1.2.1.

Networks
 Students should be able to:
● explain the client-server model of networked computers
● give examples of applications which use the client-server model
● describe what is meant by the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet
● explain how hardware is used to support the Internet: networks, routers, gateways, servers
● explain how communication systems are used to support the Internet: The Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN), dedicated lines, cell phone network
● explain the benefits and drawbacks of using copper cable, fibre-optic cabling, radio waves,
microwaves, satellites
● show understanding of bit streaming (both real-time and on-demand)
● show understanding of the importance of bit rates/broadband speed on bit streaming
 Computer Network
✘ A computer network is a group of computer systems and other computing
hardware devices that are linked together through communication channels
to facilitate communication and resource- sharing among a wide range of
users. Networks are commonly categorized based on their characteristics.
✘ Networks are used to:
1. Facilitate communication via email, video conferencing, instant messaging,etc.
2. Enable multiple users to share a single hardware device like a printer or scanner.
3. Enable file sharing across the network
4. Allow for the sharing of software or operating programs on remote systems
5. Make information easier to access and maintain among network users
 The history of computing started off with centralized computers (in many cases
mainframes) or servers performing all the calculations. Client computers were then
attached to these centralised computers (servers) and if you wanted to calculate
something, you would have to wait for the central computer to respond. As computing
power got cheaper, client nodes became more powerful and the central computer less
important. However, with the growth of the internet, there has been a shift back to a
client server model. Powerful central computers store information such as emails,
documents, music and videos or offer services such as file hosting, printing, game
hosting and internet access; client computers fetch information and use services from
these central servers. In the next few years you are likely to see more and more software
moving away from running on your desktop to running on remote servers and you
accessing it as a client, this is called software as a service.
 1.

Client-Server Model
A distribution application that partitions the workload between servers
and clients.
 Client server model
✘ The client–server model of computing is a distributed application structure that
partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called
servers, and service requesters, called clients.
✘ The client-server model is a distributed communication framework of network
processes among service requesters, clients and service providers. The client-
server connection is established through a network or the Internet.
✘ Clients include Web browsers, chat applications, and email software, among
others. Servers include Web, database, application, chat and email, etc.
 examples
As an example of modern client server model consider a video sharing website. The website, let's call it
youtube, has a server that stores all the videos that are uploaded to the site. The website is used by millions of
clients a day and each of them connects to the server to watch videos. When a client connects to youtube, the
server and asks for a particular video, the server loads the video into RAM from a large array of hard disks and
youtube sends the video to the client. The client on receiving the video presses play and watches the video.
Other examples of servers might be a shared printing service in a college. The print server will be hosted on a
single computer, and when anyone in the building wants to print, the request is sent to the server. In this case
the server will keep track of how much printing credit each user has and make sure that the print queue is dealt
with properly.
 advantages
✘ Centralization : There is a centralized control where servers help in administering the whole
set-up. Access rights and resource allocation is done by Servers.
✘ Proper Management : All the files are stored at the same place. In this way, management of
files becomes easy. Also it becomes easier to find files.
✘ Backup and Recovery : As all the data is stored on server it’s easy to make a backup of it.
Also, in case of some break-down if data is lost, it can be recovered easily and efficiently.
While in peer computing we have to take back-up at every workstation.
✘ Upgradation and Scalability : Changes can be made easily by just upgrading the server.
Also new resources and systems can be added by making necessary changes in server.
✘ Accessibility : From various platforms in the network, server can be accessed remotely.
✘ Security : Rules defining security and access rights can be defined at the time of set-up of
server.
 Drwabacks
✘ Congestion in Network :Too many requests from the clients may lead to
congestion in the network. When there are frequent simultaneous client requests,
servers severely get overloaded, forming traffic congestion. Overload can lead to
breaking-down of servers.
✘ Central Dependency: Client-Server architecture is so robust and if the server
fails, the whole network goes down. Failure of the server collapses the entire
network. Also, if you are downloading a file from server and it gets abandoned
due to some error, download stops altogether.
✘ Cost : It is very expensive to install and manage this type of computing.
✘ Professional IT people: To maintain the servers and other technical details of
network.
 Applications Using Client Server Model
✘ Application Servers
✘ Audio/Video Servers
✘ Chat Servers
✘ Fax Servers
✘ FTP Servers
✘ Mail Servers
✘ News Servers
✘ Web Servers
✘ Email
✘ Network Printing
✘ World Wide Web
✘ Browsing the web
✘ File Transferring
 2.

World Wide Web

A way of accessing
information over the medium of the Internet.
 WWW
✘ The World Wide Web (www, W3) is an information space where documents and other web
resources are identified by URIs, interlinked by hypertext links, and can be accessed via the
Internet. It has become known simply as the Web.
✘ WWW is an information system on the Internet which allows documents to be connected to
other documents by hypertext links, enabling the user to search for information by moving
from one document to another.
✘ The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of
the Internet.
✘ It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet which the HTTP
protocol, only one of the languages spoken over the Internet, to transmit data.
✘ The Web also utilizes browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, to access Web
documents called Web pages that are linked to each other via hyperlinks. Web documents
also contain graphics, sounds, text and video.
 Internet
✘ The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet
protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link billions of devices worldwide.
✘ It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business,
and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic,
wireless, and optical networking technologies.
✘ The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the
inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW),
electronic mail, telephony, and peer-to-peer networks for file sharing.
✘ The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure which connects
millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can
communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet.
✘ Information that travels over the Internet does so via a variety of languages known as
protocols.
 3.

