Network Infrastructure

Networking Components
The network infrastructure contains following three categories of hardware
components:
• End devices

• Intermediate devices

• Network media
Networking Components
Networking Components
Networking Components
 Networking Components

 Networking Medium  Server

 Hub  Workstation

 Switch  Network adapter (NIC)

 Router  Network Appliances

 Networking Medium
 The networking medium provides the path for signals to pass between devices.

• Copper cables use electrical signals.

• Fiber optic cables use light pulses.

• Wireless networks use radio waves(bigger coverage) or infrared waves.

 Networking media that use cables are considered bounded, because the
transmission signals are contained within the wire.

 Networks that use wireless communications are considered unbounded

Networking Medium
 Hub
 A hub provides a central connecting point for multiple media segments on the
same subnet.

 It is not an intelligent device. When it receives a signal, it is sent out to all the
ports on the hub.

 Hubs operate in half-duplex mode because the path between devices is shared,
meaning that devices can only send when no other devices are sending data.

 Hubs are a legacy network device and are rarely used because they lack features
and perform poorly.
 Switch
 A switch provides a central connection for multiple media segments on the same subnet.

 A switch receives a signal on one port and forwards that signal only to the port where the
destination device is connected.

 Switches can operate in full-duplex mode, where a device uses a different channel for
sending and receiving and where the transmission paths are dedicated to only the
communicating devices.

 Switches are intelligent device. They know about the recipients & deliver data accordingly.
 Router
 A router connects two network segments that have different subnet addresses.

 A router has multiple network connections, and each connection is on a different

subnet.

 Routers use the IP address within a packet to move packets between networks.

 Routers maintain a list of known networks and the next router in the path to reach
the destination network.
 Network Adapter (NIC)
 A network adapter is responsible for creating and receiving transmission
signals that are sent along the networking medium.

 A physical network interface card (NIC) uses a cable medium (such as

twisted pair or fiber optic cables).

 A wireless network adapter transmits radio waves.

 Network Adapter (NIC) Functions
 Most desktop computers have motherboards with built-in network
adapters.

 Practically all mobile devices (i.e., smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc.)
have a built-in wireless NIC.

 Network adapters must match the network medium of the network.

 Ethernet network adapters that are connected to a switch will operate in

full-duplex mode.

 This allows the adapter to send and receive at the same time.
 Speed of Network Adapter (NIC)
 The speed of an Ethernet network adapter is determined by the NIC, the
network medium, and the connectivity device.

 The speed can be only as fast as the slowest component.

 For example, if the NIC runs at 1000 Mbps, but the Ethernet cable runs only
at 100 Mbps, the speed to the network will be 100 Mbps
 Server
 Networks contain two types of hosts, hosts that consume a service, and hosts that provide
a service.

 Hosts that provide a service are called servers. The following are some of the more
common types of servers:

• Directory Server: Handles user authentication. Also stores user credentials,

permissions, and settings.

• Web Server: Serves web pages and web content via HTTP/HTTPS.

• DNS Server: Uses the domain name service to map IP addresses to domain
names.

• DHCP Server: Automatically configures network hosts with an IP address, subnet

mask, DNS server, and default gateway.
Server
Important Servers
 Directory Server

 DNS Server

 Web Server

 DHCP Server

 Remote Access Server

 Directory Server
 A directory server handles user authentication and information.

 If you've ever logged into Windows domain, you've used a directory server.

 Directory servers store following:

• User information

• Authentication information

• User permissions, and user settings.

 DNS Server
 The job of a DNS server is to map IP addresses to domain names.

 This process is known as Name Resolution.

 Remembering a domain name is a lot easier than an IP address.

 For example it's a lot easier to remember google.com than the IP

address associated with the web server.
 Web Server
 Web servers are used to provide websites via HTTP.

 Anytime you use the internet and access a webpage, you are accessing a
web server.

 In Windows system, Web Server is also known as Internet Information

Services (IIS) Server.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server
 This type of server is used to automatically configure hosts that connect to a
network.

 Every host that connects to a network needs to be assigned a unique IP address,

a subnet mask, a DNS server address, and a default gateway address.

 It's possible to configure each host manually with this information. However,
with networks that have hundreds of computers, it would be impossible to
manage.

 To make things easier, a DHCP server is implemented to automatically configure

each host that connects to the network with the required information.