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PART I: OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION

Subject: Computer Networks

Ch-1
Tutor: Bilal Munir Mughal
 Content Outline
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 DATA COMMUNICATIONS
 Components

 Data Representation
 Data Flow

 NETWORKS
 Network Criteria
 Physical Structures
 Content Outline
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 NETWORK TYPES
 Local Area Network
 Wide Area Network

 Switching

 The Internet

 Accessing the Internet

 STANDARDS AND ADMINISTRATION

 Internet Standards
 Internet Administration

 INTERNET HISTORY
 Data Communications: Definition
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 Data Communications:

Transfer of data from one device to another via

some form of transmission medium.

 For data communications to occur, the communicating

devices must be part of a communication system
made up of a combination of hardware (physical
equipment) and software (programs).
 Data Communications: Motivations
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 Efficient way to share resources

 Cost– less expensive
 Accessibility – easier

 Efficient way to exchange information

 Time – faster
 Size – bigger

 Correctness – more accurate

 Data Communications: Effectiveness
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The effectiveness of a data communications system

depends on four fundamental characteristics:
1. Delivery. The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be
received by the intended device or user and only by that device or user.
2. Accuracy. The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been
altered in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.
3. Timeliness. The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data delivered late
are useless. In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means delivering data
as they are produced, in the same order that they are produced, and without
significant delay (called real-time transmission).
4. Jitter. Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay
in the delivery of audio or video packets. For example, let us assume that video
packets are sent every 30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-ms delay and
others with 40-ms delay, an uneven quality in the video is the result.
 Data Communications
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Hi, Hi,
how how
are are
you? you?

Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you?

Computer User

01010001 01010001
 Data Communications: Components
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1 Message
Hi, how are you?

5 Protocol
2 Sender 3 Receiver

4 Medium
 Data Representation
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 Numbers
 8/16/32 bit integers
 floating point
150
2

 Text
 ASCII, Unicode
 Images
255
 Bit patterns, Graphics formats JPG/GIF/etc
 Audio  Samples of continuous signal
 Video  Sequence of bitmap images
 Direction of Data Flow
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 Simplex: One direction only

data flow

Server Monitor

data flow

Keyboard
 Direction of Data Flow
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 Half Duplex: Both directions, one at a time

data flow at time 1

data flow at time 2

 E.g., walkie-talkies
 Direction of Data Flow
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 Full Duplex: Both directions simultaneously

data flow

data flow

 E.g., telephone

 Can be emulated on a single communication link using

various methods
 Networks
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 Network: a set of devices connected by media links

Laptop
iM ac

Workstation

Media Links
Server
SD

Printer Scanner
 Networks: Criteria
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 A network must be able to meet a certain number

of criteria. The most important of these are
 Performance

 Reliability

 Security
 Networks: Criteria
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 Performance can be measured in many ways,

including transit time and response time.
 Transittime is the amount of time required for a
message to travel from one device to another.
 Response time is the elapsed time between an inquiry
and a response.
 The performance of a network depends on the
 number of users
 type of transmission medium

 capabilities/efficiency of hardware, software

 Networks: Criteria
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 Performance is often evaluated by two networking

metrics: throughput and delay.
 We often need more throughput and less delay.
 However, these two criteria are often contradictory.
If we try to send more data to the network, we may
increase throughput but we increase the delay
because of traffic congestion in the network.
 Networks: Criteria
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 Reliability
 In addition to accuracy of delivery, network reliability
is measured by the frequency of failure, the time it
takes a link to recover from a failure, and the network’s
robustness in a catastrophe.
 Security
 Network security issues include protecting data from
unauthorized access, protecting data from damage,
and implementing policies and procedures for
recovery from breaches and data losses.
 Physical Structures: Types of
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Connections
 Point-to-point
 Multipoint (multidrop)
 Point-To-Point Connection
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A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices.

 Multipoint Connection
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A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specific
devices share a single link.

Wireless
 Topology
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 Topology: physical or logical arrangement of

devices
 Mesh

 Star

 Bus

 Ring

 Hybrid
 Fully Connected Mesh Topology
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A D

B C
 Fully Connected Mesh Topology
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 Pros:
A  Dedicated links
D
 Robustness
 Privacy
 Easy to identify fault
 Cons:
 A lot of cabling
 A lot of I/O ports
 Difficult to move
B C

Number of physical links n (n – 1) / 2 in duplex-mode

 Star Topology
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A D

Hub Drop

B C
Drop
 Star Topology
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A D

Switch

B C
 Star Topology
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A D

Hub

B C
 Star Topology
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 Pros:
 One I/O port per device
 Little cabling
 Easy to install

Hub  Robustness
 Easy to identify fault

 Cons:
 Single point of failure
 More cabling still required

Number of physical links n

where n = number of nodes
 Bus Topology
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Drop
line

Tap

Terminator
 Bus Topology
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A B C D
 Bus Topology
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 Bus Topology
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 Pros:
 Little cabling
 Easy to install

 Cons:
 Difficult to modify
 Difficult to isolate fault

 Break in the bus cable

stops all transmission

Number of physical links n + 1(backbone)

where n = number of nodes
 Ring Topology
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D
B

A
 Ring Topology
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 Ring Topology
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 Pros:
 Easy to install
 Easy to identify fault

 Cons:
 Delay in large ring
 Break in the ring stops
Number of physical links n all transmission
where n = number of nodes
 Hybrid Topologies
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10M100M
ACT ACT
PWR UPLINK

COL COL
SWITCH 131415161718192021222324 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
10M100M
ACT ACT
PWR UPLINK

