Chapter 3

NETWORK HARDWARE AND COMMUNICATION

 In a broader manner, there are two types of transmission technology that are in
widespread use: Broadcast links and Point-to-Point links
 Point-to-point links connect individual pairs of machines. To go from the source to
the destination on a network made up of point-to-point links, short messages,
called packets in certain contexts, may have to first visit one or more
intermediate machines
 Point-to-point transmission with exactly one sender and exactly one receiver is
sometimes called Unicasting.
 In contrast, on a broadcast network, the communication channel is shared by all
the machines on the network; packets sent by any machine are received by all the
others.
 A wireless network is a common example of a broadcast link, with communication
shared over a coverage region that depends on the wireless channel and the
transmitting machine.
 This mode of operation where systems usually also allow the possibility of
addressing a packet to all destinations by using a special code in the address field
is called Broadcasting.
 Some broadcast systems also support transmission to a subset of the machines,
which known as Multicasting
 There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks
can be characterized by their size as well as their purpose.
 The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy
and the number of computers that are part of the network.
 Networks can cover anything from a handful of devices within a single room
to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.
 Some of the common network types by scale are
 Personal Area Networks (PAN)
 Local Areal Network (LAN)
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
 Wide Area Networks(WAN)

 In terms of purpose, many networks can be considered general purpose,

which means they are used for everything from sending files to a printer to
accessing the Internet.
 Some types of networks, however, serve a very particular purpose. Some of
the different networks based on their main purpose are:
 Storage area network, or SAN
 Enterprise private network, or EPN
 Virtual private network, or VPN
Personal Area Network

 A personal area network, or PAN, is a computer network organized around an

individual person within a single building. This could be inside a small office or
residence.
 A typical PAN would include one or more computers, telephones, peripheral
devices, video game consoles and other personal entertainment devices.
 A PAN may include wired and wireless devices. The reach of a PAN typically
extends to 10 meters.
 A wired PAN is usually constructed with USB and FireWire connections while
technologies such as Bluetooth and infrared communication typically form a
wireless PAN.
 This type of network provides great flexibility. For example, it allows you to:
 Send a document to the printer in the office upstairs while you are sitting
on the couch with your laptop.
 Upload the photo from your cell phone to your desktop computer.
 Watch movies from an online streaming service to your TV.
Local Area Network
 A local area network, or LAN, consists of a computer network at a single site,
typically an individual office building, Home or factory and are part of
Enterprise Private Networks
 A LAN is very useful for sharing resources, such as data storage and printers.
LANs can be built with relatively inexpensive hardware, such as hubs, network
adapters and Ethernet cables.
 The smallest LAN may only use two computers, while larger LANs can
accommodate thousands of computers.
 Wireless LANs or WLANs are very popular these days, especially in homes,
older office buildings, cafeterias, and other places where it is too much
trouble to install cables.
 A device, called an Access Point(AP), wireless router, or base station, relays
packets between the wireless computers and also between them and the
Internet
 LANs use both physical and logical modes of transmission
 Wired LANs are most likely based on Ethernet technology
 Wireless LANs use a standard called IEEE 802.11, popularly known as Wi-Fi
 Figure below demonstrates a LAN setup
Metropolitan Area Network

 A metropolitan area network, or MAN, consists of a computer network

across an entire city, college campus or small region.
 Depending on the configuration, this type of network can cover an
area from several miles to tens of miles.
 A MAN is often used to connect several LANs together to form a bigger
network.
 When this type of network is specifically designed for a college
campus, it is sometimes referred to as a campus area network, or CAN
 Recent developments in high-speed wireless Internet access have
resulted in another MAN, which has been standardized as IEEE 802.16
and is popularly known as WiMAX
Illustration of MAN topology
Wide Area Network