Supporting The Web

In order to support the existence of the Internet, a dedicated hardware scheme
must be present.
 Supporting the web

There are quite many types of hardware such as:

✘ Servers
✘ Gateways
✘ Routers
✘ Networks
 Network device server
✘ A network server is a computer system, which is used as the central repository of
data and various programs that are shared by users in a network.
✘ The purpose of a server is to share data or hardware and software resources among
clients.
✘ File server: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing files. Any user on
the network can store files on the server.
✘ Print server: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server
is a computer that manages network traffic.
✘ Database server: a computer system that processes database queries.
 Network device router
✘ Routers are small electronic devices that join multiple computer networks together
via either wired or wireless connections which forwards data packets along
networks.
✘ Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. A data packet is
typically forwarded from one router to another through the networks that
constitute the internetwork until it reaches its destination node
 Network device gateways
✘ A gateway is a hardware device that acts as a "gate" between two networks. It
may is a device that enables traffic to flow in and out of the network.
✘ A gateway connects two different network protocols together which may be LANs
and WANs to two different LANs.
✘ A gateway combines the functionalities of routers and bridges and is a bit slow in
processing as it converts the entire protocol of one network to other.
 4.

Communication System To
Support The Internet
 Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN)
✘ The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the aggregate of the world's
circuit-switched telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or
local telephony operators, providing infrastructure and services for public
telecommunication.
✘ PSTN is based on the principle of circuit switching. Thus when a call is made, a
particular dedicated circuit activates which eventually deactivates when the call
ends.
 Dedicated Lines
✘ In computer networks and telecommunications, a dedicated line is a
communications cable or other facility dedicated to a specific application, in
contrast with a shared resource such as the telephone network or the Internet.
✘ A dedicated line is a tele-communications path between two points that is
available 24 hours a day for use by a designated user (individual or company). It
is not shared in common among multiple users as dial-up lines are. A dedicated
line can be a physical path owned by the user or rented from a telephone
company, in which case it is called a leased line.
 Cell Phone Network
✘ A cellular network or mobile network is a wireless network distributed over land
areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver, known as
a cell site or base station.
✘ These cells together provide radio coverage over larger geographical areas. User
equipment (UE), such as mobile phones, is therefore able to communicate even if
the equipment is moving through cells during transmission.
 5.

Transmission Media
 Transmission Media

✘ Transmission media are the logical (wireless) or physical (wired) pathways for
transfer of data and signals over a network.
✘ Transmission media carries electrical or electromagnetic signals and makes
communication between the sender and the receiver feasible.
 Copper Cable

✘ The copper cable includes Unshielded Twisted- Pair (UTP), Shielded Twisted-
Pair (STP), and Coaxial Cable
✘ Copper-based cables are inexpensive and easy to work with compared to fiber-
optic cables, but a major disadvantage of cable is that it offers a rather limited
spectrum that cannot handle the advanced applications of the future, such as
virtual reality.
 Advantages and disadvantages copper cable
Disadvantages
Advantages
1. Copper wire has a shorter life
1. Inexpensive and suitable for digital data
expectancy than fiber optic cable as it is
transmission
susceptible to corrosion (oxidation).
2. Easier for clamping connectors and
2. Copper is susceptible to a great degree
flexible for wiring purpose.
of electrical interference, leading to a
3. Long distance telephone transmission;
less clear signal than fiber optics.
signals can travel several kilometers
3. Easily pick up noise signals which
without amplification.
results in higher error rates.
4. Comparatively less electromagnetic
4. More expensive to install compare to
interference (Coaxial Cable)
other cable.
5. Best suitable for Local Area Networks
 Fibre-optic cable

✘ Optical fibers are hair-thin threads of a glass or plastic surrounded by several

layers of protective materials
✘ It transmits light rather than electronic signals because light travels much faster
than electricity, optical fibers can transmit data at much higher speed than twisted
pair cables and coaxial cables.
✘ Optical fibers are made of plastic, glass or silica.
 Advantages and disadvantages optical fibre cable
Advantages
1. Large Bandwidth: They can carry more data at
very high speeds and to long distances.
2. Low loss: Optical fibers have lower attenuation
and thus there is no significant loss of data over
long distances.
3. Security: Provides security against
unauthorized tampering of information, since it
is difficult to tap optical signals.
4. Optical fiber transmissions are not affected by
electrical and magnetic interferences.
5. Copper cables can carry data as well as power
but optical fiber cables carry only data.
Disadvantages
1. Installation costs, while dropping, are still
high and special test equipment is often
required.
2. Optical fibers are fragile and cannot be bent
and are susceptible to physical damage.
3. Fiber splicing(merging) is a complicated
procedure and requires skilled manpower
to achieve. If it is not done properly, there
will be performance degradation.
4. Optical fibers are smaller in size and lighter
in weight than coaxial or twisted pair
cables.
 Radio Waves

