Chapter 6: Computer Networking

What is Computer Networks:

A computer network is a collection of interconnected computers and other devices to share data
and other resources ( hardware and software resource ) is called computer network.

Advantages of Computer Networks: Disadvantages of Computer Networks:

 Resource Sharing  Cost of setup and maintenance
 Improved communication  Threat to data security
 Reduced communication cost  Reliability of data

Evolution of Computer Network:

 ARPANET: It is the first network and came into existence in 1969, The US department of
defense formed an agency named ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency NETwork) to
connect computers at various universities and defense agencies.
 NSFNET: In mid 80’s another federal agency, NSFNET (National Science Federation Network)
created a new network which was more capable than ARPANET. Its main aim was to use
network only for academic research and not for any kind of private business activity.
 Internet: Later, many privately owned businesses with their very own private systems joined
with ARPANET and NSFNET to make more capable and wide network, the Internet. ARPANET
+ NSFNET + PRIVATE NETWORKS = INTERNET. The internet is a globally connected network
system that utilizes TCP/IP to transmit information.

Following services are instantly available through internet : Email, Web-enabled audio/video
conferencing services, Online movies and gaming , Data transfer/file-sharing, Instant messaging
, Internet forums , Social networking , Online shopping ,Financial services.

Interspace: It is a client/server software program that allows multiple users to communicate

online with real –time audio, video and text chat in dynamic 3D environments.

Data communication terminologies:

What is Communication: Communication means sending or receiving information between
different devices of network.
Components of communications:
1. Sender: A device or a computer that sends the data.
2. Receiver: A device or a computer that receives the data.
 3. Message/data: This is the information to be communicated. It may be text, image, audio or
video.
4. Transmission Medium/Channel: A transmission medium is a physical path through which the
data flows sender to receiver. A cable or wire or radio waves can be the medium.
5. Protocol: It means set of rules for data transmission. It represents the communication methods
which are to be followed by the sending and receiving devices. Such as TCP/IP, http, smtp.

Measuring capacity of communication media:

Bandwidth: The maximum amount of data that can be transferred through communication channel
one point to another. Bandwidth is measured in Hertz.
Data Transfer Rate(DTR)/Speed: DTR is the amount of data in digital form that is moved from one
place to another in a given time on a network. Data transfer rate is usually measured in bps(bits
per second), Kbps( kilobits per second), Mbps (megabits per second), Gbps giga (bits per second)
and Tbps( tera bits per second).

Switching techniques/ Different ways of sending data across network:

Switching techniques are used for transmitting data across networks. Different ways of sending
data across the network are:
1) Circuit Switching: In Circuit Switching a dedicated path/link established between sender and
receiver. This method of switching is used in analog telephone lines. It established Physical
Connection between sender and receiver. And mostly used for voice communication.
2) Packet Switching: In packet switching, the data is break down into several fragments of same size
called packets. Each packet has a source and destination address. There is no physical connection
established between sender and receiver. It uses TCP/IP protocol.
Circuit Switching Vs Packet Switching:

Packet Switching Circuit Switching

No physical Connection between Physical Connection established between
sender and receiver sender and receiver
No dedicated path for packets Dedicated path for packets
It is used in making Internet connection. It is used for voice communication in telephone
lines.

Internet Protocol Address or IP Address:

IP (Internet Protocol) Address is an address of your network hardware. It helps in connecting your
computer to other devices on your network and all over the world. An IP Address is made up of
some numbers. An example of an IP address would be: 506.457.14.512
There are two IP versions:

IPv4 IPv6
IPv4 is a 32 bit address IPv6 is a 128 bit address.
 IPv4 is the older version which has an IPv6 is the new version can provide up to trillions of IP
space of over 4 billion IP addresses. addresses.
Example: 12.244.233.165 Example: 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:7879

Communication Media or channel / Transmission Media:

It is a channel through which data can be transferred between different devices of network.
Types of communication media:
1) Guided media ( Wired Media ) 2) Unguided media ( Wireless Media )
Guided media ( Wired media)
This media uses wires for transmitting data. Types of wired connections are Twisted pair wire /
Ethernet cable/Twisted pair cable, Coaxial cable and Fibre optic cable.
1. Ethernet Cable: It is also known as twisted pair cable. There are two identical 1mm wires
wrapped together and twisted around each other. The twisted pair cables are twisted in order to
reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic induction. It support high data transmission rate till 100
meters.

