(9.

1)
Computer Networks
 Fundamental terminology
 Network standards organizations
 Standard network hardware examples
– ethernet
– token ring
– ATM
 Future issues
 Protocols
 OSI layers and internetworking
– bridging and routing
 Web-based commerce
 (9.2)
Computer Networks
 Networks are simply a set of computers connected
by a communication medium, communicating by
established conventions
– typically bursty transmission characteristics
 Network goals
– resource sharing
» expensive equipment
» large, reliable data storage
– high reliability
» replication of services
» although network may be single point of failure
– lower overall system costs with better performance
» a few shared high-end machines, many individual
low-end machines
 (9.3)
Computer Networks (continued)
 Network categories
– local area networks (LAN)
» typically single transmission
– wide area networks (WAN)
» typically store and forward
– interconnected networks (internets)
 (9.4)
Fundamental Terminology
 Circuit switched / packet switched
– circuit switched = telephone
» connection route established at start of
communication, maintained as long as
communication continues
» route is dedicated to one communication
– packet switched
» whole communication is broken down into smaller
chunks called packets
» each packet may take a different route to the
destination
» routes may be shared by other communications
 (9.5)
Fundamental Terminology (continued)
 Another categorization of packet switched networks
is
– virtual circuit
» packets all take same route, set up in advance
– datagram
» each packet routed independently, no connection
established
» typically more robust
 (9.6)
Fundamental Terminology (continued)
 Packets typically consist of
– header
» source and destination addresses
» sequence number
– data portion
– trailer
» error detecting and correcting information
 Packets may be fixed or variable length

head data tail

 (9.7)
Network Standards Organizations
 International Standards Organization (ISO)
– makes standards for many different activities
 American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
– US representative to ISO
 CCITT
– one part of the UN agency International
Telecommunications Union
– concerned with telephone and data communication
services
– US representative is the State Department
 (9.8)
Network Standards Organizations (cont.)
 National Instituted of Standards and Technology
(NIST)
– standards body for US government purchases
 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE)
– key standards for LANs
 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
 (9.9)
Local Area Network Standards
 Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)
– Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detect
(CSMA/CD)
» listen to cable, no one transmitting go ahead
» if collide, delay random time and retransmit
– multiple topologies
– multiple media
» coaxial cable (thick or thin)
» twisted pair wire (10BaseT)
– minimum packet size 64 bytes
» heavy overhead for one byte of data
– fast ethernet technologies allow 100 Mbps on twisted
pair
» 1000 Mbps now available on optical fiber
 (9.10)
Local Area Network Standards (continued)
 Token ring (IEEE 802.5)
– token determines which host gets to transmit
» special bit pattern used for token
» when station wants to transmit
• watch network for token
• take token off ring and transmit packet
• drain packet as it comes around again
• put token back on ring when done
– single topology
– one node monitors ring to regenerate token if
necessary
 (9.11)
Local Area Network Standards (continued)
 Ethernet
– faster access if light load
– degrades rapidly as load increases
» > 60% utilization is a problem
– no guaranteed access
» host can “starve”
– most popular LAN technology
 (9.12)
Local Area Network Standards (continued)
 Token ring
– minimum delay to transmit, since have to wait for
token
– delivers much better performance under heavy load
» can reach close to 100% utilization
– fair
» host can hold token for 10 msec, then must put back
on network
» each host gets token at least every 10 * number of
hosts msec
– “sick” monitor station can cause problems
 (9.13)
Frame Relay and ATM
 Frame Relay
– virtual circuit organization
– uses leased or private lines
» vc set up at time subscribers are connected to the
network
– “light” protocol
» no error checking by network, just delivery
mechanism
– 64 Kbps to 45 Mbps
 (9.14)
ATM
 Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
– being standardized by CCITT
– switched, virtual circuit approach
– allows reserving network capacity
– uses fixed size packets
» easier for hardware to handle
– twisted pair or fiber medium
» 100 m to few km
– 155 Mbps to 2400 Mbps
– also used for LAN interconnect as backbone
 (9.15)
Future Issues
 Mobility
– mobility within an office complex is possible now
» wireless LANs at 10 Mbps
» low power radio connecting to wired communication
– problem with computing outside the office
– several factors force mobile computing outside office
» cellular phone popularity
» centrality of computing
» reliance on networking and communication
– problems are
» creating enough bandwidth
• possibly need multiple channels
» not enough spectrum
• current transmission / broadcast activities may
swap
 (9.16)
Network Protocols
 A protocol is a set of conventions for
communicating
 Concerned with issues such as
– addressing and routing
– error detection and correction
– flow control and congestion control
– higher level coordination depending on the purpose
of the communication
 International Standards Organization Open
Systems Interconnection model (ISO OSI)
– 7 layers of protocols
– defined interfaces between each layer
– lower layers typically implemented in hardware,
upper in software
 (9.17)
Network Protocols (continued)
 (9.18)
Network Protocols (continued)
 ISO layers
– application - detailed information about data being
exchanged
– presentation - conventions for representing data
– session - management of connections between
programs
– transport - delivery (reliable or otherwise) of
sequences of packets
– network - format of individual data packets
– link - access to and control of transmission medium
– physical - medium of transmission
 Internet protocols (IP) are a competing set for
lower layers
– network and transport
– defacto standard
 (9.19)
Bridging
 Bridging happens at Link layer
– between LANs
– provides
» filtering - only forward packets destined offnet
» repacketization
» speed matching
 (9.20)
Routing
 Internetworking (in WANs)
– happens at network layer
– routers connect WANs with very dissimilar
characteristics
» also called gateways
 Routing
– routers know whole network topology
» determines which network to send packet on next
from destination address
– protocol conversion
– fragmentation
» when packet too large for next network it must pass
through
 (9.21)
Routing (continued)
 (9.22)
Routing (continued)
 (9.23)
Internet Futures
 Current IP protocol is
running out of addresses A
– 32 bits = 4 billion addresses 7 24
– Class A - 127 large groups 0
with 16M machines
» countries B 14 16
– Class B - 16K networks with 1 0
64K or fewer machines
– Class C - 2M networks with C
21 8
256 machines
– each machine can only have 1 1 0
one network address
 Revised IP protocols (IPng) Multicast 28
currently being devised 1 1 1 0
– 128 bit addresses
– also called IPv6
 (9.24)
Web-based Commerce
 Conducting business (exchanging money) over the
Internet requires several features that aren’t yet
available
– confidentiality
encryption
» no one else listens to the transaction
– authentication
» you really are who I think you are
– data integrity digital signatures
» no one increases my order enroute and certificates
– nonrepudiation
» I can’t back out after I buy
– selective application of services
» seller never sees my credit card number
» I seal it and only give name of the bank, who authorizes
payment
 (9.25)
Web-based Commerce (continued)
 Public-key systems provide confidentiality
– I choose 2 keys, one public and one private
» publish public key widely
– I encode with private key
– you decode with public key

– you encode with public key

– I decode with private key
or
 (9.26)
Web-based Commerce (continued)
 Digital signatures use public key algorithms,
usually on digest of message to speed up
– encode message digest (hash function)
– cleartext message also digested at receiving end
– if my decoded digest matches calculated one, I sent it
and it hasn’t been changed
 (9.27)
Web-based Commerce (continued)
 Authentication provided by authentication entities
– I don’t send order directly to Nordstroms
– send to authenticator instead, who verifies I’m me
and sends the order to a prestored Nordstroms
address
– other variations exist
 Several proposals to modify IP protocols at various
levels to help this
– IP protocol
– Secure Sockets Layer session protocol
– secure HTTP and MIME messaging