 A WAN (Wide Area Network) spans a large geographical area, often a

country or continent.
 The Internet is the best-known example of a public WAN.
 Most WANs are made up of small communication channels within the
bigger network called Subnets.
 The function of the subnet is to carry messages from host to host, just
as the telephone system carries words from speaker to listener.
Geographical illustration of a WAN
Internetworks
 An internetwork is the connection of multiple computer networks via a
common routing technology using routers.
 A collection of interconnected networks is called an internetwork or internet.
These terms will be used in a generic sense, in contrast to the worldwide
Internet (which is one specific internet), which we will always capitalize.
 The Internet uses ISP networks to connect enterprise networks, home
networks, and many other networks
 People connected to one network often want to communicate with people
attached to a different one. The fulfillment of this desire requires that
different, and frequently incompatible, networks be connected.
 Within the internetwork there are also several demarcations that serve
various function. The internet can be divided into two other categories
namely :
 Intranet
 Extranet
Intranet
 An intranet is a set of Internet services inside a local network under the
control of a single administrative entity, i.e. only accessible from
workstations of a local network, or rather a set of well-defined networks that
are invisible (or inaccessible) from the outside.
 A good example of the intranet is a web server
 It involves the use of Internet client-server standards (using TCP/IP) protocols
such as, for example, the use of Web browsers (HTTP protocol-based client)
and Web servers (HTTP protocol), to create an information system inside of
an organization or enterprise.
 The administrative entity limits use of the intranet to its authorized users
 An intranet is generally based on a three-tier architecture, comprising:
 Clients (generally Web browsers)
 One or several application servers (middleware): a web server which
makes it possible to interpret CGI, PHP, ASP or other scripts and translate
them into SQL queries to query a database
 Database server.
Functions of Intranets
 An intranet within an enterprise makes it easy to make a wide variety of
different documents available to employees, which provides centralized and
coherent access to the enterprise's knowledge, which is referred to as
capitalization of knowledge.
 Here are some of the functions which may be provided by an Intranet:
 Access to information regarding the enterprise (bulletin board
 Access to technical documents
 Search engine for documentations
 Exchange of data among coworkers
 Staff roster
 Project management, decision-making aid, agenda, computer-aided
engineering
 Electronic messaging
 Discussion forum, distribution list, direct chat
 Videoconference
 Internet portal
Extranets

 An extranet is an extension of the information system of the company to its

partners located outside of the network.
 Access to the extranet must be secured to the extent that the same provides
access to the information system for persons located outside of the enterprise
 This might involve simple authentication (authentication via user name and
password) or strong authentication (authentication via a certificate)
 An extranet is therefore neither an Intranet nor an Internet site.
 It is rather a supplementary system providing, for example, the clients of an
enterprise, its partners or its subsidiaries with privileged access to certain
computer resources of the enterprise via a Web interface.
 Network connection to an extranet is often, but not always, implemented via
WAN technology
A representation of an Intranet and Extranet in a LAN environment
Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
 A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a network connection that enables you to
create a secure connection over the public Internet to private networks at a
remote location.
 enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if
their computing devices were directly connected to the private network, and
thus are benefiting from the functionality, security and management policies
of the private network
 A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through
the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic
encryption.
 VPNs have evolved to provide the same level of secure communication
between any device on the internet.
 Today, using VPN is increasingly popular among consumers as a means to
protect their privacy online, secure their browsing sessions, and get
unrestricted access to content or websites that are otherwise blocked or
censored
Types of VPNs
 VPNs differ by architecture, purpose of usage, and accessibility. Two basic
types of accessibility are Site-to-Site VPN and Remote Access VPN.
 Site-to-site VPNs :Used in the corporate environment. A site-to-site VPN
ensures the safe encrypted connection of two or more local area networks
(LANs) of the same company or of different companies. It means two
geographically separated offices are virtually bridged together into a single
LAN and users can access data throughout
 Through the use of dedicated equipment and large-scale encryption, a
company can connect multiple fixed sites over a public network such as the
Internet. Each site needs only a local connection to the same public network,
thereby saving money on long private leased-lines.
 Site-to-site VPNs can be further categorized into intranets or extranets t this
network
 A site-to-site VPN built between offices of the same company is said to be an
intranet VPN, while a VPN built to connect the company to its partner or
customer is referred to as an extranet VPN.
 Remote-Access VPN :Also called a Virtual Private Dial-up Network (VPDN), this
is a user-to-LAN connection used by a company that has employees who need
to connect to the private network from various remote locations.
 Typically, a corporation that wishes to set up a large remote-access VPN
provides some form of Internet dial-up account to their users using an
Internet service provider (ISP
 A good example of a company that needs a remote-access VPN would be a
large firm with hundreds of sales people in the field. Remote-access VPNs
permit secure, encrypted connections between a company's private network
and remote users through a third-party service provider.

Figure above Site-to-Site VPN and Remote Access VPN connecting to a Corporate
Network
Advantages of VPNs
 A well-designed VPN can greatly benefit a company. For example, it
can:
 Extend geographic connectivity
 Reduce operational costs versus traditional WANs
 Reduce transit times and traveling costs for remote users
 Improve productivity
 Simplify network topology
 Provide global networking opportunities
 Provide telecommuter support
 Provide faster Return On Investment (ROI) than traditional WAN
Characteristics of a VPN