Advantages of Ethernet Cable Disadvantages of Ethernet Cable

 It is simple, inexpensive and easy to install  Using Ethernet cable, signals cannot be
and maintain. transported over long distances without
 Good for short area networking. Because using repeaters.
support high data transmission rate till 100  It is not suitable for broadband applications
meters. as it has low bandwidth capabilities.

Twisted pair comes in two varieties:

 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
 Shielded twisted pair (STP)

2. Coaxial cable: It consists of a solid wire core surrounded by one or more foil or braided wire
shields, each part is separated from the other by some kind of plastic insulator. It is mostly used in
the cable wires. (In city, effective in 500 meters to some kilo meters)

Advantages of Coaxial cable: Disadvantages of Coaxial cable:

 Data transmission rate is better than  A thick coaxial cable does not bend easily
Twisted pair cable. and thus is difficult to install.
 It provides a cheap means of transporting  It is expensive as compared to Twisted pair
multi-channel television signals around cable.
metropolitan areas.

3. Optical Fibre: An optical fibre consists of thin glass fibres that can carry information in the form
of visible light. A signal can run for 50 Km without using repeater or regeneration.

Advantages of Optical Fibre: Disadvantages of Optical Fibre:

  Transmit data over long distance with high  A highly skilled labor is required for its
security. installation and maintenance.
 Data transmission speed is very high.  It is relatively expensive as compared to
 Provide better noise immunity. other guided media.
 Bandwidth is up to 10gbps.

Unguided media (Wireless media)

A transmission media that does not require the use of cable for transmission of data is known as
unguided media.

1. Infrared Signals: In infrared transmission, signals are transmitted through the air but these
signals cannot penetrate the walls. Commonly Infrared signal are used in TV remotes, infrared
wireless speakers, etc., as a mode of transmission.

Advantage: Disadvantage:
 It is secure medium of transmitting data.  It can work only for short distances.
 It is a cheap mode of transmission.  It cannot penetrate walls and is affected by
distance.

2. Radio waves: It uses radio frequencies which are allocated to private businesses for direct voice
communication. A radio set up uses transmitter and receiver, and both use antennas to radiate and
fetch radio signals. They are not line of sight transmission.

Advantage: Disadvantage:
 They can be used indoors or outdoors.  Radio wave communication is an insecure
 Radio wave are Omni-directional and can mode of communication.
travel in any direction.  Radio wave propagation is susceptible to
 Radio wave transmission offers mobility. weather effects like rain, thunderstorm.
 It is cheap then laying cables and fibres etc.
 It offer ease of communication over
difficult terrain.

3.Microwave: In this type of transmission, signals are transmitted in the same way as the
radio waves. It is a line-of-sight transmission as signal travels in straight line. It has higher frequency
than radio waves.
Under this mode of transmission parabolic antennas are mounted on the towers. These antennas
send the signals in the atmospheric air.

Advantage: Disadvantages of Microwave

 Using microwave, signals can be  It is not a secured mode of communication.
transmitted in the air without using cables.  Microwave communication is affected by
 Using microwave, communication is weather conditions such as rain,
possible even in difficult terrain or over thunderstorms, etc.
oceans.
4.Satellite link: It is also a line-of-sight transmission, as signal travels in straight line, that is used to
transmit signal throughout the world. Satellite uses a special type of microwave transmission
medium. It provides various types of services such as transmitting fax, voice data, video, email, and
other internet applications.

Advantage: Disadvantage:
 The area covered is quite large.  Satellite communication is very costly. So, it
 No line of sight restrictions such as is not suitable for personal or low budget
mountains, tall buildings, towers, etc. communication.
 Earth station which receives the signals can  There is atmospheric loss of transmitted
be at a fixed position or can be relatively signals.
mobile.
 This mode of transmission is very useful in
multimedia transmission.

5.Bluetooth: is a wireless technology, which is used for exchanging data over short distances from
fixed and mobile devices. Such types of networks are categorized under personal area network.
6. Wi-Fi: (wireless fidelity)Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows devices such as
computers (laptops and desktops), mobile devices and other equipment (printers and video
cameras) to interface with the Internet.
Network Devices:
Some Network devices are Modem, Ethernet card (NIC), RJ45, Repeater, Hub, Switch, Router,
Gateway, WIFI card, Bridge.
Modem:

 Modem is short form of Modulator Demodulator.

