Computer Network [MKD]

1. Data Communication: A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected

by communication links. A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of
sending and/or receiving data generated by other nodes on the network.

2. Component of Data Communication:

Message: The message is the information (data) to be communicated. Popular forms of information
include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.

Sender: The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, video camera, and so on.

Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television, and so on.

Transmission medium: The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels
from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable,
fiber-optic cable, and radio waves

Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It represents an agreement
between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but not
communicating, just as a person speaking French cannot be understood by a person who speaks only
Japanese.

3. Network: A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by

communication links. A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of
sending and/or receiving data generated by other nodes on the network.

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4. Advantages of Computer Networks

• File sharing: The major advantage of a computer network is that is allows file sharing and
remote file access.

• Resource sharing: All computers in the network can share resources such as printers, fax
machines, modems, and scanners.

• Better connectivity and communications: It allows users to connect and communicate with
each other easily.

• Flexible access: A user can log on to a computer anywhere on the network and access his files.

• Instant and multiple accesses: Computer networks are multiply processed .many of users can
access the same information at the same time.

5. Network Criteria :

• Performance:
Performance can be measured in many ways, including transit time and response time. Transit
time 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 a number of factors, including the number of users, the type of transmission medium,
the capabilities of the connected hardware, and the efficiency of the software.

• 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 development, and implementing policies and procedures for recovery from breaches
and data losses.

6. Data Transmission Mode

Simplex: In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way street. Only one of
the two devices on a link can transmit.

Half-Duplex: In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at the same
time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa the half-duplex mode is
like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both directions.

Full-Duplex: In full-duplex both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously. The Full-duplex
Mode is like a two-way street with traffic flowing in both directions at the same time. In this mode
of transmission two people are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the
same time.

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7. Type of Network Connection

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8. Different types of Network Topology: The topology of a network is the geometric

representation of the relationship of all the links and linking devices (usually called nodes) to one
another.

A. Mesh Topology: In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other
device. The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it
connects. n other words, we can say that in a mesh topology, we need n(n -1) /2 duplex-mode links.

Advantages:

• The use of dedicated links guarantees that each connection can carry its own data load, thus
eliminating the traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by multiple devices.
• A mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not incapacitate the entire
system.
• There is the advantage of privacy or security. When every message travels along a dedicated line,
only the intended recipient sees it.
•
Disadvantages:
• Disadvantage of a mesh are related to the amount of cabling because every device must be
connected to every other device, installation and re connection are difficult.
• The sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space (in walls, ceilings, or floors)
can accommodate.
• The hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be prohibitively expensive.

B. Star Topology: In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller, usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to one another. Unlike a mesh
topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices.

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Advantages:

• A star topology is less expensive than a mesh topology. In a star, each device needs only one link
and one I/O port to connect it to any number of others. This factor also makes it easy to install
and reconfigure.
• Far less cabling needs to be housed, and additions, moves, and deletions involve only one
connection: between that device and the hub.
• Other advantages include robustness. If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other links
remain active.

Disadvantages:

• One big disadvantage of a star topology is the dependency of the whole topology on one single
point, the hub. If the hub goes down, the whole system is dead.
• Although a star requires far less cable than a mesh, each node must be linked to a central hub. For
this reason, often more cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies (such as ring or
bus).

C. Bus Topology: The preceding examples all describe point-to-point connections. A bus topology,
on the other hand, is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in a
network.

Advantages:

• Ease of installation.
• A bus uses less cabling than mesh or star topologies.
• In a star, for example, four network devices in the same room require four lengths of cable
reaching all the way to the hub. In a bus, this redundancy is eliminated.

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Disadvantages:

• Difficult re connection and fault isolation.

• Signal reflection at the taps can cause degradation in quality. This degradation can be controlled
by limiting the number and spacing of devices connected to a given length of cable.
• It can therefore be difficult to add new devices. Adding new devices may therefore require
modification or replacement of the backbone.

D. Ring Topology: In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with
only the two devices on either side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from
device to device, until it reaches its destination.

Advantages:

• A ring is relatively easy to install and reconfigure. Each device is linked to only its immediate
neighbors.
• To add or delete a device requires changing only two connections is very easy.
• Less cable used.

Disadvantages:

• A Unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage.

• In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the entire network.
This weakness can be solved by using a dual ring or a switch capable of closing off the break.

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E. Hybrid Topology:

9. Category of Networks:

A. Local Area Network (LAN): A local area network (LAN) is usually privately used to
connect the devices in a single office, building, or campus. LAN provides a useful way of
sharing the resources between end users. The resources such as printers, file servers, scanners,
and internet are easily sharable among computers.

B. The Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): It generally expands throughout a city such as
cable TV network. It can be in the form of Ethernet, Token-ring, ATM, or Fiber Distributed Data
Interface (FDDI). Backbone of MAN is high-capacity and high-speed fiber optics. MAN works in
between Local Area Network and Wide Area Network.

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C. Wide Area Network (WAN): It covers a wide area which may span across provinces and
even a whole country. Generally, telecommunication networks are Wide Area Network. These
networks provide connectivity to MANs and LANs.

