IS 171 - Introduction to

Computer Networks

Networking Fundamentals
Networking Fundamentals
1. Introduction
2. Network Classification
3. Intranet, Internet, Extranet
1. Introduction
• Computers – devices that process information
• Communication – exchange of information from one point/person to another
• Telecommunication – communication over a (long) distance via communication
media (see later)
• Network – collection of computers interconnected by some technology
• Merging of computers and communications  computer networks
• A computer network is a group of interconnected computers
• Previously: single computer served all of an organization’s computational needs
• Now: a large number of separate but interconnected computers do the job
1. Introduction
• A computer network
• Allows computers to communicate with each other and to share resources
and information
• First Network: The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) funded the
design of the "Advanced Research Projects Agency Network" (ARPANET) for
the United States Department of Defense
• Provides access to local and remote resources.
• Collection of interconnected end systems:
• Computing devices (mainframes, workstations, PCs, palm tops)
• Peripherals (printers, scanners, terminals)
1. Introduction
• Why network?
• Resource sharing
• Hardware: printers, disks, terminals, etc.
• Software: text processors, compilers, etc.
• Data
• Load balancing
• Processing and data can be distributed over the network
• Location independence
• Users can access their files, etc. from anywhere in the network
1. Introduction
• Problems
• Security
• It is much easier to protect centralized resources than when they are distributed
• Network itself as the target
1. Introduction
• History – before the Internet
• Postal network
• Delivers different types of objects (letters, packages, etc.) world-wide
• Relatively high delay but relatively cheap
• Sender and receiver identified by their postal address (name, number, street, city, etc.)
• Telephone network
• Engineered to deliver real-time voice
• Also world-wide
• Low delay but more expensive
• Users identified by telephone number
 1. Introduction
• Evolution of communication
networks
• About 30 years ago, a second Network
communications network was
created with the goal of
providing a better transport
mechanism for data
• In this class, we will study the Source Destination
technology underpinning data
networks Communication model
 1. Introduction
• A simplified communication model
• End systems (or hosts)
• Routers/switches/bridges
• Links (twisted pair, coaxial cable,
fiber, radio, etc.)
• Source - generates data to be transmitted
• Transmitter - Converts data into
transmittable signals
• Transmission System - Carries data
• Receiver - Converts received signal into
data
• Destination - Takes incoming data
2. Network Classification
• Networks can be classified based on:
• Size or geographical coverage: PANs, LANs, MANs, WANs
• Communication model: peer-to-peer, client/server, hybrid
• Connectivity/physical layout or transmission technology: Shared media
broadcast links, point-to-point links
• Computer networks services: connection-oriented, connectionless
2. Network Classification
• Network classification based on size
• PANs
• LANs
• MANs
• WANs
PANs – Personal Area Networks
• Allows devices to communicate over the
range of a person
• Personal devices network equipped at a
limited area interconnecting them for a
single user
• Example: a wireless network connecting a
computer with its peripherals: cell phone,
tablet, laptop
• Could also be wirelessly connected to the
Internet
PANs – Personal Area Networks
• Examples of PANs:
• Ad hoc network for laptop communication with laptops
• Communications between laptops with mobile phones using Bluetooth
• Advantages:
• Easy in network maintenance
• Easy to handle network problems
• Disadvantages:
• Limited network covers only a few devices
• Limitation on coverage area – can cover only several metres
LANs – Local Area Networks
• Privately-owned networks
• Operates within a small area – e.g. a building, school, office or factory
• Allows connection between computers and other devices (e.g.
printers) to allow sharing of resources
• When used by companies, they are called enterprise networks
• Wireless LANs – used in areas where installing cables is cumbersome
• E.g. in cafeterias, homes, older office buildings
• Computers talk to a device on a ceiling to communicate with other computers
• Device – access point (AP)/wireless router/base station
• Standard for wireless LANs – IEEE 802.11 - wifi
 LANs – Local Area Networks
• Most LANs use copper wires, some use fiber
cables
• Restricted in size – allows to determine
worst-case transmission time
• Typical speeds in LANs – 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps
• Low delay – microseconds or nanoseconds
• Few errors
• Newer LANs have speeds of up to 10 Gbps
• Most common type of wired LAN topology -
Ethernet
LANs – Local Area Networks
• Advantages
• Cover smaller distances, hence installation costs are lower compared to
larger networks
• Use the fastest technology, hence high speeds
• Resource sharing – reduces costs
• Central control of equipment and data
• Easy connection of equipment from different vendors
LANs – Local Area Networks
• Disadvantages
• Initial set-up costs are high (hardware equipment)
• Data security threat – centralized data repository can be access by an
unauthorized user – must be secured
• Covers limited area
• Requires a LAN administrator – full time
• Privacy violations – an administrator have access to all personal files
and internet use history
MANs – Metropolitan Area Networks
• LANs become difficult to install as computers get
further apart
• Additional communications equipment must be
installed
• MANs span the distance of a typical
metropolitan city or region
• Examples are cable television networks
• Also use fast networking components and
communication equipment – e.g. fiber optics
• The increase in distance and technology levels
increase installation and operation costs
 WANs – Wide Area Networks
• Spans a large geographical area –
country, continent
• Geographically-dispersed collection of
LANs
• Use long-distance telecommunication
networks for connections – high costs
• Use of routers to connect multiple
networks
• Typically use public or leased lines –
phone lines, satellites
• Example: the Internet
2. Network classification
• Networks can be classified based on:
• Size or geographical coverage: PANs, LANs, MANs, WANs
• Communication model: peer-to-peer, client/server, hybrid
• Structure or functional relationship (component roles)
• Connectivity/physical layout or transmission technology: Shared media
broadcast links, point-to-point links
Client/server model
• Definitions
• Client: A software entity that connects to servers and uses or consumes
service provided by them.
• Server: An instance of a particular service running on a single machine.
• Nodes and servers share data roles
• Nodes are called clients
• Servers are used to control access
• Server is the most important computer
• One device is used as a server – a provider of facilities/services (e.g. File sharing,
printer sharing, e-mail, databases) to other devices on a network (clients)
Client/server model
• Client: usually something like a PC used by an individual, and primarily initiates
conversations by sending requests.
• Server: usually a powerful machine dedicated to responding to client requests,
located in a server room somewhere that nobody but its administrator ever
sees.
Peer-to-peer model
• All end systems have equivalent capabilities and responsibilities
• Either party can initiate a communication session
• Participants are both resource providers and resource requestors and
use similar networking programs to connect with each other
• Participants share a part of their own hardware resources. E.g.,
storage capacity, link capacity, CPU power.
• Shared resources are necessary to provide the service or content
offered by the P2P network.
Peer-to-peer model
• The P2P model does not have the notion of clients or servers but only
equal peers
• For any communication session, they can be distinguished: requesting
peers as "clients" and responding peers as "servers“
2. Network classification
• Networks can be classified based on:
• Size or geographical coverage: PANs, LANs, MANs, WANs
• Communication model: peer-to-peer, client/server, hybrid
• Structure or functional relationship (component roles)
• Connectivity/physical layout or transmission technology: Shared media
broadcast links, point-to-point links
Transmission technology, connectivity and
physical layout
• Two types of transmission technologies
• Shared media broadcast links
• Switched point-to-point links
Shared media broadcast links
• A single communication ling is shared by all machines in a network
• A transmitted message can be received and processed by every
machine in the network – broadcasting
• An address field in the message identifies the recipient of the
message
• A host checks at the address field in the message; if it matches its
address, it keeps the message, otherwise ignores it
• Two popular broadcast topologies: Bus, Ring
Shared media broadcast links
• Bus topology
• Also called linear bus
• One wire connects all nodes
• Terminator ends the wires
• Advantages
• Easy to set up
• Small amount of wire
• Disadvantages
• Slow
• Easy to crash
Shared media broadcast links
• Ring topology
• Nodes connected in a circle
• Tokens used to transmit data (nodes
must wait for the token to transmit
message)
• Advantages
• Time to send data is known
• No data collision
• Disadvantages
• Slow
• More wire
Switched point-to-point links
• Consist of many connections between individual pairs of nodes
• Information travels over several nodes from source to destination
• Multiple routes of different lengths are possible between source and
destination
• Essential to find a good route
• Internet is an example of a point-to-point network
• Advantage – scalability – many subnets with smaller collection of machine
• Disadvantage – requirement of lots of transmission lines and switching
devices (switches, routers) – costly
• Examples: star, mesh, tree
Switched point-to-point links
• Star topology
• Most common topology
• All nodes connect to a hub
• Hub sends message to destination
• Advantage
• Easy to set-up
• A failure in a link can not crash the network
• Disadvantage
• One hub crashing affects the entire network
• Uses more cable
Switched point-to-point links
• Mesh topology
• All computers connected together
• Example is the Internet
• Advantages
• Guarantee of data delivery
• Many possible routes to destination
• Disadvantages
• Lost of cables
• Difficult to set up
Switched point-to-point links
• Tree topology
• Hierarchical model