 A well-designed VPN should incorporate these items

 Security
 Reliability
 Scalability
 Network Management
 Policy Management
Networking and Internetworking Devices
 Networking hardware may also be known as network equipment or computer
networking devices.
 These are devices that perform specific functions on a computer network
 Typically, networking hardware includes
 Router
 Switch
 Hub
 Bridges
 Gateways
 Repeaters
 Network Interface Cards (NIC)
 ISDN Terminal Adapters
 Router
 A networking device that forwards data packets between computer
networks
 They process logical addressing information in the Network header of
a packet such as IP Addresses.
 Router is used to create larger complex networks by complex traffic
routing
 Router is used to create larger complex networks by complex traffic
routing
 A router primarily comprises of a hardware device or a system of the
computer which has more than one network interface and routing
software.
A simple network router
Functionality:
 When a router receives the data, it determines the destination address by
reading the header of the packet. Once the address is determined, it searches
in its Routing Table to get know how to reach the destination and then
forwards the packet to the higher hop on the route. The hop could be the
final destination or another router
 Routing tables play a very pivotal role in letting the router makes a decision.
Thus a routing table is ought to be updated and complete. The two ways
through which a router can receive information are:
 Static Routing: In static routing, the routing information is fed into the
routing tables manually. It does not only become a time-taking task but
gets prone to errors as well. The manual updating is also required in case
of statically configured routers when change in the topology of the
network or in the layout takes place. Thus static routing is feasible for
tinniest environments with minimum of one or two routers
 Dynamic Routing :For larger environment dynamic routing proves to be
the practical solution. The process involves use of peculiar routing
protocols to hold communication. The purpose of these protocols is to
enable the other routers to transfer information about to other routers,
so that the other routers can build their own routing tables
 HDMI over Cat5 Repeater
Switch
 A device that connects devices together on a computer network, by using
packet switching to receive, process and forward data to the destination
device.
 Switches are the linkage points of an Ethernet network
 a network switch forwards data only to one or multiple devices that need to
receive it, rather than broadcasting the same data out of each of its port.
 Switches operate in full-duplex mode where devices can send and receive
data from the switch at the simultaneously unlike in half-duplex mode.
 Switches operate in a Cut-through transmission by allowing the packets to be
forwarded as soon as they are received and The method is prompt and quick
but the possibility of error checking gets overlooked in such kind of packet
data transmission
 Switches form an integral part in designing modern LANS
 A cisco switch
Repeaters
 A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal/data packet and
retransmits it at a higher level or higher power , or onto the other side of an
obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances.
 A repeater is like a typical home stereo amplifier, They simply boost whatever
they receive and send it on its way.
 Unfortunately the signal they receive could be a good frame of data, a bad
frame of data, or even background noise. A repeater does not discern data
quality; it simply looks at each of the individual digital pulses and amplifies
them.
 A repeater is a cheap, effective way of extending your cable lengths. For
example, the maximum allowable distance for Ethernet cable is 600 feet. By
using a repeater, this distance can be extended to 1,200 feet. By using
multiple repeaters this distance can continue to be extended until the
maximum overall length specification of the topology is reached.
Bridges
 A bridge incorporates the functionality of a repeater (signal amplification),
but it actually looks at the frames of data
 Bridges are usually more intelligent than repeaters because the possess the
capability of reading each data packet which is being sent on a network,
resolving its IP address and forwarding it or amplifying it to its intended
destination.
 Bridges broadcast to all ports except the port on which the broadcast was
received.
 Bridges come in three basic types:
 Local bridges: Directly connect local area networks (LANs)
 Remote bridges: Can be used to create a wide area network (WAN) link
between LANs..
 Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote stations to
LANs.
 Netgear Bridge
Gateway
 Gateways, also called Protocol Converters
 A network gateway is an internetworking system capable of joining together
two networks that use different base protocols.
 A network gateway can be implemented completely in software, completely
in hardware, or as a combination of both depending on the types of protocols
they support
 Gateways are equipped for interfacing with another network that uses
different protocols.
 A gateway may contain devices such as protocol translators, impedance
matching devices, rate converters, fault isolators, or signal translators as
necessary to provide system interoperability. It also requires the
establishment of mutually acceptable administrative procedures between
both networks.
 In a workplace, the gateway is the computer that routes traffic from a
workstation to the outside network that is serving up the Web pages. For
basic Internet connections at home, the gateway is the Internet Service
Provider that gives you access to the entire Internet.
Firewall

 A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the

incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
 A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted, secure internal
network and another outside network, such as the Internet, that is assumed
to not be secure or trusted.
 Firewalls are often categorized as either Network firewalls or Host-based
firewalls
 Network firewalls are a software appliance running on general purpose
hardware or hardware-based firewall computer appliances that filter traffic
between two or more networks.
 Host-based firewalls provide a layer of software on one host that controls
network traffic in and out of that single machine