COLCOL
SWITCH 131415161718192021222324 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
 Network Types
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 Local Area Network (LAN)

 Wide Area Network (WAN)
 Local Area Networks
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 Network in a small area e.g. single office, building,

or campus
 Wide Area Networks
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 Network providing long-distance communication over

a country, a continent, the whole world or beyond
 Wide Area Networks
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 Distinct examples of WANs today: point-to-point

WANs and switched WANs.
 Point-to-Point WAN

 Switched WAN
 Switching
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 Network of Networks
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Company A Company B
Network Interface Card (NIC)

Company C Company D
 Internetworking
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 How to allow devices from different standards to

communicate
 Gateways/routers – devices capable of
communicating in several standards

 These become "network of networks"

 Internetworks
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 Two or more connected networks become an

internetwork, or internet

Network1 Network2

Gateway

Network3

 Example: The Internet

 The Internet
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 The largest internetwork (network of networks) in the

world
 Devices communicating with TCP/IP protocol suite
 Accessing The Internet
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 Using Telephone Networks

 Dial-upservice
 DSL Service

 Using Cable Networks

 Using Wireless Networks
 Direct Connection to the Internet
 Internet Standards
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 An Internet standard is a thoroughly tested

specification that is useful to and adhered to by
those who work with the Internet.
 It is a formalized regulation that must be followed.
 Internet Standards
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 There is a strict procedure by which a specification

attains Internet standard status. A specification
begins as an Internet draft.
 An Internet draft is a working document (a work in
progress) with no official status and a six-month lifetime.
 Upon recommendation from the Internet authorities, a
draft may be published as a Request for Comments
(RFC).
 Each RFC is edited, assigned a number, and made available
to all interested parties.
 RFCs go through maturity levels and are categorized
according to their requirement level.
 Internet Standards: RFC Maturity
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Levels
 Maturity Levels
 An RFC, during its lifetime, falls into one of six maturity
levels:
 Internet Standards: RFC Maturity
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Levels
 Proposed Standard.
 A proposed standard is a specification that is stable, well
understood, and of sufficient interest to the Internet community.
 At this level, the specification is usually tested and implemented
by several different groups.
 Draft Standard.
 A proposed standard is elevated to draft standard status after
at least two successful independent and interoperable
implementations.
 Barring difficulties, a draft standard, with modifications if specific
problems are encountered, normally becomes an Internet
standard.
 Internet Standards: RFC Maturity
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Levels
 Internet Standard.
 A draft standard reaches Internet standard status after
demonstrations of successful implementation.
 Historic.
 The historic RFCs are significant from a historical
perspective.
 They either have been superseded by later specifications or
have never passed the necessary maturity levels to become
an Internet standard.
 Internet Standards: RFC Maturity
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Levels
 Experimental.
 An RFC classified as experimental describes work related to
an experimental situation that does not affect the operation
of the Internet.
 Such an RFC should not be implemented in any functional
Internet service.
 Informational.
 An RFC classified as informational contains general,
historical, or tutorial information related to the Internet.
 It is usually written by someone in a non-Internet
organization, such as a vendor.
 Internet Standards: RFC
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Requirement Levels
RFCs are classified into five requirement levels
 Required.

 An RFC is labeled required if it must be implemented by all

Internet systems to achieve minimum conformance.
 For example, IP and ICMP (Chapter 19) are required
protocols.
 Recommended.
 An RFC labeled recommended is not required for minimum
conformance; it is recommended because of its usefulness.
 For example, FTP (Chapter 26) and TELNET (Chapter 26)
are recommended protocols.
 Internet Standards: RFC
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Requirement Levels
 Elective.
 An RFC labeled elective is not required and not
recommended. However, a system can use it for its own
benefit.
 Limited Use.
 An RFC labeled limited use should be used only in limited
situations. Most of the experimental RFCs fall under this
category.
 Not Recommended.
 An RFC labeled not recommended is inappropriate for
general use. Normally a historic (deprecated) RFC may fall
under this category.
 Internet Administration
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 Appendix G gives the addresses, e-mail addresses,

and telephone numbers for some of groups involved
in growth and development of the internet.

Figure 1.17 shows general organization of Internet

administration.
 Internet Administration
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 The Internet Society (ISOC) is an international,

nonprofit organization formed in 1992 to provide
support for the Internet standards process.
 ISOC accomplishes this through maintaining and
supporting other Internet administrative bodies such as
IAB, IETF, IRTF, and IANA.
 ISOC also promotes research and other scholarly
activities relating to the Internet
 Internet Administration
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 The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the technical

advisor to the ISOC.
 The main purposes of the IAB are to oversee the continuing
development of the TCP/IP Protocol Suite and to serve in a
technical advisory capacity to research members of the Internet
community.
 IAB accomplishes this through its two primary components, the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Research
Task Force (IRTF).
 Another responsibility of the IAB is the editorial management of
the RFCs, described earlier.
 IAB is also the external liaison between the Internet and other
standards organizations and forums.
 Internet Administration
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 The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a forum

of working groups managed by the Internet
Engineering Steering Group (IESG).
 IETF is responsible for identifying operational problems
and proposing solutions to these problems.
 IETF also develops and reviews specifications intended as
Internet standards.
 The working groups are collected into areas, and each
area concentrates on a specific topic.
 Currently nine areas have been defined. The areas include
applications, protocols, routing, network management, IP next
generation (IPng), and security.
 Internet Administration
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 The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is a forum

of working groups managed by the Internet
Research Steering Group (IRSG).
 IRTF focuses on long-term research topics related to
Internet protocols, applications, architecture, and
technology.
 INTERNET HISTORY
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 Check your textbook for reference.

 Questions?

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