Unit 1 Introduction to Computer Network

LO 1.1 – Description of Network concepts and Technologies

 Content/Topic 1: Introduction to Computer Network

A computer network is a group of computers that use a set of common communication protocols over
digital interconnections for the purpose of sharing resources located on or provided by the network nodes.
The interconnections between nodes are formed from a broad spectrum of telecommunication network
technologies, based on physically wired, optical, and wireless radio-frequency methods that may be
arranged in a variety of network topologies.
The nodes of a computer network may be classified by many means as personal
computers, servers, networking hardware, or general purpose hosts. They are identified
by hostnames and network addresses. Hostnames serve as memorable labels for the nodes, rarely changed
after initial assignment. Network addresses serve for locating and identifying the nodes by
communication protocols such as the Internet Protocol
Elements of Network
Basic Elements of Computer Networks
More and more, it is networks that connect us. People communicate online from everywhere. We focus
on these aspects of the information network:
• Devices that make up the network (work stations, laptops, file servers, web servers, network printers,
VoIP phones, security cameras, PDAs, etc...)
• Media that connect the devices
• Messages that are carried over the network
• Rules (protocols) and processes that control network communications
• Tools and commands for constructing and maintaining networks.

Communication begins with a message that must be sent from one device to another. People exchange
ideas using many different communication methods. All of these methods have three elements in
common.
• The first of these elements is the message source (sender). Message sources are people, or electronic
devices, that need to send a message to other individuals / devices.
• The second element of communication is the destination (receiver), of the message. The destination
receives the message and interprets it.
• A third element, called a channel, consists of the media that provides the pathway over which the
message can travel from source to destination.

Benefits of Network

Setting up a computer network is a fast and reliable way of sharing information and resources within a
business. It can help you make the most of your IT systems and equipment.

Advantages of computer networking

Main benefits of networks include:

 File sharing – you can easily share data between different users, or access it remotely if you keep
it on other connected devices.
 Resource sharing – using network-connected peripheral devices like printers, scanners and
copiers, or sharing software between multiple users, saves money.
  Sharing a single internet connection – it is cost-efficient and can help protect your systems if
you properly secure the network.
 Increasing storage capacity – you can access files and multimedia, such as images and music,
which you store remotely on other machines or network-attached storage devices.

Networking computers can also help you improve communication, so that:

 staff, suppliers and customers can share information and get in touch more easily
 your business can become more efficient - eg networked access to a common database can avoid
the same data being keyed multiple times, saving time and preventing errors
 staff can deal with queries and deliver a better standard of service as a result of sharing customer
data

Cost benefits of computer networking

Storing information in one centralized database can also help you reduce costs and drive efficiency. For
example:

 staff can deal with more customers in less time since they have shared access to customer and
product databases
 you can centralize network administration, meaning less IT support is required
 you can cut costs through sharing of peripherals and internet access

You can reduce errors and improve consistency by having all staff work from a single source of
information. This way, you can make standard versions of manuals and directories available to them, and
back up data from a single point on a scheduled basis, ensuring consistency