 It is a device which convert digital signal to analog signal and vice versa.
Types of Modem:

 Internal Modem: The modems that are fixed within the computer.
 External Modem: The external modems that are connected externally to a computer as other
peripherals are connected.
NIC / Ethernet Card. : NIC stands for Network Interface Card. It is also
known as Ethernet Card.
 This device helps the computer to connect to a network and
communicate.
 It contain RJ-45 slot to connect Ethernet cable with RJ-45 connector.

RJ-45: (Registered Jack – 45) It is an eight wired connector that is used to connect
computers on a local area network (LAN), especially Ethernet cable.
Repeater: A repeater is a device that amplifies and restore signals for long
distance transmission.
HUB: HUB is used to connect multiple computers in a single LAN network
of one workgroup.

 Generally HUBs are available with 4,8,12,24,48 ports.

 It is simply copies the data to all of the nodes connected to the hub.
That’s why it is known as unintelligent network device.
 Because of copies data to all node it generates unnecessary traffic.
Types of HUB:
1) Passive Hub: It only forwards the signal on all ports without amplifying the signal.
2) Active Hub: It forwards the signal with improvement in the quality of data signal by amplifying
it. That why such hubs need additional power supply.
Switch:

 Switch is also used to connect multiple computers together in a LAN workgroup, just like hub.
 Switches are available with 4,8,12,24,48,64 ports.
 But, Switch makes their switching decisions means, it sends signal only to one port or recipient
only and that’s why switches are called as intelligent hub.
 Because of sending data only to one node it not generating unnecessary traffic

Router:

 A router connects a local area network to the internet.

 This device works like bridge but can handle different protocols.
 The router is responsible for forwarding data from one network
to a different network.

Bridge:

 A bridge is a device that links two network together.

 Bridges are smart enough to know which computer are
on which side of bridge, so they only allow those
messages that need to get to the other side to cross the
bridge.
 Bridges can handle networks that follow same protocol.

Gateway:

 A gateway is a device that connects dissimilar

protocols.
 It establishes an intelligent connection between a local
area networks with completely different structures.
Wi-Fi Card:

 This is a small and portable cards that allows your computer to connect to the
internet through a wireless network.
 Data transmission is through the radio waves, these signals are picked up by
Wi-Fi receivers such as computers and cell phones equipped with Wi-Fi cards.

Network Topology:
The way or style of connecting several computer/devices in a network with each other is called
topology.
Types of Network Topology: Bus, Ring, Tree, Star, Mesh, Hybrid.
Bus Topology: In Bus topology several devices are connected to a main long cable (Usually coaxial
cable) which acts as backbone.
Advantages:
 Bus network is easy to implement and can be extended
up to a certain limit.
 It work well for small network.
 If there is any problem in connection with any node,
other nodes in the network are not affected.

Disadvantages:
 If there is fault or break in the main cable, the entire network shuts down.
 Terminators are required at both ends of the backbone cable.
 Fault isolation is difficult to detect if the entire network shuts down.
 When the network is required in more the than one building, bus network cannot be used.
 The signal becomes weaker if number of nodes becomes large.
 Collision of data can take place because several nodes can transmit data to each other at one
time.

Star Topology: In star topology, the server is directly connected with each and every node in the
network via a hub.
Advantages:
 Data transfer rate is fast as all the data packets or messages are
transferred through central hub.
 If there is any problem in connection with any node, other
nodes in the network are not affected.
 Removal or addition of any node in star topology can take place
easily without affecting the entire performance of the network.

Disadvantage:
 Extra hardware required like HUB.
 Any problem in hub makes the entire network shutdown.
 Performance of all network is depend on hub. If server is slow, it will cause the entire network
slow down.
 More cable is required as compare to bus topology.

Tree Topology: The tree topology is an extension and variation in bus topology. In this all or some
of the devices are connected to central hub, and some of the device are connected to the
secondary hub. In case of long distance networking we use active hub, it contain repeaters that
makes weak signals stronger.

Advantage:
 Tree topology is used when a start or bus cannot be
implemented individually.
 It is most suited networking style to connect multiple
departments of organization.
 Network can be expanded by the addition of secondary
active hub.

Disadvantage:
 Multiple segment are connected to a central HUB. Its failure affects the entire network.
 There is a requirement of long cable length.
 Maintenance is not easy and cost is very high.

