Computer Network
Computer Network
• LAN may be extended up to 1 km. Data transfer in LAN is quite high, and usually
varies from 10 Mbps (called Ethernet) to 1000 Mbps (called Gigabit Ethernet),
where Mbps stands for Megabits per second.
2) Client/Server Network
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Network Architecture
In P2P or Peer-to-Peer network, each node can receive from exactly one sender
and each sender sends to exactly one receiver. Sending and receiving can be done
on separate wires or they can take turns over the same wire using a variety of
techniques.
program at one end (client) requests a service from a program at the other end
(server). It is a network architecture which separates the client from the server.
client. In this architecture, client acts as the active device and server behaves as
passively.
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Switching Techniques
Switching techniques are used for transmitting data across
networks.
Twisted pair cable is a type of wiring where pairs of insulated copper wires are
twisted together. Twisted pair cables are widely used in telecommunications and
A coaxial cable is a type of electrical cable that has a central conductor, usually a
tubular conducting shield. It's designed with these layers to carry high-frequency
2) Coaxial Cable:
Advantages of Co-axial Cable
• Transmission quality of co-axial cable is better than twisted pair cable.
• It can be successfully used for shared cable network.
• It can transmit several channels simultaneously, so that used for broadband
transmission.
• It offers high bandwidth.
Disadvantages of Co-axial Cable
• It is expensive compared to twisted pair cable.
• These are difficult to manage and reconfigure as compared to twisted pair cable.
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Guided Media or Wired Technology
3) Optical Fibre Cable:
Optical fibers work by guiding light through the core (inner part) of the
fiber, using the principle of total internal reflection. The core is
surrounded by a cladding layer that reflects light back into the core,
allowing the light signals to travel without much loss or interference.
They are widely used in telecommunications, internet communications,
and networking due to their ability to transmit large amounts of data
over vast distances with minimal signal degradation. Optical fibers
revolutionized communication by providing faster, more reliable, and
higher-capacity data transmission compared to traditional copper wires.
1) Bluetooth
It is used for exchanging data over a short distance from fixed and mobile devices. The name
bluetooth is derived from Harald Bluetooth, a king in Denmark.
Advantages of Bluetooth
• We are able to share data without any cord.
• We are able to share data without disclosing our private data.
• We can use bluetooth on many different devices, as it is available in all devices such as laptops,
cell phones, music players, hand sets, printers and a lot more other products.
Disadvantages of Bluetooth
• Battery consumption
• Data transfer is very slow
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
2) Infrared
It is the frequency of light that is not visible to human eye. These high
frequencies allow high speed data transmission. Infrared communication
requires a transceiver (a combination of transmitter and receiver) in both devices
that communicate. Infrared communication is playing an important role in
wireless data communication due to the popularity of laptop computers,
personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, mobile phones, pagers and
other devices but being a line-of-sight transmission, it is sensitive to fog and
other atmospheric conditions.
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
2) Infrared
Advantages of Infrared
• Power consumption is less.
• Circuitry cost is less.
• Circuitry is simple.
• Secure mode of transmission.
Disadvantages of Infrared
• Line of sight, need to be in a straight line for communication.
• Limited in a short range.
• Can be blocked by common materials like walls, people, plants, etc.
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
3) Radio wave
When two terminals communicate by using radio frequencies, then
such type of communication is known as radiowave transmission.
Radiowave transmission set-up has two parts; Transmitter and
Receiver.
(i) Devices which transmits signals are termed as transmitter.
(ii) Devices which receives signals are termed as receiver.
Both the transmitter and receiver use antennas to radiate and
capture the radio signal.
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
3) Radio wave
Advantages of Radiowave
• Cheaper than wired network.
• Provides mobility.
• Easy to use over difficult terrain.
Disadvantages of Radiowave
• Insecure communication can be easily taped.
• It is affected by the weather conditions such as rain, storms,
thunder, etc.
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
4) Microwave
It permits data transmission rates of about 16 gigabits per second. This type of transmission
uses high frequency radio signals to transmit data through space. Like radio waves,
microwaves can pass through obstacles viz. buildings, mountains etc. Microwaves offer a line
of sight method of communication.
A transmitter and receiver of a microwave system are mounted on very high towers and both
should be visible to each other (line of sight). In case of microwave transmission, curvature of
the earth, mountains and other structures often block the line of sight. Hence several repeater
stations are required for long distance transmission thereby increasing the cost considerably.
