Computer Networks

CSC420

Chapter 1
Introduction

1
Uses of Computer Networks

• Business Applications
• Home Applications
• Mobile Users
• Social Issues

2
Business Applications of
Networks (1/2)
 A network with two clients and one server.

3
Business Applications of
Networks (2/2)
 The client-server model involves requests
and replies.

4
 Home Network
Applications (1/2)

 Access to remote information

 Person-to-person communication
 Interactive entertainment
 Electronic commerce

5
Home Network
Applications (2/2)

In peer-to-peer system there are

no fixed clients and servers.
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Mobile Network Users (1/3)
 Combinations of wireless networks and mobile
computing.

 2 important (but different) challenges:

 wireless: communication over wireless link
 mobility: handling the mobile user who changes point of
attachment to network

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Relationship between mobile and wireless
Mobile Network Users (2/3)
Mobile is the ability to be on the move.
A mobile device is anything that can be used on the
move, ranging from laptops to mobile phones. As long as
location is not fixed, it is considered mobile.

Wireless refers to the transmission of voice and data over

radio waves.
It allows workers to communicate with enterprise data
without requiring a physical connection to the network.
Wireless devices include anything that uses a wireless
network to either send or receive data.
The wireless network itself can be accessed from
mobile workers, as well as in fixed locations. 8
Mobile Network Users (3/3)

Combinations of wireless networks and mobile computing:

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Network Types -
Categories by Geographic Span (1/5)

 PAN (Personal Area Network)

– It is characterized to limited distance, usually limited
speed, and low volume. Common example is laptop or
PDA and a desktop PC or printer using Infrared or
Bluetooth technologies to communicate.

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Network Types -
Categories by Geographic Span (2/5)

 LAN (Local Area Network)

– It can connect many computers in a relatively small
geographical area. Confined to office, building or, small
cluster of buildings. In most cases all computers on a LAN
use the same medium, topology and protocols.

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Network Types -
Categories by Geographic Span (3/5)

 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

– It is a network designed to be limited to a neighborhood
or city, it may be a single network or may be consists of
many interconnected LANs. MANs may be owned and
operate by private company or usually a public company.

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A metropolitan area network based on cable TV

Network Types -
Categories by Geographic Span (4/5)

 WAN (Wide Area Network)

– WAN connects devices across a large distance that often
crosses the geographical boundaries of cities or states
(Large geographic region, an entire state,
or several states). WAN connections can use telephone
lines, radio waves, or any one of many other technologies.
WANs are usually owned and operated by public
companies.

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Network Types -
Categories by Geographic Span (5/5)

 Global Area Network

– GAN provides connectivity between countries around the
globe. Internet is the most obvious example on GANs
where it connects a huge number of LANs, MANs, and
WANs into an interconnected network.

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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (1/6)

 WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network)

– It is used to convey information over short distances
among a private, intimate group of participant devices.
A connection made through a WPAN involves little or
no infrastructure or direct connectivity to the world
outside the link. This allows small, power-efficient,
inexpensive solutions to be implemented for a wide
range of devices. A widely used WPAN technology is
known as Bluetooth.

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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (2/6)

 Bluetooth Networks
– Piconet:
 Ii is a small Bluetooth network that connects
mobile devices wirelessly over a short range
of 10m radius, using ultra-high frequency
(UHF) radio waves, to form a personal area
network (PAN).
 It can be formed by at most 8 stations, one of
which is the master node and the rest slave
nodes. The master node is the primary station
that manages the small network. The slave
stations are secondary stations that are
synchronized with the primary station.
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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (3/6)

 Bluetooth Networks
– Scatternet:
 It is a chain of piconets created by allowing
one or more Bluetooth devices to each be a
slave in one piconet and act as the master for
another piconet simultaneously.
 It allows several devices to be networked
over an extended distance.

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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (4/6)

 Bluetooth Networks

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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (5/6)

 WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)

– It is a group of collocated computers or other devices
(laptops, smart phones and printers) that form a
network based on radio transmissions rather than
wired connections. A Wi-Fi network is a type of WLAN.

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Network Types -
Wireless Categories (6/6)

 WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network)

– It is typically used to connect devices like laptops and
smart phones to the Internet over long distances, often
using cellular data networks.

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Types of Transmission
Technology (1/2)
– Broadcast networks
 It have a single communication channel that is
shared or used by all the machines on the
network. Short messages called packets sent
by any machine are received by all the others.

