UNIT 4 (COMPUTER NETWORK)

Computer networking:

A computer network is a set of devices connected through links. A node can be

computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending or receiving the data. The
links connecting the nodes are known as communication channels.

Computer networking refers to interconnected computing devices that can

exchange data and share resources with each other. These networked devices use a
system of rules, called communications protocols, to transmit information over
physical or wireless technologies.

How does a computer network work?

Nodes and links are the basic building blocks in computer networking. A network
node may be data communication equipment (DCE) such as a modem, hub or,
switch, or data terminal equipment (DTE) such as two or more computers and
printers. A link refers to the transmission media connecting two nodes. Links may
be physical, like cable wires or optical fibers, or free space used by wireless
networks.
Different Types of Computer Networks:

There are various types of Computer Networking options available. The

classification of network in computers can be done according to their size as well
as their purpose.

The size of a network should be expressed by the geographic area and number of
computers, which are a part of their networks. It includes devices housed in a
single room to millions of devices spread across the world. Following are the
popular types of Computer Network:

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What is PAN (Personal Area Network)?

PAN (Personal Area Network) is a computer network formed around a person. It

generally consists of a computer, mobile, or personal digital assistant. PAN can be
used for establishing communication among these personal devices for connecting
to a digital network and the internet.

What is a LAN (Local Area Network)?

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a group of computer and peripheral devices

which are connected in a limited area such as school, laboratory, home, and office
building. It is a widely useful network for sharing resources like files, printers,
games, and other application.

Local Area Network (LAN)

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What is WAN (Wide Area Network)?

WAN (Wide Area Network) is another important computer network that which is
spread across a large geographical area. WAN network system could be a
connection of a LAN which connects with other LAN’s using telephone lines and
radio waves. It is mostly limited to an enterprise or an organization.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

What is MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)?

A Metropolitan Area Network or MAN is consisting of a computer network

across an entire city, college campus, or a small region. This type of network is
large than a LAN, which is mostly limited to a single building or site. Depending
upon the type of configuration, this type of network allows you to cover an area
from several miles to tens of miles.

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 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Goal of computer network:

The main goals of computer networks are as follows −

Resource Sharing

The main goal of the computer network is Resource Sharing. It is to create all the
programs, data and hardware accessible to anyone on the network without
considering the resource’s physical area and the client.

Saving Money

The second goal of a computer network is saving money. Small computers have a
much excellent value proportion than higher ones.

High Reliability

The third goal is to support high reliability by acquiring a different authority of

supply. For example, all files can be recreated on a few machines, and thus if one
of them is nonexistent, the additional copies could be available.

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Improve Performance

The fourth goal of a computer network is to improve accessibility and the

performance of the system. A system’s performance can be improved by inserting
one or more processors into it as its workload grows.

Communication Medium

The fifth goal of the computer network offers a powerful communication medium.
The different user on the network can immediately identify a document that has
been refreshed on a network.

OSI Model

The OSI Model is a logical and conceptual model that defines network
communication used by systems open to interconnection and communication with
other systems. The Open System Interconnection (OSI Model) also defines a
logical network and effectively describes computer packet transfer by using
various layers of protocols.

7 Layers of the OSI Model

OSI model is a layered server architecture system in which each layer is defined
according to a specific function to perform. All these seven layers work
collaboratively to transmit the data from one layer to another.

• The Upper Layers: It deals with application issues and mostly implemented
only in software. The highest is closest to the end system user. In this layer,
communication from one end-user to another begins by using the interaction
between the application layer. It will process all the way to end-user.

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 • The Lower Layers: These layers handle activities related to data transport.
The physical layer and data link layers also implemented in software and
hardware.

Upper and lower layers further divide network architecture into seven different
layers as below

• Application

• Presentation

• Session

• Transport

• Network, Data-link

• Physical layers

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Physical Layer:

The physical layer helps you to define the electrical and physical specifications of
the data connection. This level establishes the relationship between a device and a
physical transmission medium. The physical layer is not concerned with protocols
or other such higher-layer items.

Examples of hardware in the physical layer are network adapters, ethernet,

repeaters, networking hubs, etc.

Data Link Layer:

Data link layer corrects errors which can occur at the physical layer. The layer
allows you to define the protocol to establish and terminates a connection between
two connected network devices.

