COMPUTER NETWORKS

1.1 INTRODUCTION:

 A network is an interconnected collection of autonomous computer that can share

and exchange information.
 Some of the important applications of network are:
o Sharing
o Access to remote database
o Communication facilities

ADVANTAGES:

 Resource Sharing means to make all programs, data and peripherals available to anyone
on the network irrespective of the physical location of the resources and the user.
 Reliability means to keep the copy of a file on two or more different machines , so if one
of them is unavailable (due to some hardware crash or any other), then its other copy can
be used.
 Cost factor means it greatly reduces the cost since the resources can be shared.
 Communication Medium means one can send messages and whatever changes at one
end are done can be immediately noticed at another.

1.2. EVOLUTION OF NETWORKING

 In 1969, U.S. Department of Defence sponsored a project named ARPANET

(Advanced Research Project Agency Network)
 The goal of the project was to connect various universities and US Defence.
 In mid-1980’s National Science Foundation created a new high capacity network
called NSFnet, which was more powerful than ARPANET.
 In 1990, Internet came into picture.

ARPANET:

The Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET) was one of the world’s first
operational packet switching networks, the first network to implement TCP/IP, and the progenitor of
what was to become the global internet.

INTERNET:

 The internet is a worldwide network of computer network evolved from the first
network ARPANET.
 Internet is an interconnection of large and small networks around the globe.
 The common use of internet standards allows users connected to one network
to communicate with users on another network.

Internet Functions:

 At the source computer, the message or the file to be sent to another computer is
firstly divided into very small parts called Packets.
 Each packet is given a number serialwise e.g. 1,2,3…..
 All these packets are then sent to the destination computer
  The destination computer receives the packets in random manner. If a packet is
garbled or lost, it is demanded again.
 The packets are reassembled in the order of their number and the original message
is obtained.

Communication Protocol used by Internet

The communication protocol used by internet is TCP/IP

 TCP (transmission Control Protocol) is responsible for dividing the message into
packets on the source computer. It is also responsible for reassembling the received
packets at
the destination computer.
 IP (Internet Protocol) is responsible for handing the address of destination computer so
that each packet is routed to its proper destination.

INTERSPACE

 Interspace is a client /server software program that allows multiple users to

communicate online with real-time audio, video and text chat in dynamic 3D
environments.
 Interspace provides the most advanced form of communication available on the
internet today.

1.3. COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER NETWORK

(a) Nodes / Hosts – Computers that are attached to a network and are seeking to share the
resources of the network

(b) Server – It is responsible for making the networking tasks like sharing of data, resource-
sharing and communication among hosts.

(c) Clients – It is a host computer that requests for some services from a server.

(d) Network Hardware- Network requires specialized hardware to carry out various roles such
as network connections, network traffic etc.

 NIC (Network Interface Card) – It is attached to a host for network connections. Every NIC
card has a unique physical address called MAC address, which is a 6-byte address assigned by
the NIC manufacturer. It is also called as Network Interface Unit (NIU) or Terminal Access
Point (TAP)
 Hub, switch, router, repeater and bridge etc.

(e) Communication Channel – Hosts in a network interact with other hosts and server(s).

 Wired Communication Channel – Hosts are connected through wires. It is also called
as guided media. Examples: Twisted pair cables, coaxial cables and Optic Fibre cables
 Wireless Communication Channel – Hosts are connected through wireless. It is also called
as unguided media. Example: Microwaves, radio waves, infrared waves and Satellite etc.

(f) Software –

 A protocol refers to a set of rules for interacting hosts with one another.
 Network Operating System is a specialized operating system that can handle
networking tasks
(g) Network Services – Provides different functionalities of a network such as DNS (Domain Name
System), File Sharing, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) etc.

1.4. TYPES OF NETWORKS

1. PAN (Personal Area Network)

2. LAN (Local Area Network)

3. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

4. WAN (Wide Area Network)

PAN (Personal Area Network)

It is a computer network organized around an individual person.

It generally covers a range of less than 10 meters. It can be
constructed with cables or wirelessly.

LAN (Local Area Network)

 It is a network that is confined to a relatively small area.

 It is generally limited to a geographic area such as school lab
or office building
 It is generally private owned networks over a distance not more
than 1 Km
 The hardware as well as software resources are shared through LAN.
 In LAN, one computer is designated as File Server, which stores all the software that can
be shared by computers attached to the network.
 Computers connected to the server are called

Workstation. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

 It is the networks cover a group of nearby corporate

offices or a city and might be either private or public.
 It refers to the network that is spread over an area as big
as city

WAN (Wide Area Network)

 These are the networks spread over large distances,

say across countries or even continents through
cabling or satellite uplinks are called WAN.
 It can even be a group of LAN’s that are
spread across several locations and connected
together.
 It facilitates fast and efficient exchange of
information at lesser costs and higher
speeds.
 The largest WAN is INTERNET.
LAN v/s WAN

1.5. SWITCHING TECHNIQUES

 Switching techniques are used for transmitting data across networks.

 There are three types of switching:
o Circuit Switching
o Packet Switching
o Message Switching

Circuit Switching

 In the circuit switching technique, first the

complete end-to-end transmission path between the
source and the destination computers is established
and then the message is transmitted through the
path
 The main advantage of this technique is
guaranteed delivery of the message. Mostly used for
voice communication.

Packet Switching

 In this switching technique fixed size of packet

can be transmitted across the network

Message Switching

 In the message switching technique, no

physical path is established between sender and
receiver in advance.
 Thus, each node receives the entire message
stores in it entirely on disk and then transmitting the
message to the next node, if it is not destination node.
This type of network is also called store-and-forward
network.

COMPARISON OF SWITCHING TECHNIQUES

 Criteria Circuit Switching Packet Switching Message Switching
Path established in YES NO NO
advance
Store and Forward NO YES (Stored in Main YES (Stored in Disk)
Technique Memory)
Message follows NO YES YES
multiple routes
Block Size NO No limit on Block size Limit on Block size

1.6. DATA COMMUNICATION

TERMINOLOGIES CHANNEL

 Channel is the medium used to carry information or data from one point to another.
 Physical medium like cables over which the information is exchanged is called channel.

BANDWIDTH

 Data transfer rates that can be supported by a network is called its bandwidth.
 Bandwidth is directly proportional to the amount of data transmitted or received per
unit time.
 For example, it takes more bandwidth to download an image file in 1 second than
to download a page of text in 1 second.
 Large sound files, videos, animated movies require more bandwidth.
 High bandwidth channels are called broadband channels
 Low bandwidth channels are called narrowband channels
 Bandwidth refers to the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies of
a transmission channel.
 Bandwidth in Hertz – It is the range of frequencies contained in a composite signal or
the range of frequencies a channel can pass.
 It is measured as Hz, KHz, MHz.

DATA TRANSFER RATE

 It identifies the number of data elements (bits) sent in 1 second.

 The data transfer rate represents the amount of data transferred per second by
a communication channel or a computing or a storage device.
 Data transfer rate is measured in units of bits per second (bps), Bps (Bytes per second).
 When applied to data rate, the multiplexer prefixes: ‘kilo’, ’mega’, ‘giga’,’tera’ etc.