and maintaining
its own security for these resources.
 Also each computer is responsible for accessing the required
network resources from peer to peer relationships.
 Peer to peer network is useful for a small network containing
lessthan 10 computers on a single LAN .
 In peer to peer network each computer can function as both
client and server.
 Peer to peer networks do not have a central control system.
There are no servers in peer networks.
 Peer networks are amplified into home group.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF
PEER TO PEER NETWORK
Advantages: Disadvantages:
▪ Use lessexpensive ▪ Not very secure
computer hardware ▪ No central point of
▪ Easy to administer storage or file archiving
▪ No NOS required ▪ Additional load on
▪ More built in redundancy computer because of
resource sharing
▪ Easy setup & low cost
▪ Hard to maintain
version control
CLIENT/SERVERNETWORK
 In client-server network relationships, certain computers act
as server and other act as clients. A server is simply a
computer, that available the network resources and provides
service to other computers when they request it. A client is
the computer running a program that requests the service
from a server.
 Local area network(LAN) is based on client server network
relationship.
 A client-server network is one n which all available network
resources such as files, directories, applications and shared
devices, are centrally managed and hosted and then are
accessed by client.
 Client serve network are defined by the presence of servers on
a network that provide security and administration of the
network.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CLIENT-
SERVERNETWORK

Disadvantages:
▪ requires professional
administration Advantages:
▪ Morehardware- ▪ Very secure

intensive ▪ Better performance

▪ Moresoftware ▪ Centralized backup

intensive
▪ very reliable
▪ Expensive dedicated
software
TYPESOF SERVERS
TYPESOF SERVERS
 File server: These servers provide the services for storing,
retrieving and moving the data. A user can read, write,
exchange and manage the files with the help of file servers.
 Printer server: The printer server is used for controlling and
managing printing on the network. It also offers the fax
service to the network users.
 Application server: The expensive software and additional
computing power can be shared by the computers in a
network with he help of application servers.
 Message server: It is used to co-ordinate the interaction
between users, documents and applications. The data can be
used in the for of audio, video, binary, text or graphics.
 Database server: It is a type of application server. It allows
the uses to accessthe centralised strong database.
TRANMISSIONMEDIA
 Two main categories:
Guided ― wires, cables
Unguided ― wireless transmission, e.g. radio,
microwave, infrared, sound, sonar
 We will concentrate on guided media here:
Twisted-Pair cables:
➢ Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP) cables
➢ Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP) cables
Coaxial cables
Fiber-optic cables
TRANMISSIONMEDIA
Twisted-Pair Cables
 If the pair of wires are not twisted, electromagnetic
noises from, e.g., motors, will affect the closer wire more
than the further one, thereby causing errors
 TRANMISSIONMEDIA
Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP)
 Typically wrapped inside a plastic cover (for mechanical
protection)
 A sample UTP cable with 5 unshielded twisted pairs of wires

Insulator Metal
TRANMISSIONMEDIA
Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP)
 STPcables are similar to UTP cables, except there is a
metal foil or braided-metal-mesh cover that encases
each pair of insulated wires
 TRANMISSIONMEDIA
Coaxial Cables
 In general, coaxial cables, or coax, carry signals of higher
freq (100KHz–500MHz) than UTP cables
 Outer metallic wrapping serves both as a shield against
noise and as the second conductor that completes the
circuit
 TRANMISSIONMEDIA
Fiber-Optic Cables
 Light travels at 3108 ms-1 in free space and is the fastest
possible speed in the Universe
 Light slows down in denser media, e.g. glass
 Refraction occurs at interface, with light bending away
from the normal when it enters a lessdensemedium

 Beyond the critical angle  total internal reflection

TRANMISSIONMEDIA

Fiber-Optic Cables
 An optical fiber consists of a core (denser material) and a
cladding (less dense material)
 Simplest one is a multimode step-index optical fiber
 Multimode = multiple paths, whereas step-index =
refractive index follows a step-function profile (i.e. an
abrupt change of refractive index between the core and
the cladding)
 Light bounces back and forth along the core
 Common light sources: LEDs and lasers
TOPOLOGY

• How somany computers are connected together?

Bus Topology Ring Topology

Star Topology

Hub
 TOPOLOGY
• Bus Topology
• Simple and low-cost
• A single cable called a trunk (backbone, segment)
• Only one computer can send messages at a time
• Passive topology - computer only listen for, not regenerate data

• Star Topology
• Each computer has a cable connected to a singlepoint
• More cabling, hence higher cost
• All signals transmission through the hub; if down, entire network
down
• Depending on the intelligence of hub, two or more computers may
send message at the same time
TOPOLOGY

• Ring Topology
• Every computer serves as a repeater to boostsignals
• Typical way to send data:
• Token passing
• only the computer who gets the token can send data

• Disadvantages
• Difficult to add computers
• More expensive
• If one computer fails, whole network fails
Tree topology:
A tree topology is a sort of structure in which each node is related to the others in
a hierarchy. In a topological hierarchy, there are at least three distinct levels.
Sometimes it is also called hierarchical topology as in this topology, all elements
are arranged like the branches of a tree.
There are several ways to define tree topology; such are as follows:
1. A tree topology combines several star topologies by connecting several
components to the centre node.
2. It may define by experts as tree topology is a combination of bus and star
topologies in which all nodes are attached with the help of a single central node.
3. Every node in this architecture is connected one to one in a hierarchy level, with
each neighbouring node on its lower level. Each secondary node has a point-to-
point link to the parent node, and all secondary nodes under its jurisdiction have
point-to-point connections to the tertiary nodes. When examined in a visual
sense, these systems resemble a tree structure.

