IT 121: Introduction to computer

networking

Objective:
To be familiar with:
• The definitions of networking
• Network topology
• Network peripherals, hardware and software

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Definitions
1.1 Network Definition
• A network can be defined as two or more
computers connected together in such a way
that they can share resources.

• The purpose of a network is to share resources.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Definitions (cont..)
A resource may be:
• A file
• A folder
• A printer
• A disk drive
• Or just about anything else that exists on
a computer.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Definitions (cont..)
A network is simply a collection of computers or other
hardware devices that are connected together, either
physically or logically, using special hardware and software,
to allow them to exchange information and cooperate.
Networking is the term that describes the processes
involved in designing, implementing, upgrading, managing
and otherwise working with networks and network
technologies.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Advantages of networking
• Connectivity and Communication
• Data Sharing
• Hardware Sharing
• Internet Access
• Internet Access Sharing
• Data Security and Management
• Performance Enhancement and Balancing
• Entertainment

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

The Disadvantages (Costs) of Networking

• Network Hardware, Software and Setup Costs

• Hardware and Software Management and
Administration Costs
• Undesirable Sharing
• Illegal or Undesirable Behavior
• Data Security Concerns

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Fundamental Network Classifications
Local Area Networks (LANs):
• A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small
geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings

Wide Area Networks (WANs):

• Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad
area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan,
regional, or national boundaries). Or, less formally, a network that uses
routers and public communications links
• The largest and most well-known example of a WAN is the Internet.
• WANs are used to connect LANs and other types of networks together,
so that users and computers in one location can communicate with
users and computers in other locations

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):
o A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network that interconnects
users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger
than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller
than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN). The term is
applied to the interconnection of networks in a city into a single larger
network (which may then also offer efficient connection to a wide area
network). It is also used to mean the interconnection of several local
area networks by bridging them with backbone lines. The latter usage is
also sometimes referred to as a campus network.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Fundamental Network Classifications (cont)

The Local Network (LAN)

Client Client

Client Client

Client Client

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Fundamental Network Classifications (cont)

• Wide Area Network

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

 Fundamental Network Classifications (cont)
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

 • T1 is a digital carrier signal that transmits the DS – 1 signal. It has a
data rate of about 1.544 megabits / second. It contains twenty four
digital channels and hence requires a device that has digital
connection. This digital connection is called as the CSU / DSU –
Customer Switching Unit or Digital Switching Unit. The scalability of
the T1 is up to 200 and above users. It also provides some services
similar to the internet provider. Most of the computer uses a T1
connection. This technology makes your modem to have higher
speeds and it is an affordable technology
• E1 is similar to the T1. T1 is the North American term whereas the E1
is the European term for the transmission (digital). The data rate of E1
is about 2 megabits per second. It has 32 channels at the speed of 64
Kbps. It is important to know that 2 channels among the 32 are
already reserved. One channel is used for signaling while the other
channel is used for controlling.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

 • PBX stands for Private Branch eXchange, and has become a general
term used to describe a business telephone system that offers
multiple inbound and outbound lines, call routing, voicemail, and call
management features.
• The IPMux-4 mode is used to connect one or more Over-the-Air and
local Ethernet source ports to a COM destination port and internal
registers.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Intranet and Internet Specifications
• Intranet: An intranet is a private network that is contained within an
enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks
and also use leased lines in the wide area network.
• An intranet uses TCP/IP, HTTP, and other Internet protocols and in
general looks like a private version of the Internet. With tunneling,
companies can send private messages through the public network,
using the public network with special encryption/decryption and other
security safeguards to connect one part of their intranet to another.
• Internet: is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of
networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have
permission, get information from any other computer (and
sometimes talk directly to users at other computers).

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Client and Server computer role in networking

• Server computer is a core component of the network,

providing a link to the resources necessary to perform
any task.
• A server computer provides a link to the
resources necessary to perform any task.
• The link it provides could be to a resource existing on
the server itself or a resource on a client computer.
• Client computers normally request and receive information
over the network client. Client computers also depends
primarily on the central server for processing activities

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Peer-to peer network
• A peer-to-peer network is a network where the
computers act as both workstations and servers.
• great for small, simple, and inexpensive networks.
• In a strict peer-to-peer networking setup, every computer
is an equal, a peer in the network.
• Each machine can have resources that are shared with
any other machine.
• There is no assigned role for any particular device, and
each of the devices usually runs similar software. Any
device can and will send requests to any other.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Peer-to peer network (cont..)

