12/13/2010

INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION

DATA COMMUNICATION
&NETWORK
CHAPTER 02
OPEN SYSTEMS NETWORK MODELS

DATA COMMUNICATION & NETWORK

What is computer network

A computer network consists of two or more computers that are

linked in order to share resources (such as information or data, printers, cd,
scanners.etc), exchange files or allow electronic communications.
The computers on a network can be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio
waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.
The three types of computer networks are:
LOCAL AREA NETWORKS. (LAN)
METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK (MAN)
WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN).

Group of computers called Network of computers only if Computers are

connected via Cables and Wireless. After connecting Computers they can share
data files, printing jobs and even internet connection with each other. If you
have internet connection only in one computer then you can share that
connection with every computer connected to the network. If you have one
printer installed in your network then every computer and user from network
can send printing jobs to that printer if its shared printer.

2.1. Introduction
2.2. Data Topologies
2.3. Data switching
2.4. Types of Networking

1.

Local area networks (LAN):

LOCAL AREA NETWORK IS A NETWORK CONSISTING OF
TWO OR MORE COMPUTERS THAT ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER WITHIN SMALL
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA SUCH AS A LAB, SCHOOL, BUILDING .ECT. THE
COMPUTERS ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK CAN BE LINKED THROUGH CABLES,
TELEPHONE LINES & RADUO WAVES.

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network system in which computers

interconnected in a limited geographical area, such as network of computers in
college, network of computers in laboratory or network of computers in office
building.etc. LANs designed to allow resources (such as printers and
application programs, secondary storage etc.) to be shared between personal
computers or workstations. The size LAN is limited to a few hundreds of meters.
The computers used in LAN also require network interface cards. A network
interface card enables the computer to send and to receive information over a
cable network. In a LAN, the nodes are connected via cables. A LAN may use
the star topology, ring topology or bus topology. In general, a LAN uses only
one type of transmission medium. The data transmission rate through LAN is
very fast. Today, the data transmission rate over LAN is up to 100 mega bits per second
(Mbps)

In networked environment, a powerful computer called the Server

computer is used to control all the computers connected to the
network. So the important data (database) is stored on the central
server and they can be shared between users when needed. The
devices other than server within the network are called nodes. A node
may be a personal computer, printer, storage device, monitor etc.

12/13/2010

2.

Metropolitan area network (MAN):

Metropolitan area network is a network consisting of two or more

computers that are connected together within large geographical area
such as a town, city, and metropolitan city. The computers on a local
area network can be linked through cables, telephone lines.
A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is a network system that covers area of a
single city. Usually, MAN connects more than one LANS in a city or town and
covers a smaller geographical area than a WAN. For example, a company may
design a MAN by connecting all the LANs in all its office throughout the city. The
cable television, telephone companies OR local corporations use MAN.

12/13/2010

Wide area network (WAN)

Wide area network is a network consisting of two or more computers
that are connected together within very large geographical area such as
different cities of country or different countries of the world. The
computers on a local area network can be linked through cables,
telephone lines or satellites

3.

A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network system that covers a very large
(wide) geographical area such as different cities of country or different
countries of the world. Most telephone companies are WANs. A WAN that is
wholly owned and used by a single company is often referred to as enterprise
network.
The electronic device modem is used computers establish communication over
long distance through telephone line. A modem converts the digital signals into
analog signals and vice versa. The modem enables the computer to send and to
receive information over long distance through telephone line or microwave
system.

The analog signal

(audible)
is sent through
telephone lines.
011010001

Digital signal

This modem converts

digital to analog.

MODEM

MODEM

011010001

Digital signal

This modem converts

analog to digital.

12/13/2010

Data Communications over Standard Telephone Lines - Choosing a Modem

When choosing a modem, consider the following factors:
Transmission speed - the speed at which the modem sends data - which

is measured in bits per second (bps) .

Data compression, the technology the modem uses to shrink data so it

can be transmitted faster.

Error correction, the method the modem

uses to ensure data is sent

and received without errors.
Internal versus external, which describes whether or not the modem fits
inside the PC case.

12/13/2010

Advantages of installing a network:

Internal
Modem

External
Modem

1.

RESOURCE SHARING: The computers on a network share different

resources that are available on the network such as printers, scanners,
informationect.

2.

COST CUTTING : Having a computer network can help an organization to

cut the unnecessary operating costs such unnecessary transportation, manual
transferring of dataetc.

3.

SECURITY: Files & programmes on a network can be designated as copy

protected or copy inhibit so that you do not have to worry about illegal
coping of programmes & data.

4.

