Network topologies

1- Bus 2- Ring 3- Start

Cisco 2600

Network Cable type

Straight cable- crossover cable- rollover cable

Network Characteristics

Host
The term host refers to any computer or device that is connected to a network and sends or receives
information on that network. A host can be a server, a workstation, a printer with its own network card, or a
device such as a router.
The-server
is a special computer that contains more disk space and memory than are found on client workstations. The
server has special software installed that allows it to function as a server.
Workstation
The workstation also is known as a client, which is just a basic computer running a client operating system
 such as Windows XP or Linux. A typical network involves having users sit at workstations, running such
applications as word processors or spreadsheet programs.

The following characteristics should be considered in network design and ongoing maintenance:
 Availability.
Availability is typically measured in a percentage based on the number of minutes that exist in a year. Therefore,
uptime would be the number of minutes the network is available divided by the number of minutes in a year.

 Cost
includes the cost of the network components, their installation, and their ongoing maintenance.

 Reliability
defines the reliability of the network components and the connectivity between them. Mean time between
failures (MTBF) is commonly used to measure reliability.

 Security
includes the protection of the network components and the data they contain and/or the data transmitted
between them.

 Speed
includes how fast data is transmitted between network end points (the data rate).

Scalability
defines how well the network can adapt to new growth, including new users, applications, and network
components.

Topology
describes the physical cabling layout and the logical way data moves between components.
Many different types and locations of networks exist. You might use a network in your home or home office to
communicate via the Internet, to locate information, to place orders for merchandise, and to send messages to
friends. You might have work in a small office that is set up with a network that connects other computers and
printers in the office. You might work in a large enterprise in which many computers, printers, storage devices, and
servers communicate and store information from many departments over large geographic areas.
Networks carry data in many types of environments, including homes, small businesses, and large enterprises. In a
large enterprise, a number of locations might need to Communicate with each other, and you can describe those
locations as follows:
Corporate office:
A Corporate or main office is a site where everyone is connected via a network and where the bulk of corporate
information is located. A Corporate office can have hundreds or even thousands of people who depend on network
access to do their jobs. A main office might use several connected networks, which can span many floors in an office
building or cover a campus that contains several buildings.
Remote locations:
A variety of remote access locations use networks to connect to the main office or to each other.
Branch offices:
In branch offices, smaller groups of people work and communicate with each other via a network. Although some
corporate information might be stored at a branch office, it is more likely that branch offices have local network
resources, such as printers, but must access information directly from the main office.
Home offices:
When individuals work from home, the location is called a home office. Home office workers often require on-demand
connections to the main or branch offices to access information or to use network resources such as file servers.
Mobile users:
Mobile users connect to the main office network while at the main office, at the branch office, or traveling. The
network access needs of mobile users are based on where the mobile users are located.
Network Components
All of these networks share many common components. As we describe in definition that network is basically sharing
of information via network components. So network component play a major role in designing and maintaining
network. Some most essential network components listed here.
Network Components

Applications network-aware network unaware

Protocols open standard proprietary

Computer Windows, Macintosh OS, UNIX, Linux

Networking Devices hubs, bridges, switches, routers, firewalls, wireless access points, modems

Media types copper,coxial,utp, fiber cabling

Types of Networks

Organizations of different structures, sizes, and budgets need different types of networks. Networks
can be divided into one of two categories:

peer-to-peer

server-based networks

Peer-to-Peer Network

A peer-to-peer network has no dedicated servers; instead, a number of workstations are connected
together for the purpose of sharing information or devices. Peer-to-peer networks are designed to
satisfy the networking needs of home networks or of small companies that do not want to spend a lot
of money on a dedicated server but still want to have the capability to share information or devices
like in school, college, cyber cafe

Server-Based Networks

In server-based network data files that will be used by all of the users are stored on the one server.
With a server-based network, the network server stores a list of users who may use network
resources and usually holds the resources as well.
This will help by giving you a central point to set up permissions on the data files, and it will give you a
central point from which to back up all of the data in case data loss should occur.

Network Communications

Computer networks use signals to transmit data, and protocols are the languages computers use to
communicate.

Protocols provide a variety of communications services to the computers on the network.

Local area networks connect computers using a shared, half-duplex, baseband medium, and wide area
networks link distant networks.

Enterprise networks often consist of clients and servers on horizontal segments connected by a
common backbone, while peer-to-peer networks consist of a small number of computers on a single
LAN.
 The Layers

Think of the seven layers as the assembly line in the computer. At each layer, certain things happen to
the data that prepare it for the next layer. The seven layers, which separate into two sets, are:
Application Set
 Layer 7: Application - This is the layer that actually interacts with the operating system or application
whenever the user chooses to transfer files, read messages or perform other network-related activities.
 Layer 6: Presentation - Layer 6 takes the data provided by the Application layer and converts it into a
standard format that the other layers can understand.
 Layer 5: Session - Layer 5 establishes, maintains and ends communication with the receiving device.
Transport Set
 Layer 4: Transport - This layer maintains flow control of data and provides for error checking and
recovery of data between the devices. Flow control means that the Transport layer looks to see if data is
coming from more than one application and integrates each application's data into a single stream for the
physical network.
 Layer 3: Network - The way that the data will be sent to the recipient device is determined in this layer.
Logical protocols, routing and addressing are handled here.
 Layer 2: Data - In this layer, the appropriate physical protocol is assigned to the data. Also, the type of
network and the packet sequencing is defined.
 Layer 1: Physical - This is the level of the actual hardware. It defines the physical characteristics of the
network such as connections, voltage levels and timing.

The OSI Reference Model is really just a guideline. Actual protocol stacks often combine one or more of
the OSI layers into a single layer.

IP address classes
The class A address 127 .x.y.z is reserved for loopback testing and intercrosses
communication on the local computer.

Class Network ID Subnet mask Network value

A 1 255.0.0.0 1.0.0.0 to 126.0.0.0
B 255.255.0.0 128.0.0.0 to 191.0.0.0
C 255.255.255.0 192.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.0
D 255.255.255.255 224 to 239 Multitask
E 240 to 255 Research