Computer Network

Components of Data Communication

• Message: It is the information to be delivered.

• Sender: Sender is the person who is sending the message.
• Receiver: Receiver is the person to whom the message is being sent to.
• Medium: It is the medium through which the message is sent. For example: A Modem.
• Protocol: These are some set of rules which govern data communication.
 Types of network topologies

• Networks can be described by their logical topology (the data path used) and
by their physical topology (the way in which devices are connected to one
another.

-Physical – actual layout of the computer cables and other network devices
-Logical – the way in which the network appears to the devices that use it.
 Bus topology
• In bus topology there is a main cable, and all the devices are connected to this main cable through drop lines.
• There is a device called tap that connects the drop line to the main cable.

• Advantages
Easy installation, each cable needs to be connected with backbone cable.
Cheap and easy to implement
Less cables required than Mesh and star topology
Does not use any specialized network equipment

• Disadvantages
Difficultly in fault detection.
Not scalable as there is a limit of how many nodes you can connect with backbone cable
A break in the cable will prevent all systems from accessing the network.
Network disruption when computers are added or removed
 Ring topology
• The star topology is the most common in use today. the data travels in one direction from one computer
to another on the network.

• Advantages
Easy to install.
Managing is easier as to add or remove a device from the topology only two links are required to be changed.

• Disadvantages
A link failure can fail the entire network as the signal will not travel forward due to failure.
A single break in the cable can disrupt the entire network.
Data traffic issues, since all the data is circulating in a ring
Star Topology
• In star topology each device in the network is connected to a central device called hub.

• Advantages
1. Less expensive because each device only need one I/O port and needs to be connected with hub with one link.
2. Easier to install
3. Less number of cables required because each device needs to be connected with the hub only.
4. if one link fails, other links will work just fine.
5. Easy fault detection because hub is the single point of failure

• Disadvantages
1. If hub goes down everything goes down, none of the devices can work without hub.
Mesh topology
• In mesh topology each device is connected to every other device on the network through a dedicated point-to-point link.

• Advantages
1.No data traffic issues as there is a dedicated link between two devices which means the link is only available for those two
devices.
2.Mesh topology is reliable as failure of one link doesn’t affect other links and the communication between other devices
on the network.
3. Fault detection is easy.
• Disadvantages
• 1. Amount of wires required to connected each system is tedious.
2. Since each device needs to be connected with other devices, number of I/O ports required must be huge.
3. Scalability issues because a device cannot be connected with large number of devices with a dedicated point to point link.
 Unicast

• This type of information transfer is useful when there is a participation of single sender and single
recipient. So, in short, you can term it as a one-to-one transmission.
Broadcast
• Broadcasting transfer (one-to-all)
Multicast
• is a one-to-many
 Network nodes

• Switches: are distinct from a hub in that they only forward frames to the ports involved in the communication
whereas a hub forwards to all ports.

• Router: is an internetworking device that forwards packets between networks by processing the addressing or routing
information included in the packet.

• Modems (modulator-demodulator): are used to connect network nodes via wire not originally designed for
digital network traffic, or for wireless.

• Server: is a physical server is simply a computer that is used to run server software.

• Firewall: is a network device or software for controlling network security and access rules.
 Types of Network
• Local Area Networks (LAN)

• Wide Area Networks (WAN)

• Personal Area Networks (PAN)

Fiber Optic

Network Cable Types

 Difference between MAC Address and IPAddress

• The basic difference between MAC address and IP address is that a MAC address uniquely identifies
a device that wants to take part in a network.

• MAC address: is a number assigned to the NIC card by the manufacturer.

• IP address: is a number assigned to the connection in a network.

 What is OSI Model?
• The OSI Model is a logical and conceptual model that defines network
communication used by systems open to interconnection and
communication with other systems.
OSI Layers
 What is TCP/IP ?
• TCP/IP helps you to determine how a specific computer should be
connected to the internet and how you can transmit data between them.
• KEY DIFFERENCE
 Private Ip

These are public (global) addresses that

are used on the Internet. A public IP
address is an IP address that is used to
access the Internet. Public IP addresses
can be routed on the Internet, unlike
private addresses..
10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255
Public ip vs Private ip 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255 (APIPA)
172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255

Public ip
Private (internal) addresses are not
routed on the Internet, and no traffic
can be sent to them from the
Internet; they are only supposed to
work within the local network.
For computers to communicate with each other
or to go out to the Internet
there must be three services:

IP
Protocol Port
address
 Subnetting is the process of stealing bits from the HOST part of an IP address in
order to divide the larger network into smaller sub-networks called subnets. After
What Is Subnetting? subnetting, we end up with NETWORK SUBNET HOST fields.

Conservation of IP addresses: Imagine having a network of 20 hosts. Using a Class

C network will waste a lot of IP addresses (254-20=234). Breaking up large
networks into smaller parts would be more efficient and would conserve a great
Why Use Subnetting? number of addresses.
Reduced network traffic: The smaller networks that created the smaller broadcast
domains are formed, hence less broadcast traffic on network boundaries.

Simplification: Breaking large networks into smaller ones could simplify fault
troubleshooting by isolating network problems down to their specific existence.
 . . .

OCTET

Octet=0 TO 255
Octet Size = 8 bit
IANA
Custom mask

Second, We have Third, the

First, know that an equation to division into 8
solve =2^h -2 octets
Example
 Set ip
• First, Choose a random IP

• Second, Create this schedule

• Third, convert the random IP into a Binary

• Fourth, collect the random IP with the Subnet mask to get Subnet
Then add one to get the first IP

• Last change 0 to 1 and get the broadcast and last ip

Example

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