COMPUTER NETWORK

WHAT IS NETWORK

Workstation

Internet Router Switch

Bridge
Wireless
Access
Point

Cables
Wireless
Switch
Computer networks can be used for several purposes:

Facilitating communications – using a network, people can

communicate efficiently and easily via email, instant messaging,
chat rooms, telephone, video telephone calls, and video
conferencing.
Sharing of Resources
Hardware: in a networked environment, each computer on a
network may access and use hardware resources on the network,
such as printer, scanner, hard disk etc..
Files and data: in a network environment, authorized user s
may access data and information stored on other computers on the
network.
Software: users connected to a network may run application
programs on remote computers .
ARPANET
Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET) was the
network that became the basis for the Internet. ARPANET was developed under
the direction of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of USA. The
initial purpose was to communicate with and share computer resources among
mainly scientific users at the connected university computers. ARPANET was
used as testing bed for packet switching and TCP/IP.

NSFNET
National Science Foundation Network. NSFNET is a wide area
network started by the NSF (National Science Foundation) that
handled a bulk of early Internet traffic. It went online in 1986 and
during the late 1980s and early 1990s was a
crucial backbone to ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network) and the Internet. During 1990 and 1991, NSFNET was
restructured and created a not-for-profit entity and a for-profit
subsidiary for commercial development of the network.
In large networks, there can be multiple paths
from sender to receiver. The switching technique
will decide the best route for data transmission.
Switching technique is used to connect the
systems for making one-to-one communication.
Circuit Switching
A type of communications in which a dedicated channel (circuit) is established
for the duration of a transmission. This provides end-to-end connection between
two communicating devices. First, physical connection between two computers is
established and then data (message) is transmitted from the source device to the
destination device. Example: wired land line telephone communication system.
Packet switching
Packet-switched describes the type of network in which entire data is divided
into small units of data called packets, routed through a network to the
destination address contained within each packet. After reaching the
destination address packets are integrated. Breaking data into packets allows
the same data path to be shared among many users in the network. Almost
every network uses packet switching.
 Network Topologies
Network topology refers to how various nodes, devices, and
connections on network are physically or logically arranged in
relation to each other.
There are 3 main types of network topologies:

Bus Star Ring

Topology Topology
Topology
 Bus (or linear)
Topology

Bus topology is a network setup in which each computer and

network device is connected to a single cable. This central
cable is called the backbone of the network. Coaxial cable is
used in Bus topology
 Bus (Linear)
Topology
Advantages: Disadvantages:
• Easy to implement, extend • Limited cable length and
and easy to install number of stations
• Well-suited for temporary or • Performance degrades as
small networks not requiring additional computers are
high speeds added
• Cheaper than other • If there is a problem with the
topologies cable, the entire network
• Cost effective since only a breaks down
single cable is used • Maintenance costs may be
• Easy identification of cable higher in the long run
faults • Slower data transfer rate
than other topologies
 Star Topology

In STAR topology all the computers are connected to a single

switch/hub through a cable. This switch/hub is called the
central node and all others nodes are connected to the
central node.
• In star topology, each node is connected to the
Switch/hub with a point-to-point connection. All traffic
that traverses the network passes through the central
hub/Switch.
• The switch/hub acts as a signal booster or repeater. The
star topology reduces the chance of network failure by
connecting all of the systems to a central node.
STAR Topology

Advantages: Disadvantages:
• If a cable fails, it will only • It is more expensive as it
affect one workstation. uses the more cabling
• More computers can be than other topology.
added without • Failure of the central
disruption. node (Server/Switch) will
• Easy to troubleshoot. stop the network from
working.
• Performance is based on
the hub that is it depends
 Ring Topology

It is called ring topology because it forms a ring as each

computer is connected to another computer, with the last
one connected to the first. Exactly two neighbors for each
device.
Advantages: Disadvantages:
• They are cheap to • If there are a lot of
expand. users on the network, it
• The data flows around could slow down as all
the network in one the data is sent along a
direction so it is fast. single line.

