CBSE CLASS XII (2024-25) COMPUTER SCIENCE NOTES

UNIT – 2 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Computer Network - When Two or more autonomous computing devices connected to one another in order to
exchange information or share resources called a computer network. A computer network is a collection of
interconnected computers and other devices which are able to communicate with each other. Also defined as -
collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing
of resources and information.

Advantages of Computer Network

 Resource Sharing
 Cost Saving
 Collaborative user interaction
 Time savings
 Increased storage
 Central Storage of Data
 Faster Problem-solving
 Security through Authorization

Disadvantages of Computer Network

 If network are badly managed, services can become unusable and productivity fails
 If software and files held centrally, it may be impossible to carry out any work if the central server fails.
 File protection from viruses
 To handle network of organization you may need specialist staff to run the network
 Expensive

Data Communication - Data Communication is defined as exchange of data between two devices via some form
of transmission media such as a cable, wire or it can be air or vacuum also. For occurrence of data communication,
communicating devices must be a part of communication system made up of a combination of hardware or
software devices and programs.

Components of Data Communication System - There are mainly five components of a data communication
system:
1. Message
2. Sender
3. Receiver
4. Transmission Medium
5. Set of rules (Protocol)
 Figure – Components of Data Communication System

1. Message - The message simply refers to data or piece of information which is to be communicated. A
message could be in any form, it may be in form of a text file, an audio file, a video file, etc.

2. Sender - Sender transfer message from source to destination. It is a device that sends data message. The
device could be in form of a computer, mobile, telephone, laptop, video camera, or a workstation, etc.

3. Receiver - It is destination where finally message sent by source has arrived. It is a device that receives
message. Receiver can also be in form of a computer, telephone mobile, workstation, etc.

4. Transmission Medium - It is a path by which data or message travels from sender to receiver. Transmission
medium could be guided (with wires) or unguided (without wires), for example, twisted pair cable, fiber
optic cable, radio waves, microwaves, etc.

5. Set of rules (Protocol) - The protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication. If two different
devices are connected but there is no protocol among them, there would not be any kind of communication
between those two devices.

Example of a data communication system is sending an E-mail. The user which send email act as sender,
message is data which user wants to send, receiver is one whom user wants to send message, there are many
protocols involved in this entire process, one of them is Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), both sender
and receiver must have an internet connection which uses a wireless medium to send and receive email.
Switch - Network switches provide automatic link connections that remove time-consuming settings and provide easy
access to network devices. As MAC Address is used for the devices connected to it, that helps in the delivery of messages
to only the required destination, not everywhere.
Repeater – A Repeater is a network device that amplifies and restore signals for long distance transmission. we need a
repeater when the total length of a of a network cable exceeds 100 Metres. Repeaters are of two kinds - amplifier and signal
repeater.

Bridge – A bridge is a device that link to networks together. It only allow those messages that need to get to the other side
to cross the bridge. It connect multiple LANs together with a larger Local Area Network (LAN) and used to divide network
connections into sections.

Gateway – A Gateway is a device that connects the dissimilar networks. A gateway is actually a node on a network that
serves as an entrance to another network. it establishes an intelligent connection between Local Network and external
network. Gateway node acts as a proxy server and a Firewall.

WiFi Card - A Wi-Fi card/ wireless card/ wireless network card, is a hardware component that enables a device to
connect to a wireless network. It transfer the data over radio frequency signals without physical cables. It is either an
internal or external Local Area Network adapter with a built-in wireless radio and antenna. In computers PCI-Express
card slots made to fit the wifi card.
Ethernet card – It is a type of NIC card. An Ethernet card enables a computer to access the Internet by means of an
Ethernet cable and contains connection for either coaxial or twisted pair cables ( or both). An Ethernet port is necessary to
connect the cable to the computer.

Capacity of data communication –

 Data Channel – Channel is a medium used to carry information of data from one point to another.
 Bandwidth – It refers to the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of a transmission channel.
Network bandwidth is the maximum capacity of a wired or wireless communications link to deliver data in
a given amount of time. High bandwidth channels are called broadband channels and low bandwidth
channels are called narrowband channels. To download Large files, videos requires more bandwidth
comparison to download a text page in one second. In digital system bandwidth measured in bits per second
(bps) while in analog system it measure in cycles per secong i.e. hertz.

 Data transfer rate – The data transfer rate represents the amount of data transferred per second by a
communication channel or a device. Data is measured in units of bits per second(bps), bytes per second
(Bps). When applied to data rate, the multiplier prefixes ‘kilo’, ‘mega’, ‘giga’, ‘tera’ always denotes power
 of 1000. For example, 64kbps is 64000 bits per second. This contrasts with units of storage where they
stand for powers of 1024, e.g. 1KB=1024 bytes.

