Chapter two

Introduction to computer network

Each of the past three centuries was dominated
by a single new technology.
The 18th century was the era of the Industrial
Revolution.
The 19th century was the age of the steam
engine.
 The 20th century, the key technology was information
gathering, processing, and distribution.
Among other developments, we saw
The installation of worldwide
Telephone networks,
The invention of radio and television,
The birth and unprecedented growth of the computer
industry,
The launching of communication satellites, and, of
course, the Internet.
 As a result of rapid technological progress, these areas are
rapidly converging in the 21st century.
-As our ability to gather, process, and distribute information
grows, the demand for ever more sophisticated
information processing grows even faster.
-Although the computer industry is still young compared to
other industries(e.g., automobiles and air transportation),
computers have made spectacular progress in a short
time.
-The old model of a single computer serving all of the
organization’s computational needs has been replaced by
one in which a large number of separate but
interconnected computers do the job.
These systems are called computer networks.
 What is a Network?
A network consists of 2 or more computers
connected together, and they can communicate
and share resources (e.g. information)
• Communication
– Email
– Message broadcast
• Remote computing
• Distributed processing (GRID computing)

Etc…
 Disadvantage of computer network

• Security issue
-Computer hackers can get access to our system
using different tools
-Hackers are someone who break our system
and have unauthorized access
• Virus attack vulnerability increase
• Expensive setup cost
– Cost of hardware and personnel
• Dependency on the main server
 Applications of Computer Networks

 Business Applications
 Client-Server Model

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 Home Applications
 Access to remote information.

 Person-to-person communication.

 Interactive entertainments.

 Electronic commerce.

Some of these applications used the client-server

model while others used peer-to-peer
communication. Or combination between them.

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 How many kinds of networks?
Depending on one perspectives , we can classify
networks in different ways:
Based on network size/Geo-area coverage
(LAN,MAN & WAN)
Based on management method/functionality
(peer-to-peer & client-server)
Based on physical layout/shape/topology
(bus, star, ring, mesh etc)
Based on network size/Geo-area coverage
i) LAN(Local Area Network)
o Small network, short distance
-A Room, a floor, a building
-Limited by no. of computers & distance covered.
- Serve department within organizations
- Uses guided media

Data transfer rate :

- Has very high speed mainly due to proximity of computer and
network devices.
Speed:
-Connection speeds can be 10Mbps or 100Mbps or 1000Mpbs also
 LAN cont’d…
Technology:
Tend to use certain connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring

Example:
-Network inside student computer room,
-Network inside your home

Components:
-Layer 2 devices like switches and bridges.
-Layer 1 devices like hubs and repeaters.
Fault Tolerance:
-LANs tend to have fewer problems associated with them, as there is smaller number of systems
to deal with.
Ownership:
-Typically owned, controlled, and managed by a single person or organization.

Geographical Area:
ii) WAN(Wide Area Network)

- Have no geographical boundaries(it covers

towns, states and countries).
- WAN speed varies based on geographical
location of the servers.
- WAN connects several LANs
- WAN mainly uses Guided Media or Unguided
media.
 Data transfer rate :
-WANs have a lower data transfer rate as compared
to LANs.
Speed:
-Less speed (150 mbps)
Technology:
-WANs tend to use technologies like ATM, Frame
Relay and X.25 for connectivity over longer
distances
Example:
-Internet is a good example of a WAN
 Components:
Layers 3 devices Routers, Multi-layer Switches and
Technology specific devices like ATM or Frame-relay
Switches ,SONET(Synchronous Optical Network) etc.
Fault Tolerance:
-WANs tend to be less fault tolerant as they consist of large
number of systems.
Ownership:
-WANs (like the Internet) are not owned by any one
organization but rather exist under collective or
distributed ownership and management over long
distances.
Geographical area:
-WAN covers over 100 m
 iii) MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
-All the devices that are part of MAN are span
across buildings or small town.
-MAN network has lower speed compared to LAN.
-MAN connection speeds can be 10Mbps or
100Mbps.
-MAN uses Guided Media or Unguided media.
Based on management method/functionality
(peer-to-peer & client-server)
i) Peer to Peer Network
• Peer-to-peer network is also called workgroup
• No hierarchy among computers  all are equal
• No administrator responsible for the network
 Based on physical layout/shape/topology
(bus, star, ring, mesh etc)
• Topology refers to the layout of connected
devices on a network.
• The network topology defines the way in which
computers, printers, and other devices are
connected.
• A network topology describes the layout of the
wire and devices as well as the paths used by
data transmissions.
A network has both a physical and a logical topology.
Physical topology shows the physical topology of a network,
which refers to the actual physical layout of the devices
and media.
Logical topology refers to the paths that signals travel
from one point on the network to another.
 Bus topology

•Simple and low-cost

•A single cable called a trunk (backbone, segment)
•Only one computer can send messages at a time
•Passive topology - computer only listen for, not
regenerate data
•This topology is rarely used and would only be suitable for
a home office or small business with only a few hosts.
•Ends terminated with a device terminator.

