Chapter Two

Computer Networks Basics

ALEBACHEW D.
1
 Contents

• Network benefit and characteristics

01 – Reasons for studying
networks
– Internetwork
• Computer Network Architecture
02 – Computer network types

• Computer network components

• Network and internetworking

03 device
– Network topology

04 • Network protocols
Definition of Computer Networks

• Computer Network is a collection of autonomous

computers interconnected by a single technology.

• Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are

able to exchange information.
– The connection can be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves,
infrared, and communication satellites.

3
 Cont.…
• The objective of NW is to enable seamless
exchange of data between end users.
• Computer Network is all about sharing
Information & Resources amongst Users &
Devices within network.

4
 Internetwork
• is defined as two or more computer network LANs or
WAN, connected using devices, and they are
configured by a local addressing scheme.
• interconnection between public, private, commercial,
industrial, or government computer networks

5
 What are benefits of network?
• Strength business connections. Networking is about sharing, not
taking.
• Interconnected business contacts.
• Get career advice and support.
• Sharing a resource like a file, a folder, a printer, a disk drive or
just about anything else that exists on a computer
• Sharing of expensive software's and database.
• Connectivity: world ,country
• Reliability, Scalability, backup.
• E-commerce: amazon.com, ሶደሬ
• Increased Storage Capacity.

6
 The nodes of a computer network may include
personal computers, servers, networking HW, or
other specialized hosts.
 A Compute network should ensure:
 reliability of the data communication process
 security of the data
 performance by achieving higher throughput and
smaller delay.

7
 Computer Network Architecture
• Based on the type of computer in a network (configuration or
architecture), it divided into two broad categories.
– Peer-to-peer
– Client/Server
• Peer-to-peer
– There are no dedicated servers, and there is no hierarchy
among the computers.
– Each node considered as equal in terms of resource
sharing and responsibilities

8
 Cont….
pros
• Easy to set up
• Less expensive
• Demands moderate level of skill to administer
• User is able to control their own resources
Cons
• Only < 10 nodes
• Low performance
• low level security
• Files and folders cannot be centrally backed up
• Files and resources are not centrally organized
into a specific shared area

9
• Peer-to-peer networks are good choices for environments
where:
o There are 10 users or fewer
o Users share resources, such as printers, but no
specialised servers exist
o Security is not an issue
o The organization and the network will experience
only limited growth within the foreseeable future

10
• Client Server Model
– Consists of a group clients connected to a server.
– Server with more RAM, larger hard disk, more
processing power…
– A server performs all the major operations such as
security and network management.

11
Advantages of client/server architecture
– Sharing Resources
– Back up the data easily.
– High Performance
– Security
– speed
Disadvantage of client/server architecture
– More complex to install, configure, and manage
– Expensive (large memory, NOS)
– Require skill – administrator

12
Types of Network
• Networks may be classified according to a wide
variety of characteristics.
– such as Size, Architecture, Topology, etc.
• Based on size, there are Four types of network: -

13
 Cont…
Personal Area Network (PAN): used for communicating
among computers and computer devices (including telephones)
in close proximity of around a few meters within a room
oe.g. a wireless network connecting a computer and
printer

14
 Cont…
 Local Area Network (LAN):
 Its smaller in size usually privately owned and
links devices in a single office, building or
campus.
 LAN works under its own local domain and controlled
centrally.
 Data speed of 10 Mb/s to 10 GB/s.
 Easy to maintenance.
 It has low BW and high DR.

15
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): designed to
extend over an entire city; it may be a single
network or interconnected LANs. covers large
geographic area like city.
• 5 to 50 KM in range
• small village or collage and it is speed range from
155 Mb/s to 10 GB/s.

16
 Wide Area Network (WAN):
oSpans huge geographic area which may span across larger
area and even a whole country, continent
oConnecting computers and covers a wide geographical area
and it is contain a few smaller networks such as LANs,
MANs. Ex, Internet
oOwnership of WAN is either private or public

17
 Computer network components
• Comprise both physical parts as well as the
software required for installing computer networks
• The HW components are the server, client, peer,
transmission medium, and connecting devices.
• SW components are NOS and protocols.

18
 Cont…
HW Components:
– NIC
• used to connect a computer with a NW.
• NIC provides the physical interface between computer
and cabling support a transfer rate of 100 to 1000
Mb/s.

19
 Cont…
• Software Components
– NOS− is typically installed in the server and facilitate
workstations in a network to share files, DB, applications,
printers etc.
– Protocol − is a rule or guideline followed by each computer
for data communication.

20
 Network and internetworking device

• Used for interconnect public, private, commercial,

industrial, or government computer networks .
A. Repeater
• operates at the physical layer.
• Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same network
• It is a 2 port device.
• Extending the geographical LAN range

21
 B. Hub
 multiport repeater
 It cannot filter data, so data packets are sent to all
connected devices
 It broadcast the request to the entire network.
– Acts on the physical layer
– Operate on bits rather than frames

22
 Type of Hub
– Active Hub- have their own power supply and can clean,
boost, and relay the signal along with the network.
• It serves both as a repeater as well as a wiring center.
– Passive Hub-collect wiring from nodes and power supply
from the active hub.
• These hubs relay signals onto the network without cleaning and
boosting them and can’t be used to extend the distance between
nodes.
– Intelligent Hub-includes remote management capabilities.
They also provide flexible data rates to network devices.
• It also enables an administrator to monitor the traffic passing through
the hub and to configure each port in the hub.