Write example 10.1 on page no 420.

Switching Techniques – The technique by which nodes of a network transmit data to other nodes, is known as
swithcing technique. These are-

1. Circuit switching – In circuit switching, a connection is established between the source and destination
before transfer the data. Once the connection is established then the dedicated path will remain to exist until
the connection is terminated. A complete end-to-end path exist before the communication takes place. It is
used in public telephone network for voice transmission. Fixed data can be transferred at a time.

2. Packet switching - In packet switching, the message is divided into smaller pieces known as packets, are
sent individually. Packets are given a unique number to identify their order at the receiving end. Every packet
contains some information such as source address, destination address and sequence number. The packets
are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order. If any packet is missing or corrupted, then the message
will be sent to resend the message. If the correct order of the packets is reached, then the acknowledgment/
response message will be sent.

3. Message Switching – In message switching, the source node send data or a message to the switching office
first, which stores the data in its buffer then transferred through intermediate nodes. There is no establishment
 of a dedicated path between the sender and receiver. Each and every node stores the entire message and then
forward it to the next node. This type of network is known as store and forward network.

IP Address – It stands for Internet Protocol Address and unique address for host. It is used to transfer data
from one network to another network using the TCP/IP Protocol. It is a logical address, which may change in
different network. There are two versions of IP address – IPv4 and IPv6.
1. IPv4 – Internet Protocol version 4 is a 4-byte(32 bit) adderss written in form of dotted decimal notation,
where each byte’s value is separated with dot(.).

123.101.16.90

4 Bytes = 32 bits

2. IPv6 - Internet Protocol version 6 is a 16-byte(128 bit) adderss written in form of 8 groups of hexadecimal
numbers, separated with a colon( : ).

2001 : 0DC8 : E004 : 0001 : 0000 : 0000 : 0000 : F00A

16 Bytes =128 bits

Evolution of Networking –
1. ARPANET - It stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. It was the first network that came
into existence in 1969, which was designed and named by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
It was where a bunch of PCs for sharing information and messages and playing long separation diversions
and associating with individuals to share their perspectives.

2. NSFNET – It stands for National Science Federation Network. It came into 1980 and was more capable than
ARPANET and was to use networks only for academic research. Later, many privately owned businesses
with their very own private systems joined with ARPANET and NSFNET to make a more capable and wide
network, the Internet.
ARPANET + NSFNET + PRIVATE NETWORKS = INTERNET

3. INTERNET - Internet is a network of networks. In 1989, it came into existence. It has evolved from ARPANET.
It connects billions of computers, webpages, websites, and servers to the World Wide Web using routers,
switches and telephone lines, and other communication devices and channels. So, it considered a global
 network of physical cables such as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, tv cables, etc. even wireless
connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi. Using the internet we can send emails, photos, videos, and messages.
.

Web Services - Web Service is the set of rules or guidelines which enable communication among different
applications via the World wide web. Web services are invoked by the user directly or indirectly to provide
services to the program/software which is being used as a part of www.

 WWW - World Wide Web was created by Tim Berners Lee in 1989 at CERN in Geneva. The world wide web
(‘www’ or ‘web’ for short) is a collection of webpages found on the network of computers and a way of
exchanging information between computers on the Internet.

 DNS - The Domain Name System is the phonebook of the Internet. It translates human readable domain names
(for example, www.example.com) to machine readable IP addresses (for example, 192.168.1.10).

 URL –A Uniform Resource Locator is a Unique identifier that is contained all the resources available on
the internet. It help to locate a particular resource due to its uniqueness. It is also known as the web address.
A URL consists of different parts like protocol, domain name, extention etc. The users can access the URLs
by simply typing them inside the address bar or by clicking any button or link web page.

 Website - A website is a collection of many web pages, which are grouped together and usually connected
together in various ways. The web pages are linked with hyperlinks and hypertext and share a common
interface and design. The website contain documents and files such as images, videos, or other digital
assets.

 Web Browser - The web browser provides an interface between the server and the client and it requests to
the server for web documents and services. A web browser helps us find information anywhere on the
internet. It is installed on the client computer and requests information from the web server. The browser
receives information through HTTP protocol. When the browser received data from the server, it is
rendered in HTML to user-readable form and, information is displayed on the device screen. E.g. – Mozila
firefox, Google chrome, Opera mini, UC browser, Apple safari etc.
 Web Servers - A web server is a software application or hardware device that stores, processes, and serves
web content to users over the internet. Web servers operate on the HTTP. When you enter a website’s URL
into your browser, it sends an HTTP request to the web server hosting that website, which then sends back
the web page you requested, allowing you to view it in your browser. E.g. Apache Tomcat, Microsoft’s
Internet Information Services (IIS) Windows Server , Nginx web server , Jigsaw , Zeus web server etc.