•It uses less cable compared to other physical topologies

like star or extended star

•It works well for small networks

•It does not need a central device, such as a hub, switch,
or router
• Advantages of a bus topology:
– The thinnet cabling it uses is quite inexpensive.
– It uses less cable compared to other physical topologies like star or
extended star
– It works well for small networks
– It does not need a central device, such as a hub, switch, or router
• Disadvantages of a bus topology:
– It results in slower access to the network and less bandwidth due to
the sharing of the same cable by all devices
– It is challenging to identify and isolate problems
– A break at any point in the bus cable can disable the entire bus
network
– It needs terminators
 Star Topology

• Each computer has a cable connected to a single point

• More cabling, hence higher cost
• All signals transmission through the hub; if down, entire network
down
• Depending on the intelligence of hub, two or more computers
may send message at the same time
• Bottleneck occur because all data pass from hub.
• Less expensive and easy to install, robust if one link is down still
remains active.
• Advantages of a Star Topology:
– It is upgradeable, flexible, and reliable
– It is easy to design and install
– This topology makes diagnosing problems relatively
easy since the problem is localized to one computer or
device
– This topology allows for more throughput than any
other topology
• Disadvantages of a Star Topology:
– It requires a lot of cable to connect computers since a
cable is required between each device and the central
location.
– It is more expensive to build because of the additional
cost of cables and devices like hubs and switches that
are needed to run between the central device and each
computer
 Star/Tree topology
• Larger networks use the extended star topology also
called tree topology.
• When used with network devices that filter frames or
packets, like bridges, switches, and routers, this
topology significantly reduces the traffic on the wires
by sending packets only to the wires of the destination
host.
 Ring topology
• All nodes connected to one another in form of closed
loop.
• Expensive and difficult to install but offers high
bandwidth, not robust.
• Point to point connection with only two devices.
• Signal is passed in one direction only, moves until it
reaches to its destination.
• Each device connected with a repeater.
• One signal always circulates for fault detection. If
device don’t receives signal for specified time it
generates alarm.
 In Ring topology
• Every computer serves as
– a repeater to boost signals
• Typical way to send data:
• Token passing
• only the computer who gets the token can send data
• The 802.5 standard is the Token Ring access method that is used.
• FDDI uses light instead of electricity to transmit data over a dual
ring.

• The advantage of using this method is that there are no

collisions of data packets.

• Disadvantages
• Difficult to add computers
• More expensive
• If one computer fails, whole network fails
 Single ring – All the devices on the network share a single
cable
• Dual ring – The dual ring topology allows data to be sent in
both directions.
• This creates redundancy (fault tolerance), meaning that in the
event of a failure of one ring, data will still be transmitted on
the other ring.
 The mesh topology connects all devices (nodes)
to each other for redundancy and fault tolerance.
It is used in WANs to interconnect LANs and for
mission critical networks like those used by banks
and financial institutions.
Implementing the mesh topology is expensive
and difficult.

Advantage: Eliminates traffic problem, Robust,

privacy/security of message.
Disadvantage: More cabling required, more I/O
ports needed, hard to install, expensive.
Networking Components
 Parts of a Network
• Clients
– Computers that request or order information from a server
– Usually desktop computers with their own local storage and
processing power
– Clients can be printers, workstations, or any other device
connected to the computers on a network.
– The most common network clients are workstations.
– Workstations connect to the network for the purpose of
security and centralized management of networked resources.

– Thin client – network computer with no local storage

• Servers
– Computers that work behind the scenes to provide (serve)
the resources requested by the clients
– A server commonly has multiple processors, large hard
drives, and large amounts of RAM.
– A server provides centralized management of resources,
security, and expanded access to networked resources in a
network.