 Content/Topic 2: Classification of Network

Based on network components, there two classification of computer network which are the following:
A. Client-Server Network: This model is broadly used network model. In Client-Server Network,
Clients and server are differentiated, specific server and clients are present. In Client-Server
Network, Centralized server is used to store the data because its management is centralized. In
Client-Server Network, Server respond the services which is request by Client.
B. Peer-to-Peer Network: This model does not differentiate the clients and the servers, in this each
and every node is itself client and server. In Peer-to-Peer Network, Each and every node can do
both request and respond for the services.
Classifying network by geographical area
The Network allows computers to connect and communicate with different computers via any medium.
LAN, MAN and WAN are the three major types of the network designed to operate over the area they
cover. There are some similarities and dissimilarities between them. One of the major differences is the
geographical area they cover.
1. Local Area Network (LAN) –LAN or Local Area Network connects network devices in such a
way that personal computer and workstations can share data, tools and programs. The group of
computers and devices are connected together by a switch, or stack of switches, using a private
addressing scheme as defined by the TCP/IP protocol.
Data transmits at a very fast rate as the number of computers linked are limited. By definition, the
connections must be high speed and relatively inexpensive hardware (Such as hubs, network adapters and
Ethernet cables). LANs cover smaller geographical area (Size is limited to a few kilometers) and are
privately owned. One can use it for an office building, home, hospital, schools, etc.
2. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) –MAN or Metropolitan Area Network covers a larger area
than that of a LAN and smaller area as compared to WAN. It connects two or more computers
that are apart but resides in the same or different cities. It covers a large geographical area and
may serve as an ISP (Internet Service Provider). MAN is designed for customers who need a
high-speed connectivity. Speeds of MAN ranges in terms of Mbps.
The fault tolerance of a MAN is less and also there is more congestion in the network. It is costly and
may or may not be owned by a single organization. The data transfer rate and the propagation delay of
MAN is moderate. Devices used for transmission of data through MAN are: Modem and Wire/Cable.
Examples of a MAN are the part of the telephone company network that can provide a high-speed DSL
line to the customer or the cable TV network in a city.
3. Wide Area Network (WAN) –WAN or Wide Area Network is a computer network that extends
over a large geographical area, although it might be confined within the bounds of a state or
country. A WAN could be a connection of LAN connecting to other LAN’s via telephone lines
and radio waves and may be limited to an enterprise (a corporation or an organization) or
accessible to the public. The technology is high speed and relatively expensive.
There are two types of WAN: Switched WAN and Point-to-Point WAN. WAN is difficult to design and
maintain. Similar to a MAN, the fault tolerance of a WAN is less and there is more congestion in the
network. A Communication medium used for WAN is PSTN or Satellite Link. Due to long distance
transmission, the noise and error tend to be more in WAN.
 Content/Topic 3: Introduction to Network Technologies
Networking technology allows for the exchange of data between large and small information systems
used primarily by businesses and educational institutions. Network technicians, also known as network
engineers or specialists, are responsible for the configuration, installation and troubleshooting of the
technology used to transmit digital information, including audio, visual and data files. Through
networking, end-users are able to transmit files, messages and other data through e-mail or various other
channels, sharing information through Internet or Intranet connections, based on the needs of an
organization.

 IEEE802.3 Ethernet
Ethernet Operation
Ethernet is the most widely used LAN technology used today.

Ethernet operates in the data link layer and the physical layer. It is a family of networking technologies
that are defined in the IEEE 802.2 and 802.3 standards. Ethernet supports data bandwidths of:

 10 Mb/s

 100 Mb/s

 1000 Mb/s (1 Gb/s)

 10,000 Mb/s (10 Gb/s)

 40,000 Mb/s (40 Gb/s)

  100,000 Mb/s (100 Gb/s)

Ethernet standards define both the Layer 2 protocols and the Layer 1 technologies. For the Layer 2
protocols, as with all 802 IEEE standards, Ethernet relies on the two separate sublayers of the data link
layer to operate, the Logical Link Control (LLC) and the MAC sublayers.

 Token ring is the IEEE 802.5

The foundation of a token ring is the IEEE 802.5 network of the “Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers” from 1985, in which all participants of the “Local Area Network” (LAN) are connected to
form a logical ring. Usually token ring topologies have a transmission speed of 4 or 16 Mbit/s, but in
theory speeds of 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s are also possible.
A token ring works somewhat differently to other ring topologies, which is why it’s said that this
technology is based only logically on a ring topology. The token ring topology uses Multi station Access
Units (MAUs), which allow a star-shaped connection of the connections involved. The distributor is a
node that is connected to all computers on the network. There is no direct connection between the
individual computers.
Nevertheless, there is still a logical ring involved, which is due to the physical star structure, because
the data transmission takes the form of a ring – on an abstract level. Although the data is repeatedly
transported to the MAU, it is not sent from there to a specified subscriber, but simply to the next
computer in the fixed sequence.

Token passing
To avoid chaos, the token passing procedure is used. This method ensures that not all participants send
data to the network at the same time. Only computers that are currently in possession of the token have
the right to send data packets to the network. This token is passed on in a ring – even if no participant
requires a transmission permit, the token continues to circulate. A token is an empty frame of 3 bytes in
size, each byte having a separate task:
 Third byte – start delimiter (SD): The first 8 bits of the frame indicate the beginning of the
token. The structure is based on the differential Manchester code, which allows a clear
assignment.
 Second byte – access control (AC): The access control contains the token bit. If this is set to 0,
the token is free, 1 indicates that it is busy.
 First byte – end delimiter (ED): The design of the end delimiter is similar to the start delimiter
and makes it clear that the frame is complete.
If a participant receives the frame and does not want to send any information, they simply pass it on to the
next in the row. However, if the computer wants to send something, it changes the token bit and attaches
the data package to the token.
IEEE802.8 Fiber optic

 IEEE802.11 Wireless
802.11 and 802.11x refers to a family of specifications developed by
the IEEE for wireless LAN (WLAN) technology. 802.11 specifies an over-the-air interface between a
wireless client and a base station or between two wireless clients.

There are several specifications in the 802.11 family:

 802.11 — applies to wireless LANs and provides 1 or 2 Mbps transmission in the 2.4 GHz band using
either frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS).
 802.11a — an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides up to 54-Mbps in the
5GHz band. 802.11a uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing encoding scheme rather
than FHSS or DSSS.
 802.11b (also referred to as 802.11 High Rate or Wi-Fi) — an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless
LANS and provides 11 Mbps transmission (with a fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1-Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11b uses only DSSS. 802.11b was a 1999 ratification to the original 802.11 standard, allowing
wireless functionality comparable to Ethernet.
 802.11e — a wireless draft standard that defines the Quality of Service (QoS) support for LANs, and is
an enhancement to the 802.11a and 802.11b wireless LAN (WLAN) specifications. 802.11e adds QoS
features and multimedia support to the existing IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a wireless standards,
while maintaining full backward compatibility with these standards.
 802.11g — applies to wireless LANs and is used for transmission over short distances at up to 54-Mbps
in the 2.4 GHz bands.
 802.11n — 802.11n builds upon previous 802.11 standards by adding multiple-input multiple-
output (MIMO). The additional transmitter and receiver antennas allow for increased data throughput
through spatial multiplexing and increased range by exploiting the spatial diversity through coding
schemes like Alamouti coding. The real speed would be 100 Mbit/s (even 250 Mbit/s in PHY level), and
so up to 4-5 times faster than 802.11g.
 802.11ac — 802.11ac, or Wi-Fi 5, builds upon previous 802.11 standards, particularly the 802.11n
standard, to deliver data rates of 433Mbps per spatial stream, or 1.3Gbps in a three-antenna (three stream)
design. The 802.11ac specification operates only in the 5 GHz frequency range and features support for
wider channels (80MHz and 160MHz) and beam forming capabilities by default to help achieve its higher
wireless speeds.
 802.11ac Wave 2 — 802.11ac Wave 2 is an update for the original 802.11ac spec that uses MU-
MIMO technology and other advancements to help increase theoretical maximum wireless speeds for the
spec to 6.93 Gbps.
 802.11ad — 802.11ad is a wireless specification under development that will operate in the 60GHz
frequency band and offer much higher transfer rates than previous 802.11 specs, with a theoretical
maximum transfer rate of up to 7Gbps (Gigabits per second).
 802.11ah— Also known as Wi-Fi HaLow, 802.11ah is the first Wi-Fi specification to operate in
frequency bands below one gigahertz (900 MHz), and it has a range of nearly twice that of other Wi-Fi
technologies. It's also able to penetrate walls and other barriers considerably better than previous Wi-Fi
standards.
 802.11r - 802.11r, also called Fast Basic Service Set (BSS) Transition, supports VoWi-Fi handoff
between access points to enable VoIP roaming on a Wi-Fi network with 802.1X authentication.
 802.1X — Not to be confused with 802.11x (which is the term used to describe the family of 802.11
standards) 802.1X is an IEEE standard for port-based Network Access Control that allows network
administrators to restricted use of IEEE 802 LAN service access points to secure communication between
authenticated and authorized devices.
 802.11ax, or Wi-Fi 6, improves on Wi-Fi 5 with more speed, bandwidth and security.

DESCRIPTION OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY

Network topology refers to the arrangement or layout of connected devices, nodes, and links in a
computer network. Different topologies have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of
efficiency, scalability, fault tolerance, and ease of maintenance.

Definition of topology in networking

In the context of computer networking, topology refers to the physical or logical arrangement of
devices, nodes, and connections within a network. It outlines how devices are interconnected and how
data flows within the network. Network topology is crucial for understanding the communication
pathways and overall structure of a network.

There are several common types of network topologies, including:

Types of Network Topology
The way a network is arranged can make or break network functionality, connectivity, and
protection from downtime. Ask yourself a question “What is network topology?” This question
can be answered with an explanation of the two categories in the network topology.
1. Physical – The physical network topology refers to the actual connections (wires, cables,
etc.) of how the network is arranged. Setup, maintenance, and provisioning tasks require
insight into the physical network.
2. Logical – The logical network topology is a higher-level idea of how the network is set
up, including which nodes connect to each other and in which ways, as well as how data
is transmitted through the network. Logical network topology includes any virtual and
cloud resources.
Types of Physical Network Topology
There are six types of topology in computer networks:

1. BUS Topology
Bus topology is a network type in which every computer and network device is connected to
single cable. When it has exactly two endpoints, then it is called Linear Bus topology.
All devices are connected to a central cable or "bus." Data is transmitted along the cable, and each device
can receive and transmit signals, but the cable acts as a shared communication medium.

Fig.1: Bus topology

Features of Bus Topology
1. It transmits data only in one direction.
2. Every device is connected to a single cable
Advantages of Bus Topology
 1. It is cost effective.
2. Cable required is least compared to other network topology.
3. Used in small networks.
4. It is easy to understand.
5. Easy to expand joining two cables together.
Disadvantages of Bus Topology
1. Cables fails then whole network fails.
2. If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the network decreases.
3. Cable has a limited length.
4. It is slower than the ring topology.
2. RING Topology
It is called ring topology because it forms a ring as each computer is connected to another
computer, with the last one connected to the first. Exactly two neighbors for each device.
Devices are connected in a circular manner, forming a closed loop. Data flows in one direction around the
ring, and each device acts as a repeater, regenerating the signal.

Fig.2: Star topology

Features of Ring Topology

1. A number of repeaters are used for Ring topology with large number of nodes, because if
someone wants to send some data to the last node in the ring topology with 100 nodes,
then the data will have to pass through 99 nodes to reach the 100th node. Hence to
prevent data loss repeaters are used in the network.
2. The transmission is unidirectional, but it can be made bidirectional by having 2
connections between each Network Node, it is called Dual Ring Topology.
 3. In Dual Ring Topology, two ring networks are formed, and data flow is in opposite
direction in them. Also, if one ring fails, the second ring can act as a backup, to keep the
network up.
4. Data is transferred in a sequential manner that is bit by bit. Data transmitted, has to pass
through each node of the network, till the destination node.
Advantages of Ring Topology
1. Transmitting network is not affected by high traffic or by adding more nodes, as only the
nodes having tokens can transmit data.
2. Cheap to install and expand
Disadvantages of Ring Topology
1. Troubleshooting is difficult in ring topology.
2. Adding or deleting the computers disturbs the network activity.
3. Failure of one computer disturbs the whole network.

3. STAR Topology
In this type of topology all the computers are connected to a single hub through a cable. This hub
is the central node and all others nodes are connected to the central node.
Devices are connected to a central hub or switch, forming a star-like structure. All communication passes
through the central hub, which manages and directs traffic.

Fig.3: Star topology

Features of Star Topology

1. Every node has its own dedicated connection to the hub.
2. Hub acts as a repeater for data flow.
3. Can be used with twisted pair, Optical Fibre or coaxial cable.
Advantages of Star Topology
1. Fast performance with few nodes and low network traffic.
2. Hub can be upgraded easily.
3. Easy to troubleshoot.
4. Easy to setup and modify.
5. Only that node is affected which has failed, rest of the nodes can work smoothly.
Disadvantages of Star Topology
1. Cost of installation is high.
2. Expensive to use.
3. If the hub fails, then the whole network is stopped because all the nodes depend on the
hub.
4. Performance is based on the hub that is it depends on its capacity

4. MESH Topology
It is a point-to-point connection to other nodes or devices. All the network nodes are connected
to each other. Mesh has n(n-1)/2 physical channels to link n devices.
Every device is interconnected with every other device in the network. This can be full mesh (direct
connections between all devices) or partial mesh (only specific devices are directly connected).
There are two techniques to transmit data over the Mesh topology, they are :
1. Routing
2. Flooding

Fig.4: Mesh topology

Features of Mesh Topology

1. Fully connected.
 2. Robust.
3. Not flexible.
Advantages of Mesh Topology
1. Each connection can carry its own data load.
2. It is robust.
3. Fault is diagnosed easily.
4. Provides security and privacy.
Disadvantages of Mesh Topology
1. Installation and configuration is difficult.
2. Cabling cost is more.
3. Bulk wiring is required.

5. TREE Topology
It has a root node and all other nodes are connected to it forming a hierarchy. It is also called
hierarchical topology. It should at least have three levels to the hierarchy.
Devices are arranged in a hierarchical structure resembling a tree. This can be a combination of bus, star,
or other topologies.

Fig.5: Tree topology

Features of Tree Topology

1. Ideal if workstations are located in groups.
2. Used in Wide Area Network.
Advantages of Tree Topology
1. Extension of bus and star topologies.
2. Expansion of nodes is possible and easy.
3. Easily managed and maintained.
4. Error detection is easily done.
Disadvantages of Tree Topology
1. Heavily cabled.
2. Costly.
3. If more nodes are added maintenance is difficult.
4. Central hub fails, network fails.
6. HYBRID Topology
It is two different types of topologies which is a mixture of two or more topologies. For example,
if in an office in one department ring topology is used and in another star topology is used,
connecting these topologies will result in Hybrid Topology (ring topology and star topology).
A combination of two or more basic topologies to form a more complex and flexible network.
Point-to-Point Topology: Each device is directly connected to another single device. This is common in
WAN (Wide Area Network) connections.

Understanding the network topology is essential for network administrators to design, manage,
troubleshoot, and optimize the network's performance and efficiency. Different topologies have distinct
advantages and disadvantages, depending on factors such as scalability, fault tolerance, cost, and ease of
administration. Organizations choose the most appropriate topology based on their specific requirements
and constraints.

Fig.6: Hybrid topology

Features of Hybrid Topology
1. It is a combination of two or more topologies
2. Inherits the advantages and disadvantages of the topologies included
Advantages of Hybrid Topology
1. Reliable as Error detecting and troubleshooting is easy.
2. Effective.
3. Scalable as size can be increased easily.
 4. Flexible.
Disadvantages of Hybrid Topology
1. Complex in design.
2. Costly.