 Web Hosting - Web Hosting is like renting space on the Internet or the web browser. It provides a space
to keep our website’s data on a server. When someone enters domain name into their browser, this server
promptly displays your site to them. There are some process of web hosting are -

Domain Registration
Choose a Hosting Provider
Server Configuration
Uploading Website Files
Database Setup
DNS (Domain Name System) Configuration
Website Accessibility
Ongoing Maintenance
Handle Traffic
Technical Support and Troubleshooting

There are four main types of web hosting:

• Shared hosting – share by multiple domains/web sites.
• VPS (virtual private server) hosting - The main server is split into multiple virtual servers that can be
customized by individual websites.
• Dedicated hosting - Websites being hosted on a dedicated server have complete technical control over the
server settings. We choose the software, configurations, and anything else we need.
• Cloud hosting - Cloud hosting plans come with multiple remote servers. Each server has different
responsibilities. If one of the servers is compromised or has a problem, the other servers on the network will
take over those responsibilities and pick up the slack.

 HTML - stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the standard language with combination of
Hypertext and Markup language, where Hypertext defines the link between the web pages and Markup
language defines the text document within the tag. It is used to create and design web pages on the internet.
It was introduced by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991 at CERN as a simple markup language. Since then, it has
evolved through versions from HTML 2.0 to HTML5 (the latest 2024 version).

 XML - Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding
documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. The design goals of XML focus
on simplicity, generality, and usability across the Internet. It is a textual data format with strong support
via Unicode for different human languages. The language is widely used for the representation of arbitrary
data structures such as those used in web services.
Protocols - A network protocol is set of rules and regulations that determine how data is transmitted between
different devices in the same network. It dictate, how to format, transmit and receive data on computer network
devices – like servers, routers to endpoints. It defines the format, timing, sequencing and error control of data
exchange. Some protocols are-

 TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) - TCP transfer the data of a computer from
one device to another and also make data reliable and accurate so that the receiver will receive the same
information which is sent by the sender. TCP divides data into packets and combines them at the other end.
The packets have information about the source of the message data, the destination of the message data, the
sequence in which the message data should be re-assembled, and checks if the message has been sent
correctly to the specific destination. The TCP is also known as a connection-oriented protocol. The IP
protocol Provides addressing and routing of packets across networks and ensures that each computer that is
connected to the Internet is having a specific serial number called the IP address.
 FTP - File Transfer Protocol, is used to transfer data files between a client and a server over a computer
network. It transfer files from one host to another over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP works
by opening two connections that link the computers trying to communicate with each other.
 Point-to-Point Protocol(PPP) - It is a communication protocol that is used to create a direct connection
between two communicating devices. This protocol defines the rules using which two devices will
authenticate with each other and exchange information with each other.
 Simple Mail Transfer mechanism (SMTP) – SMTP is a mechanism for exchanging email messages
between servers. it is usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or IMAP, that let the user save
messages in a server mailbox and download them periodically from the server. Many mail servers now
support Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (ESMTP), which allows multimedia files to be delivered
as e-mail.
 POP3 - Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) is a standard mail protocol used to receive emails from a
remote server to a local email client. It allows us to download email messages on our local computer and
read them even when we are offline.
 VOIP - Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), allows us to make voice calls using a broadband Internet
connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. VoIP convert our voice into a digital signal that
travels over the Internet. VoIP can allow us to make a call directly from a computer.
 Telnet – Telnet is most popular protocol for accessing remote site/server. Using telnet client software, we
can make a connection to a telnet server (remote host). Once telnet client establishes a connection to the
remote host, client becomes a virtual terminal, allowing us to communicate with the remote host from
computer. The client computer uses the telnet client program whereas the remote computer uses the telnet
server program.
 HTTP - stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. By this web browsers and servers communicate to share
information on the internet. When you visit a website, HTTP helps your browser request and receive the
data needed to display the web pages you see. Whenever a user opens their web browser, the user will
indirectly use HTTP, that is being used to share text, images, and other multimedia files on the WWW
 HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) - HTTPS is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network with the SSL(Secure Sockets
Layer)/TLS(Transport Layer Security) protocol for encryption and authentication. A website has an HTTPS
protocol, secure enough to enter sensitive information such as credit card details, debit card details, OTP,
etc. SSL certificate installed to make the website more secure.