Experiment 1

Aim: To study network technologies

A network consists of two or more autonomous computers that are linked in order to share
resources (such as printers and CD-ROMs), exchange files, or allow electronic
communications. The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone
lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

Classification based on transmission technology

Computer networks can be broadly categorized into two types based on transmission
technology:

1) Broadcast networks

2) Point to point network

Broadcast networks

Broadcast networks have a single communication channel that is shared by all the machines
on the network. All the machines on the network receive short messages, called packets in
certain contexts sent by any machine. An address field within the packet specifies the
intended recipient. Upon receiving the packet the machine checks the address field. If the
packet is intended for itself, the machine processes it, and ignores it otherwise.

The system also generally allows possibility of addressing the packet to all destinations.
When such a packet is transmitted, it is received by all the machines on the network. This
mode of operation is called Broadcast mode. Some broadcast system also support
transmission to a sub-set of machines. This is called Multicasting.

Example of a broadcast network on a shared bus

Point to point network

In a point to point network, the end devices that wish to communicate are called stations.
The switching devices are called are called nodes. Some nodes connect to other nodes and
some to attached stations. It uses FDM or TDM for node-to-node communication. There
may exist multiple paths between source and destination for better network reliability. The
switching nodes are not concerned with the contents of data. Their purpose is to provide a
switching facility that will move data from node to node until they reach the destination.

Communication based on point to point technology

Classification based on scale:-

Computer networks can be broadly categorized into three types based on scale:-

 LAN (Local Area Network)

 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
 WAN (Wide Area Network)
Local Area Network

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that is confined to a relatively small area. It is
generally limited to a geographic area such as a writing lab, school, or building. Rarely are
LAN computers more than a mile apart.

In a typical LAN configuration, one computer is designated as the file server. It stores all of
the software that controls the network, as well as the software that can be shared by the
computers attached to the network. Computers connected to the file server are called
workstations. The workstations can be less powerful than the file server, and they may have
additional software on their hard drives. On most LANs, cables are used to connect the
network interface cards in each computer. See the Topology, Cabling, and Hardware
sections of this tutorial for more information on the configuration of a LAN.

A Basic Local Area Network

Metropolitan Area Network

A MAN is optimized for a larger geographical area than a LAN, ranging from several blocks of
buildings to entire cities. MANs can also depend on communications channels of moderate-
to-high data rates. A MAN might be owned and operated by a single organization, but it
usually will be used by many individuals and organizations. MANs might also be owned and
operated as public utilities. They will often provide means for internetworking of local
networks.
 A Metropolitan Area Network

Wide Area Network

Wide Area Networks (WANs) connect larger geographic areas, such as Florida, the United
States, or the world. Dedicated transoceanic cabling or satellite uplinks may be used to
connect this type of network.

Using a WAN, schools in Florida can communicate with places like Tokyo in a matter of
minutes, without paying enormous phone bills. A WAN is complicated. It uses multiplexers
to connect local and metropolitan networks to global communications networks like the
Internet. To users, however, a WAN will not appear to be much different than a LAN or a
MAN.
A Wide Area Network
 Experiment 2

Aim: To study various types of connectors

The most commonly used connectors for setting up computer networks are:-
 DB -9 (For RS-232 interface standard)
 EIA - 449
 RJ – 45
 BNC connector

DB-9
The DB9 (originally DE-9) connector is an analog 9-pin plug of the D-Subminiature connector family
(D-Sub or Sub-D).
The DB9 connector is mainly used for serial connections, allowing for the asynchronous transmission
of data as provided for by standard RS-232 (RS-232C).

The maximum cable length for RS-232 is 50ft, but in practice depends on baud rate, cable
specific capacitance and ambient noise. The table below contains some rules-of-thumb from
experiments done by Texas Instruments years ago.
 Baud rate Maximum range / cable length
19200 50ft
9600 500ft
4800 1000ft
2400 3000ft

RJ-45

RJ45 is a standard type of connector for network cables. RJ45 connectors are most
commonly seen with Ethernet cables and networks.

RJ45 connectors feature eight pins to which the wire strands of a cable interface electrically.
Standard RJ-45 pinouts define the arrangement of the individual wires needed when
attaching connectors to a cable.

Several other kinds of connectors closely resemble RJ45 and can be easily confused for each
other. The RJ-11 connectors used with telephone cables, for example, are only slightly
smaller (narrower) than RJ-45 connectors.
BNC connector
The BNC connector (Bayonet Neill–Concelman) is a miniature quick connect/disconnect RF
connector used for coaxial cable. It features two bayonet lugs on the female connector;
mating is achieved with only a quarter turn of the coupling nut. BNCs are ideally suited for
cable termination for miniature-to-subminiature coaxial cable (e.g., RG-58, 59, to RG-179,
RG-316). They are used with radio, television, and other radio-
frequency electronic equipment, test instruments, video signals, and was once a popular
connector for10BASE2 computer networks. BNC connectors are made to match
the characteristic impedance of cable at either 50 ohms or 75 ohms. It is usually applied for
frequencies below 3 GHz [1] and voltages below 500 Volts. Similar connectors using the
bayonet connection principle exist, and a threaded connector is also available. United States
military standard MIL-PRF-39012 entitled Connectors, Coaxial, Radio Frequency, General
Specification for (formerly MIL-C-39012) covers the general requirements and tests for radio
frequency connectors used with flexible cables and certain other types of coaxial
transmission lines in military, aerospace, and spaceflight applications.

