Module 1: Understanding

Local Area Networks

1.2 Understand local area networks (LANs)
1.5 Understand network topologies and access methods
Agenda
1 Local Area Networks

2 Data Transfer on a LAN

3 Types of Local Area Network

Local Area
Networks
What is a network?
• A network is two devices connected to each other with a physical medium,
such as wires or radio signals
• The connection allows those two devices to exchange data
What is the purpose of networks?
Networks enhance many aspects of life and business for individuals and
organizations, including:
• communication and collaboration
• sharing information and resources
• organizing data
• saving costs
How are networks organized?
• Networks are organized based on
their geographic location
• A Local Area Network, or LAN, is a
group of computers or devices that:
• are confined to a small geographic area, such
as a single building
• share a common communication medium,
such as cabled or wireless connections
• are connected to a central connecting device,
like a hub, switch, or router
Network Documentation
• Describes, defines, and explains the
physical and logical method for
connecting devices
• The documentation phase occurs
before a network is built, or when
changes are made to the network
• Microsoft Visio is a tool that can be
used to document networks
What devices make up LANs?

HOSTS CENTRAL
CONNECTING
DEVICES
Desktop Laptops Phones
PCs Switch
Hub

Router
Servers Tablets
What are hosts?
• Desktop PCs, laptops, cell phones, servers, routers and so on
• A host can be any device that has an IP address – an address used to send
and receive data in a network
• IP addresses help identify devices and the networks where they are located
What are central connecting devices?
• Hubs, switches, and routers act as central connecting devices
• Central connecting devices are responsible for:
• connecting hosts
• transmitting data
• Different central connecting devices perform these functions in different
ways
How do hubs function?
• Hosts send data to a hub
• The hub then broadcasts that data
to all other connected hosts on the
network
How do switches function?
• Hosts send data to a switch
• Switches direct data to its intended
destination
• Unlike hubs, switches can send and
receive data simultaneously
• Switches are the most common
device used to connect hosts to a
network
How do routers function?
• Routers are at the edge of LANs
• They act as a gateway to other networks
• Routers allow communication Internet
between hosts on different
24.136.72.110
networks
192.168.1.1
What are central connecting devices?
• Computers have network adapters, also known as
Network Interface Cards (NICs), that allow them to
connect to networks
• NICs via wires or wireless signals
• Wired adapters feature an RJ45 port
• Wireless adapters feature an antenna and connect to networks using
Wireless Access Points (WAPs)
Ethernet Cables
• Ethernet cables are made of copper
wires
• Transmit data in the form of
electrical pulses
• Wireless connections rely on different
technologies

RJ45 PLUG
Ethernet Cables
• WAPs provide a central point of access for
devices that want to connect to a Local
Area Network (LAN)
• Wireless networks can consist of many types
of devices other than traditional PCs:
• Smart phones
• PDAs
• Tablet computers
• Micro computers
• PCs and laptops equipped with wireless network adapters
can connect to these networks as well
Data Transfer on a
LAN
Serial Data Transfer
• Transfer of one bit at a time 1
0
• Data can travel in a single bit 0 1
stream in both directions 1 1
• Depends on type of connection
1 1
0 0
1 1
0 0
1 1
1 1
1 0
0
1
How fast does data travel?
• A data transfer rate is the maximum bits per second (bps) that can be
transmitted over a network
• Signified with a lowercase b
• The lowercase b differentiates bits from bytes

10 Mbps
BITRATE
Data transfer in LANs - Sending
Before data is transferred, it has to go
through the following process:
Frame
1. Large chunks of data are broken into Packet
segments
2. Addressing information is added to each
segment, making it a packet
3. Packets then travel to the network adapter,
where a little more information is added
and they become Ethernet frames.
IP Address
4. Each frame is then broken into a data MAC Address
stream of bits – 0s and 1s – that travel over
physical media
Data transfer in LANs - Receiving
When data is received, it goes through
the process in reverse:
Frame
1. The receiving computer reassembles the Packet
bits into an Ethernet frame
2. It removes the frame information, and
checks the packet information to make
sure it was the intended recipient
3. The packet information is then stripped,
and the data segment is reassembled into
the file that we click on in Windows
Explorer
How does data know where to go?
Most every computer and many other devices have an Internet Protocol (IP)
address
• Uniquely identifies a device and its associated network
A typical example of an IPv4 address would be 192.168.1.1
Every IP address is broken down into two parts by a subnet mask
• Network ID 192.168.1
• Host ID 1
Subnet Mask
• A group of four numbers that define a computer’s network
• NOTE: All of the 255s in a subnet mask collectively refer to the network
portion, whereas the 0s refer to the host portion

Type of Address First Octet Second Third Octet Fourth Octet

Octet
IP Address 192 168 1 1
Subnet Mask 255 255 255 0
Types of Local
Area Networks
Wired LANs (WLANs)
Hosts, such as PCs or laptops, are
connected to central connecting
devices by copper-based twisted pair
cabling
Wired LANs (WLANs)
• Hosts connect to networks through
WAPs
• To connect to a WAP, a device
must have a wireless network
adapter
• In larger WLANs, the WAP has to
connect to a wired switch
Virtual LANs (VLANs)
With VLANs, devices in a LAN are VLAN20

grouped based on their function

Implemented to: STUDENTS
• organize networks VLAN30 VLAN30
• enhance performance
• increase security
Physical location of devices does not TEACHERS TEACHERS

matter STUDENTS

VLAN20
Perimeter Networks
• Perimeter networks, or
Internet
demilitarized zones (DMZs), are
small LANs that are set up outside
of an organization’s LAN perimeter network

• DMZs typically consist of servers

that provide services, like web
hosting or email
• This setup allows users outside of
an organization’s LAN to access the LAN
servers, but not the organization’s
LAN
Summary
1 Local Area Networks

2 Data Transfer on a LAN

3 Types of Local Area Network

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