23
 Bridge
– connects two similar network segments together.
– It operates at the data link layer
– filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of source and
destination.
– It has a single input and single output port
– can’t connect dissimilar network types or perform
intelligent path selection

24
 Switch
• It is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that
can boost its efficiency (a large number of ports imply
less traffic) and performance
• data link layer device
• can perform error checking before forwarding data
• delivers the message to the correct destination based
on MAC address
• does not broadcast the message to the entire network

25
 Cont…
• Therefore, switch provides a direct connection
between the source and destination.
• It increases the speed of the network.

26
 Router
• It is a Layer 3 device that has much more
intelligence than a hub or switch
• It determines the best path from the available paths
for the transmission of the packet.
• routes data packets based on their IP addresses
• connect LANs and WANs together

27
Advantages of Router
• Security
• Reliability
• Performance

28
 Gateway
• It is any hardware and software combination that
connects dissimilar network environments.
• most complex of network devices because they
perform translations at multiple layers of the OSI
model.
• It acts as a "gate" between two networks. It may
be a router, firewall, server, or other device that
enables traffic to flow in and out of the network.

29
Cont…

30
Network Topology
 Topology refers to the way in which multiple devices are
interconnected via communication links.
 There are two types of topology: physical and logical.
o Physical Topology
 Refers to the arrangement or physical layout of
computers, cables, and other components on the
network
 Can be referred as Physical layout, Design, Diagram,
Map
o Logical topology
 It is logical flow of information in the network.
31
• The choice of one topology over another will have an impact on the
o Types of equipment that the network needs
o Growth of the network – scalability
o The Way the network managed
 There are five main network topologies;
A. Bus Topology
B. Ring Topology
C. Mesh Topology
D. Star Topology
E. Hybrid Topology

32
A. Bus Topology

• all the stations are connected through a single

cable known as a backbone cable.
• All nodes (file server, workstations, and
peripherals) are connected to the backbone
cable.

Terminator

33
Advantages of Bus Topology

• Scalable: Easy to connect a computer or

peripheral to a linear bus.
• Low cost
• Failure of a single node does not terminate the
network
• If a cable that connect the nodes with the
backbone fails, the network does not fail

34
Disadvantage of bus topology

• Entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main cable

(backbone).
• Terminators are required at both ends of the backbone cable.
– Absorbs signal reaching the end of the cable; thus avoiding reflection
of the signal back in to the system and prevent collusion with regular
traffic.

• Difficult to identify the problem if the entire network shuts

down.
• Less secure

35
B. Ring Topology
• All microcomputers and other communication devices
are connected in a continuous loop.
• Electronic messages are passed around the ring in one
direction, with each node serving as the repeater, until
they reach the right destination.
• Since, all messages are flowing in only one direction;
failure of a single node can compromise the entire
network.

36
 Cont…
• The most common access method of the ring
topology is token passing.
– Token passing: It is a network access method in which
token is passed from one node to another node.
– Token: It is a frame that circulates around the network.

37
Advantages of a Ring Topology

• Network Management-Faulty devices can be removed

from the network without bringing the network down
• Low cost- installation cost is very low
• Reliable- communication system is not dependent on
the single host computer
Disadvantages of a Ring Topology
• Difficult to setup
• If any computer/cable in the ring fails, the whole
network goes down.
• Reconfiguration difficult
• Delay
38
C. Star Topology

• designed with each node connected directly to a

central network hub or switch or central
computer.
• Data passes through the central device before
continuing to its destination.
• The hub or concentrator manages and controls
all functions of the network.
• most popular topology in
network implementation

39
Advantages of star topology

• Easy to install and wire.

• No disruptions to the network when
connecting or removing devices.
• Easy to detect faults and to remove parts.
• Easily scalable, i.e., you can add a node
easily
• Failure of a single computer/cable does not
affect the rest of the network

40
Disadvantages of star topology

• Requires more cable length than a bus

topology.
• If the central device fails, all nodes attached
are disabled.

41
D. Mesh Topology

• each of the network node, computer and other

devices, are interconnected with one another.
• Every node not only sends its own signals but
also relays data from other nodes.
• This type of topology is very expensive as there
are many redundant connections, thus it is not
mostly used in computer networks.
• mainly used for wireless networks

42
 Cont…
• Number of cables = (n*(n-1))/2, Where n is the
number of nodes that represents the network.

43
Advantages of Mesh topology
• Reliable.
• Fast Communication.
• Easier Reconfiguration
Disadvantages of Mesh topology
• high chances of redundancy
• High cost
• Set-up and maintenance of this topology is very
difficult.

44
E. Hybrid Topology
• When two or more different topologies are
combined together forms Hybrid topology.

45
 Hybrid Topology

Advantage Dis advantage

• Reliable. • Complex design
• Scalable • Costly infrastructure
• Flexible
• Effective

46
Group discussion

• If school of computing asks you to configure

network to all the offices and laboratory classes
– which topology do you prefer and why?

47
Network protocols

48
Elements of a Protocol
• Syntax: -It means the structure or format of the data.
• Semantics: - It tells the meaning of each section of bits
and indicates the interpretation of each section.
• Timing: - It tells the sender about the readiness of the
receiver to receive the data.
Example: - FTP, HTTP, SSH, TCP, IP.

49
THANK
YOU! `
?