First Chapter CS
First Chapter CS
Transferring data over a transmission medium between two or more devices, systems, or places is known
as data communication. Nowadays, computing and telecommunications depend heavily on this data
transmission, which makes a variety of applications conceivable, including email, video chatting, the
Internet, and many more things.
In this article, we will learn about Data communication, Definition, Components, Types, and Channels.
2. Sender: It is simply a device that sends data messages. It can be a computer, mobile, telephone,
laptop, video camera, or workstation, etc.
5. Set of rules (Protocol): When someone sends the data (The sender), it should be
understandable to the receiver also otherwise it is meaningless. For example, Sonali sends a
message to Chetan. If Sonali writes in Hindi and Chetan cannot understand Hindi, it is a
meaningless conversation.
Therefore, there are some set of rules (protocols) that is followed by every computer connected to the
internet and they are:
• TCP(Transmission Control Protocol): It is responsible for dividing messages into packets on the
source computer and reassembling the received packet at the destination or recipient computer.
It also makes sure that the packets have the information about the source of the message data,
the destination of the message data, the sequence in which the message data should be re-
assembled, and checks if the message has been sent correctly to the specific destination.
• IP(Internet Protocol): Do You ever wonder how computer determines which packet belongs to
which device. What happens if the message you sent to your friend is received by your father?
Scary Right. Well! IP is responsible for handling the address of the destination computer so that
each packet is sent to its proper destination.
As we know that data communication is communication in which we can send or receive data from one
device to another. The data communication is divided into three types:
Communication Channels
Communication channels are the medium that connects two or more workstations. Workstations can be
connected by either wired media or wireless media. It is also known as a transmission medium. The
transmission medium or channel is a link that carries messages between two or more devices. We can
group the communication media into two categories:
1. Guided Media: In this transmission medium, the physical link is created using wires or cables
between two or more computers or devices, and then the data is transmitted using these cables in terms
of signals. Guided media transmission of the following types:
1. Twisted pair cable: It is the most common form of wire used in communication. In a twisted-pair
cable, two identical wires are wrapped together in a double helix. The twisting of the wire reduces the
crosstalk. It is known as the leaking of a signal from one wire to another due to which signal can corrupt
and can cause network errors. The twisting protects the wire from internal crosstalk as well as external
forms of signal interference. Types of Twisted Pair Cable :
• Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP): It is used in computers and telephones widely. As the name
suggests, there is no external shielding so it does not protects from external interference. It is
cheaper than STP.
• Shielded Twisted Pair (STP): It offers greater protection from crosstalk due to shield. Due to
shielding, it protects from external interference. It is heavier and costlier as compare to UTP.
2. Coaxial Cable: It consists of a solid wire core that is surrounded by one or more foil or wire shields.
The inner core of the coaxial cable carries the signal and the outer shield provides the ground. It is
widely used for television signals and also used by large corporations in building security systems. Data
transmission of this cable is better but expensive as compared to twisted pair.
3. Optical fibers: Optical fiber is an important technology. It transmits large amounts of data at very high
speeds due to which it is widely used in internet cables. It carries data as a light that travels inside a thin
glass fiber. The fiber optic cable is made up of three pieces:
1. Core: Core is the piece through which light travels. It is generally created using glass or plastic.
2. Cladding: It is the covering of the core and reflects the light back to the core.
3. Sheath: It is the protective covering that protects fiber cable from the environment.
2. Unguided Media: The unguided transmission media is a transmission mode in which the signals are
propagated from one device to another device wirelessly. Signals can wave through the air, water, or
vacuum. It is generally used to transmit signals in all directions. Unguided Media is further divided into
various parts :
1. Microwave: Microwave offers communication without the use of cables. Microwave signals are just
like radio and television signals. It is used in long-distance communication. Microwave transmission
consists of a transmitter, receiver, and atmosphere. In microwave communication, there are parabolic
antennas that are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna. The higher the tower, the
greater the range.
2. Radio wave: When communication is carried out by radio frequencies, then it is termed radio waves
transmission. It offers mobility. It is consists of the transmitter and the receiver. Both use antennas to
radiate and capture the radio signal.
3. Infrared: It is short-distance communication and can pass through any object. It is generally used in TV
remotes, wireless mouse, etc.
2. Network Reference Model: OSI and TCP/IP Model
OSI Model
OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection. It has 7 layers Physical layer, Data Link layer, Network
layer, Transport layer, Session layer, Presentation layer, and Application layer. Each layer performs its
task independently. It was developed in 1984 by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO).
OSI Model
Data Flow in OSI Model
The data flow in the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model describes how data is transmitted
from one device to another through the seven layers of the OSI model. This process involves
encapsulation and decapsulation at each layer to ensure proper data transmission and reception.
The data flow in the OSI model involves encapsulating data at each layer on the sender side,
transmitting it over the network, and decapsulating it at each layer on the receiver side to ensure the
data reaches its intended destination correctly and reliably.
OSI Model
Advantages
• It is quite flexible.
Disadvantages
TCP/IP Model
TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. It has 4 layers named as Physical
layer, Network layer, Transport layer, and Application layer. It also can be used as a communications
protocol in a private computer network. It was designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in the 1970s.
Advantages
• It is lightweight.
