Elnasr Technical College

IT Department
Level (4)

“Network Administration”

Lecture #2

By:

Mohamed A. Goumaa
M.Sc. in Computer Architecture and Networking
University of Khartoum

Lecture #2 Page 1 of 5
1. Network Adapter Facts

A network adapter connects a host to the network medium. Some computers, like laptops, come
with built-in network adapters. Other computers use NICs (network interface cards) that plug in
to the system's expansion slots or which are external to the computer and connect through an
existing computer port.

The table below describes the main components of an Ethernet NIC.

Component Description
A NIC's transceiver is responsible for transmitting and receiving network
communications. To send signals to the network, it converts digital data from a PC
to digital signals. The type of signal the transceiver sends depends on the type of
Transceiver
network. A fiber optic NIC sends light signals; an Ethernet NIC sends electronic
signals. To receive signals, the transceiver converts digital signals from the
network to digital data for the PC.
The MAC address is a unique hexadecimal identifier burned into the ROM
(physically assigned address) of every network interface.

 The MAC address is a 12-digit hexadecimal number (each number ranges

from 0-9 or A-F).
 The address is often written as 00-B0-D0-06-BC-AC or 00B0.D006.BCAC,
MAC although dashes, periods, and colons can be used to divide the MAC
Address address parts.
 The MAC address is guaranteed unique through design. The first half (first
6 digits) of the MAC address is assigned to each manufacturer. The
manufacturer determines the rest of the address, assigning a unique value
which identifies the host address. A manufacturer that uses all the addresses
in the original assignment can apply for a new MAC address assignment.

A NIC communicates across the network using the following method:

1. The NIC receives data from the PC.

2. The NIC breaks the data into frames, which include the following information:
o The receiving NIC's MAC address
o The sending NIC's MAC address
o The data it is transmitting
o The CRC (cyclic redundancy checking) which is used to verify correct
transmission and reception of the data
3. The NIC encodes the frames as electrical or light impulses and transmits them across the
network.
4. The receiving NIC verifies the NIC addresses and CRC.
5. The receiving NIC tracks the frames and reassembles the data.
6. The receiving NIC sends the data to the PC.

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2. Network Connection Device Facts

The following table lists several common connection devices used within a LAN.

Device Description
A hub is the central connecting point of a physical star, logical bus topology. Hubs
manage communication among hosts using the following method:

 A host sends a frame to another host through the hub.

Hub  The hub duplicates the frame and sends it to every host connected to the
hub.
 The host to which the frame is addressed accepts the frame. Every other
host ignores the frame.

Switches provide functionality similar to hubs, but typically on a larger scale and
with higher performance (A switch offers guaranteed bandwidth to each port).
Unlike a hub, a switch forwards frames only to the intended host, not every host
connected to the switch.

A switch builds a database based on MAC addresses to make forwarding

decisions.

 The process begins by examining the source address of an incoming

Switch packet. If the source address is not in the forwarding database, an entry for
the address is made in the database. The port it came in on is also recorded.
 The destination address is then examined.
o If the destination address is in the database, the packet is forwarded
to the appropriate port if the port is different than the one on which
it was received.

Eventually, a switch learns the location of all devices on the network. Incoming
frames are then sent directly to the switch port to which a specific host is
connected.
Bridges connect separate media segments (networks) that use the same protocol.
Like a switch, bridges use MAC addresses to determine a frame's destination. This
Bridge
keeps the network from wasting bandwidth by eliminating unnecessary traffic
between segments.
A wireless access point (WAP) is a hub for a wireless network. A WAP works
like a hub except that hosts connect using radio waves instead of wires.
Wireless
Access Point
Note: A WAP can have ports that interface with a wired portion of a segment,
(WAP)
allowing you to connect the WAP to the wired network. Some WAPs even have
built-in wired hubs or switches.

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3. Internetwork Device Facts

Devices such as hubs, switches, and bridges connect multiple devices to the same network
segment. Internetwork devices connect multiple networks or subnets together, and enable
communication between hosts on different types of networks.

Device Description
A gateway is used to describe any device that connects one administratively managed
Gateway network with another. For example, a gateway connects a business network to the
Internet.
A router is a device that connects two or more network segments or subnets.

 Each subnet has a unique, logical network address.

 Routers can be used to connect networks within a single LAN, or they can be
Router used as gateways to connect multiple LANs together.

In addition to simply linking multiple subnets together, routers keep track of other
subnets on the internetwork and decide the direction data should travel to reach the
destination.
A firewall is a router with additional security features. Firewalls can be programmed
with security rules to restrict the flow of traffic between networks.

 A firewall can control the type of traffic allowed in to a network and the type of
Firewall
traffic allowed out of a network.
 A firewall can be either hardware devices or software installed onto operating
systems.

4. Ethernet Facts

Characteristic Description
Ethernet uses one or more of the following networking topologies:

 Physical bus, logical bus

Topology
 Physical star, logical bus
 Physical star, logical star

Ethernet uses media access method called Carrier Sense, Multiple

Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). Devices use the following process to
Media Access
send data.
Method
1. Because all devices have equal access (multiple access) to the

Lecture #2 Page 4 of 5
 transmission media, a device with data to send first listens to the
transmission medium to determine if it is free (carrier sense).
2. If it is not free, the device waits a random time and listens again to the
transmission medium. When it is free, the device transmits its message.
3. If two devices transmit at the same time, a collision occurs. The sending
devices detect the collision (collision detection) and send a jam signal to
notify all other hosts that a collision has occurred.
4. Both devices wait a random length of time before attempting to resend
the original message (called backoff).

Note: When switches are used on an Ethernet network, collisions disappear.

Most devices can detect this and will turn off collision detection and use full-
duplex communication.
Ethernet supports the following cable types:

Transmission  Unshielded twisted-pair cables (UTP) with RJ-45 connectors.

Media  Fiber optic, most commonly used in high-speed applications such as
servers or streaming media.

Devices used on Ethernet networks include:

 NICs
Networking
 Hubs
Devices
 Switches
 Routers

Physical Ethernet devices are identified using the MAC address which is burned into the
Addresses network interface card.
A frame is a unit of data that is ready to be sent on the network medium.
Ethernet frames contain the following components:

 The preamble is a set of alternating ones and zeroes terminated by two

ones (i.e., 11) that marks it as a frame.
 The destination address identifies the receiving host's MAC address.
Frames
 The source address identifies the sending host's MAC address.
 The data, or the information that needs to be transmitted from one host
to the other.
 The CRC (cyclical redundancy check. The CRC helps verify that the
frame contents have arrived uncorrupted.

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