Network Types:
On the basis of coverage or geographical spread, a network can be divided into following types:
1.Personal Area Network (PAN) : The network that is belongs to a single person or user is known as
PAN. PAN is a small network used to establish communication between a computer and other
handheld devices in the proximity of up to 10 meters using wired or wireless medium like
Bluetooth, WIFI or USB cable. Examples: Wi-Fi network between Laptop and Mobile, Or Bluetooth
network between mobile and audio players.
2.Local Area Network (LAN): LAN is used to connect small geographical area, like a home, office, or
building such as a school. Range of LAN is few meter to few kilometers. The connectivity is done by
means of wires, Ethernet cables, fibre optics or Wi-Fi. Examples: A networked office building,
school or home.
3.Metropolitan Area Network(MAN):– Spread within a city . Cover an area of a few kilometers to a
few hundred kilometers radius. Set up using all types of all guided and unguided media. Owned and
operated by a government body or a large corporation. Example: Cable television networks
available in the whole city or interconnected offices in same city but in different areas.
4.Wide Area Network (WAN): A WAN interconnects all the computer across the world. Internet is
the largest WAN that connects billions of computers, Smartphone and millions of LANs of different
continents. All guided or Unguided medium are used to setup a WAN. Example: Networks of ATMs,
Banks, government offices, railway reservation, etc.
 Network Protocol:
A network protocol is an established set of rules that determine how data is transmitted between
different devices in the same network.

Types of Network Protocol:

a) TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol) f) POP3 (Post office protocol)

b) HTTP g) VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol )
c) HTTPS h) PPP (Point to point Protocol)
d) Telnet i) SMTP ( Simple Mail Transfer Protocol )
e) FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Types of Network Protocol:

TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) :

TCP/IP is a set of two protocols. The TCP is responsible for breaking data into small packets to be
transmitted over the network. It is also responsible for reassembling the packets at the destination
computer.

IP: The IP part handles the address of the destination computer so that the data is send to a correct
address.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): HTTP is the communication protocol for transferring of
information on the internet and the world wide web. When we access any website on internet
HTTP protocol is working in background. (http://www.google.com)

HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure): It is a standard protocol to secure the
communication between the browser and the web server. In HTTPS transferring of data is done in
an encrypted format to get protect data from hackers. (https://www.google.com)

Telnet: It is also known as Remote login. This protocol allows you to access a remote computer
connected on the network. Example: teamviewer, anydesk

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): FTP allows users to transfer files from one machine to another, like
Uploading and Downloading. Types of files may include program files, multimedia files, text files,
and documents, etc.

POP3 (Post office protocol): POP3 is designed for receiving incoming E-mails.

SMTP ( Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ): It is used to for sending email messages to other computer.
It handle only out going messages and not incoming messages.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol ) : This Protocol that allows you to make voice calls using a
broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.

PPP (Point to point Protocol): It is most commonly used data link protocol. It is a protocol used to
establish a direct connection between two nodes. It is used to connect the Home PC to the server
of ISP by telephone line. This communication takes place through high speed modem.
 Introduction to Web Services:

WWW (World Wide Web):

 The term www invented by Tim Burners Lee.

 It is a collection of linked HTML document or web pages, stored on millions of computer and
distributed across the internet.
 We can access graphics, audio and video file easily.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language):

 HTML is a language that enables users to create WebPages and format them using predefined
tags. Tags are called coded elements.
 HTML document can be written using text editor such as NOTEPAD and save in .HTM or .HTML.
 Some HTML tags are: <HTML>, <HEAD>, <BOBY>

XML (Extensible Markup Language):

 XML is a text based markup language that allows the user to create their own tags to store data
in a structured format.
 XML is designed to carry data and not to display data.

Domain Name: Domain name is the address of your

website that people type in the browser’s URL bar to
visit your website.

Domain Name System (DNS) is the system for mapping

website names to numeric Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses like a book index maps a topic name/chapter
name to a specific page number.
Example :
Domain name: Google.com
IP address : 192.168.0.1

URL: URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator which is a unique address of a webpage.

Website: A website is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common
domain name and published on at least one web server. Notable examples are wikipedia.org,
google.com, and amazon.com.

Web page - A html document which can be displayed in a web browser

Web Browser: A web browser is application software for accessing the World Wide Web. When a
user requests a web page from a particular website, the web browser retrieves the necessary
content from a web server and then displays the page on the user's device.

Web Server: A software which host website and return web pages to web client(web browser) on
request. E.g. Apache Tomcat, Microsoft’s Internet Information Services (IIS) Windows Server, Jigsaw
, Zeus web server.

Web Hosting: Web hosting is the place where all the files of your website live. It is like the home of
our website where it actually lives.

Server: A server is a computer or system that provides resources, data, services, or programs to
other computers, known as clients, over a network.