CN1047 INTRODUCTION

TO COMPUTER
NETWORKING

CHAPTER 1
BASIC CONCEPTS OF
NETWORK
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 USE OF
COMPUTER NETWORK
 Business Applications
🞑 online buying
 Home Applications
🞑 mail, chat
 Mobile Users
🞑 wireless: laptops, PDA, mobile, in
plane
 Social Issues
THE USE OF
COMPUTER NETWORK

• Sharing information — i.e. data

communication

• Do you prefer these?

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

• Centralize administration and support

• E.g. Internet-based, so everyone 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) on
each computer
 Switches
 Software called operating system(OS)
NETWORK
BENEFITS
 The network provided to the users can
be divided into two categories:
i. Sharing
ii. Connectivity
SHARING
RESOURCES
 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
DISDAVATAGES OF
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 such as 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 uses similar technology as LAN.
 It can be a single network such as cable TV
network, or a measure of connecting a
number of LAN’s o a large network
so that 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
Communication PSTN or cables,
Coaxial cable PSTN, optical
medium satellite
links fibre, cables,
wireless

Bandwidth Low High moderate

Data
High Low moderate
rates(speed
NETWORK CLASSIFICATION BY
THEIR COMPONENT ROLE

LOCAL AREA
NETWORK

PEER TO PEER CLIENT SERVER

NETWORK NETWORK
PEER TO 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
less than 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 less expensive  Not very secure
computer hardware  No central point of
 Easy to administer storage or file
 No NOS required archiving
 More built in
 Additional load on
redundancy computer because
of resource sharing
 Easy setup & low
cost
 Hard to maintain
version control
CLIENT/SERVER
NETWORK
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-SERVER NETWORK
Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Very secure  requires
 Better performance professional
administration
 Centralized backup
 More hardware-
 very reliable
intensive
 More
software
intensive
 Expensive
dedicated software
TYPES OF
SERVERS
TYPES OF
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 access the centralised strong database.
TRANMISSION
MEDIA
 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
TRANMISSION
MEDIA
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
 TRANMISSION
MEDIA
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
TRANMISSION
MEDIA
Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP)
 STP cables are similar to UTP cables, except there is
a metal foil or braided-metal-mesh cover that
encases each pair of insulated wires
TRANMISSION
MEDIA
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
TRANMISSION
MEDIA
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 less dense medium

 Beyond the critical angle  total internal

TRANMISSION
MEDIA
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
TOPOLOG
Y
• How so many computers are connected
together? Bus Topology Ring
Topology

Star
Topology
Hub
TOPOLOG
Y
• 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 single point
• 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
TOPOLOG
Y
• Ring Topology
• Every computer serves as a repeater to boost signals
• 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