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Client/Server Networking
• In this design, a small number of computers are
designated as centralized servers and given the
task of providing services to a larger number of user
machines called clients

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Client/Server Networking (cont..)

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology
• A topology is a way of “laying out” the network.
Topologies can be either physical or logical.
• Physical topologies describe how the cables
are run.
• Logical topologies describe how the
network messages travel

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Bus (can be both logical and physical)
• Star (physical only)
• Ring (can be both logical and physical)
• Mesh (can be both logical and physical)

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
Bus
• A bus is the simplest physical topology. It consists of a
single cable that runs to every workstation
• This topology uses the least amount of cabling, but
also covers the shortest amount of distance.
• Each computer shares the same data and address path.
With a logical bus topology, messages pass through the
trunk, and each workstation checks to see if the message
is addressed to itself. If the address of the message
matches the workstation’s address, the network adapter
copies the message to the card’s on-board memory.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• it is difficult to add a workstation
• have to completely reroute the cable and
possibly run two additional lengths of it.
• if any one of the cables breaks, the entire
network is disrupted. Therefore, it is very
expensive to maintain.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Bus topology

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
Star Topology
• A physical star topology branches each network device off a
central device called a hub, making it very easy to add a
new workstation.
• Also, if any workstation goes down it does not affect the
entire network. (But, as you might expect, if the central
device goes down, the entire network goes down.)
• Some types of Ethernet and ARCNet use a physical star
topology.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

 Class Task: Find an example diagram an organization of the
star network.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Star topologies are easy to install. A cable is
run from each workstation to the hub. The hub
is placed in a central location in the office.
• Star topologies are more expensive to install than
bus networks, because there are several more
cables that need to be installed, plus the cost of the
hubs that are needed.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Star Topology

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
Ring
• Each computer connects to two other
computers, joining them in a circle creating a
unidirectional path where messages move
workstation to workstation.
• Each entity participating in the ring reads a
message, then regenerates it and hands it to its
neighbor on a different network cable.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• The ring makes it difficult to add new computers.
• Unlike a star topology network, the ring topology
network will go down if one entity is removed from
the ring.
• Physical ring topology systems don’t exist much
anymore, mainly because the hardware involved
was fairly expensive and the fault tolerance was
very low.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Ring Topology

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
Mesh
• The mesh topology is the simplest logical topology in terms of data
flow, but it is the most complex in terms of physical design.
• In this physical topology, each device is connected to every other device
• This topology is rarely found in LANs, mainly because of the
complexity of the cabling.
• If there are x computers, there will be (x × (x–1)) ÷ 2 cables in the network.
For example, if you have five computers in a mesh network, it will use 5 ×
(5 – 1) ÷ 2, which equals 10 cables. This complexity is compounded when
you add another workstation.
• For example, your five-computer, 10-cable network will jump to 15 cables
just by adding one more computer. Imagine how the person doing the
cabling would feel if you told them you had to cable 50 computers in a
mesh network—they’d have to come up with 50 × (50 – 1) ÷ 2 = 1225
cables!

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Because of its design, the physical mesh topology is very expensive
to install and maintain.
• Cables must be run from each device to every other device.
The advantage you gain from it is its high fault tolerance.
• With a logical mesh topology, however, there will always be a way
of getting the data from source to destination.
• It may not be able to take the direct route, but it can take an alternate,
indirect route. It is for this reason that the mesh topology is still found
in WANs to connect multiple sites across WAN links. It uses devices
called routers to search multiple routes through the mesh and
determine the best path.
• However, the mesh topology does become inefficient with five or
more entities.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Mesh Topology

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT

Network topology (cont.)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Network Topologies

Topology Advantages Disadvantages

Bus Cheap. Easy to install. Difficult to reconfigure.

Break in bus disables
entire network.

Star Cheap. Easy to install. More expensive than bus.

Easy to reconfigure.
Fault tolerant.

Ring Efficient. Easy to install. Reconfiguration difficult.

Very expensive.
Low fault tolerance

Mesh Simplest. Most fault tolerant. Reconfiguration extremely difficult.

Extremely expensive.
Very complex.

INSTRUCTOR: PEng: VIDATE CYRIL MSOKA IT 121: UAUT