SPEED : Networks must provide a very rapid method (very fast) for sharing
& transferring files. Without a network files are shared by copying them to
floppy disks, cd etc.

5.

FLEXIBLE ACCESS: The network users must be able to access their files &
data from computers throughout the network where ever they where.

6.

Simultaneous Access
Shared Peripheral Devices

7.

The Uses of a Network - Simultaneous Access

In organizations, many people may need to use the same data or

programs. A network solves this problem.

Shared data and programs can be stored on a central network server. A

server that stores data files may be called a file server.

Managers may assign access rights to users. Some users may only be

Read only

able to read data, others may be able to make changes to existing files.

Disadvantages of installing a network:

1.

EXPENSIVE TO INSTALL: Although a network will generally save money

2.

REQUIRES ADMINISTRATIVE TIME: Proper maintenance of a network

over time, the initial costs of installation can be expensive. Cables, network
cards and software can be expensive
requires considerable time & expertise. For example many schools have
installed a network, only to find that they did not budget for the necessary
administrative support.

3.

FILE SERVER MY FAIL: Although a file server is no more susceptible to

4.

CABLES MAY BREAK: Some of the configurations are designed to minimize

failure than any other computer, when the server goes down (server fails) the
entire network may come to a halt (stop). When this happens, the entire
organization may lose access to necessary programs, files &data.
the inconvenience of broken cables. Some of the configurations are designed
to minimize the inconvenience of broken cables. With other configurations
one broken cable can stop the entire network because that depends on the
topology type used.

Read/write

NETWORK ARCHITECTURE or network technology:

Network technology can be any one of the following:
1. Peer-to-Peer Network.
2. Client/Server Network.
1- Client/Server Network: In Client/Server network, the clients are the
nodes or computers on the network and a Server is a central computer
that controls the network (all the other computers). A server, sometimes
called the host compute controls the, hardware and software on the
network and provides a centralized storage area for programs and data
in Client/Server arrangement, processing is usually done by the Server,
and only the results are sent to the client. Here there is a computer that
controls all the rest of computers & has all the data stored on it.

The clients request the Server to access, to store or to process data. This type
of arrangement requires special software for both individual nodes and the
Server. Client/Server network CAN be LAN or WAN.

12/13/2010

Local area network is a client/server network only if we assigned on computer as a

server (if we made a computer as a server by installing server software on it like
2003 server OS) then the local area network is not peer-to-peer & its a client
server -local area network.
2.

Peer-to-Peer Network:
Peer-to-peer (p2p) network is also known
as workgroup. in this arrangement all nodes (all computers) on the
network have equal status or relationships with each other. Each
computer stores files on its own storage devices or resources as and
when required. Here there is no computer that controls all the
rest of computers & has all the data stored on it.

Peer-to-peer network is used in small offices or schools, where primary

purpose of the network is to share storage and printers & no centralized

control, database are required.
Local area network is a peer-to-peer network always BUT only if we
assigned on computer as a server (if we mad a computer as a server)
then the local area network is not peer-to-peer & its a client serverlocal area network.

NETWORK TOPOLOGY:
Network Topology: Is the arrangement of the nodes of the network. In
networking, the term topology is the way of connecting computers or nodes on
a network.There are many ways in which computers are connected together in a
computer network. Therefore network topology is defined as: the
schemes of joining a number of computers in the form of a network are
called Network Topologies
The example of this is LAN, MAN, WAN .In Computer Networking

Topology refers to the layout of the connected devices. Topologies can

be physical or logical. The physical and logical topologies might be
identical in any particular network but they may be different also.
The network topology is determined by the mapping of the physical or
logical connections between nodes graphically.

Following are some different types of basic Topologies:

1. BUS TOPOLOGY
2. RING TOPOLOGY
3. STAR TOPOLOGY
4. MESH TOPOLOGY
5.

HYBRID TOPOLOGY

NOTE:
When we think of the complex networks we can make use of more than

two network topologies as Hybrids.

A computer network topology is the physical communication

scheme used by connected devices. These pages illustrate the

common computer network topologies including bus, ring and
star topology diagrams. More complex networks can be built as
hybrids of two or more of these basic topologies.

12/13/2010

BUS TOPOLOGY: In bus network, all nodes are connected to a

common communication medium or central cable. The central physical
cable that connects the nodes is called Bus. The data is communicated
between nodes in both directions through bus. A bus topology uses
the multipoint connection. The central single cable (or bus) acts as
backbone to link all the devices to the network.
In bus network, when a computer sends a message to another computer
it also attaches the address of the destination computer. In bus
topology, a special device called a terminator is attached at the cables
start and end points. A terminator stops the network signals.
1.