BNC connector
The BNC was originally designed for military use and has gained wide acceptance in video
and RF applications to 2 GHz. The BNC uses a slotted outer conductor and some plastic
dielectric on each gender connector. This dielectric causes increasing losses at higher
frequencies. Above 4 GHz, the slots may radiate signals, so the connector is usable, but not
necessarily stable up to about 11 GHz. Both 50 ohm and 75 ohm versions are available.

Experiment 3

Aim: Study and verification of standard Network topologies i.e. Star, Bus, Ring
Bus Topology
In local area networks where bus topology is used, each node is connected to a single cable.
Each computer or server is connected to the single bus cable. A signal from the source
travels in both directions to all machines connected on the bus cable until it finds the
intended recipient. If the machine address does not match the intended address for the
data, the machine ignores the data. Alternatively, if the data matches the machine address,
the data is accepted. Since the bus topology consists of only one wire, it is rather
inexpensive to implement when compared to other topologies. However, the low cost of
implementing the technology is offset by the high cost of managing the network.
Additionally, since only one cable is utilized, it can be the single point of failure. If the
network cable is terminated on both ends and when without termination data transfer stop
and when cable breaks, the entire network will be down.

Star toplogy
In local area networks with a star topology, each network host is connected to a central hub
with a point-to-point connection. In Star topology every node (computer workstation or any
other peripheral) is connected to central node called hub or switch. The switch is the server
and the peripherals are the clients. The network does not necessarily have to resemble a
star to be classified as a star network, but all of the nodes on the network must be
connected to one central device. All traffic that traverses the network passes through the
central hub. The hub acts as a signal repeater. The star topology is considered the easiest
topology to design and implement. An advantage of the star topology is the simplicity of
adding additional nodes. The primary disadvantage of the star topology is that the hub
represents a single point of failure.

Ring topology
A network topology that is set up in a circular fashion in which data travels around the ring
in one direction and each device on the right acts as a repeater to keep the signal strong as
it travels. Each device incorporates a receiver for the incoming signal and a transmitter to
send the data on to the next device in the ring. The network is dependent on the ability of
the signal to travel around the ring. When a device sends data, it must travel through each
device on the ring until it reaches its destination.

Mesh Topology
The full mesh topology is where all nodes are connected directly to all other nodes.
Although this provides the most direct path between endpoints, in reality it doesn’t scale for
anything but the simplest architectures.
If N is the number of nodes, then N(N-1)/2 links are required to provide a full mesh.

Hybrid Toplogy
Hybrid networks use a combination of any two or more topologies in such a way that the
resulting network does not exhibit one of the standard topologies (e.g., bus, star, ring, etc.).
For example, a tree network connected to a tree network is still a tree network topology. A
hybrid topology is always produced when two different basic network topologies are
connected.
 Experiment 4
Aim: To study of different type of LAN equipments.
The various equipments used in setting up a basic LAN are :-
 Network Interface Controller(Ethernet card)
 Connecting media(UTP cable)
 RJ-45 connector
 Crimping tool
 Switch/ Hub

Network Interface Controller(Ethernet Card)

Ethernet cards are usually purchased separately from a computer, although many
computers (such as the Macintosh) now include an option for a pre-installed Ethernet card.
Ethernet cards contain connections for either coaxial or twisted pair cables (or both) (See
fig. 1). If it is designed for coaxial cable, the connection will be BNC. If it is designed for
twisted pair, it will have a RJ-45 connection. Some Ethernet cards also contain an AUI
connector. This can be used to attach coaxial, twisted pair, or fiber optics cable to an
Ethernet card. When this method is used there is always an external transceiver attached to
the workstation. (See the Cabling section for more information on connectors.)
Unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP cat-5)

Category 5 cable (Cat 5) is a twisted pair cable for carrying signals. This type of cable is used
in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet. The cable standard provides
performance of up to 100 MHz and is suitable for10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet),
and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet). Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such
as telephony and video. In some cases, multiple signals can be carried on a single cable; Cat
5 can carry two conventional telephone lines as well as a single 100BASE-TX channel in a
single cable or two 100BASE-TX channels in a single cable.
RJ - 45 Connector
RJ45 is the common name for an 8P8C modular connector using 8 conductors that was also
used for both RJ48 and RJ61 registered jacks (which specify pin assignments of the wires in a
telephone cable), although "RJ45" was not originally specified as a registered jack with
today's Ethernet wiring. The "RJ45" physical connector is standardised as the IEC 60603-
7 8P8C modular connector with different "categories" of performance, with all eight
conductors present but 8P8C is commonly known as RJ45. The physical dimensions of the
male and female connectors are specified in ANSI/TIA-1096-A and ISO-8877 standards and
normally wired to the T568A and T568B pinouts specified in the TIA/EIA-568standard to be
compatible with both telephone and Ethernet.