– Two types
• Non-dedicated – provides many different services to its client
computers such as file retrieval, printing, and emailing
• Dedicated – provides only one type of resource to its clients,
such as printing
Server and client
 Other network components
• Shared peripherals – a device that is connected
to a computer and controlled by its
microprocessor
• Media – physical pieces used to transport data
from one computer to another computer or
peripheral on the network
• Data - packets
 Specialized Servers
• File Servers
• Print Servers
• Application Servers
• Mail Servers
• Communication Servers
• Directory Services Servers
• Backup Servers
 Network Devices
Typical LAN devices include:
• Hub
• Switch
• Bridge
• Router
• etc
 Hub
– Hubs are Layer-1 devices that physically connect network devices

together for communication. Hubs can also be referred to as repeaters.

– It contains several wiring ports that can be used to receive data and pass

on the same to any other device on a network.

– if two devices transmit a frame simultaneously, a collision will occur.

– Using a hub changes the network topology from a linear bus, where

each device plugs directly into the wire, to a star.

– Operate at physical layer network

 Switch
– Switches, like hubs, provide a centralized connection.
– They include network monitoring and selective
configuration capabilities, thereby reducing network
traffic.
– In networks, a device that filters and forwards packets
between LAN segments.
– Switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) layer
of the OSI model.
 Bridge
– A combination of hardware and software to link two similar networks.
– The basic function of a bridge is to join two or more separate
networks that use the same networking language, called protocol.

– The function of the bridge is to make intelligent decisions about

whether or not to pass signals on to the next segment of a network.

– When a bridge sees a frame on the network, it looks at the

destination MAC address and compares it to the forwarding table to
determine whether to filter, flood, or copy the frame onto another
segment.

– Operate at data link layer network

 Router
• Routers operate at the Network layer of the OSI
model.
• They are slower than bridges and switches but make
"smart" decisions on how to route packets received on
one port to a network on another port.
• Routers are capable of segmenting the network.
• Routers are capable of segmenting a network into
multiple collision domains as well as into multiple
broadcast domains.

• A router is used to send specific portions of messages

directly to the intended destination in a separate network.
• Information is directly transmitted between the networks
without causing any network traffic.
• Networks served by a router are not required to use the

same protocol.

• Routers are frequently used to place additional security on

sensitive networked resources.

• A device that forwards data packets along networks.

• A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly

two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP.s network.

• Routers are located at gateways, the places where two or

more networks connect.

Routers use headers and forwarding tables to determine
the best path for forwarding the packets,
Major difference between hub, switch,bridge
and routers

Today most routers have become combining the features

and functionality of a router and switch/hub into a single
unit.
So conversations regarding these devices can be a bit
misleading — especially to someone new to computer
networking.
Hub:
• A Hub is the simplest of these devices.
• Hubs cannot filter data so data packets are sent to all
connected devices/computers and do not have
intelligence to find out best path for data packets. This
leads to inefficiencies and wastage.
• Any data packet coming from one port is sent to all
other ports. It is then up to the receiving computer to
decide if the packet is for it.
• Since every packet is sent out to every computer on
the network, there is a lot of wasted transmission.
• Hubs are used on small networks where data
transmission is not very high.
 Bridge
• In telecommunication networks, a bridge is a product that connects
a local area network (LAN) to another local area network that uses
the same protocol.
• Having a single incoming and outgoing port and filters traffic on the
LAN by looking at the MAC address, bridge is more complex than
hub.
• Bridge looks at the destination of the packet before forwarding
unlike a hub.
• Bridges are faster than routers because they connect networks that
are using the same protocol.
• It restricts transmission on other LAN segment if destination is not
found.
• A bridge works at the data-link (physical network) level of a
network, copying a data frame from one network to the next
network along the communications path.
• A bridge only has one incoming and one outgoing port.
 Switch
• A switch when compared to bridge has multiple ports.
• Switches can perform error checking before forwarding
data, which are very efficient by not forwarding packets
that error-end out or forwarding good packets selectively
to correct devices only.
• Switches can support both layer 2 (based on MAC
Address) and layer 3 (Based on IP address) depending on
the type of switch.
• Usually large networks use switches instead of hubs to
connect computers within the same subnet.
• When a packet comes through a switch it is read to
determine which computer to send the data to.
 Switch cont’d…
A device that directs data packets along a path. It may
include the function of a router.
In general, a switch is a simpler and faster mechanism than
a router as it does not maintain knowledge of the
networks.
 Router
• A device that determines where to send a data
packet between at least two networks. Its decision is
based on its current understanding of the networks.
• A router, like a switch forwards packets based on address.
• Usually, routers use the IP address to forward packets,
which allows the network to go across different protocols.
• Routers support different WAN technologies but switches
do not.
• As the router has a public IP address which is shared with
the network, when data comes through the router, it is
forwarded to the correct computer.
Thank you all!!