SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE

Department of Computer Science, SVIIT

Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

EXPERIMENT NO. 01

Aim: Introduction to Networking Devices Cables and Connections.

Networking Devices
Since, we are going to do a series of tutorials on packet tracer. In this manner, we need to have
a familiarity of various networking components and devices. We are going to discuss some
important devices which are going to be used in networking.
All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect network nodes,
such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs, Switches, and Routers etc. These
devices also need cables to connect them. In this tutorial, we are going to discuss these
important devices.

Network interface cards

A NIC (network interface card) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers
to communicate over a computer network. It provides physical access to a networking medium
and often provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses. It allows
users to connect to each other either by using cables or wirelessly. The NIC provides the
transfer of data in megabytes.

NIC

Every device on a network that needs to transmit and receive data must have a network
interface card (NIC) installed. They are sometimes called network adapters, and are usually
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

installed into one of the computer's expansion slots in the same way as a sound or graphics
card. The NIC includes a transceiver, (a transmitter and receiver combined). The transceiver
allows a network device to transmit and receive data via the transmission medium. Each NIC
has a unique 48-bit Media Access Control (MAC) address burned in to its ROM during
manufacture. The first 24 bits make up a block code known as the Organizationally Unique
Identifier (OUI) that is issued to manufacturers of NICs, and identify the manufacturer. The
issue of OUIs to organizations is administered by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE). The last 24 bits constitute a sequential number issued by the manufacturer.
The MAC address is sometimes called a hardware address or physical address, and uniquely
identifies the network adapter. It is used by many data link layer communications protocols,
including Ethernet, the 802.11 wireless protocol and Bluetooth. The use of a 48-bit address
allows for 248(281,474,976,710,656) unique addresses. A MAC address is usually shown in
hexadecimal format, with each octet separated by a dash or colon,

For example: 00-60-55-93-R2-N7

Repeaters
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher power
level, or to the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without
degradation. In most twisted pair ethernet configurations, repeaters are required for cable runs
longer than 100 meters away from the computer. As signals travel along a transmission medium
there will be a loss of signal strength i.e. attenuation. A repeater is a non-intelligent network
device that receives a signal on one of its ports, regenerates the signal, and then retransmits the
signal on all of its remaining ports. Repeaters can extend the length of a network (but not the
capacity) by connecting two network segments. Repeaters cannot be used to extend a network
beyond the limitations of its underlying architecture, or to connect network segments that use
different network access methods. They can, however, connect different media types, and may
be able to link bridge segments with different data rates.

Repeater
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

Repeaters are used to boost signals in coaxial and twisted pair cable and in optical fibre lines.
An electrical signal in a cable gets weaker the further it travels, due to energy dissipated in
conductor resistance and dielectric losses. Similarly a light signal traveling through an optical
fiber suffers attenuation due to scattering and absorption. In long cable runs, repeaters are used
to periodically regenerate and strengthen the signal.

Hubs
A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to all the ports of
the hub for transmission. In a hub, a frame is passed along or "broadcast" to every one of its
ports. It doesn't matter that the frame is only destined for one port. The hub has no way of
distinguishing which port a frame should be sent to. Passing it along to every port ensures that
it will reach its intended destination. This places a lot of traffic on the network and can lead to
poor network response times. Additionally, a 10/100Mbps hub must share its bandwidth with
each and every one of its ports. So when only one PC is broadcasting, it will have access to the
maximum available bandwidth. If, however, multiple PCs are broadcasting, then that
bandwidth will need to be divided among all of those systems, which will degrade performance.

Network Hub

Bridges

A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of
the OSI model. Bridges do not copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do, but learn which MAC
addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a port and an
address, it will send traffic for that address only to that port. Bridges do send broadcasts to all
ports except the one on which the broadcast was received.
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source address of frames
that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through a port, its source address is stored
and the bridge assumes that MAC address is associated with that port. The first time that a
previously unknown destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports
other than the one on which the frame arrived.

Network Bridge

Bridges don't know anything about protocols, but just forward data depending on the
destination address in the data packet. This address is not the IP address, but the MAC (Media
Access Control) address that is unique to each network adapter card. The bridge is basically
just to connect two local-area networks (LANs), or two segments of the same LAN that use the
same protocol. Bridges can extend the length of a network, but unlike repeaters they can also
extend the capacity of a network, since each port on a bridge has its own MAC address. When
bridges are powered on in an Ethernet network, they start to learn the network's topology by
analysing the source addresses of incoming frames from all attached network segments (a
process called backward learning). Over a period of time, they build up a routing table.

The bridge monitors all traffic on the segments it connects, and checks the source and
destination address of each frame against its routing table. When the bridge first becomes
operational, the routing table is blank, but as data is transmitted back and forth, the bridge adds
the source MAC address of any incoming frame to the routing table and associates the address
with the port on which the frame arrives. In this way, the bridge quickly builds up a complete
picture of the network topology. If the bridge does not know the destination segment for an
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

incoming frame, it will forward the frame to all attached segments except the segment on which
the frame was transmitted. Bridges reduce the amount of traffic on individual segments by
acting as a filter, isolating intra-segment traffic. This can greatly improve response times.