It is generally used for long distance telephonic communications.
4) Microwave
Advantages of Microwave
• Microwave transmission does not require the expense of laying cables.
• It can carry 25000 voice channels at the same time.
• Since no cables are to be laid down so it offers ease of communication over
difficult terrains like hilly areas.
4) Microwave
Disadvantages of Microwave
• Signals become weak after travelling a certain distance and require
amplification. To overcome this problem, repeaters are used at regular
intervals (25-30 kms). The data signals are received, amplified and then
retransmitted. This makes it a very expensive mode of communication.
• Installation and maintenance of microwave links is very expensive.
• The transmission is affected by weather conditions like rain, thunderstorms etc.
5) Satellite Communication
Satellites are an essential part of telecommunications systems worldwide. They can carry a
large amount of data in addition to TV signals. When the data is transmitted using satellite
then it is said to be satellite communication. Satellite communication is a special use of
microwave transmission system. A satellite is placed precisely at 36000 km above the equator
where its orbit speed exactly matches the earth’s rotation speed. Hence it always stays over
the same point with respect to the earth. This allows the ground station to aim its antenna at a
fixed point in the sky.
Satellites are especially used for remote locations, which are difficult to reach with wired
infrastructure. Also communication and data transfer on Internet, is only possible through
satellites.
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Unguided Media or Wireless Technologies
5) Satellite Communication
Advantages of Satellite Communication
• It covers a vast range of area.
• The wired communication is almost impossible and too costly to use across the
continents, where the satellite communication proves to be the best alternative.
• It is very useful in long distance television distribution.
• Earth station, which receives the signals can be fixed position or relatively
mobile.
5) Satellite Communication
Disadvantages of Satellite Communication
• It is very costly. So, it is not used for personal or low budget communication.
• There is atmospheric loss of transmitted signals.
• Due to low antenna signals, bandwidth are over crowded.
• Ethernet Card
An ethernet card is a kind of network adapter. These adapters support the
ethernet standard for high-speed network connections via cables. Ethernet cards
are sometimes known as Network Interface Cards (NICs). Ethernet cards are
available in several different standard packages called form factors. Newer
ethernet cards installed inside desktop computers use the PCI standard and are
usually installed by the manufacturer. Ethernet cards may operate at different
network speeds depending on the protocol standard they support.
• Wifi Card
These are small and portable cards that allow to connect to the Internet through a
wireless network. In these cards, transmission is done through radio waves. The
antenna transmits the radio signals to those equipment, which has Wi-Fi cards.
Wi-Fi cards can be external or internal. If a Wi-Fi card is not installed in your
computer, you may purchase a USB antenna attachment and have it externally
connected to your device. Many newer computers, mobile devices, etc., are
equipped with wireless networking capability and do not require a Wi-Fi card.
A set of rules for transferring data from one computer to another in a network
is called protocol.
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): HTTP is an application layer protocol. It
is widely used protocol. This protocol is used by the world wide web. HTTP
defines how messages are formatted and transmitted and what actions web
servers and browsers should take in response to various commands. It is a
request/response standard between a client (end-user) and a server (website).
e.g. when you enter a URL in your browser, this actually sends an HTTP
command to the web server directly to fetch and transmit the requested web
page. It is generic, stateless and object oriented protocol.
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Network Protocols
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol): FTP is a way for computers to share files
with each other over a network. It's like a highway where one
computer (the client) can send or receive files from another computer
• SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): SMTP stands for Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol. It's a standard protocol used for sending emails across the
internet. SMTP is responsible for the transmission of emails from a sender's
email client or server to the recipient's email server.
When you send an email, your email client (such as Outlook, Gmail, or Apple
Mail) uses SMTP to communicate with your email provider's server. The SMTP
server processes the outgoing email, routes it through the internet, and delivers it
to the recipient's email server.
• VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol): VoIP is a technology that enables voice
communications over the Internet through the compression of voice into data packets that
can be efficiently transmitted over data networks and then converted back into voice at the
other end. It required broadband connection.
Various benefits of VoIP are as follows :
(i) Using services of VoIP, subscribers can call one another at no cost to other party.
(ii) Routing phone calls over existing data networks eliminate the need for separate voice and
data networks.
