LESSON TEN

COMPUTER NETWORKS
INTRODUCTION
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.

“Computer network’’ to mean a collection of autonomous computers

interconnected by a single technology. Two computers are said to be
interconnected if they are able to exchange information.

The connection need not be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves,
infrared, and communication satellites can also be used.

Networks come in many sizes, shapes and forms, as we will see later. They are
usually connected together to make larger networks, with the Internet being
the most well-known example of a network of networks.

There is considerable confusion in the literature between a computer network and

a distributed system. The key distinction is that in a distributed system, a
collection of independent computers appears to its users as a single coherent
system. Usually, it has a single model or paradigm that it presents to the users.
Often a layer of software on top of the operating system, called middleware, is
responsible for implementing this model. A well-known example of a
distributed system is the World Wide Web. It runs on top of the Internet and
presents a model in which everything looks like a document (Web page).

USES OF COMPUTER NETWORKS

Business Applications
a) to distribute information throughout the company (resource sharing).
sharing physical resources such as printers, and tape backup systems, is
sharing information
b) client-server model. It is widely used and forms the basis of much network
usage.
c) communication medium among employees’ email (electronic mail), which
employees generally use for a great deal of daily communication.
 d) Telephone calls between employees may be carried by the computer
network instead of by the phone company. This technology is called IP
telephony or
e) Voice over IP (VoIP) when Internet technology is used.
f) Desktop sharing lets remote workers see and interact with a graphical
computer screen doing business electronically, especially with customers
and suppliers.
g) This new model is called e-commerce (electronic commerce) and it has
grown rapidly in recent years.

Home Applications

• peer-to-peer communication
• person-to-person communication
• electronic commerce
• entertainment. (game playing,)
Mobile Users

• Text messaging or texting

• Smart phones,
• GPS (Global Positioning System)
• m-commerce
• NFC (Near Field Communication)
Social Issues
With the good comes the bad, as this new-found freedom brings with it many
unsolved social, political, and ethical issues.

Social networks, message boards, content sharing sites, and a host of other
applications allow people to share their views with like-minded individuals.
As long as the subjects are restricted to technical topics or hobbies like gardening,
not too many problems will arise.

The trouble comes with topics that people actually care about, like politics, religion,
or sex. Views that are publicly posted may be deeply offensive to some people.
Worse yet, they may not be politically correct. Furthermore, opinions need not be
limited to text; high-resolution color photographs and video clips are easily shared
over computer networks. Some people take a live-and-let-live view, but others feel
that posting certain material (e.g., verbal attacks on particular countries or
religions, pornography, etc.) is simply unacceptable and that such content must be
censored. Different countries have different and conflicting laws in this area. Thus,
the debate rages.

Computer networks make it very easy to communicate. They also make it easy for
the people who run the network to snoop on the traffic. This sets up conflicts over
issues such as employee rights versus employer rights. Many people read and
write email at work. Many employers have claimed the right to read and possibly
censor employee messages, including messages sent from a home computer
outside working hours. Not all employees agree with this, especially the latter part.

Another conflict is centered around government versus citizen’s rights.

A new twist with mobile devices is location privacy. As part of the process of
providing service to your mobile device the network operators learn where you are
at different times of day. This allows them to track your movements. They may
know which nightclub you frequent and which medical center you visit.

Phishing ATTACK: Phishing is a type of social engineering attack often used to

steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when
an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an
email, instant message, or text message.

BOTNET ATTACK: Botnets can be used to perform distributed denial-of-service

attack (DDoS attack), steal data, send spam, and allows the attacker to access the
device and its connection.

The effectiveness of a data communications system depends on four fundamental

characteristics: delivery, accuracy, timeliness, and jitter.

I. Delivery. The system must deliver data to the correct destination. Data must be
received by the intended device or user and only by that device or user.

2 Accuracy. The system must deliver the data accurately. Data that have been
altered in transmission and left uncorrected are unusable.

3. Timeliness. The system must deliver data in a timely manner. Data

delivered late are useless. In the case of video and audio, timely delivery means
delivering data as they are produced, in the same order that they are produced,
and without significant delay. This kind of delivery is called real-time transmission.
4. Jitter. Jitter refers to the variation in the packet arrival time. It is the uneven delay
in the delivery of audio or video packets. For example, let us assume that video
packets are sent every 30 ms. If some of the packets arrive with 30-ms delay and
others with 40-ms delay, an uneven quality in the video is the result.

A data communications system has five components

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

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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.
Data Representation
Text Numbers Images Audio Video
Data Flow
Communication between two devices can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex as
shown in Figure.

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; the other can only receive (Figure a).
Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of simplex devices.
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 (Figure
b). Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band) radios are both half- duplex systems.
Full-Duplex
In full-duplex, both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously (Figure c).
One common example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network.
When two people are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen
at the same time. The full-duplex mode is used when communication in both
directions is required all the time.

Network Criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. The most
important of these are performance, reliability, and security.
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. Performance is often
evaluated by two networking metrics: throughput and delay. We often need more
throughput and less delay. However, these two criteria are often contradictory. If
we try to send more data to the network, we may increase throughput but we
increase the delay because of traffic congestion in the network.

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.
Physical Structures
Before discussing networks, we need to define some network attributes.
Type of Connection
A network is two or more devices connected through links. A link is a
communications pathway that transfers data from one device to another.

There are two possible types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint.

Point-to-Point
A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. The
entire capacity of the link is reserved for transmission between those two
devices. Most point-to-point connections use an actual length of wire or cable to
connect the two ends, but other options, such as microwave or satellite links, are
also possible

When you change television channels by infrared remote control, you are
establishing a point-to-point connection between the remote control and the
television's control system.

