Introduction to Networks

Introduction
• Local area networks are organized as a set of communication
protocols that operate on a well-defined topology that tells them
how the computers on the network are connected.
• Computers are machines specialized in processing information
according to the instructions contained in a program. However,
the information produced is not always stored in the place where
it is processed. This adds the need to transport the data from its
place of origin or storage to its process, causing a communication
• Globally, the number of Internet users is forecast to
increase from approximately 2 billion in 2011 to 3 billion
users in 2016
• The estimate for 2016 is that there will be over 20 billion
fixed and mobile networked devices and machine-to-
machine connections, up from about 7 billion devices in
2011
• The result is that the total annual traffic generated over the
Internet and other IP-based networks is forecast to rise
from 372 exabytes (372 × 260 bytes) to 1.3 zettabytes (1.3
× 270 bytes) in 2016. This traffic demand imposes stiff
performance requirements on communications protocols.

Key Internet Statistics to kown in 2022 (including Mobile)

 Wide Area Networks
• Wide area networks generally
cover a large geographical
area. They often require the
crossing of public right-of-
ways, and typically rely at
least in part on circuits
provided by one or more
common carriers—companies
that offer communication
services to the general public.
Local Area Networks
 Local Area Networks
• As with WANs, a LAN is a communications network that
interconnects a variety of devices and provides a means for
information exchange among those devices. There are several
key distinctions between LANs and WANs:
1. The scope of the LAN is small, typically a single building or a
cluster of buildings. This difference in geographic scope leads to
different technical solutions, as we shall see.
 Local Area Networks
2. It is usually the case that the LAN is owned by the same organization
that owns the attached devices. For WANs, this is less often the case, or
at least a significant fraction of the network assets is not owned. This has
two implications. First, care must be taken in the choice of LAN, because
there may be a substantial capital investment (compared to dial-up or
leased charges for WANs) for both purchase and maintenance. Second,
the network management responsibility for a LAN falls solely on the user.
3. The internal data rates of LANs are typically much greater than those
of WANs.
 Wireless Networks
Wireless LANs are widely
used in business
environments. Wireless
technology is also common
for both wide area voice and
data networks. Wireless
networks provide advantages
in the areas of mobility and
ease of installation and
configuration.
 A COMMUNICATIONS MODEL

The fundamental purpose of a communications system is the

exchange of data between two parties
 A COMMUNICATIONS MODEL
• Source: This device generates the data to be transmitted; examples are
telephones and personal computers.
• Transmitter: Usually, the data generated by a source system are not
transmitted directly in the form in which they were generated. Rather, a
transmitter transforms and encodes the information in such a way as to
produce electromagnetic signals that can be transmitted across some sort of
transmission system.
• For example, a modem takes a digital bit stream from an attached device
such as a personal computer and transforms that bit stream into an analog
signal that can be handled by the telephone network.
 A COMMUNICATIONS MODEL
• Transmission system: This can be a single transmission line or a
complex network connecting source and destination.
• Receiver: The receiver accepts the signal from the transmission system
and converts it into a form that can be handled by the destination device.
For example, a modem will accept an analog signal coming from a network
or transmission line and convert it into a digital bit stream.
• Destination: Takes the incoming data from the receiver.
COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
• Transmission system utilization, refers to the need to make
efficient use of transmission facilities that are typically shared
among a number of communicating devices
• To communicate, a device must interface with the transmission
system.
• Once an interface is established, signal generation is required for
communication. The properties of the signal, such as form and
intensity, must be such that the signal is (1) capable of being
propagated through the transmission system, and (2) interpretable
as data at the receiver.
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
• There must be some form of synchronization between
transmitter and receiver. The receiver must be able to
determine when a signal begins to arrive and when it
ends. It must also know the duration of each signal
element.
• The next two items might have been included under
exchange management, but they seem important
enough to list separately.
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
• Error detection and correction are required in circumstances
where errors cannot be tolerated. This is usually the case with
data processing systems. For example, in transferring a file
from one computer to another, it is simply not acceptable for the
contents of the file to be accidentally altered.
• Flow control is required to assure that the source does not
overwhelm the destination by sending data faster than they can
be processed and absorbed.
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
• Next are the related but distinct concepts of addressing and
routing. When more than two devices share a transmission
facility, a source system must indicate the identity of the
intended destination. The transmission system must assure that
the destination system, and only that system, receives the data.
Further, the transmission system may itself be a network
through which various paths may be taken. A specific route
through this network must be chosen.
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
• Recovery is a concept distinct from that of error correction. Recovery
techniques are needed in situations in which an information exchange, such
as a database transaction or file transfer, is interrupted due to a fault
somewhere in the system.
• The objective is either to be able to resume activity at the point of
interruption or at least to restore the state of the systems involved to the
condition prior to the beginning of the exchange.
• Message formatting has to do with an agreement between two parties as
to the form of the data to be exchanged or transmitted, such as the binary
code for characters.
 COMMUNICATIONS TASKS
Frequently, it is important to provide some measure of security in
a data communications system. The sender of data may wish to
be assured that only the intended receiver actually receives the
data.
Finally, a data communications facility is a complex system that
cannot create or run itself. Network management capabilities
are needed to configure the system, monitor its status, react to
failures and overloads, and plan intelligently for future growth.
 NETWORK TOPOLOGIES
The term topology refers to the
way in which the endpoints, or
stations, attached to the network
are interconnected. Historically,
common topologies for LANs are
bus, tree, ring, and star. In
contemporary LANs, the star
topology, based around the use
of switches, dominates
 Bus Topology
In the bus topology, all stations attach, through appropriate hardware
interfacing known as a tap, directly to a linear transmission medium, or
bus. Full-duplex operation between the station and the tap allows data
to be transmitted onto the bus and received from the bus. A
transmission from any station propagates the length of the medium in
both directions and can be received by all other stations. At each end of
the bus is a terminator, which absorbs any signal, removing it from the
bus.
Bus Topology
 Bus Topology (disadventage)
• A transmission from any one station can be received by all other
stations, there needs to be some way of indicating for whom the
transmission is intended.
• A mechanism is needed to regulate transmission. To see the reason
for this, consider that if two stations on the bus attempt to transmit at
the same time, their signals will overlap (consider that if one station
decides to transmit continuously for a long period of time, other
stations will be blocked from transmitting).
Bus Topology
 Star Topology
In the star LAN topology, each station is directly connected to a
common central node. Typically, each station attaches to a central
node via two point-to-point links, one for transmission and one for
reception.
A transmission from any station is received by all other stations,
and only one station at a time may successfully transmit. In this
case, the central element is referred to as a hub. Another
approach is for the central node to act as a frame-switching
device. An incoming frame is buffered in the node and then
retransmitted on an outgoing link to the destination station.
Star Topology