Networking notes

The collection of interconnected computer is called a computer network.

Two computers are said to be interconnected .if they are capable of sharing and exchanging
information or resources.

Advantages of networking:

 Resource Sharing: Resource Sharing is one of the important applications of Computer

Networking. You can share a single software among Multiple users. We can also share Hardware
Devices via this technique.
 Communication: Communication Medium means various ways through which we can
communicate like Email Calls, broadcasts, etc.
Virtualization: Networking technologies also enable virtualization, which allows multiple virtual
machines to run on a single physical machine, improving resource utilization and reducing costs.
 Reliability: Reliability implies backing up information. Due to some reason equipment crashes, and
so on, the information gets undermined or inaccessible on one PC, and another duplicate of similar
information is accessible on another workstation for future use, which prompts smooth working and
further handling without interruption.
 Faster Problem-solving: Since an extensive procedure is disintegrated into a few littler
procedures and each is taken care of by all the associated gadgets, an explicit issue can be settled
in lesser time.
 Central Storage of Data: Files can be stored on a central node (the file server) that can be shared
and made available to every user in an organization.
 Security through Authorization: Security and protection of information are additionally settled
through the system. As just the system clients are approved to get to specific records or applications,
no other individual can crack the protection or security of information.
 Storage capacity: Since you will share data, records, and assets with other individuals, you need
to guarantee all information and substance are legitimately put away in the framework. With this
systems administration innovation, you can do most of this with no issue, while having all the
space you require for capacity.
 Remote Working: Networking technologies have enabled remote working, allowing employees to
work from home or other locations outside of the office. This has become especially important
during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disadvantages of Computer Networking

 Expensive: Execution of the network can be expensive in the case of an initial setup, as the wires
and the cost of the cable are high and sometimes equipment is also costly.
 Virus and Malware: Computer Networking can lead to the spreading of viruses to another
computer through the network.
 Management of the network: Management of the Network is quite difficult as it requires skilled
persons to handle that large network. It requires training of people who are employed in this work.
 Loss of Information: In case of a crash of the Computer Network, it can lead to the loss of
information or not being able to access information for some time.
 The system can be Hacked: In the case of Wide Area Networks(WAN), there is a threat of
Hacking of the System. Some security features should be added to prevent such things.
Evolution of network

ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)

ARPANET was the network that became the basis for the Internet. It was the first network that came
into existence in 1969, which was designed and named by the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) and the US Department of Defence (DoD). It was where a bunch of PCs was associated at
various colleges and US DoD for sharing information and messages and playing long separation
diversions and associating with individuals to share their perspectives.

NSFNET (National Science Federation Network)

In the mid-’80s another federal agency, NSFNET (National Science Federation Network) created a
new network that was more capable than ARPANET and became the first backbone infrastructure for
the commercial public Internet. Its main aim was to use networks only for academic research and not
for any kind of private business activity. Later, many privately owned businesses with their very own
private systems joined with ARPANET and NSFNET to make a more capable and wide network, the
Internet.

Internet
The Internet, which is a network of networks, came into existence. The internet has evolved from
ARPANET. The internet is a globally connected network system that utilizes TCP/IP to transmit
information. It allows computers of different types to exchange information and is known as the
internet.
Interspace
 An interspace is a software that allows multiple users in a client-server environment to
communicate with each other to send and receive data of various types such as data files,
video, audio, and textual data.
 Interspace gives the most exceptional type form of communication available on the Internet
today.

How Does The Internet Work?

When You “Google” From a Web Browser
From opening a web browser to visiting a website, it all happens with specific methods that we’re
going to check in these 5 easy steps.
 1. Firstly, you’ll be required to connect your system or PC with any router or modem to establish
a connection. This connection is the base of the internet connection.
2. When you open the browser and start typing something like “www.google.com”, your system
will push a query command to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) that is connected with other
servers that store and process data.
3. Now, the web browser will start indexing the URL that you’ve entered and will fetch the details
in numeric format (in their own language to identify the address (unique) that you’re trying to
reach.
4. Next is, now your browser will start sending the HTTP request where you’re trying to reach
and sends a copy of the website on the user’s system. Note: The server will send data in the
form of small packets (from the website to the browser)
5. Once all the data (of small packets) will be received at the user’s end (PC/Laptop), the
browser will start arranging all those small packets and later will form a collective file (here, the
browser will gather all the small packets and rearrange them just like a puzzle) and then you’ll
be able to see the contents of that website
Note: The action happens so quickly that we don’t even notice what’s actually going behind. Only,
when the connection is poor, you do face difficulty in reaching or loading any website or its
content.

Basic terms of network

 Node: Any device connected to a network, such as a computer,laptops etc.
 IP Address: A unique numerical identifier assigned to each device on a network, used to identify
and communicate with other devices.
 TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): A set of protocols used to
communicate over the internet and other networks.

 Mac address: The MAC Address is also known as the Physical Address of a network device.
To understand what is MAC address is, it is very important that first you understand the format of the
MAC Address. So a MAC Address is a 12-digit hexadecimal number (6-bit binary number), which is
mostly represented by Colon-Hexadecimal notation.
The First 6 digits (say 00:40:96) of the MAC Address identify the manufacturer, called the OUI
(Organizational Unique Identifier). IEEE Registration Authority Committee assigns these MAC
prefixes to its registered vendors.