Switches
The switch is a relatively new network device that has replaced both hubs and bridges in LANs.
A switch uses an internal address table to route incoming data frames via the port associated
with their destination MAC address. Switches can be used to connect together a number of
end-user devices such as workstations, or to interconnect multiple network segments. A switch
that interconnects end-user devices is often called a workgroup switch. Switches provide
dedicated full-duplex links for every possible pairing of ports, effectively giving each attached
device its own network segment. This significantly reduces the number of intra-segment and
inter-segment collisions. Strictly speaking, a switch is not capable of routing traffic based on
IP address (layer 3) which is necessary for communicating between network segments or within
a large or complex LAN. Some switches are capable of routing based on IP addresses but are
still called switches as a marketing term. A switch normally has numerous ports, with the
intention being that most or all of the network is connected directly to the switch, or another
switch that is in turn connected to a switch.

Network Switch

Routers
Routers are networking devices that forward data packets between networks using headers and
forwarding tables to determine the best path to forward the packets. A network environment
that consists of several interconnected networks employing different network protocols and
architectures requires a sophisticated device to manage the flow of traffic between these diverse
networks. Such a device, sometimes referred to as an intermediate system, but more commonly
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

called a router, must be able to determine how to get incoming packets (or datagrams) to the
destination network by the most efficient route. Routers gather information about the networks
to which they are connected, and can share this information with routers on other networks.
The information gathered is stored in the router's internal routing table, and includes both the
routing information itself and the current status of various network links. Routers exchange
this routing information using special routing protocols.

A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and
its ISP's network. Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or more networks
connect, and are the critical device that keeps data flowing between networks and keeps the
networks connected to the Internet. When data is sent between locations on one network or
from one network to a second network the data is always seen and directed to the correct
location by the router. The router accomplishes this by using headers and forwarding tables to
determine the best path for forwarding the data packets, and they also use protocols such as
ICMP to communicate with each other and configure the best route between any two hosts.
The Internet itself is a global network connecting millions of computers and smaller
networks. There are various routing protocols which are helpful for various different
environments and will be discussed later.

Networking Cables and Connections

In order for the communication to take place, cables play important role. Cable is the medium
through which information usually moves from one network device to another. There are
several types of cable which are commonly used with LANs. The type of cable chosen for a
network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size.
There are various types of cables used in networks as follows.

 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

 Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

 Coaxial Cable

 Fiber Optic Cable

Twisted Pair Cables:

Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted
together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic interference (EMI) from external
sources; for instance, electromagnetic radiation from unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables, and
crosstalk between neighboring pairs. In balanced pair operation, the two wires carry equal and
opposite signals and the destination detects the difference between the two. This is known as
differential mode transmission. Noise sources introduce signals into the wires by coupling of
electric or magnetic fields and tend to couple to both wires equally. The noise thus produces a
common-mode signal which is cancelled at the receiver when the difference signal is taken.

C1ategories Of UTP Cable:

It has been categorized into three categories based on the equipment that are being connected
through these wires.

i. Straight Through Cable

ii. Cross Over Cable
iii. Roll Over Cable

Explanation:
Straight Through Cable:

Straight through cables are used to connect different devices like Switch to PC. Switch to
Router. Router to Switch etc. Straight-through cables are used when each end of the
communication transmits and receives on different pairs.

Cross Over Cable:

 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

In a cross over the cable, the send and receive wires are "crossed over", meaning the wires are
opposite on each end. This allows two PCs to talk to each other, has it connects the send of one
computer to the receive of the other. Hence, the cross over cables are used to connect similar
devices like PC to PC , Router to Router, Switch to Switch, Hub to Hub etc.

Roll Over Cable:

Roll over cables are used to connect to the console port of the device. It gets the name rollover
because the pin outs on one end are reversed from the other, as if the wire had been rolled over
and you were viewing it from the other side.

Transmission Pins:

Devices that transmit on 1,2 and receive on 3,6

1) PC

12)Router

3)Wireless Access Point AP

4) Networked printers Devices that transmit on 3,6 and receive on 1,2

1)switch 2)bridge 3)hub

Required Equipment:
In order to make a network cable you need the following equipment.
i. Cat5, Cat5e cable.
 SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA INDORE
Department of Computer Science, SVIIT
Course Name: Computer Network Course Code: BTIT301N

CAT5 cable usually contains four pairs of copper wire, Fast Ethernet communications only
utilize two pairs. A newer specification for CAT5 cable -CAT5 enhanced ("CAT5e" or "CAT
5e")- supports networking at Gigabit Ethernet[ speeds (up to 1000 Mbps) over short distances
by utilizing all four wire pairs, and it is backward-compatible with ordinary CAT5.

ii. A connector named RJ-45.

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

iii. Crimping tool:

Use to crimp the cable inside RJ 45 connector.

iv. Wire stripper or Knife:

You can use a knife too to cut the wire open. In order to make different combinations of it.
We will have to cut the upper protective coating and bring out the eight wires.

Category Speed Use

1 1 Mbps Voice Only (Telephone Wire)

2 4 Mbps Local Talk & Telephone (Rarely used)

3 16 Mbps 10BaseT Ethernet

4 20 Mbps Token Ring (Rarely used)

5 100 Mbps (2 pair) 100BaseT Ethernet

5e 1,000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet

6 10,000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet