COMPUTER NETWORK

Definition:
• CN is a collection of two or more computers, which are
connected to share information and resources.

• Computers in a network are interconnected by telephone

lines, coaxial cables, satellite links, radio or some other
communication technique.

• A network can be as few as several personal computers on

a small network or as large as the internet, a worldwide
network of computers.

• Networks refer to three primary categories:

9. Local Area Network (LAN)
10. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
11. Wide Area Network (WAN)
 Local area Network
• A LAN is a computer network that spans only a small
geographical area (within a square mile or less) such as an
office, home or building.
• In a local area network the connected computers have a
network operating system installed into them.
• One computer is designated as the file server, which stores
all the software that controls the network along with the
software that can be shared by the computers attached to
the network.
• Other computers connected to the file server are called
workstations.
• On most LANs, cables are used to connect the computers.
• LAN offers data rates(bits/sec) of 10 to 100 Mbps.
 Metropolitan Area Network
• MAN is a network spread over a ‘metropolitan’ area such as
a city and its suburbs.
• It is one large network for the entire city.
• It may be a single network such as a cable television
network or it may be a means of connecting a number of
LANs.
• MAN may be operated by one organization( a corporate with
several offices in one city) or several resources used by
several organizations in the same city.
 Wide Area Network (WAN)
• WAN is a system of interconnecting many computers over a large
geographical area such as cities, states, countries or even the whole
world.
• These kinds of networks use telephone lines, satellite links and other
long-range communication technologies to connect.
• Designed to serve an area of hundreds or thousands of miles.
• For Eg: a company with offices in New Delhi, Chennai, and Mumbai may
connect LANs for each of those locations to each other through a
WAN.
• The largest WAN in existence is the Internet.
 Network Topologies
• The term topologies to the layout (shape) of the network.
• It is the geometric representation of the relationship of
all the links.
• There are five basic topologies
4. Bus
5. Ring
6. Star
7. Tree
8. Mesh
 Bus Topology
• Bus Topology uses a common bus or backbone ( a single
cable) to connect all with terminators at both ends.
• The bus acts as a shared communication medium and each
node (file sever) is attached to it with an interface connector.
• Whenever a message is to be transmitted on the network, it is
passed, past the stations (computers) from one end of the
network to other.
• As the message passes each station the station checks the
message’s destination address.
• If the address in the message matches the stations address
the station receives the message, if not then station carries
message to the next station.
•
Advantages and Disadvantages of Bus Topology
Advantages
• Connecting a computer or peripheral to a linear bus is easy.
• This topology requires least amount of cabling to connect
the computers and therefore cheaper than other cabling
arrangement.
• It is easy to extend the bus since two cables can be joined
into one longer cable with a connector.
Disadvantages
• Entire N/W shuts down if there is a failure in the backbone.
• Heavy traffic can slow down a bus because computers on
such networks do not coordinate with each other to reserve
time to transmit.
 Ring Topology
• Computers are placed on a circle of cable without any
terminated ends since there are no unconnected ends.
• Every node has exactly two neighbour for communication
purpose
• All messages travel through a ring in the same direction
(clockwise or counterclockwise) until it reaches its
destination.
• Each node in the ring incorporates a repeater.
• When a node receives a signal intended for another device,
its repeater generates the bits and passes them along the
wire.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Ring Topology
Advantages
• It is easy to install.
• Every computer is given equal access to the ring. Hence, no
single computer can monopolize the network.
Disadvantages
• Failure in any cable or node breaks the loop and can take
down the entire network.
• Maximum ring length and number of nodes are limited.
 Star Topology
• In star topology devices are not directly linked to each
other but they are connected via a centralized network
component known as hub.
• The hub acts as a central controller and if a node wants to
send data to another node, it boosts up the message and
sends the message to the intended node.
• This topology commonly uses twisted pair cable.

Hub

File Server
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Star Topology
Advantages
• Star topology is easy to install and wire
• The network is not disrupted even if a node fails or is
removed from the network.
• Fault detection and removal of faulty parts is easier in star
topology
Disadvantages
• It requires a longer length of cable.
• If the hub fails, nodes attached to it are disabled.
• The cost of the hub makes the network expensive as
compared to bus and ring technology.
 Tree Topology
• A Tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and
star topologies.
• It consist of groups of star-configured workstations
connected to a bus backbone cable.
• Not every node plugs directly to the central hub.
• The majority of nodes connect to a secondary hub that in
turn is connected the central hub .
• Each secondary hub in this topology functions as the
originating point of a branch to which other nodes connect.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Tree Topology
Advantages
• The distance to which a signal can travel increases as the
signal passes through a chain of hubs.
• Tree topology allows isolating and prioritizing
communications from different nodes.
• Tree topology allows easy expansion of an existing network
which enable organizations to configure a network to meet
their needs.
Disadvantages
• If the backbone line breaks the entire segment goes down.
• It is more difficult to configure and wire , than other
topologies.
 Mesh Topology
• In a mesh topology every node has a dedicated point-to-
point link to every other node.
• Messages sent on a mesh network can take any of several
possible paths from source to destinations.
• A fully connected mesh network has n(n-1)/2 physical links
to link n devices.
• For eg: if an organization has 5 nodes and wants to
implement a mesh topology ,(5(5-1)/2, that is 10,links are
required.
•
 Advantages and Disadvantages of MeshTopology
Advantages
• The use of large number of links eliminates network
congestion
• If one link becomes unusable, it does not disable the entire
system
Disadvantages
• The amount of cabling required is very large
• As every node is connected to the other installation is very
difficult
• The amount of hardware required in this type of topology
can make it expensive to implement.
 Communication Protocols
• Defines the manner the communication takes place
• A C P is a set of rule that coordinates the exchange of
information.
• If one computer is sending information to another and they
both follow the same protocol the message gets through .
The OSI Model
• OSI (open system Interconnection) is a standard reference
model for communication between two end users in a
network.
• It is used in developing products and understanding
networks.
• It consist of seven separate but related layers namely
Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session,
Presentation and Application Layer
 Categories of OSI Layer
7. Application
6. Presentation Upper Layers

5. Session
4. Transport
3. Network
Lower Layers
2. Data Link
1. Physical
•A layer in the OSI model communicates with two other OSI layers, the layer directly
above it and the layer directly below it.
•When a message is sent from one machine to another it travels down the layers in one
machine and then up the layers on the other machine.
Machine A Machine B

7. Application 7. Application
6. Presentation 6. Presentation
5. Session 5. Session
4. Transport 4. Transport
3. Network 3. Network
2. Data Link 2. Data Link
1. Physical Network Medium 1. Physical
 Physical Layer
• It defines the physical and electrical characteristics of the
N/W.
• This layer also defines what kind of network interface card
must be installed in each computer and what kinds of hubs
to be used.
• In other words the physical layer is a conduit (connection)
between the computers networking hardware and its
networking software.
• This layer communicates with the data link layer and
regulates the transmission of a stream of bits over a
physical medium.
• This layer also defines which transmission technique is used
to send data over the cable.
 Data Link Layer
• The function of data link layer is to transform the
data into a line that is free of transmission errors
and is responsible for node-to-node delivery
• On the sender side the data link layer divides the
layer divides the stream of bits fro the N/W layer
into a manageable form known as frames.
• These data frames are then transmitted
sequentially to the receiver.
• On the receiver end the data link layer detects and
corrects any errors in the transmitted data which
it gets from the physical layer.
 Network Layer
• The network layer provides the physical routing of
the data that is it determines the path between
the sender and receiver.
• The outbound data is passed down from the
transport layer is encapsulated in the networks
layers protocol and then sent to the data link layer
for segmentation and transmission.
• This layer organizes frames from data link layer
into packets and is passed to the transport layer
• Network layer provides uniform addressing
mechanism so that more than one networks can be
interconnected.
 Transport Layer
• The basic function of the transport layer is to
handle error recognition and recovery of the data
packets.
• The T L establishes, maintains, and terminates
communication between the sender and the
receiver.
• At the receiving end transport layer rebuilds
packets into the original message, and to ensure
that the packets arrived correctly, the receiving
transport layer sends receipt acknowledgments.
 Session Layer
• The session layer organizes and synchronizes the
exchange of data between the sending and
receiving applications.
• The session layer lets each application at one end
know the status of the other at the other end.
• An error in the sending application is handled by
the session layer in such a manner so that the
receiving application may know that the error has
occurred.
• The SL can resynchronize applications that are
currently connected to each other.
• This may be necessary when communications are
temporarily interrupted or when an error has
occurred that results in loss of data.
 Presentation Layer
• The basic function of the presentation layer is to
ensure that information sent from the application
layer of one system would be readable by the
application layer of another system.
• This is where application data is packed or
unpacked ready for use by the running application.
• This layer also manages security issues by
providing services such as data encryption and
compresses data so that fewer bits need to be
transferred on the N/W .
 Application Layer
• The A L is the entrance point that programs use to
access OSI model and utilize network resources.
• This layer represents the services that directly
support applications.
• This OSI layer is closest to the end user.
• Application layer includes network software that
directly serves the user , providing such things as
the user interface and application featurs such as
electronic Mail.
 Network Devices
• These devices interconnect individual computers
and ensure that they communicate efficiently.
• Some network devices are as below
3. Network Interface Card
4. Hub
5. Repeater
6. Switch
7. Bridge
8. Router
9. Gateway
 Network Devices
Network Interface Card
• First interface between the machine and the
N/W.
• It connects the clients, servers and peripherals
to the network via a port.
• Most network interfaces come as small circuit
board that can be inserted onto one of the
computers motherboard slots.
• Each network interface is associated with a
unique address called its media access control
(MAC) address.
• The MAC address helps in sending information to
its intended destination.
 Network Devices
Hub
• Is a small box that connects individual devices on
a network so that they can communicate with one
another.
• The hub operates by gathering the signals from
individual network devices, optionally amplifying
the signals and then sending them onto all other
connected devices.
• Amplification of the signal ensures that devices
on the network receive reliable information.
• Also known as concentrator, a hub works on
physical layer of the OSI model.
 Network Devices
Repeater
• Is an electronic device that operates on the
physical layer of the OSI model.
• Signals that carry information within a network
can travel a fixed distance before attenuation
endangers the integrity of data.
• A repeater installed on the link receives signal ,
regenerates it and sends the refreshed copy back
to the link.
• Nowadays the terms repeater and hub are used
synonymously, but they are actually not the same
• Although at its very basic level, a hub can be
thought of as a multiport repeater.
 Network Devices
Switch
• Like a hub a switch too connects individual
devices on a network so that they can
communicate with one another.
• Switches work on the data link layer of OSI
model.
• Allows reducing overall network traffic
 Network Devices
Bridge
• A bridge filters data traffic at a network
boundry.
• It reduces the amount of traffic on a LAN by
dividing it into two segments.
• Bridges operate at the data link layer of the OSI
model.
• It inspects each incoming traffic and decides
whether to forward or discard it .
• When a frame enters a bridge the bridge not
only regenerates the signals but also checks the
address of the destination and forwards the new
copy only to the segment to which the address
belongs
 Network Devices
Router
• A router is an essential network device for
interconnecting two or more networks.
• Routers sole aim is to trace the best route for
information to travel .
• As network traffic changes during the day routers can
redirect information to take less congested routes.
• A router creates or maintains a table called a routing
table that stores the best route to certain destinations.
• They can permit or deny network communications with a
particular network.
 Network Devices
Gateway
• Is internetworking device which joins two different
network protocols together.
• It works on all seven layers of the OSI model
• A gateway accepts the packet formatted for one protocol
and converts the formatted packet into another protocol.
• A router creates or maintains a table called a routing
table that stores the best route to certain destinations.