Computer Networks

Ch.1: Computer Networks and the

Internet

Prepared By
Dr. Ibrahim Attiya
© 2023 NMU
 Student Assessment Criteria
✓ Assignments 10 Points
✓ Quizzes 10 Points
✓ Mid-Term Exam 20 Points
✓ Project/Practical 20 Points
✓ Final Exam 40 Points
►Good attendance is VERY important.
 Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students should be able to:
❑ Describe how computer networks are organized
with the concept of layered approach.
❑ Describe, analyze and evaluate a number of
datalink, network, and transport layer protocols.
❑ Implement a simple LAN with hubs, bridges and
switches.
❑ Design, analyze, and evaluate networks and
services for LANs, WANs, data centers, and IoT.
❑ Evaluate the challenges in building networks and
solutions to those.
 Ch.1: Outline
❑ Data Communications
❑ Networks
❑ Network Topology
❑ Network Types
❑ Protocol Layering
❑ TCP/IP Protocol Suite
❑ The OSI Model
❑ Internet History
 Data Communications
➢Data communication is the exchange of data
between two devices via some form of
transmission media.
➢The effectiveness of a data communications
system depends on four fundamental
characteristics:
▪ Delivery
▪ Accuracy
▪ Timeliness
▪ Jitter
 Data Communications
▪ Delivery. The system must deliver data to the
correct destination.
▪ Accuracy. The system must deliver the data
accurately.
▪ Timeliness. The system must deliver data in a
timely manner. Data delivered late are useless.
▪ Jitter. Jitter refers to the variation in the packet
arrival time. It is the uneven delay in the
delivery of audio or video packets.
 Data Communications
➢A data communications system has five
components:
▪ Message
▪ Sender
▪ Receiver
▪ Transmission Medium
▪ Protocol
 Communications System
Components
▪ Message. The message is the information (data)
to be communicated.
▪ Sender. The sender is the device that sends the
data message.
▪ Receiver. The receiver is the device that
receives the message.
▪ Transmission medium. The transmission
medium is the physical path by which a message
travels from sender to receiver.
▪ Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern
data communications.
 Data Flow
➢Communication between two devices can be
simplex, half-duplex, and duplex as shown
below.
 Data Flow
▪ Simplex. In simplex mode the communication is
in one direction. Only one of the two devices on
a link can transmit; the other can only receive.
▪ Half-duplex. In half-duplex, each station can
send or receive, but not at the same time.
▪ Duplex. In full-duplex, both stations can send or
receive at the same time. One common example
of full-duplex communication is the telephone
network.
 Networks
➢A network is the interconnection of a set of
devices capable of communication.
▪ In this definition, a device can be a host such as
a large computer, desktop, laptop, workstation,
cellular phone, or security system.
▪ A device in this definition can also be a
connecting device such as a router a switch, a
modem that changes the form of data, and so on.
 Network Criteria
➢A network must be able to meet a certain
number of criteria. The most important of
these are: performance, reliability, and
security.
▪ Performance. It can be measured in many ways,
including transit time and response time. Transit
time is the amount of time required for a
message to travel from one device to another.
Response time is the elapsed time between an
inquiry and a response.
 Network Criteria
▪ Reliability. In addition to accuracy of delivery,
network reliability is measured by the frequency
of failure, the time it takes a link to recover from
a failure, and the network’s robustness in a
catastrophe.
▪ Network security. Security issues include
protecting data from unauthorized access,
protecting data from damage and development,
and implementing policies and procedures for
recovery from breaches and data losses.
 Types of Connection
➢ A network is two or more devices connected
through links.
➢ A link is a communications pathway that transfers
data from one device to another.
➢ There are two possible types of connections: point-
to-point and multipoint.
 Types of Connection
▪ A point-to-point connection provides a
dedicated link between two devices. The entire
capacity of the link is reserved for transmission
between those two devices.
▪ A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection
is one in which more than two devices share a
single link. In a multipoint environment, the
capacity of the channel is shared, either spatially
or temporally.
 Physical Topology
➢The term physical topology refers to the way
in which a network is laid out physically.
➢The topology of a network is the geometric
representation of the relationship of all the
links and linking devices (usually called
nodes) to one another.
➢There are four basic topologies possible:
mesh, star, bus, and ring.
 Physical Topology
➢ In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated
point-to-point link to every other device.
➢ The term dedicated means that the link carries
traffic only between the two devices it connects.

A fully
connected
mesh
topology
 Physical Topology
➢In a star topology, each device has a
dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller, usually called a hub. The devices
are not directly linked to one another.

A star
topology
 Physical Topology
➢A bus topology, on the other hand, is
multipoint. One long cable acts as a
backbone to link all the devices in a network.
➢Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop
lines and taps.

A bus topology
 Physical Topology
➢In a ring topology, each device has a
dedicated point-to-point connection with
only the two devices on either side of it.
➢A signal is passed along the ring in one
direction, from device to device, until it
reaches its destination.
 Network Types
➢Different types of networks are:
▪ Local Area Network (LAN).

▪ Wide Area Network (WAN).

• Point-to-Point WAN

• Switched WAN

▪ Internetwork.
 Local Area Network (LAN)
➢A local area network (LAN) is usually
privately owned and connects some hosts in
a single office, building, or campus.
➢Each host in a LAN has an identifier, which
is an address that uniquely defines the host in
the LAN.
➢A packet sent by a host to another host
carries both the source host’s and the
destination host’s addresses.
Local Area Network (LAN)

An isolated LAN in the past and today

 Wide Area Network (WAN)
➢A wide area network (WAN) is also an
interconnection of devices capable of
communication.
▪ However, there are some differences between a
LAN and a WAN. A LAN is normally limited in
size, spanning an office, a building, or a campus;
a WAN has a wider geographical span, spanning
a town, a state, a country, or even the world.
▪ A LAN interconnects hosts; a WAN
interconnects connecting devices such as
switches, routers, or modems.
 Wide Area Network (WAN)
➢We see two distinct examples of WANs
today: point-to-point WANs and switched
WANs.
▪ A point-to-point WAN is a network that connects
two communicating devices through a
transmission medium (cable or air).
▪ A switched WAN is a network with more than
two ends. It is used in the backbone of a global
communications network today.
Wide Area Network (WAN)

A point-to-point WAN

A switched WAN
 Internetwork
➢Today, it is very rare to see a LAN or a WAN
in isolation; they are connected to one
another.
➢When two or more networks are connected,
they make an internetwork, or internet.

An internetwork made of two LANs and one WAN

 Internetwork

A heterogeneous network made of WANs and LANs

 Switching
➢ In fact, an internet is a switched network in
which a switch connects at least two links
together.
➢ A switch needs to forward data from a link to
another link when required.
➢ The two most common types of switched
networks are:
▪ Circuit-switched networks.

▪ Packet-switched networks.
Any Questions?