Chapter 1

Overview of Computer
Netwotk

1.1
 Data communication

1.2
 1-1 NETWORKS

A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes)

connected by communication links.

A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device

capable of sending and/or receiving data generated by
other nodes on the network.

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 Figure 1.3 Types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint

1.4
 1-1 NETWORK TOPOPOGY

Network topology is the arrangement of the various

elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a communication
network.[

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 Figure 1.4 Categories of topology

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 Figure 1.5 A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)

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 Figure 1.6 A star topology connecting four stations

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 Figure 1.7 A bus topology connecting three stations

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 Figure 1.8 A ring topology connecting six stations

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 Figure 1.9 A hybrid topology: a star backbone with three bus networks

1.11
1-1 NETWORK CATEGORIES

Based on the scale of networks: Two most popular type of

networks are:
Local Area Network (LAN)
Wide Area Network (WAN)

Based on the connection media: Two most popular type

of networks are:
Wire network
Wireless network

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 Note

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network

that interconnects computers within a limited area
such as a residence, school, laboratory, university
campus or office building.

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 Figure 1.10 An isolated LAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

1.14
 Note

A wide area network (WAN) is a

telecommunications network or computer network
that extends over a large geographical distance.
Wide area networks are often established with
leased telecommunication circuits.

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 Figure 1.11 WANs: a switched WAN and a point-to-point WAN

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 Figure 1.12 A heterogeneous network made of four WANs and two LANs

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 Note

A wireless network is a computer network that uses

wireless data connections between network nodes..

1.18
 Figure 1.12 An access point connect various devices to the network

1.19
 1-3 THE INTERNET

The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily

lives. It has affected the way we do business as well as the
way we spend our leisure time.

The Internet is a communication system that has brought

a wealth of information to our fingertips and organized it
for our use.

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 Note

The Internet is the global system of interconnected

computer networks that use the Internet protocol
suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide.

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 Figure 1.13 Hierarchical organization of the Internet

1.22
1-4 NETWORK DEVICES

Computer networking devices are units that transfer data

in a computer network and are also called network
equipment.

Units which are the last receiver or generate data are

called hosts or data terminal equipment.

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 POPULAR NETWORK DEVICES
Popular network devices includes:

1. NIC
2. Repeater
3. Hub
4. Bridge
5. Switch
6. Router
7. Modem
8. Gateway

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 Figure 1.: NIC card connect computers to the network

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 Figure 1. Hubs connect computers together in a star
topology network.

1.26
 Figure 1. A repeater is an electronic device that
receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher
level and/or higher power, or onto the other side
of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover
longer distances without degradation.

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 Figure 1. Bridges have intelligence and can "bridge" two
of their ports together at very high speed. They use a
database of MAC addresses to determine where computers
are located and very efficiently send frames only where
they need to go.

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Figure 1. Switches provide a central connection between two or
more computers on a network, but with some intelligence.
They provide traffic control for packets; rather than forwarding
data to all the connected ports, a switch forwards data only
to the port on which the destination system is connected..

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 Figure 1. Routers operate at the network layer of the
OSI model and efficiently route
information between Local Area Networks.

1.30
 Figure 1. A modem (modulator–demodulator) is a network
Hardware device that modulates one or more carrier wave
signals to encode digital information for transmission and
demodulates signals to decode the transmitted information.
The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted
easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data.

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