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10. Transmission Impairment: When signals travel through the medium, the signal can be
deteriorate due to various regions which are known as transmission impairment. There are various
regions for transmission impairment discus given bellow:

a. Attenuation: Here the signal passes through the medium, it tends to get weaker. As it
covers distance, it loses strength.
b. Delay distortion: Here sender and receiver data sending and receiving speed not same.
c. Noise: Any kind of noise can be destroying the band width of original signal.
d. Crosstalk: Due to miss match of two or more different signal.
e. Impulse: This is introduced because of irregular disturbances such as lightening,
electricity, short-circuit etc.

11. Layered Tasks:

12. Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model: Open System Interconnect is an open standard for all
communication systems. OSI model is established by International Standard Organization (ISO).
This model has seven layers:

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I. Physical Layer (Layer 1): The lowest layer of the OSI reference model is the physical layer.
It is responsible for the actual physical connection between the devices. The physical layer
contains information in the form of bits.

The functions of the physical layer are:

• Bit synchronization: The physical layer provides the synchronization of the bits by providing a
clock. This clock controls both sender and receiver thus providing synchronization at bit level.

• Bit rate control: The Physical layer also defines the transmission rate i.e. the number of bits sent
per second.

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• Physical topologies: Physical layer specifies the way in which the different, devices/nodes are
arranged in a network i.e. bus, star or mesh topology.

• Transmission mode: Physical layer also defines the way in which the data flows between the
two connected devices. The various transmission modes possible are: Simplex, half-duplex and
full duplex.

II. Data Link Layer (DLL) (Layer 2): The data link layer is responsible for the node to node
delivery of the message. It always deals with Data Frame.

The functions of the data Link layer are:

• Framing: Framing is a function of the data link layer. It provides a way for a sender to transmit a
set of bits that are meaningful to the receiver. This can be accomplished by attaching special bit
patterns to the beginning and end of the frame.

• Physical addressing: After creating frames, Data link layer adds physical addresses (MAC
address) of sender and/or receiver in the header of each frame.

• Error control: Data link layer provides the mechanism of error control in which it detects and
retransmits damaged or lost frames.

• Flow Control: The data rate must be constant on both sides else the data may get corrupted thus
, flow control coordinates that amount of data that can be sent before receiving
acknowledgement.

• Access control: When a single communication channel is shared by multiple devices, MAC sub
layer of data link layer helps to determine which device has control over the channel at a given
time.

III. Network Layer (Layer 3): Network layer works for the transmission of data from one host to
the other located in different networks. It also takes care of packet routing i.e. selection of
shortest path to transmit the packet, from the number of routes available.

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The functions of the Network layer are:

• Routing: The network layer protocols determine which route is suitable from source to
destination.

• Logical Addressing: In order to identify each device on internet uniquely, network layer defines
an addressing scheme. Such an address distinguishes each device uniquely and universally.

IV. Transport Layer: The transport layer is responsible for process-to-process delivery of
the entire message. A process is an application program running on a host. It ensures that
the whole message transmitted in order from sender to receiver. A connection oriented
transport layer makes a connection with the transport layer at the destination machine
first before delivering the packets. After all the data are transferred, the connection is
terminated.

V. Session Layer:
• Dialog control. The session layer allows two systems to enter into a dialog. It allows the
communication between two processes to take place in either half duplex (one way at a
time) or full-duplex (two ways at a time) mode.

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• Synchronization: The session layer allows a process to add checkpoints, or

synchronization points, to a stream of data.

VI. Presentation Layer: The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics
of the information exchanged between two systems.

• Translation: Different computers use different encoding systems, the presentation layer is
responsible for inter operation between these different encoding methods.

• Encryption: To carry sensitive information, a system must be able to ensure privacy.

Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to another form and
sends the resulting message out over the network. Decryption reverses the original
process to transform the message back to its original form.

• Compression: Data compression reduces the number of bits contained in the

information. Data compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of
multimedia such as text, audio, and video.

VII. Application Layer: It provides user interfaces and support for services such as electronic
mail, remote file access and transfer. This application allows a user to retrieve files from
a remote computer. It also responsible e-mail forwarding and storage.

13. Different type of switching technique

Switching is a mechanism by which data/information sent from source towards destination which are
not directly connected. Networks have interconnecting devices, which receives data from directly
connected sources, stores data, analyze it and then forwards to the next interconnecting device
closest to the destination.

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a. Circuit Switching:

b. Message Switching: It is nothing but sore and forward technique. Here first receives the whole
message and buffers it until there are resources available to transfer it to the next hop. It is not
suitable because here transit path needs enough storage and hence it is very slow.

c. Packet Switching: Here each packet is routed independently through the network. Therefore
packets contain a header with the full information about the destination. The individual packets
which form a data stream may follow different paths between the source and the destination.

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Different Component of Networking

A. Switch: A switch, in the context of networking is a high-speed device that receives incoming
data packets/frames and redirects them to their destination on a local area network (LAN). A
LAN switch operates at the data link layer (Layer 2). Switch is used to node-to-node
communication on the same network.

B. Router: A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between

computer networks. Routers perform the traffic directing functions on the Internet. ... Then,
using information in its routing table or routing policy, it directs the packet to the
next network on its journey.

C. HUB: a hub is the most basic networking device that connects multiple computers or other network
devices together. Unlike a network switch or router, a network hub has no routing tables.
The hub contains multiple ports which work in Physical layer.

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D. Bridge: A bridge works at the Data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. It responsible to transmit
frames one host to another into two different LAN.

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