CN-UNIT – I

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Network hardware, Network software, OSI, TCP/IP Reference models, Example
Networks: ARPANET, Internet. Physical Layer: Guided Transmission media: twisted
pairs, coaxial cable, fiber optics, Wireless transmission.

Introduction
A computer network is a system in which multiple computers are connected to each other to share
information and resources. The common examples of shared resources are File Server, Printer and
Internet connection etc.

Characteristics of a Computer Network

 Share resources from one computer to another.
 Create files and store them in one computer, access those files from the other computer(s)
connected over the network.
 Connect a printer, scanner, or a fax machine to one computer within the network and let other
computers of the network use the machines available over the network.
 Computer networks have become very essential for day to day life and used by wide variety of
Applications.
 Some of the very common applications are E-Mail Systems, Ticket Reservation Systems, Credit
card systems and Video Conference ect.
Computer Network Architecture
Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of the software, hardware,
protocols, and media of the transmission of data. Simply we can say that how computers are organized
and how tasks are allocated to the computer.

The two types of network architectures are used:

o Peer-To-Peer network
o Client/Server network

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Peer-To-Peer network

o Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked together with equal
privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
o Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10 computers.
o Peer-To-Peer network does not require any dedicated server.
o Every computer on the network can share its resources with any other computer on the network.
o Every computer connected to the network is both client and server.
o Example music file-sharing system and Bit Torrent ect.

Advantages of Peer-To-Peer Network:

o It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.
o Failure of one computer may not affect other computers on the network.
o It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

Disadvantages of Peer-To-Peer Network:

o In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized system. So data backup
becomes bit difficult here.
o It has a security issue as the device is managed by itself.

Client/ Server Networks

o In this model, the data are stored on powerful computers called servers. Often these are centrally
housed and maintained by a system administrator; In contrast, clients are simpler machines. The
client and server machines are connected by a network.
o Client/ Server Networks: The Client/ server networks involve process, client process and Server
process, which usually resides on different machines.
o A client process request and receive services from server process.
o A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files, directories, printer, etc.

o All the clients communicate with each other through a server.

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For Example, a web server could be server process receives request for web pages from clients (Web
browser)

Advantages of Client/Server network:

o A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore, we can back up the data
easily.
o A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall performance of the
whole system.
o Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers the shared resources.
o It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages of Client/Server network:

o Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large memory.
o A server has a Network Operating System (NOS) to provide the resources to the clients, but the
cost of NOS is very high.
o It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources.
o If server got crashed entire network will come down and leads to single point of failure.

Computer Network Hardware

Networking hardware, also known as network equipment or computer networking devices, are electronic
devices which are required for communication and interaction between devices on a computer network.
Specifically, they mediate data transmission in a computer network. Some of the devices are pure
hardware components (Cable, Hub, and Repeater) and others will the combination of hardware and
software (Router, Switch, and Bridge ect.). The hardware components are the server, client, transmission
medium, NIC card and different kinds of connecting devices like switch, hub, router, gateway, repeater,
bridge, modem, IDS and Firewall.

Following are the major hardware components required to install a network:

NIC:

NIC stands for Network Interface Card. NIC is a hardware component used to connect computer to a
network. It is a circuit board installed in a computer that provides a dedicated network connection to the
computer using a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) or a wireless connection (e.g., WiFi). It is also
called network interface controller or network adapter or LAN adapter. The MAC address or physical
address is encoded on the network card chip which is assigned by the IEEE to identify a network card
uniquely. The MAC address is stored in the PROM (Programmable read-only memory).

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Hub

A hub is a physical layer networking device which is used to connect multiple devices in a network. They
are generally used to connect computers in a LAN. A hub has many ports in it. A computer which intends
to be connected to the network is plugged in to one of these ports. When a data frame arrives at a port, it
is broadcast to every other port, without considering whether it is destined for a particular destination or
not. The process used by the Hub consumes more bandwidth and limits the amount of communication.
Nowadays, the use of hub is obsolete, and it is replaced by more advanced computer network components
such as Switches, Routers.

Types of Hubs used in Networking

Active hubs: Active hubs are a central connecting device in a networking that strengthens the signal,
prior to sending them to the destination devices. It is also known as “multi-port repeater”. Generally,
Active hubs are used to create connections in a physical star topology. It can extend maximum media
distance over a network.

Passive hubs Passive hubs do not amplify the signal before broadcasting them over a network. They
simply maintaining physical connection and received the frames, then rebroadcast them across all over
the network. It is just a connector or connects the wires coming from different branches. The Passive hub
is the collision point where the signals are come from different stations and collide.

