Grade 9 ICT - 2020

1. Underline the correct answer.

2. Answer the following;

3. Briefly explain the following.

 4. Unit 5 - Computer Network (Pg 66)
Read and write the following and answer the questions given below.

Introduction to Computer Network

A computer network is a group of devices connected with each other through a transmission
medium such as wires, cables etc. These devices can be computers, printers, scanners, Fax
machines etc. The purpose of having computer network is to send and receive data stored in other
devices over the network. These devices are often referred as nodes.

There are five basic components of a computer network

Message: It is the data or information which needs to be transferred from one device to
another device over a computer network.

Sender: Sender is the device that has the data and needs to send the data to other device
connected to the network.

Receiver: A receiver is the device which is expecting the data from other device on the
network.

Transmission media: In order to transfer data from one device to another device we need
a transmission media such as wires, cables, radio waves etc.

Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that are agreed by both sender and receiver, without a
protocol two devices can be connected to each other but they cannot communicate. In order
to establish a reliable communication or data sharing between two different devices we need
set of rules that are called protocol. For example, http and https are the two protocols used
by web browsers to get and post the data to internet; similarly smtp protocol is used by
email services connected to the internet.

Features of a Computer Network

A computer network has following features:
Performance: Performance of a computer network is measured in terms of response time.
The response time of sending and receiving data from one node (computer in a computer
network are often referred as node) to another should be minimal.

Data Sharing: One of the reasons why we use a computer network is to share the data
between different systems connected with each other through a transmission media.

Backup: A computer network must have a central server that keeps the backup of all the
data that is to be shared over a network so that in case of a failure it should be able to
recover the data faster.
 Software and hardware compatibility: A computer network must not limit all the
computers in a computer network to use same software and hardware; instead it should
allow the better compatibility between the different software and hardware configuration.

Reliability: There should not be any failure in the network or if it occurs the recovery from a
failure should be fast.

Security: A computer network should be secure so that the data transmitting over a network
should be safe from unauthorized access. Also, the sent data should be received as it is at
the receiving node, which means there should not be any loss of data during transmission.

Scalability: A computer network should be scalable which means it should always allow to
add new computers (or nodes) to the already existing computer network. For example, a
company runs 100 computers over a computer network for their 100 employees, lets say
they hire another 100 employees and want to add new 100 computers to the already
existing LAN then in that case the local area computer network should allow this.

Computer Network Components

A computer network is build up from several components. These components together
make it possible to transfer data from one device to another and makes smooth
communication between two different devices. In this guide, we will discuss the main
components of a computer network.

Basic components of a computer network

Network Interface card: Each system or computer in a computer network must have a card
called network interface card (NIC). The main purpose of NIC is to format the data, send the
data and receive the data at the receiving node.

Hub: Hub acts as a device that connects the entire computer in a network to each other.
Any request that comes from a client computer first received by Hub and then hub transmit
this request over a network so that the correct server receives and respond to it.

Switch: Switch is similar to hub however instead of broadcasting a incoming data request it
uses the physical device address in the incoming request to transfer the request to correct
server computer.

Router: Router joins multiple computer networks to each other. For example lets say a
company runs 100 computers over a local area network (LAN) and another company runs
another LAN of 150 computers. These both LANs can be connected with each other through
a internet connection which is provided by the router.

LAN cable: A wire that is used to connect more than one computer or other devices such as
printers and scanner to each other.
Network Topologies.
Mesh topology
In mesh topology each device is connected to every other device on the network through a
dedicated point-to-point link. When we say dedicated it means that the link only carries data
for the two connected devices only. Lets say we have n devices in the network then each
device must be connected with (n-1) devices of the network. Number of links in a mesh
topology of n devices would be n(n-1)/2.
Advantages of Mesh topology
1. No data traffic issues as there is a dedicated link between two devices which means the
link is only available for those two devices.
2. Mesh topology is reliable and robust as failure of one link doesn’t affect other links and
the communication between other devices on the network.
3. Mesh topology is secure because there is a point to point link thus unauthorized access is
not possible.
4. Fault detection is easy.

Disadvantages of Mesh topology

1. Amount of wires required to connected each system is tedious and headache.
2. Since each device needs to be connected with other devices, number of I/O ports
required must be huge.
3. Scalability issues because a device cannot be connected with large number of devices
with a dedicated point to point link.

Star topology
In star topology each device in the network is connected to a central device called hub.
Unlike Mesh topology, star topology doesn’t allow direct communication between devices; a
device must have to communicate through hub. If one device wants to send data to other
device, it has to first send the data to hub and then the hub transmit that data to the
designated device.
Advantages of Star topology
1. Less expensive because each device only needs one I/O port and needs to be connected
with hub with one link.
2. Easier to install
3. Less amount of cables required because each device needs to be connected with the hub
only.
4. Robust, if one link fails, other links will work just fine.
5. Easy fault detection because the link can be easily identified.
 Disadvantages of Star topology
1. If hub goes down everything goes down, none of the devices can work without hub.
2. Hub requires more resources and regular maintenance because it is the central system of
star topology.

Bus topology
In bus topology there is a main cable and all the devices are connected to this main cable
through drop lines. There is a device called tap that connects the drop line to the main
cable. Since all the data is transmitted over the main cable, there is a limit of drop lines and
the distance a main cable can have.

Advantages of bus topology

1. Easy installation, each cable needs to be connected with backbone cable.
2. Less cables required than Mesh and star topology

Disadvantages of bus topology

1. Difficultly in fault detection.
2. Not scalable as there is a limit of how many nodes you can connect with backbone cable.

Ring Topology
In ring topology each device is connected with the two devices on either side of it. There are
two dedicated point to point links a device has with the devices on the either side of it. This
structure forms a ring thus it is known as ring topology. If a device wants to send data to
another device then it sends the data in one direction, each device in ring topology has a
repeater, if the received data is intended for other device then repeater forwards this data
until the intended device receives it.

Advantages of Ring Topology

1. Easy to install.
2. Managing is easier as to add or remove a device from the topology only two links are
required to be changed.

Disadvantages of Ring Topology

1. A link failure can fail the entire network as the signal will not travel forward due to failure.
2. Data traffic issues, since all the data is circulating in a ring.

1. What are the basic components of a computer network?

2. Name the Features of a Computer Network.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a network?

4. Draw the Network Topologies.

5. Define computer network and Network topology