COMPUTER NETWORK AND ARCHITECTURE

(MODULE 1)
By Victor Sarmacharjee
 COMPUTER NETWORK AND ARCHITECTURE (MODULE 1)
1. DATA COMMUNICATION :
Data communication refers to the exchange of data between a source and a receiver via form of transmission media such as a
wire cable.

2. COMPONENTS OF A DATA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM :

There are 5 components in a data communication system which are as follows :
1. Message : It is the information or data to be communicated. It can consist of text, numbers, pictures, sound or video or any
combination of these.
2. Sender : It is the device/computer that generates and sends that message.
3. Receiver: It is the device or computer that receives the message. The location of receiver computer is generally different
from the sender computer. The distance between sender and receiver depends upon the types of network used in between.
4.  Medium: It is the channel or physical path through which the message is carried from sender to the receiver. The medium
can be wired like twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable or wireless like laser, radio waves, and microwaves.
5. Protocol : It is a set of rules that govern the communication between the devices.

** Data Representation : Text, Numbers , Images , Audio & Video

Data Flow : Simplex , Half Duplex, Full Duplex.

3. CONNECTING DEVICES :
i. Hub :
• A Hub works in the physical layer of the OSI model.
• Hub is a nonintelligent device and has no decision-making capability.
• Hub basically takes the input data from one of the ports and broadcast the information to all the other ports connected to the
network.
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3. CONNECTING DEVICES :
ii. Repeater :
• A repeater is a device similar to the hub but has additional features.
• We use the repeaters in places where amplification of input signal is necessary.
• It regenerates the input signal and amplifies only the desired signal. Hence, the noise component of the
signal is eliminated. It is also called an active hub.
iii. Switch :
• A switch is an intelligent device that works in the data link layer.
• The term intelligent refers to the decision-making capacity of the switch.
• It has knowledge of the MAC addresses of the ports in the network
iv. Bridge :
• Bridges are used to connect two or more hosts or network segments together.
• It is used for storing and forwarding frames between the different segments that the bridge connects.
• They use hardware Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for transferring frames.
v. Router :
• A router is a hardware device which is used to connect a LAN with an internet connection.
• It is used to receive, analyze and forward the incoming packets to another network.
• A router works in a Layer 3 (Network layer) of the OSI Reference model.
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4. NETWORK TOPOLOGY :
Topology defines the structure of the network of how all the components are interconnected to each other.
There are 5 types of network topology which are as follows :
i. Mesh Topology :
• Mesh technology is an arrangement of the network in which computers are interconnected with each
other through various redundant connections.
• There are multiple paths from one computer to another computer.
• It does not contain the switch, hub or any central computer which acts as a central point of
communication.
ii. Star Topology :
• Star topology is an arrangement of the network in which every node is connected to the central hub,
switch or a central computer.
• The central computer is known as a server, and the peripheral devices attached to the server are known
as clients.
• Coaxial cable is used to connect the computers.
iii. Tree Topology :
• Tree topology combines the characteristics of bus topology and star topology.
• A tree topology is a type of structure in which all the computers are connected with each other in
hierarchical fashion.
• The top-most node in tree topology is known as a root node, and all other nodes are the descendants of
the root node.
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4. NETWORK TOPOLOGY :
There are 5 types of network topology which are as follows :
iv. Bus Topology :
• The bus topology is designed in such a way that all the stations are connected through a single cable
known as a backbone cable.
• Each node is either connected to the backbone cable by drop cable or directly connected to the backbone
cable.
• The most common access method of the bus topologies is CSMA 
v. Ring Topology :
• Ring topology is like a bus topology, but with connected ends.
• The node that receives the message from the previous computer will retransmit to the next node and the
data flows in one direction, i.e., it is unidirectional.
• The most common access method of the ring topology is token passing
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5. TYPES OF NETWORK:
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5. TYPES OF NETWORK:
 COMPUTER NETWORK AND ARCHITECTURE (MODULE 1)
NETWORK MODELS
6. THE OSI MODEL :
• Each layer means different layer of abstraction
• Each layer should perform a well defined function
• The functions of layer should promote standardization
• The information flow across the interfaces should be minimized
6.1 THE OSI /ISO REFERENCE MODEL :

1. The Physical Layer

• It is the lowest layer of the OSI model and it is this layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits of
data over a communication channel.
• It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
• The design issues have to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit, it is received by the
other side as a 1, not a 0 bit
• It converts the digital/analog bits into electrical signal or optical signals.
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NETWORK MODELS
6.1 THE OSI /ISO REFERENCE MODEL :
2. The DataLink Layer
• This layer provides error-free transmission line for upper layers between two adjacent nodes
• It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or more devices.
• It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device that resides on a local network.
• It breaks information into frames and using services of physical layer
– Error-detecting codes
– Error-correcting codes.
3. The Network Layer
• This layer basically receives messages from the source host, converts them into packets, and that packet
get directed towards the destination
• The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
• It acts as a network controller. It manages the Subnet traffic.
• It decides by which route data should take.
4. The Transport Layer
• This Layer ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in which they are sent and there is no
duplication of data.
• The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
• It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known as segments.
• This layer can be viewed as a bridge between the communication oriented lower three layers and the
application oriented upper three layers.
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NETWORK MODELS
6.1 THE OSI /ISO REFERENCE MODEL :
5. The Session Layer
• This layer allows users on different machines to establish active communication sessions between them.
• This layer manages and synchronize the conversation between two different applications.
• It is used to establish , manage and terminate the sessions
• It facilitates full duplex operation and maintains continuity of session connections.

6. The Presentation Layer

• A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information exchanged between
the two systems.
• It acts as a data translator for a network.
• This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one presentation format to another
format.
• It performs Data compression, Data encryption, Data conversion etc.

7. The Application Layer

• Application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access network service.
• This layer provides the network services to the end-users.
• An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.
• It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
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NETWORK MODELS
6.2 THE TCP /IP REFERENCE MODEL :

1. Host-to- Network Layer :

• It is the lowest layer that is concerned with the physical transmission of data.
• TCP/IP does not specifically define any protocol here but supports all the standard protocols
2. Internet Layer :
• It defines the protocols for logical transmission of data over the network.
• The main protocol in this layer is Internet Protocol (IP) and it is supported by the protocols ICMP, IGMP,
RARP, and ARP.
3. Transport Layer :
•  It is responsible for error-free end-to-end delivery of data.
• The protocols defined here are Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
4. Application Layer : 
• This is the topmost layer and defines the interface of host programs with the transport layer services.
• This layer includes all high-level protocols like Telnet, DNS, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, etc.