LANS

• LANs are high-speed, low-error data

networks that cover a relatively small
geographic area
• Connect workstations, peripherals,
terminals, and other devices in a single
building or other geographically limited areas
 Topology
• Defines the structure of the network
– Physical topology - is the actual layout of
the wire
– Logical topology - how the media is
accessed by the hosts
 Physical Topologies
• Bus - single backbone segment (length
of cable) that all the hosts connect to
directly
• Ring - connects one host to the next
and the last host to the first
• Star - connects all cables to a central
point of concentration
 Physical Topologies
• Extended star - uses the star topology to be
created, links individual stars together by
linking the hubs/switches, extend the length
and size of the network
• Hierarchical - system is linked to a computer
that controls the traffic on the topology
• Mesh - used when there can be absolutely
no break in communications, each host has
its own connections to all other hosts
 Logical Topology
• Logical topology of a network is how the
hosts communicate across the medium
– Broadcast topology - each host sends its data to
all other hosts on the network medium, first come
- first serve, Ethernet
– Token-passing - network access controlled by
passing an electronic token sequentially to each
host – no token, no transmission
Physical Topologies
 LAN Devices
• Devices that connect directly to a network segment
are referred to as hosts
– Computers, both clients and servers, printers,
scanner
• Host devices are not part of any layer
• They operate at all 7 layers of the OSI model
• The perform entire process of encapsulation and
decapsulation
 NICs
• Network interface card, works at
layer two, the data link layer
• Printed circuit board that fits into the
expansion slot of a bus on a
computer’s motherboard or peripheral
device (PCI, ISA, PCMCIA, etc.)
 NICs
• Each individual NIC throughout the
world carries a unique code, called a
media access control (MAC) address
• AUI (attachment unit interface)
connectors uses a transceivers
(transmitter/receiver)
Media
• Basic functions of
media are to carry a
flow of information, in
the form of bits and
bytes, through a LAN
• Media are considered
layer 1 components of
LANs
 Media
• Can build computer networks with many
different media types
• Each media has advantages and
disadvantages
• Some of the advantages and disadvantages
are: 
– Cable length
– Cost
– Ease of installation
• This course concentrates on cat 5 UTP
 Repeater
• The purpose of a repeater is regenerate and
retime network signals at the bit level to
allow them to travel a longer distance on the
media
• Four repeater rule for 10mbps Ethernet, also
know as the 5-4-3 rule
• Repeaters are classified as layer 1 devices
in the OSI model, because they act only on
the bit level and look at no other information
 Hubs
• Purpose of a hub is to regenerate and
retime network signals
• A hub is also known as a multi-port
repeater
• Two reasons for using hubs:
– To create a central connection point for
the wiring media
– Increase the reliability of the network
 Hubs
• Hubs are considered layer 1 devices
because they only regenerate the
signal and broadcast it out all of their
ports (network connections)
• Hub classifications
– Active - take energy from a power supply
to regenerate network signals
– Passive - split the signal for multiple users
(do not extend the cable length)
 Hubs
• Classifications continued
– Intelligent hubs - can be programmed to
manage network traffic
– Dumb hubs - repeat a networking signal to
every port without the ability to do any
management
 Bridge
• Bridge is a layer 2 device designed to connect two
LAN segments
• Purpose of a bridge is to filter traffic on a LAN, to
keep local traffic local, yet allow connectivity to other
parts (segments) of the LAN for traffic that has been
directed there
• Networking device has a unique MAC address on
the NIC, the bridge keeps track of which MAC
addresses are on each side of the bridge and
makes its decisions based on this MAC address list
 Switch
• Switch is a layer 2 device
• Difference between the hub and switch
is that switches make decisions based
on MAC addresses and hubs don't
make decisions at all
• Purpose of a switch is to concentrate
connectivity, while making data
transmission more efficient
 Routers
• Router is the first device that you will work
with that is at the OSI network layer, or
otherwise known as layer 3
• Routers make decisions based on groups of
network addresses (classes) as opposed to
individual layer 2 MAC addresses
• Because of their ability to route packets
based on layer 3 information, routers have
become the backbone of the internet,
running the IP protocol
 Routers
• Purpose of a router is to examine
incoming packets (layer 3 data),
choose the best path for them through
the network, and then switch them to
the proper outgoing port
• Two primary purposes path selection,
and switching of packets to the best
route
 Clouds
• Cloud symbol suggests another network,
perhaps the entire internet
• Reminds us that there is a way to connect to
that other network (the internet), but does
not supply all the details of either the
connection or the network
• Purpose of the cloud is to represent a large
group of details that are not pertinent to a
situation, or description, at a given time
 Network Segments
• Segment has many meanings in networking
and the correct definition depends upon the
situation in which it is used
– The layer 1 media that is the common path for
data transmission in a LAN
– Segment are collision domains
– Describes a layer 4 PDU (protocol data unit).
• Each time an electronic device is used to
extend the length or manage data on the
media a new segment is created
 Encapsulation of Packets
• For reliable communications to take
place over a network, data to be sent
must be put in manageable traceable
packages
• The top three layers, application,
presentation, session, prepare the data
for transmission by creating a common
format for transmission
 Transport Layer Encapsulation
• Breaks up the data into manageable
size units called segments
• Assigns sequence numbers to the
segments to make sure the receiving
host puts the data back together in the
proper order
 Network Layer Encapsulation
• Then encapsulates the segment
creating a packet
• Adds a destination and source network
address, usually IP to the packet
 Data Link Encapsulation
• Encapsulates the packet and creates a
frame
• Adds the source and destination local
(MAC) address to the frame
• Then transmits the binary bits of the
frame over the physical layer media
 Encapsulation
• When data is transmitted on just a local area
network, we talk about the data units as
frames, because the MAC address is all that
is necessary to get from source to
destination host
• If we need to send the data to another host
over an intranet or the internet, packets
become the data unit that is referred to
because the network address in the packet
contains the final destination address of the
host the data (packet) is being sent to
 Encapsulation
• Bottom three layers (network, data link,
physical) of the OSI model are the primary
movers of data across an intranet or internet
• Gateway
– A device designed to convert the data from one
format, created by the application, presentation,
and session layers, to another
– Uses all seven of the OSI layers to do this
 Layer 1 Devices
• Bits simply travel through the passive
devices (plugs, connectors, jacks,
patch panels, physical media)
• In active devices bits are actually
regenerated and retimed (hubs,
repeaters)
 Layer 2 Devices
• NICs, bridges, and switches involve the
use of data-link (MAC) address
information to direct frames, which
means they are referred to as layer 2
devices
– NICs are where the unique MAC address
resides
– MAC address is used to create the frame
 Layer 3 Devices
• Packet flow through routers (i.E. Selection
of best path and actual switching to the
proper output port) involves the use of layer
3 network addresses
• Proper port has been selected, the router
encapsulates the packet in a frame again to
send the packet to its next destination
 Packet Flow
• Some devices (e.G. Your PC) are layer 1-7 devices.
In other words, they perform processes that can be
associated with every layer of the OSI model
• Encapsulation and decapsulation are two examples
of this
• A gateway (essentially a computer which converts
information from one protocol to another) is also a
layer 7 device
• Clouds may contain several kinds of media, NICs,
switches, bridges, routers, gateways and other
networking devices