The disadvantage of a tree topology is that if the primary node is damaged, the
entire system can be crippled, because all other nodes are connected to the
primary node.
Hybrid topology:
A hybrid topology is a kind of network topology that is a combination of two or
more network topologies, such as mesh topology, bus topology, and ring topology.
Its usage and choice are dependent on its deployments and requirements like the
performance of the desired network, and the number of computers, their location.

Advantages of Hybrid Topology:

1. This type of topology combines the benefits of different types of topologies in
one topology.
2. Can be modified as per requirement.
3. It is extremely flexible.
4. It is very reliable.
5. The speed of the topology becomes fast when two topologies are put together.

Disadvantages of Hybrid Topology :

1. It is a type of network expensive.
2. The design of a hybrid network is very complex.
3. There is a change in the hardware to connect one topology with another
topology.
4. Installation is a difficult process.
Mesh topology:
A mesh topology is a network setup where each computer and network device is
interconnected with one another. This topology setup allows for most transmissions to
be distributed even if one of the connections goes down. It is a topology commonly
used for wireless networks.

Advantages of a mesh topology

1. Manages high amounts of traffic, because multiple devices can transmit data
simultaneously.
2. A failure of one device does not cause a break in the network or transmission of
data.
3. Adding additional devices does not disrupt data transmission between other
devices.

Disadvantages of a mesh topology

The cost to implement is higher than other network topologies, making it a less
desirable option.
Building and maintaining the topology is difficult and time consuming.
The chance of redundant connections is high, which adds to the high costs and
potential for reduced efficiency.
Networking terms and concepts

Some of the most commonly used terms in day-to-day

networking life are as discussed below:
1. IP address:

An IP address or Internet Protocol is a unique number that

represents the address where you live on the Internet. Every
device that is connected to the network has a string of numbers
or IP addresses unlike house addresses.
You won't find two devices connected to a network with an
identical IP address. When your computer sends data to
another different, the sent data contains a 'header' that further
contains the devices' IP address, i.e., the source computer and
the destination device.
2. Nodes:

A node refers to a networking connection point

where a connection occurs inside a network that
further helps in receiving, transmitting, creating, or
storing files or data.
Multiple devices could be connected to the Internet
or network using wired or wireless nodes. To form a
network connection, one requires two or more
nodes where each node carries its unique
identification to obtain access, such as an
IP address. Some examples of nodes are computers,
printers, modems, switches, etc.
3. Routers:
A router is a physical networking device, which forwards data packets
between networks. Routers do the data analysis, perform the traffic
directing functions on the network, and define the top route for the data
packets to reach their destination node. A data packet may have to
surpass multiple routers present within the network until it reaches its
destination.

4. Switches:
In a computer network, a switch is a device that connects other devices
and helps in node-to-node communication by deciding the best way of
transmitting data within a network (usually if there are multiple routes
in a more extensive network).
Though a router also transmits information, it forwards the information
only between networks, whereas a switches forwards data between
nodes present in a single network.
Switching is further classified into three types, which are as follows:

1. Circuit Switching
2. Packet Switching
3. Message Switching

1. Circuit Switching: In this switching type, a secure communication path is

established between nodes (or the sender and receiver) in a network. It
establishes a dedicated connection path before transferring the data, and
this path assures a good transmission bandwidth and prevents any other
traffic from traveling on that path. For example, the Telephone network.

2. Packet Switching: With this technique, a message is broken into

independent components known as packets. Because of their small size,
each packet is sent individually. The packets traveling through the network
will have their source and destination IP address.

3. Message Switching: This switching technique uses the store and forward
mechanism. It sends the complete unit of the message from the source
node, passing from multiple switches until it reaches its intermediary
node. It is not suitable for real-time applications.
5. Ports:

A port allows the user to access multiple applications by identifying a

connection between network devices. Each port is allocated a set of string
numbers. If you relate the IP address to a hotel's address, you can refer to ports
as the hotel room number. Network devices use port numbers to decide which
application, service, or method is used to forward the detailed information or the
data.

6. Network cable types:

Network cables are used as a connection medium between different computers

and other network devices. Typical examples of network cable types
are Ethernet cables, coaxial, and fiber optic. Though the selection of cable type
usually depends on the size of the network, the organization of network
components, and the distance between the network devices.
Computer Networks and the Internet Protocol:

The Internet is the major example of a WAN, which connects billions of

computers globally. Internet follows standard protocols that facilitate
communication between these network devices. Those protocols include:
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
IP (Internet protocol or IP addresses)
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

ISPs (Internet Service Providers) NSPs (Network Service Providers) effectively

support the internet infrastructure. The infrastructure allows the
transportation of data packets to the recipient device over the Internet.
Internet is a giant hub of information, but this information is not sent to every
computer connected to the Internet. The protocols and infrastructure are
responsible for managing to share the precise information the user has
requested.