cOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND OPEN SOURCE

CONCEPTS. m801da
.Local-Area Networks (LAN) Metropolitan area network (MAN)
Wide-Area Networks (WAN)
Personal Area Networks (PAN)
Local Area Network (LAN)
LAN is a computer network that
spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined toa
single room or building or group of buildings which
Most LANs (as shown in the
are
closely placed.
following figure 12.2) connect workstations and
Each node (individual
computer) in a LAN can share
personal computers.
scanners, as well as data. Users can also use expensive devices, such as laser
printers,
the LAN to communicate with each
e-mail or engaging in chat sessions. other, by sending
The most common LAN
the 4 to 16 mbit/s
topologies are bus, ring & star.
Traditionally LAN have data rates in
range but today speeds increasing and reach 1000 m bits/s.
are

Def: "A data communication system

allowing a number of independent devices to communicate
directly wvith each other, within a small sized geographic area over a physical communication channel."
Work station
Small Medium Printer

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UPS 140OVA

Work station Window 2000

Server

Fax Machine
High Powered Work station
Fig. 4. Local Area Network.
LANs are
capable of transmitting very data at fast
rates, much faster than data can be
transmitted over a telephone line; but the distance are
of limited, and there is alsoa limit on the number
computers that can be attached to a single LAN. It is
organization. mostly owned by a
single person or

There are
essentially five basic components of a LAN
i) Network Devices such as
Workstations, Printers, File Servers which
accessed
by all other computers normally are

(ii) Network Communication Devices i.e. devices such as

for network operations
hubs, routers, switches etc., used
(ii) Network Interface Cards (NICs) for each network device
required to access the network.
(iv) Cable as a physical transmission medium.
(v) Network Operating System Software applications
-

network LAN standards, & the devices

required to control, the use of the
connected to LAN.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
A WAN is
n
computer network that spans a relatively large
a
geographical area. WAN may he
different countries or even in different continents.
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MODERN'S abc OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
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Computers connected to a wide-area network are often connected through public
such as the
telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satelinetw ne.

largest WAN in existence is the Internet.

LAN

LAN WAN LAN,

LAN.

Fig. 5. A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a collection of LANs.

Difference between LAN and WAN
1. The maximum
speed of a LAN can be
1000 megabits per second. Data Error
The speed of
WAN can go up to 150 a
megabits
rates are low. per second. Date error rates are
LAN. higher than the
2. LAN does not need a
dedicated WAN needs aa
computer to direct traffic to and from the special-purpose
special-purpose computer, whose
whose
Internet. only purpose is to send and receive data from
3. It is easier to the Internet.
expand a LAN than a WAN. A WAN is
4. The more expensive than a LAN
equipment needed for a LAN is wwwwa
wwn

Networklnterface Card (NIC), a switch The equipment needed to connect a WAN to the
and a hub. Internet is a modem and a router.
5 LAN's are
mostly private network, www
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owned, controlled, and managed WANis (like the Internet) are not owned
by a one organization by any
but rather exist under collective
single person or organization
or distributed
ww.wwrereonrvvw

ownership and
MAN-Metropolitan, Area Network w w .kw w w w w .w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w wiw w w .w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w wmanagement
w w w wiw w w w w w w w w w .
This kind of network has its own
larger scale. MAN, importance for some
Area Network falls in government bodies and
on

typically covers an area

Metropolitan middle of LAN and WAN. A organizations
of between 5 and 50 km MAN
diameter. In some
a
group of buildings or as large as cases MANs
may be small
covering cities. A MAN (like a WAN) is not as as
a
single organization.
The MAN, its
communications links and generally owned by
either a consortium of users or equipment generally owned by
are
by a single network provider who
MANs be created via the use of a
can
sells the service to the users.
or more
point to point wireless links. As an
public switched network, private fiber network or
one
spanning several square miles and multiple example thattake a large University with a campus
lets

Surveillance network. A MAN would be set buildings

in place to
wants a
centrally managed IP Video
connect each of the
campus to a central location where the NVR and
storage
buildings across the
are installed. The
MAN will allow the IP video to be quickly array high speed of the
remote cameras were on the same LAN
totransported the central location and recorded as if the
as the NVR.
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND OPEN SOURCE cONCEPTS 803

Central NVR

Fig.6.
PAN
Personal Area Network (PAN) is a
computer network designed for communication between
computer devices (including Phones, Camera, MP3/MP4 players and personal digital sistants
close to one person). The devices
may or may not belong to the person in
PAN is typically a few meters. PANs can be used for question. The reach of a
communication among the personal devices
themselves or for connecting to a higher level network and the
data from one cell phone to another, from PC to an
Internet. For example, transfer of
MP3 player. Personal area networks
wired with computer buses such as USB and may be
FireWire. A wireless personal area network
can also be made
possible with network technologies such as IrDA and Bluetooth. (WPAN)
Network Topologies
In
Computer Networking "topology" refers to the
various forms, either layout or design of the connected devices in
physically or logically.
be classified into two:
Topologycan
1-D (bus)
2-D (tree, stars, rings, mesh)
Linear Bus Topology
A linear bus
topology consists of a main run of cable with a terminator at each end. All nodes
(file sorver, workstations and
peripherals) are connected to this central backbone linear cable.
Access and control of bus networks are
typically maintained by a method called contention,
whereby ifa line is unused, a terminal or device can transmit its message at will, but if two or more
terminals initiate messages simultaneously then collision occurs and
the they must stop and transmit
signal again at different intervals.