• There is no reliance on • If one computer in the

a central computer. ring stops working, the
whole network stops.
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 TRANSMISSION MEDIA
 Sending of data from one device to another is called
transmission of data.
 Media used to transmit the data is called the transmission
media.
 Transmission media is a pathway that carries the information
from sender to receiver
 We use different types of cables or waves to transmit data.
 Data is transmitted normally as electrical or electromagnetic
signals.
 TYPES OF TRANSMISSION MEDIA
Transmission media is broadly classified into two groups.
1. Guided or Wired or Bound Transmission Media
2. Unguided or Wireless or Unbound Transmission Media:

Infrared
 Wired or Guided Media or Bound Transmission
Media:
Guided Transmission Media uses a cabling system that
guides the data signals along a specific path . The data
signals are bound by the cabling system . Guided Media is
also known as Bound Media or Wired media .
Examples of guided transmission media are:
twisted pair cable
 Shielded twisted pair cable
 Unshielded twisted pair cable
co-axial cable
(a)Baseband co-axial cable
(b)Broadband co-axial cable
and fiber optical cable
 Wireless or Unguided Media or Unbound
Transmission Media:
Unguided transmission media are the ways of transmitting
data without using any cables. These media are not
bounded by physical geography. This type of transmission
is called Wireless communication.
Nowadays wireless communication is becoming popular.
Wireless LANs are being installed in office and college
campuses.
Examples of unguided transmission media are:
 Microwave
 Radio wave
 Infra-red
 Twisted Pair
A type of cable that consists of four pairs of
independently insulated copper wires twisted around
one another. The use of two wires twisted together
helps to reduce electromagnetic induction.
Characteristics of Twisted Pair
 low cost
 easy to install
 High speed data transmission
 High attenuation( Attenuation is a general term that refers to any
reduction in the strength of a signal)
 Effective to EMI(Electro Magnetic Induction)
 100 meter limit

Advantages of Twisted Pair Disadvantages of Twisted Pair

 Easy installation  Short distance due to attenuation
 Capable of high speed for LAN  It is more prone to pick up
 Low cost electromagnetic noise signals
 It can be used for analogue as
well as digital transmission
 Co-axial Cable

Coaxial carries signals of higher frequency ranges (higher

Bandwidth) than twisted pair.
Inner conductor carries signal.
Outer one serves as shield against noise and as the second
conductor, which completes the circuit).
CHARACTERISTICS OF COAXIAL CABLE
Moderate Cost
Easy to install as compared to Fiber Optics
Up to 10Mbps data transmission rate
Medium immunity form EMI
Medium of attenuation
ADVANTAGES COAXIAL CABLE
 expensive than twisted pair but cheaper than fiber
optics
Easy to wire as compared to Fiber Optics
Easy to expand
Moderate level of EMI immunity
DISADVANTAGE COAXIAL CABLE
Single cable failure can take down an entire network
 3. Optical Fiber
 A fiber optic cable is made of glass or plastic
and transmit signals in the form of light.
 It has fibers which are long, thin strands made
with pure glass or plastics about the diameter
of human hair.
 Optical fibers are faster, lighter, and suitable for
transferring large amount of data.

Advantages Disadvantages
 Greater capacity (bandwidth of up to  Installation and maintenance
2 Gbps). need expertise
 Smaller size and lighter weight.  Much more expensive
 Lower attenuation.  requires highly skilled
 immunity to environmental installers
interference.  adding additional nodes is
 highly secure due to tap difficulty difficult
and lack of signal radiation.
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWISTED PAIR, COAXIAL AND
OPTICAL FIBRE CABLE
Twisted Pair Cable Coaxial Cable Optical Fibre Cable

Signal is an electrical form Signal is an electrical form Signal is an optical form

using copper wire using inner copper wire (light signal) using a glass
fibre

Most affected by electrical Less affected by electrical Not affected by electrical

noise and magnetic field noise and magnetic field noise & magnetic field

Cheapest medium Moderately expensive Most expensive medium

Low bandwidth Moderately high Very high bandwidth

bandwidth

Attenuation is very high Attenuation is low Attenuation is very low

 Unguided Media
• Here information is transmitted by sending
electromagnetic signals through free space and hence
the name unguided media, cables are not used for
transmitting data.
• These media are not bounded by physical geography.
• All unguided media transmission are classified as
wireless transmission.
• Wireless transmission can be used as the medium in
both LAN and WAN environments.

