Lecture Outline

• Introduction
• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
BIT 1305 – Computer Network • What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
Lecture 1 - Introduction • Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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Introduction… Lecture Outline

Simple Definition of a “Computer
Network”
• A computer network interconnects a variety of
computing devices (end nodes) so that they may
communicate with each other.
– It consists of computing devices, transmission media
(communication channels) to transmit data and control
signals, communication electronics for
routing/switching data from sources to destination and
the software for doing so.
– Networks may span small to large geographical areas
(LANs, MANs, WANs).
• Introduction
• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
• Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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Building Blocks …

Building Blocks of a Network Building Blocks of a Network

• Terminals, Workstations, Computers, and other
devices (end nodes)
• Transmission Media ( for transmitting data and
control signals)
• Network electronics ( intermediate devices for
routing data from source to destination)
(Cont.)
• Software to control data transmission
• Network Architecture Standards (Standards to
ensure interoperability between different
equipments made by different vendors)

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 Building Blocks …

Terminals and Workstations Building Blocks of a Network

• These devices are the data sources and destinations in a

network (ie., end nodes where data originates or is
received).
• Examples
– Personal computers
– Terminals
– Workstations
– Computers
– Point of sale cash registers
– Automatic teller machines
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Transmission Media Transmission Media (Cont.)

• These transmit electronic or light signals and • Bounded Media • Unbounded Media (air or
consist of different media. Transmission media a vacuum)
may be bounded or unbounded. - Twisted pair wire - AM and FM radio
- Co-axial cable - TV broadcasting
- Fiber optic cables - Satellite communication
- Wave guides - Microwave radio
- Infrared signals

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Building Blocks …

Building Blocks of a Network Network Electronics

• Network electronic devices serve a variety of

functions including routing or switching data from
source to destination or for providing the interface
between different transmission media or different
communication protocols.

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 Network Electronics (Cont.)

Network Electronics (Cont.)

• Examples
- Bridges - Concentrators Hubs
- Routers - Front End Processors A bridge
- Private Branch - Switches
Exchange (PBX) - Hubs
- Multiplexers - Gateways

A Switch
Routers
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Software Network Architecture Standards

• Software in end nodes implements techniques and
protocols which define the rules and end
procedures for initiating and terminating data
transfers, interpreting how data is represented and
transmitted and how errors are handled.
• Software in the network electronics performs other
functions to ensure data is transmitted from source
to destination(s).
• Interface: the point of interaction between two
devices such as a printer and a PC .
• Interconnection standards: specification of the
methods of interfacing two devices, making it
unnecessary for vendors to know the insides of
each other’s equipment as long as the
specifications at the boundary are met.

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Network Architecture Standards
(Cont.)
• Architecture: blueprint of standards for a network
consisting of items such as choice of media, media
interfaces, encoding methods, transmission
protocols, routing protocols, etc.
• Needed to ensure interoperability between various
devices and equipment made by different vendors.
Lecture Outline
• Introduction
• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
• Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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 Networks for Companies …
Networks for Companies Provide:
Networks for Companies Provide:
(Cont.)

• Resource sharing (ending the tyranny of • High reliability:

geography): making all programs, computing
equipment and data available to anyone on the
network without regard to the physical location of
the resource and the user.
• Time independence, can be accessed at any time.
– Redundancy in hardware, software and the network
continue to make services available in a transparent way
to the user even if some components fail. An airline can
lose millions of dollars if its reservation system is not
available 100% of the time.
– Networks also allow physical redundancy, ensuring
continued service if a disaster strikes one location.

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Networks for Companies Provide: Networks for Companies Provide:

(Cont.) (Cont.)

• Scalability • Cost - Effectiveness

– Computer networks provide an effective mechanism to
scale up and provide services to more users at more
locations where needed and when needed.
• Manageability
– Networks allow remote resources to be managed
effectively (eg., remote control of telescopes or other
resources).
– Networks allow effective implementation of complex
distributed systems that must work together (cooperate).
Eg., combination of mainframes, workstations, PC’s,
networked storage and networked printers.
– Provide access to needed resources from anywhere at
anytime.
– Support collaborative group work independent of
location

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Lecture Outline Networks for People …

• Introduction Networks for People Provide:

• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies • Access to remote information through connection
between a person and a remote database.
• What networks provide for People – financial institutions: people pay their bills, manage
• Why is Networking important? bank accounts, handle investments electronically.
• Driving forces – home shopping through on line catalogs of many
companies.
• Differences between Data & Voice communication – personalized on line newspapers.
• Network Evolution – on line job search and resume submission.
• Functions of Data Networks – access to the World Wide Web and digital libraries with
information on any conceivable topic.

