Chapter 7

Computer Networks
Class – XII
Subject: Computer Science
What is a Network?
EVOLUTION OF NETWORKS
Origins of the Internet
 The Internet started as an experiment in the late
1960s by the Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA, now called DARPA). Following
are some key important milestones in Evolution of
Networks-
1. ARPANET
2. NSFNet
3. Internet
4. Interspace
 1. ARPANET

Advance Research Project Agency NETwork( ARPANET )

 It was the World’s first operational network - 1967.
 ARPANET was developed under U.S. Department Of Defence
(DOD ),
 it was developed to survive nuclear attack.
 ARPANET consisted of 4 main computers located at :
 University of California, Los Angeles.
 University of California, Santa Barbara.
 The Stanford Research Institute.
 University of Utah.
 2. NSFNet
 NSF - National Science Foundation.
 1980 – Started to make high capacity network for
Academic & Engineering Research.
 Network was named as NSFNet
 NSF connected its huge network of five
supercomputer Centres to ARPANET in 1986.
 1990 – Interworking of ARPANET, NSFnet &
other Private Network resulted into INTERNET.
3. INTERNET
 Internet is a huge worldwide interconnection of
networks.
 It is not owned by any single body. It is a shared
system.
 The Internet is a global network of billions of
computers and other electronic devices. With the
Internet, it's possible to access almost any
information, communicate with anyone else in the
world, and do much more.
4. Interspace
 The Interspace is a vision of what the Internet will
become. It is the future of Internet
 Interspace is a client/server software program
that allows multiple users to communicate online
with real-time audio, video and text chat in
dynamic 3D environments
 Switching Techniques
 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.
Classification Of Switching Techniques
 Circuit Switching
 Message Switching
 Packet Switching
Circuit Switching
 This technique establishes a dedicated path between sender and receiver.
 In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established then
the dedicated path will remain to exist until the connection is terminated.
 Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the telephone
works.
 A complete end-to-end path must exist before the communication takes
place.
Communication through circuit switching has 3 phases:
 Circuit establishment
 Data transfer
 Circuit Disconnect
Message Switching
 Message Switching is a switching technique in which a message is
transferred as a complete unit and routed through intermediate nodes at
which it is stored and forwarded.
 In Message Switching technique, there is no establishment of a dedicated
path between the sender and receiver.
 The destination address is appended to the message. Message Switching
provides a dynamic routing as the message is routed through the
intermediate nodes based on the information available in the message.
Packet Switching
 The packet switching is a switching technique in which the message is sent
in one go, but it is divided into smaller pieces, and they are sent individually.
 The message splits into smaller pieces known as PACKETS and packets
are given a unique number to identify their order at the receiving end.
 Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source
address, destination address and sequence number.
 Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as possible.
 All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
 If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message will be sent to
resend the message.
 If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment
message will be sent.
Data Communication
Terminologies
Types of Networks
Network Protocols
 Point - to - Point Protocol (PPP) - is a communication protocol of
the data link layer that is used to transmit multiprotocol data between
two directly connected (point-to-point) computers.