Some of the types of wireless media are:

 RADIO WAVES
 MICRO WAVES
 INFRARED WAVES
Microwaves
 Electromagnetic waves having frequency between
300 MHz (0.3 GHz) and 300 GHz. are called as Micro
waves.
 Micro waves are unidirectional.
 Microwave propagation is line of sight.
 Very high frequency Micro waves cannot penetrate walls.
 The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz
 Microwave links use repeaters at intervals of about 25 to
30 km in between the transmitting and receiving stations
Applications
Microwaves due to their unidirectional properties are very
useful when unicast (one to one) communication is needed
between the sender and the receiver.
 They are used in Cellular phones.
 They are used in satellite networks.
 They are used in wireless LANs.

Advantages
Building two towers is cheaper than digging a 100-km trench
and laying cables in it
It can permit transmission rates of about 16 gbps
Disadvantages
Repeaters, if used along the way, are to be maintained
Physical vibration will show up as signal noise
Radio Waves
Radio is a general term often used to encompass frequencies in the
range 3 kHz to 300 GHz.
Radio waves particularly those waves that propagate in the sky
mode, can travel long distances. This makes Radio waves a good
candidate for long distance broadcasting such as AM Radio.
 Mobile telephony occupies several frequency bands just under 1 GHz
 Radio waves are omnidirectional.

Advantages Disadvantages
• Broad bandwidth – can be broken • Prone to noise
into many bandwidth like MW, SW, • Limited range
AM/FM, VHF and some UHF • Analogue signal is not very
• Can be used for short distance
• Cheaper to install as compared to
secured
microwave and satellite links
 3. Infrared
 This type of transmission uses infrared light to send data.
You can see the use of this type of transmission in everyday
life - TV remotes, automotive garage doors etc., all make use
of infrared as transmission media.
 The infrared light transmits data through the air and can
propagate throughout a room(bouncing off surfaces), but will
not penetrate walls. The infrared transmission has become
common in PDAs(Personal digital assistants)e.g., hand held
devices like palm pilots etc.
 Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300GHz-400THz can be
used for short range communication
 Transceivers must be within line of sight of each other
(directly or via reflection).
 Satellite
A satellite link refers to the
technologies that help deliver satellite
broadcasts over various frequency
ranges. Satellite is important for WAN
and it delivers audio and video for
DTH.

Advantages Disadvantages
• There is no line of sight • Launching a satellite into an orbit
restriction is very costly
• Coverage over very large • Signals get negatively affected by
geographical area noise and interference
• Satellite has limited lifespan and
cannot be repaired
 DIFFERENCE WIRED AND WIRELESS NETWORK

Specification Wired Network Wireless Network

Transmission Coaxial, Twisted pair, Electromagnetic

medium Fibre optic waves

Transmission speed Higher Lower

Installation Cost Less More

Installation Easy and requires less Cumbersome and

time requires more time
 Connecting devices

Connecting
devices

Networking Internetworking
devices devices

Hub/Switch Repeaters Bridges Routers Gateways

Network Interface Card(NIC)
• It is also called Network
Adaptor Network Interface
Controller, Ethernet Card
• Each NIC has a unique
address that differentiates
from other NIC.
• The network adapter provides
one or more ports for the
network cable to connect
Video on NIC
 Repeater
• A network device used to regenerate or
replicate a signal if the distance is more than
100m.
• Repeaters are used in transmission systems
to regenerate analog or digital signals
distorted by transmission loss.
• Analog repeaters frequently can only amplify
the signal while digital repeaters can
Three basic functions: reconstruct a signal to near its original quality.

1.Receives a signal which it cleans up

2.Re-times the signal to avoid collisions
3.Transmits the signal on to the next segment
Advantages Disadvantages
 Can connect different types of  Can not filter the data
media  Can not connect different
 Can extend the network in terms network architectures
of distance
 Hubs
 A hub is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or
fibre optic devices together and making them act as a
single network segment.
 Hubs do not manage any of the traffic that comes
through them. Any packet entering any port is
regenerated and broadcast out on all other ports.
 A network device that joins multiple Switches
computers together within one local area
network.
 Network switches appear nearly identical
to network hubs, but a switch generally is
more intelligence than a hub.
 Network switches are capable of
inspecting data packets as they are
received, determining the source and
destination device of each packet, and
forwarding them appropriately.