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 Networks for People Provide: Networks for People Provide:
(Cont.) (Cont.)

• Person to person communication. • Interactive entertainment.

– 21st century’s answer to 20th century telephone-EMAIL – multimedia games.
or electronic mail – video on demand:
– Video conferencing over the network. • order movies or television shows of choice at anytime from
– worldwide newsgroups with discussions on anywhere
educational, academic and other topics. • interactive movies and shows
– electronic university offering classes over the network
to students in far-off and remote areas.

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Lecture Outline Importance of Networking …

• Introduction Why Networking Is Important

• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies • Key technology of 20th century is information
• gathering, processing, and distribution.
What networks provide for People
• World wide telephone networks were constructed.
• Why is Networking important?
• Radio and television networks have reached every
• Driving forces
corner of the world.
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Communications satellites have been launched.
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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Lecture Outline

Why Networking Is Important • Introduction

(Cont.)
• In the past 20 years very powerful affordable
standalone computers have been interconnected to
form computer networks.
• These computer networks are changing the way we
teach, learn, do business, and communicate with
each other.
• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
• Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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 Driving Forces …

Driving Forces Technological Driving Forces

• Computers are getting cheaper, faster, smaller, and

• Technological more reliable.
• Social • The cost of storage is decreasing rapidly.
• Economical • Software is getting more useful and easier to use.
• Communication links are getting cheaper and
faster.

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Social Driving Forces Economical Driving Forces

• Convenient access to information at anytime from
anywhere there is a communication link.
• Asynchronous, location independent
communication is possible.
• Everybody (who is anybody) uses it.
• Information (white collar) industries are more
valued than manufacturing (blue collar) industries.
• Effective use of computer and communication
technologies can:
– Enhance business revenues
– Reduce operating costs
– Avoid costs by increasing people productivity
– Create new business opportunities (ATM machine
networks, internet commerce etc.)
– Provide a competitive edge (eg., SABRE reservation
system, United Parcel Service, Levi Strauss)

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Lecture Outline Data Versus Voice Networks …

• Introduction Differences In Characteristics

• Building Blocks of a Computer Network Between Data And Telephone (Voice)
Communication
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People Data Communication Voice Communication
• Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces • Desirable set-up time in one • One second to one minute
second or less to set up a connection
• Differences between Data & Voice • One or two way transmission • Two way transmission in
communication most cases
• Network Evolution • Data received is error free • Tolerant of noise and some
• Functions of Data Networks errors

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 Differences In Characteristics Differences In Characteristics
Between Data And Telephone (Voice) Between Data And Telephone (Voice)
Communication (Cont.) Communication (Cont.)

Data Communication Voice Communication Data Communication Voice Communication

• Little or no redundancy in • Much inherent redundant • Transmission has high peaks • Transmission rate relatively
information information Peak to average ratios as high constant
• Transmission usually in • Transmit or receive as 1,000.
bursts continuously until call is • Connection may be required • Duration of connection
disconnected for 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week usually limited to
• Data can be stored and • Not tolerant of transmission (eg., cash machine) several minutes
transmitted when convenient delays

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Lecture Outline
Differences In Characteristics
Between Data And Telephone (Voice) • Introduction
Communication (Cont.) • Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
Data Communication Voice Communication • Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• May require wide range of • Requires a fixed bandwidth
bandwidths-from thousands of about 4,000 Hz. • Differences between Data & Voice communication
to millions of Hz. • Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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Network Evolution …

Network Evolution Network Evolution (Cont.)

• In the past, networks tended to be designed specifically to
carry voice, video, or data signals.
• The design of voice, video, or data networks differed
because of fundamental differences between voice, video,
and data signals.
eg., voice is analog, data is digital in nature
• The telephone network was the first and is by far the largest
network supporting wired telephones, fax machines,
cellular phones, cordless phones, answering machines, and
modems (for data transmission over the phone network).
• The TV network uses a combination of coaxial cable,
satellite links, and electromagnetic propagation
through air to transmit video (including voice) signals.
• The data network uses a variety of transmission media,
including the voice and TV networks, to transmit data
in the form of digital signals.
• Today voice and video are becoming increasingly
digitized (digital phones, high resolution digital TV)
and are increasingly transmitted by data networks.

