Computer Networks Fundamentals

WHAT IS A NETWORK?
• A network is simply two or more computers
that are linked together.
• The most common types of networks are:
 Local Area Networks (LANS) and
 Wide Area Networks (WANS).
• The primary difference between the two is
that a LAN is generally confined to a limited
geographical area, whereas a WAN covers a
large geographical area. Most WANs are
made up of several connected LANs.
TYPES OF NETWORKS
• Local Area Network (LAN) – a network that
spans a small area such as a building or an office.
▫ Software applications and other resources are stored on a file
server.
▫ Print servers enable multiple users to share the same
printer.
• Wide Area Network (WAN) – a network that
spans a wide geographical area;
BENEFITS OF A NETWORK
• Information sharing: Authorized users can use other
computers on the network to access and share information and data. This
could include special group projects, databases, etc.
• Hardware sharing: One device connected to a network, such
as a printer or scanner, can be shared by many users.
• Software sharing: Instead of purchasing and installing a
software program on each computer, it can be installed on the server. All of
the users can then access the program from a single location.
• Collaborative environment: Users can work together on
group projects by combining the power and capabilities of diverse
equipment.

Ambrose, Bergerud, Busche, Morrison, and Wells-Pusins: IC3 BASICS, Thomson Course Technology, 2003
RISKS OF NETWORK COMPUTING
• The security of a computer network is
challenged everyday by:
▫ Equipment malfunctions
▫ System failures
 Note: equipment malfunctions and system failures may be
caused by natural disasters such as floods, storms, or fires, and
electrical disturbances
▫ Computer hackers
▫ Virus attacks

Ambrose, Bergerud, Busche, Morrison, and Wells-Pusins: IC3 BASICS, Thomson Course Technology, 2003
COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
• Communications Channel

▫ To transfer data from one computer to another

requires some type of link through which the data can
be transmitted. This link is known as the
communications channel.
▫ To send data through the channel requires some type
of transmission media, which may be either physical
or wireless.
 NETWORK/COMMUNICATION
PROTOCOLS

• A protocol is simply an agreed-on set of rules

and procedures for transmitting data between
two or more devices.
• Features determined by the protocol are:
▫ How the sending device indicates it has finished
sending the message.
▫ How the receiving device indicates it has received the
message.
▫ The type of error checking to be used.

Ambrose, Bergerud, Busche, Morrison, and Wells-Pusins: IC3 BASICS, Thomson Course Technology, 2003
NETWORK/COMMUNICATIONS
PROTOCOLS

• On the Internet, the major protocol is TCP/IP

(an acronym for Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol).
ROUTERS

• Routers connect two or more networks and forward data

packets between them. When data arrives from one of
the segments, the router decides, according to it's routing
table, to which segment to forward that data.
 GATEWAY

• "Gateway" is a term that was once used to refer to a routing device. Today,
in the TCP/IP world, the term "router" is used to describe such a device.

The term gateway now refers to special-purpose devices, that perform

protocol conversions. Gateways implement application layer conversions of
information received from various protocols.
EXAMPLE OF FIREWALL

• Firewalls are systems that establish access control policies among

networks. They can block information from entering a network or from
getting out of that network, they can permit different users to perform
different kinds of operations, according to the user's authorizations.
NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• Network architecture – refers to the way a
network is designed and built. The two major
types are:
▫ Peer-to-peer architecture – Computers connect
with each other in a workgroup to share files,
printers, and Internet access. This is used to
connect a small number of computers.
▫ Client/server architecture – sends information
from a client computer to a server, which then
relays the information back to the client computer,
or to other computers on the network
Bandwidth
• Data rate measured in bits (not bytes) per
seconds
• Kbps (Kilobits per seconds)
• Mbps (Megabits per seconds)
• Gbps (Gigabits per seconds)
 LAN (Local Area Network)
• A network of computers that are in the same
physical location, such as home or building
• Usually connected using Ethernet
▫ A standard on how computers communicate over
a shared media (cable)
New: RJ45 for twisted pair cable
Old: BNC connector for coaxial cable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BNC_connector.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ethernet_RJ45_connector_p1160054.jpg
Switch/Router
• To connect multiple segments of networks into a
larger one
• Switch
▫ Like hub but with intelligent
▫ Better performance
• Router
▫ Forward packets from one LAN to another
TCP/IP
• A family of protocols that makes the Internet
works
• The Robustness Principle
▫ “Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in
what you send” - Jon Postel
TCP/IP Network Model
• Different view – 4 layers
▫ Layer 1 : Link (we did not look at details)
▫ Layer 2 : Network
▫ Layer 3 : Transport
▫ Layer 4 : Application
 OSI: Open Systems Interconnect