Advantages Disadvantages
• Limits the collision domain. • More expensive than hub.
• Can provide bridging. • Configuration of additional
• Can be configured to limit functions can be very complex.
broadcast domain.
Access point:
• It is hardware or software that
acts as a communication hub for
users of wireless device to
connect to wired LANs.
• It provides higher wireless
security.
Advantages
• Cheap
• Can connect different media types
Disadvantages
• Bandwidth is shared by all hosts.
• Time consuming.
• Extends collision domain.
• Passes packets to all connected segments.
 Bridges
• A device that connects two LANs
using the same protocol such as
Ethernet.
• Bridging is a forwarding
technique used in packet-
switched computer networks
• Bridges can divide large network
into smaller segments or visa
versa.
Network Packet
A network packet is a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-
switched network. A packet consists of control information and user
data. Control information provides data for delivering the user
data.
Routing Table
A routing table is a set of rules which is used to determine where
data packets traveling over an Internet Protocol (IP) network will
be directed to. All IP-enabled devices, use routing tables.
Routing
Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a network or
between or across multiple networks.
The routing process usually directs packets on the basis of routing
tables, which maintain a record of the routes to various network
destinations.
 Router
 Router is device generally used to connect two or more
dissimilar network
 Router selectively interchanges packets of data between
networks
 It chooses the best optimum path from available paths
to transfer data packets between networks.
 Gateway
 A gateway is an Internetworking
device that acts as an entrance to
another network.
 Gateways enable us to achieve
communicate between terminals
connected to heterogeneous
networks that use different
protocols and have different
network characteristics.
 Gateways are often used to
enable users at remote locations
to access different target
systems. Typically, a gateway
must convert one protocol stack
into another.
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 MODEM
 A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device that
modulates an analogue signal to encode digital
information, and also demodulates such a signal to
decode the transmitted information.
 Both the sending and receiving ends of a
communications channel must have a modem for
data transmission to occur.
 RJ45 & RJ-11 Connector

Short for Registered Jack-45, an

eight-wire connector used
commonly to connect computers
onto a local-area networks (LAN),
especially Ethernets.

RJ-45 connectors look similar to

the RJ-11 phone connectors used
for connecting telephone
equipment, but they are
somewhat wider. RJ-11 is four
wire connector.
 LAN: LOCAL AREA NETWORK
 A Local Area Network (LAN) is a collection of networking
equipment located geographically close together.
E.g. Single room, campus etc.
 Data transferred in High speed which ranges from 100 Mbps to
gigabit for system development and have a low implementation
cost.
 Range can be up to 5 km generally within 1 KM
 Twisted pair cable or Co-axial cable connects the plug in cards
to form a network.
 Designed to share resources between different devices such as
PC, Printers Scanners etc.
 MAN: MERTROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK

The metropolitan area network (MAN) is designed to

extend over an entire city.
It may be a single network such as cable television
network available in many cities.
Range: Within 5-100 km (a city).
Data Transfer Speed : can up to 100Mbps
 WAN: WIDE AREA NETWORK
 WAN is designed to provides long distance transmission of
data, voice, image and video information over large
geographical areas that may comprise a country, a
continent.
 Range: Beyond 100 km.
 Speed up to 150mbps
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAN, WAN AND MAN

LAN MAN WAN

Local Area Network Metropolitan Area Network Wide Area Network

A communication network linking a This network shares the Unlimited area coverage, no
number of stations in same local area. characteristics of packet geographical limit, no owner
covering campus / building (3 KM ), broadcasting networks.
has owner Covering a city / town, has owner
Very high speed, typically up to 10 High speed, typically 100 Mbps and Slow, about 100 Mbps and high error
Gbps and very low error rates low error rates rates
Cheaper Costly Expensive
Uses mostly guided media but Uses guided as well as unguided Uses unguided media
unguided media can also be used media
 PAN (Personal Area Network)
 A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for
communication among computer devices, including telephones and
personal digital assistants, in proximity to an individual’s body.
 The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters.
 PANs can be used for communication among the personal devices
(intrapersonal communication), or for connecting to a higher level
network and the Internet (an uplink).
 Personal area networks may be
wired with USB and FireWire.