Disadvantages
OSI and TCP/IP both are logical models. One of the main similarities between the OSI and TCP/IP
models is that they both describe how information is transmitted between two devices across a
network. Both models define a set of layers. Each layer performs a specific set of functions to enable
the transmission of data.
Another similarity between the two models is that they both use the concept of encapsulation, in
which data is packaged into a series of headers and trailers that contain information about the data
being transmitted and how it should be handled by the network.
For more information, you can refer Similarities between TCP/IP model and the OSI model article.
The OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Model and the TCP/IP (Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol) Model are two frameworks used to understand how data moves through
networks. While they both help in organizing network communication, they have distinct structures
and purposes. Understanding these differences is essential for anyone learning about or working
with computer networks.
OSI vs TCP/IP
Replacement of tools and changes can easily Replacing the tools is not
Replacement
be done in this model easy as it is in OSI Model
Error Handling Built into Data Link and Transport layers Built into protocols like TCP
TCP provides reliable communication with something called Positive Acknowledgement with
Re-transmission(PAR) . The Protocol Data Unit(PDU) of the transport layer is called a segment.
Now a device using PAR resend the data unit until it receives an acknowledgement. If the data
unit received at the receiver’s end is damaged(It checks the data with checksum functionality of
the transport layer that is used for Error Detection ), the receiver discards the segment. So the
sender has to resend the data unit for which positive acknowledgement is not received. You can
realize from the above mechanism that three segments are exchanged between sender(client)
and receiver(server) for a reliable TCP connection to get established. Let us delve into how this
mechanism works
• Step 1 (SYN): In the first step, the client wants to establish a connection with a server, so it sends
a segment with SYN(Synchronize Sequence Number) which informs the server that the client is
likely to start communication and with what sequence number it starts segments with
• Step 2 (SYN + ACK): Server responds to the client request with SYN-ACK signal bits set.
Acknowledgement(ACK) signifies the response of the segment it received and SYN signifies with
what sequence number it is likely to start the segments with
• Step 3 (ACK): In the final part client acknowledges the response of the server and they both
establish a reliable connection with which they will start the actual data transfer
Network Address Translation (NAT) is a process in which one or more local IP addresses are
translated into one or more Global IP addresses and vice versa to provide Internet access to the
local hosts. It also does the translation of port numbers, i.e., masks the port number of the host
with another port number in the packet that will be routed to the destination. It then makes the
corresponding entries of IP address and port number in the NAT table. NAT generally operates on
a router or firewall.
Network Address Translation
Generally, the border router is configured for NAT i.e. the router which has one interface in the
local (inside) network and one interface in the global (outside) network. When a packet traverse
outside the local (inside) network, then NAT converts that local (private) IP address to a global
(public) IP address. When a packet enters the local network, the global (public) IP address is
converted to a local (private) IP address.
If NAT runs out of addresses, i.e., no address is left in the pool configured then the packets will
be dropped and an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) host unreachable packet to the
destination is sent.
Static NAT
In this, a single unregistered (Private) IP address is mapped with a legally registered (Public) IP
address i.e one-to-one mapping between local and global addresses. This is generally used for
Web hosting. These are not used in organizations as there are many devices that will need
Internet access and to provide Internet access, a public IP address is needed.
Suppose, if there are 3000 devices that need access to the Internet, the organization has to buy
3000 public addresses that will be very costly.
Dynamic NAT
In this type of NAT, an unregistered IP address is translated into a registered (Public) IP address
from a pool of public IP addresses. If the IP address of the pool is not free, then the packet will
be dropped as only a fixed number of private IP addresses can be translated to public addresses.
Suppose, if there is a pool of 2 public IP addresses then only 2 private IP addresses can be
translated at a given time. If 3rd private IP address wants to access the Internet then the packet
will be dropped therefore many private IP addresses are mapped to a pool of public IP addresses.
NAT is used when the number of users who want to access the Internet is fixed. This is also very
costly as the organization has to buy many global IP addresses to make a pool.
This is also known as NAT overload. In this, many local (private) IP addresses can be translated
to a single registered IP address. Port numbers are used to distinguish the traffic i.e., which
traffic belongs to which IP address. This is most frequently used as it is cost-effective as
thousands of users can be connected to the Internet by using only one real global (public) IP
address.
• Integrity – Means maintaining accuracy and completeness of data. This means data
cannot be edited in an unauthorized way. For example if an employee leaves an
organisation then in that case data for that employee in all departments like accounts,
should be updated to reflect status to JOB LEFT so that data is complete and accurate and
in addition to this only authorized person should be allowed to edit employee data.
• Availability – Means information must be available when needed. For example if one
needs to access information of a particular employee to check whether employee has
outstanded the number of leaves, in that case it requires collaboration from different
organizational teams like network operations, development operations, incident response
and policy/change management. Denial of service attack is one of the factor that can
hamper the availability of information.
CIA Triad- Information Security
• Text
• Audio
• Video
• Images
• Network or Protocol
What is Cryptography?
Cryptography means secret writing. In cryptography, the sender does not send a message directly
to the receiver, before sending information to the receiver information or plain text is converted
into cipher text by using some encryption algorithm then sent to the receiver and the receiver
decrypts the cipher text into plain text to read the original information. It is of two types: