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‫هللا الرحمن الر ِحي ِم‬ ‫ْ‬

Computer Networks
Lecture # 15
By: Mr. Muhammad Tahir Sohail
Lecturer
Department of Computer Science
 Computer Networks
• A computer network is a system that connects two or
more computing devices for transmitting and sharing
information. Computing devices include everything
from a mobile phone to a server. These devices are
connected using physical wires such as fiber optics, but
they can also be wireless.
OR
• A computer network is a set of devices connected
through links. A node can be a computer, printer, or
any device capable of sending or receiving the data.
The links connecting the nodes are known as
communication channels.
 Computer Networks
• Computer Network uses distributed processing in
which task is divided among several computers.
Instead, a single computer handles an entire task, each
separate computer handles a subset.
• A Computer Network is a group of computers
connected with each other through wires, optical
fibers, or optical links so that various devices can
interact with each other through a network.
• The aim of the computer network is the sharing of
resources among various devices.
 Uses of Computer Network
Resource sharing: Resource sharing is the sharing of
resources such as programs, printers, and data among the
users on the network without the requirement of the
physical location of the resource and user.
Server-Client model: Computer networking is used in the
server-client model. A server is a central computer used to
store the information and maintained by the system
administrator. Clients are the machines used to access the
information stored in the server remotely.
 Uses of Computer Network
Communication medium: A computer network behaves as
a communication medium among the users. For example, a
company that contains more than one computer has an
email system that the employees use for daily
communication.
E-commerce: Computer networks are also important in
businesses. We can do business over the Internet. For
example, amazon.com is doing their business over the
internet.
 Computer network features
▪ Communication speed
▪ File sharing
▪ Backup and Rollback is easy
▪ Software and Hardware sharing
▪ Security
▪ Scalability
▪ Reliability
 Computer Network Architecture
Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical
and logical design of the software, hardware, protocols, and
media for the transmission of data. Simply we can say that
how computers are organized and how tasks are allocated
to the computer.
The two types of network architectures are used:
▪ 1. Peer-To-Peer network
▪ 2. Client/Server network
 Peer-To-Peer network
▪ Peer-to-peer network is a network in which all the computers
are linked together with equal privilege and responsibilities
for processing the data.
▪ Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing
the resources, but this can lead to a problem if the computer
with the resource is down.
▪ Peer-to-peer network has no dedicated server.
▪ Peer-to-peer networks are useful
for small environments, usually up
to 10 computers.
 Advantages of Peer-To-Peer
Network
▪ It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated
server.
▪ If one computer stops working but, other computers will
not stop working.
▪ It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer
manages itself.
 Disadvantages of Peer-To-Peer
Network
▪ In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain a
centralized system. Therefore, it cannot back up the data
as the data is different in different locations.
▪ It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.
 Client/Server Network
▪ Client/Server network is a network model designed for
the end users called clients, to access the resources such
as songs, video, etc. from a central computer known as
Server.
▪ The central controller is known as a server while all other
computers in the network are called clients.
▪ A server performs all the major operations such as
security and network management.
▪ A server is responsible for managing all the resources
such as files, directories, printer, etc.
 Client/Server Network
▪ All the clients communicate with each other through a
server. For example, if client1 wants to send some data to
client 2, then it first sends the request to the server for
the permission. The server sends the response to the
client 1 to initiate its communication with the client 2.
 Advantages Of Client/Server
network
▪ A Client/Server network contains the centralized system.
Therefore we can back up the data easily.
▪ A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that
improves the overall performance of the whole system.
▪ Security is better in Client/Server network as a single
server administers the shared resources.
▪ It also increases the speed of the sharing of resources.
 Disadvantages of Client/Server
network
▪ Client/Server network is expensive as it requires a server
with large memory.
▪ A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to
provide the resources to the clients, but the cost of NOS
is very high.
▪ It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage
all the resources.
Computer Network Types
 Computer Network Types
A computer network is a group of computers linked to each
other that enables the computer to communicate with
another computer and share its resources, data, and
applications.
 Computer Network Types
A computer network can be categorized by their size. A
computer network is mainly of Three types:
▪ LAN (Local Area Network)
▪ MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
▪ WAN (Wide Area Network)
 LAN (Local Area Network)
▪ Local Area Network is a group of computers
connected to each other in a small area such as a
building, or office.
▪ LAN is used for connecting two or more personal
computers through a communication medium such
as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
▪ It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive
hardware such as hubs, network adapters, and
ethernet cables.
 LAN (Local Area Network)
▪ The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in the
Local Area Network.
▪ Local Area Network provides higher security.
 MAN (Metropolitan Area
Network)
▪ A metropolitan area network is a network that covers
a larger geographic area by interconnecting a
different LAN to form a larger network.
▪ Government agencies use MAN to connect to the
citizens and private industries.
▪ In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other
through a telephone exchange line.
 MAN (Metropolitan Area
Network)
▪ The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232,
Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, OC-3, ADSL, etc.
▪ It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).
 Uses of Metropolitan Area
Network
▪ MAN is used in communication between the banks in
a city.
▪ It can be used in an Airline Reservation.
▪ It can be used in a college within a city.
▪ It can also be used for communication in the military.
 WAN (Wide Area Network)
▪ A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over
a large geographical area such as states or countries.
▪ A Wide Area Network is quite a bigger network than
the LAN.
▪ A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single
location, but it spans a large geographical area
through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite
links.
 WAN (Wide Area Network)
▪ The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
▪ A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of
Business, government, and education.
 Examples of Wide Area Network
▪ Mobile Broadband: A 4G network is widely used
across a region or country.
▪ Last mile: A telecom company is used to provide the
internet services to the customers in hundreds of
cities by connecting their home with fiber.
▪ Private network: A bank provides a private network
that connects the 44 offices. This network is made by
using the telephone leased line provided by the
telecom company.
Advantages of Wide Area Network
▪ Geographical area: A Wide Area Network provides a
large geographical area. Suppose if the branch of our
office is in a different city then we can connect with them
through WAN. The internet provides a leased line
through which we can connect with another branch.
▪ Centralized data: In the case of a WAN network, data is
centralized. Therefore, we do not need to buy the emails,
files, or backup servers.
▪ Get updated files: Software companies work on the live
server. Therefore, the programmers get the updated files
within seconds.
Advantages of Wide Area Network
▪ Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are
transmitted fast. Web application like Facebook, WhatsApp,
and Skype allows you to communicate with friends.
▪ Sharing of software and resources: In the WAN network, we
can share the software and other resources like a hard drive,
and RAM.
▪ Global business: We can do business over the internet
globally.
▪ High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for our company
then this gives the high bandwidth. The high bandwidth
increases the data transfer rate which in turn increases the
productivity of our company.
 Disadvantages of Wide Area
Network
▪ Security issue: A WAN network has more security
issues as compared to a LAN and MAN network as all
the technologies are combined creating a security
problem.
▪ Needs Firewall and antivirus software: The data is
transferred on the internet which can be changed or
hacked by the hackers, so the firewall needs to be
used. Some people can inject the virus into our
system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a
virus.
 Disadvantages of Wide Area
Network
▪ High Setup cost: The installation cost of the WAN
network is high as it involves the purchasing of
routers, and switches.
▪ Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so
fixing the problem is difficult.