✘ Wireless transmission medium through which data signals travel using radio
frequencies.
✘ Unlike microwaves, radio waves can bend around the curvature of the earth and
hence can travel long distance.
✘ They don’t require LOS (line of sight) communication.
 Advantages and disadvantages Radio waves
Advantages
1. Can travel around the Earth and covers
larger geographical areas
2. Can carry a message instantly over a wide
area.
3. Aerials to receive them are simpler than for
microwaves.
Disadvantages
1. Radio waves cannot transmit a lot of data
simultaneously because they're low
frequency.
2. The data transfer rate is slower compared to
wired media
3. The quality of data transmission is very
poor.
4. Continued exposure to large amounts of
radio waves may cause health disorders
(leukemia and cancer).
 Microwaves
✘ Uses high frequency radio signals to transmit data through space.
✘ Line of sight communication is required.
✘ Line of sight communication means that there must be an unblocked direct line
between the workstation and the transceiver.
✘ It is mainly used for short distance transmission.
✘ Repeaters are used at regular intervals of about 25 to 30 kms in between the
transmitting and receiving station.
✘ Data transmission rate is about 16 Gigabits per second.
 Advantages and disadvantages microwaves
Advantages
1. They can be modified to carry many signals
at one time, including data, television
pictures and voice messages.
2. They travel at a very high frequency and
thus they travel at a higher speed and need a
small infrastructure to transmit data.
3. They are more reliable as they require less
maintenance compared to other wireless
mediums.
Disadvantages
1. Absorbed very easily by natural, e.g. rain,
and made objects, e.g. concrete. They are
also absorbed by living tissue causing harm
to them.
2. Travel in a straight line, so repeater stations
may be needed and blockades in Line of
Sight may degrade the signal strength.
3. Receiving signals that has been transmitted
is difficult as they travel so quickly and
carry a lot of information.
 Satellites
✘ It is much like the line of sight microwave transmission in which one of the stations is a
satellite orbiting the earth.
✘ The principle is the same as the microwave system, with a satellite acting as a supertall
antenna and repeater.
✘ Satellite communication can provide transmission capability to and from any location on
earth, no matter how remote. There is no limitation imposed on distance.
✘ The satellites are basically positioned 36,000 km above equator with an orbit speed that
exactly matches the earth’s rotation speed.
✘ The process of transferring data to the satellite is called uplink and the process of obtaining
data from the satellite is called downlink.
✘ The data transfer rate of uplink is usually lower than that of the downlink.
 Advantages and disadvantages satellites

Advantages
1. It covers all geographic area of the earth
2. It has higher bandwidth than radio or
microwave transmission
3. Provision of service to remote or
underdeveloped areas
Disadvantages
1. It is very expensive for installation and for
maintenance
2. It suffers from propagation delay.
3. Congestion of frequencies around the orbit
 Comparison
Criteria Wire cable Fiber optics Radio waves Microwaves Satellites

Works by Using Using Uses radio Uses Reflects

analogue modulated waves to microwaves back waves
signals to light to transmit data to transmit from a NOC
transmit data transmit data data to a receiver

Speed Slow Very fast Fast Fast Fast

Benefit Existing Does not get Travels for Especially uses Very
Infrastructure can interfered by very long for mobiles and delocalized
easily EMR’s and is a distances wifi and has a
accommodate this very fast very wide
technology Data loss is range
low

Drawbacks Slow and Very Low Low Large

unreliable expensive penetration penetration investment
power power cost
 6.

Bit Streaming
 Bit streaming
✘ A bit stream is a contiguous sequence of bits, representing a stream of data,
transmitted continuously over a communications path, serially (one at a time).
✘ Any information/data that is delivered from a server to a host where the data
represents information that must be delivered; could be video, audio, graphics,
slide shows, web tours, combinations of these, or any other application
 Bit streaming: real time
✘ Real time streaming is the broadcast of an event in real time over the Internet.
✘ Real time streaming is the only technology that is capable of transmitting video
and audio events across the Internet in real time, i.e. while they are happening.
 Bit streaming: on demand
✘ On-demand streaming is the playback of an archived file that is accessed via a
link embedded on a Web page.
✘ With on-demand streaming, a website visitor can access a streaming file at any
time.
 7.

Importance of bit rates/broadband

speed on bit
 bit rates
✘ The amount of information sent will depend on the rate of sending of information.
✘ More the bit rate, more will be the speed and amount of streaming
✘ The standard unit of bit rate is “bits per second” (bps).
 Broadband speed
✘ The amount of possible bits you can download at any given time, hence this
affects bit streaming.
✘ The more broadband speed the more will be the streaming speed and amount as
well.
✘ Connection speed to the Internet
 thanks!
Any questions?