Transport Layer:

The transport layer builds on the network layer to provide data transport from a
process on a source machine to a process on a destination machine. It is hosted
using single or multiple networks, and also maintains the quality of service
functions.

It determines how much data should be sent where and at what rate. This layer
builds on the message which are received from the application layer. It helps
ensure that data units are delivered error-free and in sequence.

Transport layer helps you to control the reliability of a link through flow control,
error control, and segmentation or desegmentation.

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Network Layer:

The network layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring
variable length data sequences from one node to another connected in “different
networks”.

Session Layer

Session Layer controls the dialogues between computers. It helps you to establish
starting and terminating the connections between the local and remote application.

Presentation Layer

Presentation layer allows you to define the form in which the data is to exchange
between the two communicating entities. It also helps you to handles data
compression and data encryption.

This layer transforms data into the form which is accepted by the application. It
also formats and encrypts data which should be sent across all the networks. This
layer is also known as a syntax layer.

Application Layer

Application layer interacts with an application program, which is the highest level
of OSI model. The application layer is the OSI layer, which is closest to the end-
user. It means OSI application layer allows users to interact with other software
application.

Application layer interacts with software applications to implement a

communicating component. The interpretation of data by the application program
is always outside the scope of the OSI model.

Example of the application layer is an application such as file transfer, email,

remote login, etc.

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Internetworking

Internetworking started as a way to connect disparate types

of computer networking technology. Computer network term is used to describe
two or more computers that are linked to each other. When two or more
computer LANs or WANs or computer network segments are connected using
devices such as a router and configure by logical addressing scheme with
a protocol such as IP, then it is called as computer internetworking.

Internetworking is a term used by Cisco. Any interconnection among or between

public, private, commercial, industrial, or governmental computer networks may
also be defined as an internetwork or “Internetworking“.

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In modern practice, the interconnected computer networks
or Internetworking use the Internet Protocol. Two architectural models are
commonly used to describe the protocols and methods used in internetworking.
The standard reference model for internetworking is Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI).

Type of Internetworking

Internetworking is implemented in Layer 3 (Network Layer) of this model The

most notable example of internetworking is the Internet (capitalized). There are
three variants of internetwork or Internetworking, depending on who administers
and who participates in them:

✓ Extranet

✓ Intranet

✓ Internet

Intranets and extranets may or may not have connections to the Internet. If
connected to the Internet, the intranet or extranet is normally protected from being
accessed from the Internet without proper authorization. The Internet is not
considered to be a part of the intranet or extranet, although it may serve as a portal
for access to portions of an extranet.

Extranet

An extranet is a network of internetwork or Internetworking that is limited in

scope to a single organization or entity but which also has limited
connections to the networks of one or more other usually, but not necessarily,
trusted organizations or entities .Technically, an extranet may also be
categorized as a MAN, WAN, or other type of network, although, by definition,

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an extranet cannot consist of a single LAN; it must have at least one connection
with an external network.

Intranet

An intranet is a set of interconnected networks or Internetworking, using the

Internet Protocol and uses IP-based tools such as web browsers and ftp tools,
that is under the control of a single administrative entity. That administrative
entity closes the intranet to the rest of the world, and allows only specific users.
Most commonly, an intranet is the internal network of a company or other
enterprise. A large intranet will typically have its own web server to provide
users with browseable information.

Internet

A specific Internetworking, consisting of a worldwide interconnection of

governmental, academic, public, and private networks based upon the Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by ARPA of the
U.S. Department of Defense also home to the World Wide Web (WWW) and
referred to as the ‘Internet‘ with a capital ‘I’ to distinguish it from other generic
internetworks. Participants in the Internet, or their service providers, use IP
Addresses obtained from address registries that control assignments.

What are network devices?

Network devices, or networking hardware, are physical devices that are required
for communication and interaction between hardware on a computer network.

Types of network devices

Here is the common network device list:

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• Hub

• Switch

• Router

• Bridge

• Gateway

• Modem

• Repeater

• Access Point

Hub

Hubs connect multiple computer networking devices together. A hub also acts as a
repeater in that it amplifies signals that deteriorate after traveling long distances
over connecting cables. A hub is the simplest in the family of network connecting
devices because it connects LAN components with identical protocols.