OSI Model TCP/IP Hierarchy Protocols

OSI and Protocol Stack

7th
Application Layer

6th
Presentation Layer Application Layer

5th
Session Layer

4th
Transport Layer
Transport Layer

3rd
Network Layer
Network Layer

2nd
Link Layer
Link Layer
1st
Physical Layer

Link Layer : includes device driver and network interface card

Network Layer : handles the movement of packets, i.e. Routing
Transport Layer : provides a reliable flow of data between two hosts
Application Layer : handles the details of the particular application
TCP/IP (cont)
Application Layer Data
Eg. WWW, FTP, IRC, Email, telnet, …
Transport Layer Segments
Eg. TCP, UDP
Network Layer Packets
Eg. IP
Link Layer Frames
Eg. Ethernet, WiFi
Physical Layer Bits
Eg. Ethernet Cable, fiber-optics
Packets
• A small chunk of data transmitted over the
Internet
Alice Bob

The
Internet
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
• A secure tunnel to a private network through a
public network
• Once established, local node appears to be a
node in the private network in a secure manner
Host & IP Address
“A host is a computer connected directly to the
Internet”
“Your home computer is not a host”
• Each host needs a globally unique IP address
• IPv4 address
▫ A 32-bit number, arranged in 4 numbers
separated by “.”
▫ Eg. 74.125.19.147
TCP/IP protocol family
• IP : Internet Protocol
▫ UDP : User Datagram Protocol
 RTP, traceroute
▫ TCP : Transmission Control Protocol
 HTTP, FTP, ssh
What is an internet?
• A set of interconnected networks
• The Internet is the most famous example

• Networks can be completely different

▫ Ethernet, ATM, modem, …
▫ (TCP/)IP is what links them
What is an internet? (cont)
• Routers (nodes) are devices on multiple
networks that pass traffic between them
• Individual networks pass traffic from one router
or endpoint to another
• TCP/IP hides the details as much as possible
 Packet Encapsulation
 The data is sent down the protocol stack
 Each layer adds to the data by prepending headers

22Bytes 20Bytes 20Bytes 4Bytes

64 to 1500 Bytes
IP
• Responsible for end to end transmission
• Sends data in individual packets
• Maximum size of packet is determined by the
networks
▫ Fragmented if too large
• Unreliable
▫ Packets might be lost, corrupted, duplicated,
delivered out of order
IP addresses
• 4 bytes
▫ e.g. 163.1.125.98
▫ Each device normally gets one (or more)
▫ In theory there are about 4 billion available

• But…
Routing
• How does a device know where to send a
packet?
▫ All devices need to know what IP addresses are
on directly attached networks
▫ If the destination is on a local network, send it
directly there
Routing (cont)
• If the destination address isn’t local
▫ Most non-router devices just send everything to a
single local router
▫ Routers need to know which network corresponds
to each possible IP address
Allocation of addresses
• Controlled centrally by ICANN
▫ Fairly strict rules on further delegation to avoid
wastage
 Have to demonstrate actual need for them
• Organizations that got in early have bigger
allocations than they really need
IP packets
• Source and destination addresses
• Protocol number
▫ 1 = ICMP, 6 = TCP, 17 = UDP
• Various options
▫ e.g. to control fragmentation
• Time to live (TTL)
▫ Prevent routing loops
IP Datagram
0 4 8 16 19 24 31
Vers Len TOS Total Length
Identification Flags Fragment Offset
TTL Protocol Header Checksum
Source Internet Address
Destination Internet Address
Options... Padding
Data...