• Advantages
• Scalable
• Easy implantation
• Easy troubleshooting
Internet, Intranet, Extranet
• The network formed by the cooperative interconnection of a large number of
computer networks
• Network of networks
• No one owns the Internet
• Every person who makes a connection owns a slice of the Internet
• There is no central administration of the Internet
• A community of people: who use and develop the network
• A collection of resources: that can be reached from those networks
• A setup to facilitate collaboration: among the members of the research and
education communities world wide
• The connected networks use TCP/IP protocols
Internet, Intranet, Extranet
• A private TCP/IP internetwork within an organization that uses Internet
technologies such as Web servers and Web browsers for sharing
information and collaborating.
• Can be used to publish company policies and newsletters, provide sales
and marketing staff with product information, provide technical support
and tutorials
• Designed to permit users who have access privileges to the internal LAN of
the organization
Internet, Intranet, Extranet
• Refer to applications and services that are Intranet based, and use
extended, secure access to external users or enterprises
• Access usually accomplished through passwords, user IDs, and other
application level security
• An extranet is the extension of two or more intranet strategies with a
secure interaction between participant enterprises and their
respective intranets
• Powerful tool because they let businesses share resources on their
own private networks over the Internet with suppliers, vendors,
business partners, or customers
Tutorial Work
• Attempt the questions in the “Introducing Basic Network Concepts”
handout
• Key terms questions: 1-10
• Multiple choice questions: 1-15