**Eg----Here are some OUI of well-known manufacturers:

CC:46:D6 - Cisco
3C:5A:B4 - Google, Inc.
The rightmost six digits represent Network Interface Controller, which is assigned by the
manufacturer.
****Not in syllabus (extra)
Here is the Step-by-Step guide to finding MAC addresses on Windows.
ipconfig /all

Components of Data Communication

A communication system is made up of the following components:

1. Message: A message is a piece of information that is to be transmitted from one person to another.
It could be a text file, an audio file, a video file, etc.
2. Sender: It is simply a device that sends data messages. It can be a computer, mobile,
telephone, laptop, video camera, or workstation, etc.
3. Receiver: It is a device that receives messages. It can be a computer, telephone mobile,
workstation, etc.
4. Transmission Medium / Communication Channels: Communication channels are the
medium that connect two or more workstations. Workstations can be connected by either
wired media or wireless media.
5. Set of rules (Protocol): When someone sends the data (The sender), it should be
understandable to the receiver also otherwise it is meaningless. For example, Sonali sends a
message to Chetan. If Sonali writes in Hindi and Chetan cannot understand Hindi, it is a
meaningless conversation.

Therefore, there are some set of rules (protocols) that is followed by every computer connected to the
internet and they are:
 TCP(Transmission Control Protocol): It is responsible for dividing messages into packets on the
source computer and reassembling the received packet at the destination or recipient computer. It
also makes sure that the packets have the information about the source of the message data, the
destination of the message data, the sequence in which the message data should be re-
assembled, and checks if the message has been sent correctly to the specific destination.

 IP(Internet Protocol): Do You ever wonder how does computer determine which packet
belongs to which device. What happens if the message you sent to your friend is received by
your father? Scary Right. Well! IP is responsible for handling the address of the destination
computer so that each packet is sent to its proper destination.
Modes of data transmission:

Data Transmission mode defines the direction of the flow of information between two
communication devices . It is also called Data Communication or Directional Mode. It specifies
the direction of the flow of information from one place to another in a computer network.

a) Analog transmission
 In analog communication the data is transferred with the help of analog signal in between
transmitter and receiver.
 Any type of data is transferred in analog signal.
 Any data is converted into electric form first and after that it is passed through communication
channel.
 Analog communication uses a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some
other property with time in proportion to that of a variable.
b) Digital transmission
 In digital communication digital signal is used rather than analog signal for communication in
between the source and destination.
 The digital signal consists of discrete values rather than continuous values.
 In digital communication physical transfer of data occurs in the form of digital bit stream i.e 0
or 1 over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission medium.
c) Parallel communication
In parallel mode of transfer, there is a onetime transfer of data from source to destination. This is
possible using multiple channels for data transfer between transmitter and receiver.

d) Serial communication------Serial communication is a communication technique used in

telecommunications wherein data transfer occurs by transmitting data one bit at a time in a sequential
order over a a communication channel. It is the simplest form of communication between a sender
and a receiver.

e)In synchronous communicationthere is no need to use the gaps, start bits and stop bits. The
time taken by the sender and receiver is synced that's why the frequency of timing error will be
less, and the data will move faster. On the basis of the timing being synced correctly between
the sender and receiver devices, the data accuracy is totally dependent. The synchronous serial
transmission is more expensive as compared to asynchronous serial transmission.

In asynchronous communication, the groups of bits will be treated as an independent unit,

and these data bits will be sent at any point in time. In order to make synchronization between
sender and receiver, the stop bits and start bits are used between the data bytes.

These bits are useful to ensure that the data is correctly sent. The time taken by data bits of
sender and receiver is not constant, and the time between transmissions will be provided by
the gaps.

In asynchronous communication, we don't require synchronization between the sender and

receiver devices, which is the main advantage of asynchronous communication. This method is
also cost-effective. In this method, there can be a case when data transmission is slow, but it is
not compulsory, and it is the main disadvantage of the asynchronous method.

SWITCHING TECHNIQUES

SWITCHING TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO TRANSMIT DATA ACROSS NETWORK.

TYPES OF SWITCHING TECHNIQUES ARE:

 CIRCUIT SWITCHING
 MESSAGE SWITCHING
 PACKET SWITCHING

In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established then the dedicated path
will remain to exist until the connection is terminated.
The dedicated path/circuit established between sender and receiver provides a guaranteed
data rate. Data can be transmitted without any delays once the circuit is established.
Telephone system network is one of the example of Circuit switching.
PACKET SWITCHING:

IN THIS SWITCHING FIXED SIZE OF PACKETS CAN BE TRANSMITTED ACROSS THE NETWORK.

Packet switching is a technique used in computer networks to transmit data in the form of packets,
which are small units of data that are transmitted independently across the network. Each packet
contains a header, which
includes information about the packet’s source and destination

Message switching: In this technique, the entire message is transmitted without any break from one
node to another. It firstly stores and then forwards information that requires more time. Due to this,
the access time is increased. No direct link is present between the sender and the receiver.