Field Purpose Field Purpose

Vers IP version number TTL Time To Live - Max # of hops
Len Length of IP header (4 octet units) Protocol Higher level protocol (1=ICMP,
TOS Type of Service 6=TCP, 17=UDP)
T. Length Length of entire datagram (octets) Checksum Checksum for the IP header
Ident. IP datagram ID (for frag/reassembly) Source IA Originator’s Internet Address
Flags Don’t/More fragments Dest. IA Final Destination Internet Address
Frag Off Fragment Offset Options Source route, time stamp, etc.
Data... Higher level protocol data
IP Routing
Source Destination
Application Application
Transport Router Transport
Network Network Network
Link Link Link

• Routing Table
Destination IP address
IP address of a next-hop router
Flags
Network interface specification
UDP
• Thin layer on top of IP
• Adds packet length + checksum
▫ Guard against corrupted packets
• Also source and destination ports
▫ Ports are used to associate a packet with a
specific application at each end
• Still unreliable:
▫ Duplication, loss, out-of-orderness possible
UDP datagram
0 16 31
Source Port Destination Port
Length Checksum
Application data

Field Purpose
Source Port 16-bit port number identifying originating application
Destination Port 16-bit port number identifying destination application
Length Length of UDP datagram (UDP header + data)
Checksum Checksum of IP pseudo header, UDP header, and data
Typical applications of UDP
▫ Where packet loss etc is better handled by the
application than the network stack
▫ Where the overhead of setting up a connection
isn’t wanted

• VOIP
• Most games
TCP
• Reliable, full-duplex, connection-oriented,
stream delivery
▫ Interface presented to the application doesn’t
require data in individual packets
▫ Data is guaranteed to arrive, and in the correct
order without duplications
 Or the connection will be dropped
▫ Imposes significant overheads
Applications of TCP
• Most things!
▫ HTTP, FTP, …

• Saves the application a lot of work, so used

unless there’s a good reason not to
TCP implementation
• Connections are established using a three-way
handshake
• Data is divided up into packets by the operating
system
• Packets are numbered, and received packets
are acknowledged
• Connections are explicitly closed
▫ (or may abnormally terminate)
TCP Packets
• Source + destination ports
• Sequence number (used to order packets)
• Acknowledgement number (used to verify
packets are received)
TCP Segment
0 4 10 16 19 24 31
Source Port Destination Port
Sequence Number
Acknowledgment Number
Len Reserved Flags Window
Checksum Urgent Pointer
Options... Padding
Data...
Field Purpose
Source Port Identifies originating application
Destination Port Identifies destination application
Sequence Number Sequence number of first octet in the segment
Acknowledgment # Sequence number of the next expected octet (if ACK flag set)
Len Length of TCP header in 4 octet units
Flags TCP flags: SYN, FIN, RST, PSH, ACK, URG
Window Number of octets from ACK that sender will accept
Checksum Checksum of IP pseudo-header + TCP header + data
Urgent Pointer Pointer to end of “urgent data”
Options Special TCP options such as MSS and Window Scale
TCP : Data transfer
Client Host

Send Packet 1
Start Timer Packet Lost Packet should arrive
Timer ACK should be sent
ACK would normally
Arrive at this time

Time Expires

Retransmit Packet1
Timer Start Timer Receive Packet 1
Send AXK 1
Receive ACK 1
Cancel Timer
IPv6
• 128 bit addresses
▫ Make it feasible to be very wasteful with address
allocations
• Lots of other new features
▫ Built-in autoconfiguration, security options, …