– Point-to-point networks
 It consists of many connections between
individual pairs of machines. To go from the
source to the destination a packet on these
types of network may have to go through
intermediate computers before they reach the
desired computer.
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 Types of Transmission
Technology (1/2)
Classification of interconnected processors by scale.

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 Network topologies (1/18)

 Network topologies describe the methods in which all

the elements of a network are mapped.

 The topology term refers to both the physical and

logical layout of a network:
– Physical topology: This type of network is an actual
layout/scheme of the computer cables and other
network devices.
– Logical topology: Logical topology gives insight’s/ideas
about network’s physical design.

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Network topologies (2/18)

 Different types of Physical Topologies are:

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 Network topologies (3/18)

 Point to Point (P2P) topology:

– It is the easiest of all the network topologies.
– In this method, the network consists of a direct link
between two computers.

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 Network topologies (4/18)

 Bus topology:
– It is a single cable which connects all the included
nodes.
– The main cable acts as a spine for the entire network.
– One of the computers in the network acts as the
computer server.
– When it has two endpoints, it is known as a linear bus
topology.

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Linear bus topology is a type of network topology where each device connects
one after the other in a sequential chain.
 Network topologies (5/18)

 Bus topology:
– Advantages:
 Easy to implement
 Requires little cost
 Simple operation
 Good performance/price ratio
 Very high bandwidth (>10Mbs)
 Simplicity of extension
 Independence from the workstation (fault tolerance)

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 Network topologies (6/18)

 Bus topology:
– Disadvantages:
 A cut cable can interrupt the network.
 Is extremely vulnerable since if one of the connections is
faulty, the entire network is affected.
 Does not prohibit 2 stations from transmitting at the same
time, the messages are then altered: there is collision
 Cable length and number of stations limited.
 Performance degrades with the addition of stations. Low
security of data passing through the network (all stations
connected to the bus can read all data transmitted on the
bus).
 A virus on the network can affect all stations.
 A termination must be used for the ends of the bus (cap).
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 Network topologies (7/18)

 Ring topology:
– Every device has exactly 2 neighboring devices for
communication purpose.
– Every computer is connected to another computer.
Here, the last node is combined with a first one.
– It uses token to pass the information from one
computer to another.
– In this topology, all the messages travel through a ring
in the same direction.

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 Network topologies (8/18)

 Ring topology:

– Advantages:
 High transfer speed
 High efficiency at high flow rates

– Disadvantages:
 Expensive solution
 Weakened by the breakage of the loop
 Requires “emptying” the ring

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 Network topologies (9/18)

 Star topology:
– All the computers connect with the help of a hub.
 This cable is called a central node, and all other nodes
are connected using this central node.
– It is most popular on LAN networks as they are
inexpensive and easy to install.

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 Network topologies (10/18)

 Star topology:

– Advantages:
 Adapts well to the telephone network (PABX)
 Powerful dialogue between nodes
 The failure of a station does not imply that of the
network
– Disadvantages:
 Central node vulnerability
 Expensive wiring

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 Network topologies (11/18)

 Tree / hierarchical topology:

– Tree topologies have a root node, and all other nodes
are connected which form a hierarchy.

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 Network topologies (12/18)

 Hybrid topology:
– It combines two or more topologies.
– It is always produced when two different basic
network topologies are connected.

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 Network topologies (13/18)

 Mesh topology:
– It has a unique network design in which each
computer on the network connects to every other.
– It is develops a P2P connection between all the
devices of the network.
– It offers a high level of redundancy, so even if one
network cable fails, still data has an alternative path to
reach its destination.

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 Network topologies (14/18)

 Mesh topology:
– Types of Mesh Topology:
 Partial Mesh Topology: In this type of topology,
most of the devices are connected almost similarly
as full topology. The only difference is that few
devices are connected with just two or three
devices.

 Full Mesh Topology: In this topology, every nodes

or device are directly connected with each other.

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 Network topologies (15/18)

 Mesh topology:

Partial Mesh Topology Full Mesh Topology

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 Network topologies (16/18)

 Mesh topology:

– Advantages:
 Redundancy
 Emergency paths (back-up)

– Disadvantages:
 Complexity
 Risks of curls
 Expensive solution
 Degraded/Gradient operation
 Difficult distribution 38
Network topologies (17/18)

 Summary:

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Network topologies (18/18)

 Summary:

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