A device which wants to communicate to other device sends a broadcast

message on to the communication path; this message is read by every node in the
network. It checks for which node
it was intended and only the destination message actually accepts that message
and interprets it. This topologies are easy to install as it doesnt require too much
of cabling. It works best when number of PC are less in the network.
Performance is the issue when the nodes grow and if the
backbone fails the whole network fails.

Advantages:
The main advantages of bus topology are:
1.
2.
3.

It is less expensive and easy to install and maintain.

When nodes are added and removed to and from the network, the
network is not affected.
If one node fails other nodes are not affected.

Disadvantages:
1.
2.
3.

The main disadvantages of bus topology are:

It supports only a small number of nodes.
Entire network fails if there is any problem in the central cable.

RING TOPOLOGY: In this mapping of network each device has two

neighbors for communication purpose. In ring topology, the last node
connects to the first node to complete the ring. The message travels to
each node or computer until it reaches its destination. In ring
topology, each node has a dedicated point-to-point connection only
with the two devices on either side of it.
The message travels through the ring in either clockwise or anti-clockwise
direction. Found in some offices and schools.In this network, data is
communicated in one direction from node to node around the
entire ring. When a computer in ring network sends message
to another computer on the network, the message travels to
each node or computer until it reaches its destination. The ring
network configuration is shown in figure below.
2.

1.

Advantages
The main advantages of ring topology are:
It is less expensive than star topology.
3. Nodes can be easily added or removed.
Disadvantages
1.
2.

1.
2.
3.

The main disadvantages of ring topology are:

It is more difficult to install and maintain.
If a node fails, it affects the entire network.

12/13/2010

Advantages
STAR TOPOLOGY: In a star network, All the devices are connected
or all nodes (computers or other devices) are directly connected to the
central Hub or switch. That provides connection points for ALL nodes
on the network. The star topology is the most common topology in
use today. In star network, information or data is communicated from
one computer to another through Hub.
This network topology introduces a new node called as HUB
in the network. It can be Router, Switch or HUB.
This topology Compared to Bus & ring topologies it requires more cables,
however the performance is better than bus and ring. The
whole network fails when only the central Hub fails. And the
failure in a cable will take down only one PC and not the
entire network as in the bus or ring.
3.

The main advantages of star topology are:

1. It is easy to install and to maintain.
2. You can easily add and remove nodes to and from the network without
affecting the network.
3. If any node fails, other nodes are not affected.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of star topology are:
1. This type of network depends upon the central Hub. If Hub fails the
entire network is failed.
2. Each computer is directly connected to the Hub through a cable, so it
becomes more costly.

12/13/2010

12/13/2010

10

12/13/2010

MESH TOPOLOGY: In mesh network, each node is directly

connected to all nodes on the network. This type of network involves
the concept of routes. In this type of network, each node may send
message to destination through multiple paths. It means that each
node of mesh network has several possible paths to send (or to
receive) message, but in Bus, Star, Ring and Tree topologies each node
has only one path.
his topology the concept of route is introduced. In this topology the data passed
on to the network can take several paths to reach the destinations, unlike the
other topologies. Here every device is connected to every other
device on the network called as Full Mesh.
we can summarize this topologies, we can build a home or a small business
network without understanding of the topologies, however if we understand
each topology in a better way it can definitely help us in building a good
network. A miss configured network can result in a waste of time and energy as
well as a lot of troubleshooting methods to resolve the issue. So the basic
understanding of the network topologies and network devices is a must to build
a good network.
4.

Advantages
Mesh topology has the following advantages:
1. It has multiple links, so if one route is blocked then other routes can be
used for data communication.
2. Each connection can have its own data load, so the traffic problem is
eliminated.
3. It ensures the data privacy or security, because every message travels
along a dedicated link.
4. Troubleshooting of this topology is easy as compared to other
networks.
5. Its performance is not affected with heavy load of data transmission.

disadvantages:
Mesh topology has the following disadvantages:
1. It becomes very expensive because a large number of cabling and 110
ports are required.
2. It is difficult to install.

5.

Hybrid network is the

combination of different topologies such as star,
Ring, Mesh, Bus etc. For example, if a department uses a
HYBRID TOPOLOGY:

Bus network, second department uses the ring network,

third department uses the Mesh network and fourth
department uses the star network. All the networks of
different types (of four departments) can be connected
together through a central hub (in the form of star
network) as shown in the figure below.

11

12/13/2010

SOME TYPES OF TOPOLOGIES

12

12/13/2010

DATA COMMUNICATION
&NETWORK
END of CHAPTER 01
INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

13