Switch

Switches generally have a more intelligent role than hubs. A switch is a multiport
device that improves network efficiency. The switch maintains limited routing
information about nodes in the internal network, and it allows connections to
systems like hubs or routers.

Router

Routers help transmit packets to their destinations by charting a path through the
sea of interconnected networking devices using different network topologies.
Routers are intelligent devices, and they store information about the networks
they’re connected to.

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Bridge

Bridges are used to connect two or more hosts or network segments together.
Bridges work only at the Physical and Data Link layers of the OSI model. Bridges
are used to divide larger networks into smaller sections by sitting between two
physical network segments and managing the flow of data between the two.

Gateway

Gateways normally work at the Transport and Session layers of the OSI model. At
the Transport layer and above, there are numerous protocols and standards from
different vendors; gateways are used to deal with them. Gateways provide
translation between networking technologies such as Open System Interconnection
(OSI) and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).

Modem

Modems (modulators-demodulators) are used to transmit digital signals over

analog telephone lines. Thus, digital signals are converted by the modem into
analog signals of different frequencies and transmitted to a modem at the receiving
location. The receiving modem performs the reverse transformation and provides a
digital output to a device connected to a modem, usually a computer.

Repeater

A repeater is an electronic device that amplifies the signal it receives. You can
think of repeater as a device which receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher
level or higher power so that the signal can cover longer distances, more than 100
meters for standard LAN cables. Repeaters work on the Physical layer.

Access Point

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While an access point (AP) can technically involve either a wired or wireless
connection, it commonly means a wireless device. An AP works at the second OSI
layer, the Data Link layer, and it can operate either as a bridge connecting a
standard wired network to wireless devices or as a router passing data
transmissions from one access point to another.

TCP/IP MODEL:
TCP/IP Model helps you to determine how a specific computer should be
connected to the internet and how data should be transmitted between them. It
helps you to create a virtual network when multiple computer networks are
connected together. The purpose of TCP/IP model is to allow communication over
large distances.

TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol. TCP/IP Stack
is specifically designed as a model to offer highly reliable and end-to-end byte
stream over an unreliable internetwork.

The functionality of the TCP IP model is divided into four layers, and each
includes specific protocols.

TCP/IP is a layered server architecture system in which each layer is defined

according to a specific function to perform. All these four TCP IP layers work
collaboratively to transmit the data from one layer to another.

• Application Layer

• Transport Layer

• Internet Layer

• Network Interface

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Application Layer

Application layer interacts with an application program, which is the highest level
of OSI model. The application layer is the OSI layer, which is closest to the end-
user. It means the OSI application layer allows users to interact with other software
application.

Transport Layer

Transport layer builds on the network layer in order to provide data transport from
a process on a source system machine to a process on a destination system. It is
hosted using single or multiple networks, and also maintains the quality of service
functions.

Internet Layer

An internet layer is a second layer of TCP/IP layes of the TCP/IP model. It is also
known as a network layer. The main work of this layer is to send the packets from

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any network, and any computer still they reach the destination irrespective of the
route they take.

The Network Interface Layer

Network Interface Layer is this layer of the four-layer TCP/IP model. This layer is
also called a network access layer. It helps you to defines details of how data
should be sent using the network.

It also includes how bits should optically be signaled by hardware devices which
directly interfaces with a network medium, like coaxial, optical, coaxial, fiber, or
twisted-pair cables.

Most Common TCP/IP Protocols

Some widely used most common TCP/IP protocol are:

TCP:

Transmission Control Protocol is an internet protocol suite which breaks up the

message into TCP Segments and reassembling them at the receiving side.

IP:

An Internet Protocol address that is also known as an IP address is a numerical

label. It is assigned to each device that is connected to a computer network which
uses the IP for communication. Its routing function allows internetworking and
essentially establishes the Internet. Combination of IP with a TCP allows
developing a virtual connection between a destination and a source.

HTTP:

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a foundation of the World Wide Web. It is used
for transferring webpages and other such resources from the HTTP server or web
server to the web client or the HTTP client. Whenever you use a web browser like

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Google Chrome or Firefox, you are using a web client. It helps HTTP to transfer
web pages that you request from the remote servers.