 A wireless personal area network

(WPAN) can also be made
possible with wireless network
technologies such as IrDA
(Infrared) and Bluetooth.
 A Bluetooth PAN typically has
a range of 10 meters.
 Protocols
In order for computers
to communicate with
one another, standard
methods of information
transfer and processing
have been devised.
These are referred to as
"protocols“
Some examples are:
TCP/IP FTP
SMTP POP3
VOIP Telnet
HTTP IMAP
TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)
Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the
suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the
Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones
being TCP and IP.

TCP: Abbreviation of Transmission Control Protocol enables

two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of
data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that
packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were
sent.

IP: Short for Internet Protocol. IP specifies the format of packets

and the addressing scheme. IP does the routing of data packets
 FTP (File Transfer Protocol) :It is a primary method to transfer
files over the Internet. FTP transfers files to and from a remote
server.

PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) :In networking, the Point-to-Point

Protocol, or PPP, is a data link protocol commonly used in
establishing a direct connection between two networking nodes

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP) is a

general term for a family of communication protocols and
transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications
and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks,
such as the Internet.
 HTTP : The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a networking protocol
for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP
functions as a request-response protocol in the client-server computing
model.

HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure)

HTTPS is to provide enhanced security layer over the unsecured HTTP
protocol for sensitive data and transactions. HTTPS encrypts every data
packet using SSL or TLS encryption to prevent hacking of dat.
intermediary hackers and attackers to extract the content of the data.

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SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard for
electronic mail (e-mail) transmission across Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

IMAP:The Internet Message Access Protocol (commonly known as IMAP, and

previously called Internet Mail Access Protocol) is an Application Layer Internet
protocol that allows an e -mail client to access e-mail on a remote mail server.

POP (Post Office Protocol)

Using POP, you can pop in, grab all of your mail and then leave. You don’t need to
stay connected. You can use POP to grab mail from several different inboxes on
several different email servers and consolidate them on one. POP is a client side
protocol supporting single client.
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SSH (Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell)
SSH is a network protocol that provides a secure access to a computer
over an unsecured network. SSH also refers to the suite of utilities that
implement the SSH protocol.

SCP (Secure Copy Protocol)

The SCP is a network protocol which uses Secure Shell (SSH) for data
transfer and uses the same mechanisms for authentication, thereby
ensuring the authenticity and confidentiality of the data in transit.

Level-Remote Login (Telnet)

Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol
for accessing remote computers. Through Telnet, an
administrator or another user can access someone else's
computer
NFC (Near Field Communication)
NFC enables short-range communication between compatible
devices. This requires at least one transmitting device and another to
receive the signal. A range of devices can use the NFC standard and
will be considered either passive or active.
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 IP Address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical
label that is assigned to any device participating in a
computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for
communication between its nodes.

An IP address serves two principal functions:

 host or network interface identification
 location addressing.

Two Types of IP Address

IPv4 is a 32-bit (4 bytes) number example 188.70.33.145
IPv6 is a 128 bits (16 bytes) number.
Example 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334

IP addresses are assigned either automatically or manually.

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 MAC Address
 MAC Address. In computer networking, a Media Access
Control address, better known as MAC address, is a
unique identifier assigned to a network adapter or network
interface card (NIC) by the manufacturer for identification.
 MAC addresses are 6-byte (48-bits) in length, and are
written in MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS format.
 URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
In computing, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a
resource identifier that specifies where an identified
resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving
it. The best-known example of a URL is the address of a
web page on the World Wide Web

(http://www.faipskuwait.com).
 DNS (Domain Name System)
 The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system
built on a distributed database for computers, services, or any
resource connected to the Internet or a private network.
 DNS translates domain names meaningful to humans into the
numerical identifiers associated with networking equipment for the
purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide.
 An often-used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that
it serves as the phone book for the Internet by translating human-
friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses.

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 Domain Name
A domain name uniquely identifies an Internet Protocol
(IP) resource such as a web site on the Internet.
Domains are based on the Domain Name System (DNS). It
is the unique name that identifies an Internet site.
Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by
dots (or periods). The part on the left is the most specific,
and the part on the right is the most general.
Firewall: A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or
from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both
hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are
frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from
accessing private networks or computers connected to the
Internet.