Computer Networks

Dr. Motasem Elshourbagy

Phd. Computer Engineering
What is Computer Networks ?
Computer Network **

Computer network is a system of

interconnected computers and peripheral
devices through transmission medium (e.g. a
wire, a cable, or air) and data
communication devices located at different
places for the purpose of communicating
data and sharing resources.
Network vs. Internet *

 Computer Network : a computer network

 isa group of computers that use a set of communication
protocols over links (medium) and communication devices
 forthe purpose of sharing resources located on or provided by
the network nodes.
 internet/internetwork: is a network of networks **
 Internet: Global largest example of internetwork that uses
TCP/IP protocol for providing different services to users. **
(CN) Networks consists of: *

 H/W,S/W,
 Computers, peripheral
 Network Nodes(network printer network IP camera)
 Communication/Network Devices ( Routers/ Switches,…)
 Links
 Communication/ Network protocols
 Network Example:
• For example a Net. connect computers, printers,
scanners and cameras,….
• Wireless
• Wired ethernet
Some Definitions and Terms *

• Node: Individual computer/ device in the network, which use the network
to access shared network resources, send and receive data.

• Server: The computer/device that provides resources/ services to other

computers on a network.

• Examples:

• Web sever , e-mail server, file server, …

 Network Geographic scale
 Networks may be characterized by many properties or features.
 One classification method is the physical extent or geographic scale.

In increasing order of scale

• Nanoscale
• Body (BAN)
• Personal (PAN)
• Local (LAN)
• Campus (CAN)
• Metropolitan (MAN)
• Radio access (RAN)
• Wide (WAN)
Internet is a computer network.
With a combination of all these types
Classification of interconnected processors by scale.
PANs (Personal Area Networks)

 PANs : devices communicate over the range of a person.

 A common example is a wireless network that connects a computer with peripherals.

 A short-range wireless network called Bluetooth to connect these components without

wires.

 Most devices today use Wi-Fi for connecting to each other

Example PAN

A Star topology
LAN (Local Area Network)

 LAN is a private network that operates within or nearby single

building such as a home, office, or factory.
 Connect PC and electronic devices (peripherals) to
 Share resources (e.g., printers) and
 Exchange information.
 Set of H/W used in LAN : - Switch , Hub , Access Point
 Set of S/W (Protocols) used for LAN Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols
 Links (medium)
LAN Types:

▪ Wired LAN/ Ethernet ▪ Wireless LAN

 Interconnect computers Ethernet and Wi-
Local Area in a single room, rooms
Fi are most common
within a building for
Network (LAN) information / resource in use for local area
networks.
sharing.

Use coaxial cable as a

transmission medium Transmits data with a
which is expensive for speed of several MB/s.
large area.

Early Ethernet used coaxial cable.

Shielded twisted pair STP was used
in IBM's Token Ring LAN.
UTP is widely used Now.
15
Characteristics of LAN

Computer communicate with any other computers of the

network

High degree of connection between computers

Easy physical connection of computers in a network

Inexpensive medium of data transmission

High data transmission rate

16
Use of LAN

File transfers Word and text Electronic

and Access processing message handling

Digital voice
Remote Personal
transmission
database access computing
and storage

17
MAN Metropolitan Area Networks

 MAN covers a range of a city.

 Best-known examples: are the cable television networks.
Wide Area Networks

 WAN covers a large geographical area, often a country, a

continent, or even multiple continents.

 A WAN may serve a private organization, as in the case of an

enterprise WAN,

 May be a commercial service offering.

 Example of a company with branch offices in different cities.

WAN consists of:

 Set of H/W :
 Different types of Routers

 Set of S/W (Protocols) :

 Layer 3 protocols

 Links (medium)
Example on WAN

WAN Connect branch offices over a Continent

 ❑ Connect computers spanning a regional, national
or global area.
❑ Example, a large company the head quarters might
WAN be at Cairo and regional branches at Alexandria ,
and Aswan.
❑ The transmission medium used are normally
telephone lines, microwaves and satellite links
❑ WANs are often established with leased
telecommunication circuits.
❑ 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.
❑ Many WANs are built for one organization and are
private. Others, built by Internet Service Providers,
provide connections from an organization's LAN to
the Internet.
WAN functions and characteristics

• Communication Facility: For a big company, the employees can save long
distance phone calls.
• Computer conferencing: users communicate with each other through their
computer system using voice or video.
• Remote Data Entry: sitting at any location you can enter data, update data
and query other information of any computer attached to the WAN.
• Centralized Information: if the organization is spread over many cities, they
keep their important business data in a single place. WAN permits collection
of this data from different sites and save at a single site.
23
WAN functions and characteristics

• Private Networks: there are about 18 million addresses of the approximately

four billion addresses defined in IPv4, are reserved for use in private
networks. Packets addressed in these ranges are not routable on the public
Internet; they are ignored by all public routers.
• Therefore, private hosts cannot directly communicate with public networks,
but require network address translation at a routing gateway for this
purpose.

