Computer science computer networks

Paper: CS6T2 : COMPUTER NETWORKS

PROGRAMME:BSC
SUBJECT: COMPUTER SCIENCE
SEMESTER: 6th SEM
SESSION:37

Text book reference:

Douglas E Comer and M.S.Narayana, “Computer Networks and Internets”, 5th edition,
Pearson Education, 2013
Computer science computer networks

Network Characteristics:
Network ownership, Network performance characteristics, Jitter.

Network Ownership

Private Networks
Companies and individuals can own a private network
Many small and large companies have private LAN's.
Many large companies have private WAN's.
Private WAN's use leased lines from common carriers for long-haul point-to-point links
because there are many restrictions on where a private company can string wires.

Advantage: It is relatively easy for the owners of a private network to maintain tight control
over its design, traffic, hardware, software, and security.
Disadvantage: a private network can be very expensive to create, manage, and maintain --
especially a private WAN.

Public Networks
A so-called public network is a network owned by a common carrier that allows any member
of the public to connect for a fee. Public networks are typically always WAN's because there
is not much incentive to subscribe to a LAN. Users want to be able to communicate with as
many other users as possible. The "public" in public network does not imply that there can be
no privacy of communication.

Advantages: Flexibility -- a subscriber can communicate with any other subscriber;

Cost -- expenses are shared among many users and the common carrier is responsible for
most of the expert management and maintenance.
Disadvantage: the lack of control enjoyed by owners of a private network

Virtual Private Networks The concept of a virtual private network (VPN) is to implement a
private network using the facilities of a public network in much the same way that one data
structure can be used to implement another data structure. Each private LAN connecting to
the public part of the network is equipped with a special edge router (packet switch) that
rejects all incoming or outgoing packets that do not belong to the VPN.

Network Performance Characteristics

Delay
Delay in a network refers to the time it takes for a signal to move through a part of the
network. Delay is measured in seconds or fractions of a second.
Propagation delay
Is the time it takes for a signal to move from one end of a communication line to the other.
(Example: the time for a packet to travel from one end of a T1 line to the other)
Switching delay
Is the amount of delay experienced by a packet as it moves through a bridge, switch, router,
or similar component.
Computer science computer networks

Access delay
Wait time for network media to become available (e.g. token ring or Ethernet) is called
Access delay.
Queuing delay
Is time packets wait in queues - for example on packet switches this delay is in addition to
switching delay.

Throughput
If we think of a network link as being like a pipe with bits flowing through it, then the
throughput is the number of bits per second emerging out the end of the pipe.
Effective throughput is the amount of useful data (payload) emerging from the pipe in bits
per second. Headers and check sums don't count as useful.
Throughput is measured in bits per second.

Jitter The jitter in a network is the variance in delay