(iii) The ability to transmit more than one telephone call over a single broadband connection.
(iv) VoIP consists advance telephone features, e.g. call routing, screen POP and IVR.
HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It's the standard markup
language used to create web pages. HTML provides the structure and layout of a
webpage by using various elements and tags to define the different parts of
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a markup language like HTML, but with
different purposes and capabilities. It was designed to store and transport data,
rather than to display it like HTML does. XML focuses on describing data,
network. It functions like the internet's phone book, allowing users to access
websites and other internet resources using easily remembered domain names
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It's a reference or address that
specifies the location of a resource on the internet. In simpler terms, a URL is the
web address used to access a specific resource, such as a web page, image, file, or
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It's a reference or address that
specifies the location of a resource on the internet. In simpler terms, a URL is the
web address used to access a specific resource, such as a web page, image, file, or
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method or protocol by which data is sent from
one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer on the Internet has
atleast one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the
numbers separated by periods (.). Each number can be in range 0 to 255. e.g.
192.160.10.240
The backbone of the World Wide Web is made up of files or documents called
pages or web pages, that contain information and links to resources both text
around the world which are connected to one another using hyperlink.
The backbone of the World Wide Web is made up of files or documents called
pages or web pages, that contain information and links to resources both text
around the world which are connected to one another using hyperlink.
Static Web Page: A web page which displays same kind of information
whenever a user visits, it is known as a static web page. A static web page
dynamic web page uses scripting languages to display changing content on the
web page. Such a page generally has .php, .asp or .jsp as extension.
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Web Sites
A group of related web pages that follow the same theme and are connected
known as URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The main or first page of a website
the World Wide Web. It allows users to retrieve, display, and interact with
various types of content available on the internet, including web pages, images,
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals
and organisations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. A web
host is the business of providing server space, web services and file maintenance for
websites controlled by individuals or companies that do not have their own web
servers. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers), such as America Online will allow
subscribers a small amount of server space to host a personal web page.
Web hosting can be of four types as follows:
(i) Free Hosting (ii) Virtual or Shared Hosting
(iii) Dedicated Hosting (iv) Co-location Hosting
telephone network.
challenging or expensive.
Advantages:
• If any of the local computers fails, the communication will be
unaffected.
• The transmission delay does not occur if a computer is added in the
network.
Disadvantages:
• If the host computer fails, the entire communication will be blocked.
• Direct communication among the computers is not allowed.
Q. Out of the following which is the fastest wired and wireless medium
of transmission? Infrared, coaxial cable, optical fiber, Microwave,
Ethernet cable.
LAN MAN
It is spread over a small area. It is spread over a large area.
Upto a building or office. To a entire country or continent.
It usually costs less to set it up. It costs higher to set it up.
It is usually a single network. It is usually a network of many
networks.
The speed of LAN is high. The speed of WAN is slower
than LAN.
XML HTML
It stands for extensible It stands for Hypertext Markup
Markup Language. Language.
XML tags are user defined. HTML tags are pre-defined.
It is used to store and transfer It is used to display data.
the data over the Internet.
Wifi WiMax
It stands for wireless fidelity. It stands for World Wide
Interoperability for Microwave access.
It uses radio waves for local It uses microwave radio frequencies for
wireless networking. wider area coverage.
This network ranges up to 100 It can reach about 50-90 Km.
metres.
Hub Switch
It is an unintelligent device. It is an intelligent device.
Hub broadcasts the data packet to Switch directs the data packet to a
entire devices connected on the specific computer or device.
network.
Q. BeHappy corporation has set up its new centre at Noida, Uttar Pradesh for its office and
web-based activities. It has four blocks of buildings.
BeHappy Corporation
Block A Block B
Block C Block D
Distance between the various blocks is as follows: Number of computers in each block:
(a) Suggest and draw the cable layout to efficiently connect various blocks of buildings within the
Noida centre for connecting the digital devices.
Ans:-
BeHappy Corporation
Block A Block B
Block C Block D
(c) Which kind of network (PAN/LAN/WAN) will be formed, if the Noida office is
connected to its head office in Mumbai.
Ans:-WAN
(d) Which fast and very effective wireless transmission medium should preferably be used to
connect the head office at Mumbai with the centre at Noida?
Ans:- Satellite