24
 LAN VS WAN
LAN WAN
Cover small area of few Km’s Cover large area, cover nationwide/even worldwide.

Use coaxial cables, UTP, STP, Wireless Use public communication links (Tel. links)

Usually, a low speed Usually, fast speed

Use Wi-Fi, Ethernet cables Use optic cables, microwave , satellite links

Connected with wires and coaxial cables connected through telephone lines/satellite links.

Low data transmission cost (owned). High data transmission cost (rented).
25
Network Topology

▪How are computers distributed in the network

➢Physical Topology
➢Logical Topology
Bus Topology
 All workstations are connected to a single communication line (bus).
 No central node.
 Transmission from any station travels the length of the bus in both
directions and can be received by all workstations.
Advantage:
❑ It is quite easy to set up.
❑ If one station of the topology fails it does not affect
the entire system.
Disadvantage:
❑ Any break in the bus is difficult to identify.
❑ Break in the bus breaks the network into 2 parts
❑ Weak Security
Messages travels the bus in both directions and can 27
be received by all workstations.
Ring Topology
➢ Each workstation is attached to nearby stations on a point-to-point basis
to form a RING.
➢ Data is transmitted in one direction only (clockwise or anti-clockwise
direction).

➢ Advantages:
▪ Any signal transmitted on the network passes
through all the LAN stations.
➢ Disadvantage:
▪ Breakdown of any one station on the ring can
disable the entire system.
▪ Weak Security
Messages travels the whole ring and can be
received by all workstations. 28
 Star Topology
 Several computers are directly linked to central node.
 Any communication must pass through the central node.
 The central node controls all the activities of the nodes.

• Advantages:
▪ Breakdown of one station does not affect entire
system.
▪ Easy to add/remove computers to/from network
▪ Flexible change in the network.
▪ Better security
• Disadvantage:
▪ Failure of the central node disables communication
throughout the whole network
▪ Use more links. 29
Mesh Topology (Fully connected)
 Several computers are directly linked
 Every node/Comp. is connected to all other nodes.
 Direct communication between nodes.
 No central node.
• Advantages:
▪ Breakdown of one station does not affect the network.
▪ Breakdown of a link can be compensated.
▪ Best security (Direct communication between nodes)
• Disadvantage:
▪ Use more links.
▪ Use more NI and NIC.
▪ No. of connections grows quadratically with the number
of nodes
▪ It is impractical for large networks. 30
Mesh Topology (Partially Connected)
 Several computers are directly linked
 Every node/Comp. is connected to one or more nodes.
 Direct/indirect communication between nodes.
 No central node.

• Advantages:
▪ Breakdown of one station does not affect the network.
▪ Breakdown of a link can be compensated.
• Disadvantage:
▪ Use more links but less than fully connected
▪ Use more NI and NIC but less than fully connected

31
Hybrid topology

 Also known as hybrid network.

 Hybrid networks combine two or more
topologies.
 Resulting network does not exhibit one of
the standard topologies (e.g., bus, star,
ring, etc.).
INTERNET (internet / Internet)
 internet: a network of networks (internetwork / internet)
 The Internet is public global largest internetwork of
interconnected computer networks.
 Use the Internet protocols (TCP/IP) to communicate.
 Consists of private, public, academic, business, and
government networks of local to global scope.
 Linked by a broad array of electronic wired, wireless,
and optical networking technologies.

33
 INTERNET
 The Internet is a network of networks →
 The Internet carries a vast range of information
resources and services, such as:
 Linked hypertext html documents, World Wide Web (WWW),
 Electronic mail,
 File sharing.
 A huge resource of information is accessible to
people across the world
 You can download programs from internet.

34
Internet **
 An internetwork is the connection of multiple different
types of computer networks to form a single computer
network.
 The Internet is the largest example of internetwork.
 It is a global interconnected governmental, academic,
corporate, public, and private computer networks.
 It is based on the Internet Protocol Suite. ( TCP/ IP)