SMTP:

SMTP stands for Simple mail transfer protocol. This protocol supports the e-mail
is known as a simple mail transfer protocol. This protocol helps you to send the
data to another e-mail address.

SNMP:

SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a framework which

is used for managing the devices on the internet by using the TCP/IP protocol.

DNS:

DNS stands for Domain Name System. An IP address that is used to identify the
connection of a host to the internet uniquely. However, users prefer to use names
instead of addresses for that DNS.

TELNET:

TELNET stands for Terminal Network. It establishes the connection between the
local and remote computer. It established connection in such a manner that you can
simulate your local system at the remote system.

FTP:

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a mostly used standard protocol for
transmitting the files from one machine to another.

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a global network of billions of computers and other electronic

devices. With the Internet, it's possible to access almost any information,
communicate with anyone else in the world, and do much more.
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You can do all of this by connecting a computer to the Internet, which is also
called going online. When someone says a computer is online, it's just another way
of saying it's connected to the Internet.

What is the Web?

The World Wide Web—usually called the Web for short—is a collection of
different websites you can access through the Internet. A website is made up of
related text, images, and other resources. Websites can resemble other forms of
media—like newspaper articles or television programs—or they can be interactive
in a way that's unique to computers.

The purpose of a website can be almost anything: a news platform, an

advertisement, an online library, a forum for sharing images, or an educational site
like us!

Electronic Commerce

E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and selling of goods, products,

or services over the internet. E-commerce is also known as electronic commerce or
internet commerce. These services provided online over the internet network.
Transaction of money, funds, and data are also considered as E-commerce. These
business transactions can be done in four ways: Business to Business (B2B), Business
to Customer (B2C), Customer to Customer (C2C), Customer to Business (C2B).

Types of E-Commerce Models

Electronic commerce can be classified into four main categories. The basis for this
simple classification is the parties that are involved in the transactions. So the four
basic electronic commerce models are as follows,

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1. Business to Business

This is Business to Business transactions. Here the companies are doing business
with each other. The final consumer is not involved. So the online transactions only
involve the manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers etc.

2. Business to Consumer

Business to Consumer. Here the company will sell their goods and/or services
directly to the consumer. The consumer can browse their websites and look at
products, pictures, read reviews. Then they place their order and the company ships
the goods directly to them. Popular examples are Amazon, Flipkart, Jabong etc.

3. Consumer to Consumer

Consumer to consumer, where the consumers are in direct contact with each other.
No company is involved. It helps people sell their personal goods and assets directly
to an interested party. Usually, goods traded are cars, bikes, electronics etc. OLX,
Quikr etc follow this model.

4. Consumer to Business

This is the reverse of B2C, it is a consumer to business. So the consumer provides a

good or some service to the company. Say for example an IT freelancer who demos
and sells his software to a company. This would be a C2B transaction.

Examples of E-Commerce

• Amazon

• Flipkart

• Upwork

• Olx

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• Quikr

Advantages of E-Commerce

• E-commerce provides the sellers with a global reach. They remove the barrier
of place (geography). Now sellers and buyers can meet in the virtual world,
without the hindrance of location.

• Electronic commerce wills substantially lower the transaction cost. It eliminates

many fixed costs of maintaining brick and mortar shops. This allows the
companies to enjoy a much higher margin of profit.

• It provides quick delivery of goods with very little effort on part of the
customer. Customer complaints are also addressed quickly. It also saves time,
energy and effort for both the consumers and the company.

• One other great advantage is the convenience it offers. A customer can shop
24×7. The website is functional at all times; it does not have working hours like
a shop.

• Electronic commerce also allows the customer and the business to be in touch
directly, without any intermediaries. This allows for quick communication and
transactions. It also gives a valuable personal touch.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce

• The start-up costs of the e-commerce portal are very high. The setup of the
hardware and the software, the training cost of employees, the constant
maintenance and upkeep are all quite expensive.

• Although it may seem like a sure thing, the e-commerce industry has a high risk
of failure.

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• At times, e-commerce can feel impersonal. So it lacks the warmth of an
interpersonal relationship which is important for many brands and products.

• Security is another area of concern.

• Then there are also fulfillment problems. Even after the order is placed there
can be problems with shipping, delivery, mix-ups etc. This leaves the customers
unhappy and dissatisfied.

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