Colour sequence for attaching UTP Cat-5 to RJ-45 connector straight through

Network Switch
A network switch is a computer networking device that links network segments or network
devices. The term commonly refers to a multi-port network bridge that processes and
routes data at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Switches that additionally
process data at the network layer (layer 3) and above are often called layer-3
switches or multilayer switches.

A switch is a telecommunication device which receives a message from any device

connected to it and then transmits the message only to the device for which the message
was meant. This makes the switch a more intelligent device than a hub (which receives a
message and then transmits it to all the other devices on its network). The network switch
plays an integral part in most modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs). Mid-to-large
sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small office/home office (SOHO)
applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose converged device such as
a residential gateway to access small office/home broadband services such as DSL or cable
Internet. In most of these cases, the end-user device contains a router and components that
interface to the particular physical broadband technology. User devices may also include a
telephone interface for VoIP.

Rempte Desktop Accesss

A Host over a peer to peer network can be accessed remotely from other hosts from the
network. The host to be accessed should have the remote desktop feature enabled.
To enable remote desktop feature in Windows XP, go to :-
My Computer→Properties→Remote

Once the remote desktop feature has been enabled, the host can be accessed by typing its
IP address in the run prompt of any other host in the network.
After typing the address, hit enter and the windows logon pop up of the host computer will
occur. Type in the username and password, and the desktop of the host will appear on your
machine.

IP Address
IP addresses are 32 bit numbers, most commonly represented in dotted decimal notation
(xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx). Each decimal number represents eight bits of binary data, and therefore
can have a decimal value between 0 and 255. IP addresses most commonly come as class A,
B, or C. It's the value of the first number of the IP address that determines the class to which
a given IP address belongs. Class D addresses are used for multi-cast applications.

The range of values for these classes is given below.

Class Range Allocation

A 1-126 N.H.H.H
B 128-191 N.N.H.H
C 192-223 N.N.N.H
D 224-239 Reserved for multicasting
E 240-255 Reserved for future use

N=Network
H=Host

 127.0.0.0 is a class A network, but is reserved for use as a loopback address (typically
127.0.0.1).

 The 0.0.0.0 network is reserved for use as the default route.

The class of an address defines which portion of the address identifies the Network number
and which portion identifies the Host, as illustrated above, as N and H.

IP addresses are used to deliver packets of data across a network and have what is termed
end-to-end significance. This means that the source and destination IP address remains
constant as the packet traverses a network. Each time a packet travels, it can match the
network number of the destination IP address.

The IP address of a computer can be determined by using the ipconfig command at the
command prompt.
The ipconfig –a command can be used to view the detailed information.
Subnet mask

Subnet masks are essential tools in network design, but can make things more difficult to
understand. Subnet masks are used to split a network into a collection of smaller
subnetworks. This may be done to reduce network traffic on each subnetwork, or to make
the internetwork more manageable as a whole. To all intents and purposes, each
subnetwork functions as if it were an independent network, as far as entries in the routing
table are concerned. The illustration below shows how a routing table looks when subnet
masks are used on a network.

Interface configuration for router 1

Interface IP Address Subnet mask

E0 150.4.2.1 255.255.255.0
E1 150.4.3.1 255.255.255.0
E2 150.4.1.1 255.255.255.0

How the subnet mask works:

Communication between a node on a local subnetwork and a node on a different

subnetwork is like communication between nodes on two different networks. To a user,
routing between subnetworks is transparent. Internally, however, the IP software
recognizes any IP addresses that are destined for a subnetwork and sends those packets to
the gateway for that subnetwork.

When subnet masks are used, an IP address is interpreted as follows:

[IP address] = [Network address][Subnetwork address][Host address]

This shows that when a network is divided into subnetworks, the host address portion of the
IP address is divided into two parts, the subnetwork address and the host address.

For example, if a network has the Class B IP network address portion 129.47, the remainder
of the IP address can be divided into subnetwork addresses and host addresses. This division
is controlled by the network administrator to allow the most flexibility for network
development at the site.

A subnet mask is the mechanism that defines how the host portion of the IP address is
divided into subnetwork addresses and local host address portions. The subnet mask is a 32-
bit, (four byte) number, just as an IP address is.
The subnet mask of the computer is displayed with the ip address.