File Server

Nodes

Fig. 7. Linear Bus topology.

 MODERN'S abc OF COMPUTER SCIENCE C,
804
Advantages of a Linear Bus Topolog8y
then others nodes are not affected and they continnue t
If one computer fails in the network,
work.
B u s network is very simple and easy to set up.

B u s networks use the least amount of cable to set up making it cost effective.
Disadvantages of a Linear Bus Topology
fault in the main cable.
Entire network shuts down if there is a
backbone cable to absorb the signals.
Terminators are required at both ends ofthe
At a only one node can transfer the data.
time
network shuts down.
Difficult to identify the problem if the entire
Not meant to be used as a stand-alone solution in a large building.

Star TopologY connected with UP

hub to which devices are
A star topology consists of a central connection
the bus topology, a star topology utilizes a point
(Unshielded Twisted Pair) Ethernet. Contrary to booster as wel
node to the central hub. The hub acts as a signal
to-point connection to connect each network passes through this hub.
and all the data traffic that transfer through the

Computer

Computer
wwwwwwww08 Computer
HUB

www

Computer Printer

Fig.8. Star Topology

The entire network is dependent upon the central hub in a star topology.
This makes it easy to
troubleshoot the network because of the only one point for error correction. As all
the computers "
star topology are independent to each other and dependent only on the central hub, network failur
or other network problems are less likely to happen. The privacy of each of the computers is as

maintained in this topology. In star topology, new devices and nodes can be easily added and Dy
just extending a cable from the hub.
Advantages of star topology:
A star topology is simple in functionality and easy to manage.

If a problem occurs in the network, it can be easily isolated and cleared.

I t is very easy to expand the star topology because ofits simple format.
N o collision of data.
cOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND OPEN SOURCE CONCEPTS 805
Disadvantages of star topology:
The entire network of the star
the whole network fails.
topology is completely dependent on the hub. If the hub fails,
Network connection may slow down when
the number of nodes increases or the caoE
lengthens.
Star
topology needs more cable length than other
I t is expensive compared to bus topology. topologies.
more

Ring Topology
A ring topology consists of network of computers in which each node
other nodes in a closed loop connects to exactly two
by a single communication channel. This forms a
path for the flow of signals through each node of the network. Data travels single continuous
each node along the way handling from node to node, with
every packet. Each of the nodes in the ring
to each other through
only one pathway, so the failure of only one link topology are connected
To overcome this fallacy, the data in a disrupts the whole network.
ring topology is transmitted both clockwise and
counter
clockwise, so that if there is single break of the cable, all the
nodes on both sides can be reached.

Fig. 9. Ring Topology

Advantages of Ring Topology
Itis an orderly network in which all the nodes in the
Its
network have equal access to all the resources.
performance is far better as compared to star topology, under heavy network traffic.
I t does not need network servers to manage the connections.
Disadvantages of Ring Topology
I f one of the workstations fails to
operate, it may lead to the unusability of the whole network.
Addition and removal of devices in the network can affect the entire
network.
Ring network is slower than the Ethernet network.
Tree Topology
A tree
topology consists of bus and star topologies framed in a common network.
structure of this network allows the colleges, schools, universities and other institutionsThe
to
tree like

bigger network through which they can maximize theirmaintain

their own
network as a branch of a
area of
 MODERN'S abc OF cOMPUTER SCIENCE .
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networks which
access to the network. This type of network topology is most suitable for such networks whi.

widely spread and divided into many branches.

In tree topology the hubs of each smaller topologies are connected to the central huh s
controls the entire network. However, some nodes can be directly connected to the central hi tha

Nodes

Nodes

Concentrator
(Hub)

www

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Back bone Cable

Fig. 10. Tree Topology

Advantages of tree topology

I t is possible to form a point to point connection with tree topology.
All the computers can access other computers which are in other larger and immedi
networks.
Tree topology is best suited for branched out networks.

Disadvantages of tree topology

. I n this topology, the length of the network depends on the type of cable utilized to form the
network.
T h e entire tree topology would fail if the central trunk fails as it forms the backbone of the
network.

The tree topology is comparatively more complex than the bus and star topologies. If it gets

bigger, it would be difficult to configure and manage it.

It is expensive as more hubs and cables are required to install the network.