Multipoint
A multipoint (also called multi-drop) connection is one in which more than two
specific devices share a single link.

In a multipoint environment, the capacity of the channel is shared, either spatially

or temporally. If several devices can use the link simultaneously, it is a spatially
shared connection. If users must take turns, it is a timeshared connection.

Physical Topology
The term physical topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically.

Two or more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a 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.
There are four basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus, and ring

MESH:
A mesh topology is the one where every node is connected to every other node in the
network.

A mesh topology can be a full mesh topology or a partially connected mesh topology.

In a full mesh topology, every computer in the network has a connection to each of
the other computers in that network. The number of connections in this network
can be calculated using the following formula (n is the number of computers in the
network): n(n-1)/2

In a partially connected mesh topology, at least two of the computers in the network
have connections to multiple other computers in that network. It is an inexpensive
way to implement redundancy in a network. In the event that one of the primary
computers or connections in the network fails, the rest of the network continues to
operate normally.
Advantages of a mesh topology
a) Can handle high amounts of traffic, because multiple devices can transmit
data simultaneously.
b) A failure of one device does not cause a break in the network or transmission
c) of data.
d) Adding additional devices does not disrupt data transmission between other
devices.

Disadvantages of a mesh topology

a) The cost to implement is higher than other network topologies, making it a
less desirable option.
b) Building and maintaining the topology is difficult and time consuming.
c) The chance of redundant connections is high, which adds to the high costs
and potential for reduced efficiency.
STAR:

A star network, star topology is one of the most common network setups. In this
configuration, every node connects to a central network device, like a hub,
switch, or computer. The central network device acts as a server and the peripheral
devices act as clients. Depending on the type of network card used in each
computer of the star topology, a coaxial cable or a RJ-45 network cable is used to
connect computers together.
Advantages of star topology
a) Centralized management of the network, through the use of the central
computer, hub, or switch.
b) Easy to add another computer to the network.
c) If one computer on the network fails, the rest of the network continues to
function normally.
d) The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs), High-speed LANs
e) often use a star topology with a central hub.
Disadvantages of star topology
a) Can have a higher cost to implement, especially when using a switch or
router as the central network device.
b) The central network device determines the performance and number of
c) nodes the network can handle.
d) If the central computer, hub, or switch fails, the entire network goes down
and all computers are disconnected from the network
BUS:

A line topology/ bus topology is a network setup in which each computer and network
device are connected to a single cable or backbone.
Advantages of bus topology
a) It works well when you have a small network.
b) It's the easiest network topology for connecting computers or peripherals in a
linear fashion.
c) It requires less cable length than a star topology.
Disadvantages of bus topology
a) It can be difficult to identify the problems if the whole network goes down.
b) It can be hard to troubleshoot individual device issues.
c) Bus topology is not great for large networks.
d) Terminators are required for both ends of the main cable.
 e) Additional devices slow the network down.
f) If a main cable is damaged, the network fails or splits into two.

RING:

A ring topology is a network configuration in which device connections create a

circular data path. In a ring network, packets of data travel from one device to the
next until they reach their destination. Most ring topologies allow packets to travel
only in one direction, called a unidirectional ring network. Others permit data
to move in either direction, called bidirectional.

The major disadvantage of a ring topology is that if any individual connection in

the ring is broken, the entire network is affected.

Ring topologies may be used in either local area networks (LANs) or wide area
networks (WANs).
Advantages of ring topology
a) All data flows in one direction, reducing the chance of packet collisions.
b) A network server is not needed to control network connectivity between each
workstation.
c) Data can transfer between workstations at high speeds.
d) Additional workstations can be added without impacting performance of the
network.
Disadvantages of ring topology
a) All data being transferred over the network must pass through each
workstation on the network, which can make it slower than a star topology.
b) The entire network will be impacted if one workstation shuts down.
c) The hardware needed to connect each workstation to the network is more
expensive than Ethernet cards and hubs/switches.
Hybrid Topology
A network can be hybrid. For example, we can have a main star topology with each
branch connecting several stations in a bus topology as shown in the figure below.

Types of Network based on size

The types of network are classified based upon the size, the area it covers and its
physical architecture. The three primary network categories are LAN, WAN and
MAN. Each network differs in their characteristics such as distance, transmission
speed, cables and cost.
Basic types
LAN (Local Area Network)
Group of interconnected computers within a small area. (room, building, campus)
Two or more pc's can from a LAN to share files, folders, printers, applications and
other devices.

Coaxial or CAT 5 cables are normally used for connections. Due to short
distances, errors and noise are minimum. Data transfer rate is 10 to 100 mbps.

Example: A computer lab in a school.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
Design to extend over a large area.

Connecting number of LAN's to form larger network, so that resources can be shared.

Networks can be up to 5 to 50 km. Owned by organization or individual.

 Data transfer rate is low compare to LAN.

Example: Organization with different branches located in the city.

WAN (Wide Area Network)
Are country and worldwide network. Contains multiple LAN's and MAN's.
Distinguished in terms of geographical range. Uses satellites and microwave
relays.

Data transfer rate depends upon the ISP provider and varies over the location. Best
example is the internet.
Other types
WLAN (Wireless LAN)
A LAN that uses high frequency radio waves for communication. Provides short
range connectivity with high speed data transmission. PAN (Personal Area
Network)

Network organized by the individual user for its personal use.

SAN (Storage Area Network)
Connects servers to data storage devices via fiber-optic cables. E.g.: Used for daily
backup of organization or a mirror copy.

A transmission medium can be broadly defined as anything that can carry

information from a source to a destination.