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 Network Evolution (Cont.)
• Ultimately all voice, video, and data will be digital
and will be transmitted by digital (data) networks.
• The reason is that it is far more cost effective to
build, operate and manage networks that use digital
rather than analog signals. (eg., if the telephone
network were built today, it would be an all digital
network).
• Future data networks will interconnect multimedia
devices capable of handling voice, video, and data.
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Network Evolution (Early Internet)
• In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, ARPA (Advanced
Research Projects Agency) started to test networks for
peer-to-peer computer communication and terminal
support on a national scale.
• By the mid 1980’s this network became available to the
universities and NSF (National Science Foundation)
started funding university connectivity.
• Early applications of these networks included electronic
mail, downloading large data sets (ftp) and remote access
to computers (telnet).
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Network Evolution
(Current Internet) (Cont.)
• Companies such as Compuserve and America On
Line began to provide a number of services using the
internet, including providing internet connectivity to
personal computers in people’s homes.
• Today, over 50 million workstations are connected to
the commodity Internet and usage continues to
increase, resulting in congestion at peak times of the
day over many parts of the network.
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Network Evolution (Pre-Internet)
• Computer networking started to evolve in the early
and mid 1960’s with the advent of timesharing.
• By 1970 timesharing machines supported networks
of local and remote terminals.
• These early networks supported timesharing and
remote batch processing.
• In the latter part of the 1970’s, computer to computer
network connections were used for loadsharing and
data interchange (e.g., early electronic funds
transfer).
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Network Evolution
(Current Internet)
• By the early 1990’s, there were several million
workstations connected to the Internet and use was
growing very rapidly.
• By the mid 1990’s, the internet was a proven
reliable technology and began to be
commercialized.
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Network Evolution (Internet 2)
• The increasing network congestion reduced the value
of the Internet for new applications such as web-
based distance education and low latency, high
bandwidth connection to and among supercomputers.
• These applications require support for QoS (Quality
of Service) not available on the current Internet.
– eg., bandwidth reservation
– low variance in latency to prevent jerkiness in video
transmission.
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 Lecture Outline

Network Evolution (Internet 2) • Introduction

(Cont.)
• Consequently, leading research institutions are
leading the development of Internet 2, a new high
bandwidth network strictly for universities to avoid
congestion due to commercial traffic and one that
supports QoS functions required by multimedia
and other applications.
• Building Blocks of a Computer Network
• What networks provide for Companies
• What networks provide for People
• Why is Networking important?
• Driving forces
• Differences between Data & Voice communication
• Network Evolution
• Functions of Data Networks

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Functions of Data Networks …

Functions of Data Networks Functions of Data Networks

(Cont.)
• In general, the vast majority of today’s networks are
store and forward networks in that stored data is • The store and forward concept makes it convenient
forwarded from its source to its destination in a series
for networks to be used for:
of hops when it is convenient to do so.
– Exchanging electronic mail
• While the store and forward technique has several
– Reading and posting to electronic bulletin boards
disadvantages (eg., it is difficult to transmit voice
– Accessing files and information anywhere in the
because the transmission delays are highly variable), it
network (eg., library and web services)
has the advantage that results in more affordable
– Accessing unique hardware and software resources
networks and it allows errors to be detected and
corrected through retransmission. – Sharing of information (workgroup collaboration)

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Networking Terminologies …

Functions of Data Networks Backbone

(Cont.)

• Such applications provide users with access to needed • The part of the network that acts as the primary
information and resources when they are needed from
path for traffic that is most often sourced from, and
wherever there is telephone or some other means of
network access. destined for, other networks.
• This is changing how we play, work, communicate, teach,
learn, and conduct business.
• They provide both new opportunities and new challenges.
• These challenges will slow the deployment of networks to a
rush from what would otherwise be a stampede.

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 Telecommunication
• Term referring to communication, usually
involving computer systems, over the telephone
network.
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Computing Terms
• Host - Computer (usually large system) connected
to a network.
• End Systems - End-user workstations on a
network.
• Workstation - A computing device used by a user to
perform his / her work. Some people use the word
to imply a device more powerful than a
conventional personal computer.
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Types of Networks
• Private - Networks for the private use of an
enterprise and its authorized users and no one else.
• Public - Networks that can be used by anyone. The
telephone network is a public network.
• Local Area Networks. - Networks confined to users
in a small geographical area. (eg., a building or a
campus).
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Transmission
• Transmission is the movement of data along a
communication link.
• Examples
– telephone system transmits your voice along a complex
set of communication lines and exchanges.
– automated teller machine transmits to your bank’s
computer your request to withdraw cash from your
checking account.
– A radio station transmits its programs which are
received by your radio receiver.
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Computing Terms (Cont.)
• Personal Computer - Self explanatory
• Mainframe - An older term used to describe a large,
reliable (and usually expensive) computer for
enterprise-wide computing.
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Types of Networks (Cont.)
• Wide Area Networks - Networks that serve users
across a wide geographical area often using
transmission lines provided by common carriers.
• Metropolitan Area Networks - Networks that serve
users across a metropolitan area.
• High Speed Networks - Today, that is about 100
Mbps or higher for LANs and 10 Mbps or higher
for WANs
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