Repeater

Repeaters are network devices, pure hardware device and operating at physical layer of the OSI model,
which amplify or regenerate an incoming signal before retransmitting it. They are incorporated in
networks to expand its coverage area. They are also known as signal boosters. When an electrical signal is
transmitted via a channel, it gets attenuated depending upon the nature of the channel .This problem is
alleviated by installing repeaters at certain intervals.

Repeaters amplify the attenuated signal and then retransmit it.

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Advantages of Repeaters
 Repeaters are simple to install and can easily extend the length or the coverage area of networks.
 They are cost effective.
 Repeaters don’t require any processing overhead.
 They can connect signals using different types of cables.
Disadvantages of Repeaters
 It is two port devices. Repeaters cannot connect dissimilar networks.
 They cannot differentiate between actual signal and noise.
 They cannot reduce network traffic or congestion.
 Most networks have limitations upon the number of repeaters that can be deployed.

Bridge

A bridge is a network device that connects multiple LANs (local area networks) together to form a larger
LAN. The process of aggregating networks is called network bridging. A bridge connects the different
components so that they appear as parts of a single network. Bridges operate at the data link layer of the
OSI model and hence also referred as Layer 2 switches.

Use of Bridge in Computer Network

 A bridge in a computer network connects with other bridge networks that utilize a similar
protocol. By joining multiple LANs, bridges help in multiplying the network capacity of a single
LAN.
 These network devices work at the data link layer in an OSI model to connect two different
networks and provide communication between them.
 Since they operate at data link layer, they transmit data as data frames. On receiving a data frame,
the bridge consults a database to decide whether to pass, transmit or discard the frame.
o If the frame has a destination MAC (media access control) address in the same network,
the bridge passes the frame to that node and then discards it.
o If the frame has a destination MAC address in a connected network, it will forward the
frame toward it.
 A bridge utilizes a database to determine where to transmit or remove the data frame. In cases
where the destination MAC address is not available, bridges can broadcast data frames to each
node. To discover new segments, they maintain the MAC address table.
 Bridges can switch any kind of packets, this is because bridges do not examine the payload field
of the data frame that arrives, but simply looks at the MAC address for switching.
 Bridges are of two types Static Bridge (Manual Entry to database) and Dynamic Bridge or
Transparent Bridge (Automatic database update).

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Switch

A switch is a hardware device that connects multiple devices on a computer network. A Switch contains
more advanced features than Hub. The Switch contains the updated table that decides where the data is
transmitted or not. Switch delivers the message to the correct destination based on the physical address
present in the incoming message. A Switch does not broadcast the message to the entire network like the
Hub. It determines the device to which the message is to be transmitted. Therefore, we can say that switch
provides a direct connection between the source and destination. It increases the speed of the network.
Thus, it supports both unicast and multicast communications.

Router
o A router is a hardware device which is used to connect a LAN with an internet connection. It is
used to receive, analyze and forward the incoming packets to another network.
o A router works in a Layer 3 (Network layer) of the OSI Reference model.
o A router forwards the packet based on the information available in the routing table.
o It determines the best path from the available paths for the transmission of the packet.

Advantages of Router:
o Security: The information which is transmitted to the network will traverse the entire cable, but
the only specified device which has been addressed can read the data.
o Reliability: If the server has stopped functioning, the network goes down, but no other networks
are affected that are served by the router.
o Performance: Router enhances the overall performance of the network.

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Modem
o A modem is a hardware device that allows the computer to connect to the internet over the
existing telephone line.
o Modem is short for "Modulator-Demodulator." It converts or "modulates" an analog signal from a
telephone or cable wire to digital data (1s and 0s) that a computer can recognize. Similarly, it
converts digital data from a computer or other device into an analog signal that can be sent over
standard telephone lines.

Cables and Connectors

Cable is a transmission media used for transmitting a signal. There are three types of cables used in
transmission:
o Twisted pair cable
o Coaxial cable
o Fibre-optic cable

IDS (Intrusion Detection System)

An intrusion detection system is a device, or software application that monitors a network or systems for
malicious activity or policy violations. Any malicious venture or violation is normally reported either to
an administrator or collected centrally using a security information and event management (SIEM)
system.

Gateway

 A gateway is a hardware device that acts as a "gate" between two networks.

 It may be a router, firewall, server, or other device that enables traffic to flow in and out of the
network.
 While a gateway protects the nodes within network, it also a node itself. The gateway node is
considered to be on the "edge" of the network as all data must flow through it before coming in or
going out of the network.
 It may also translate data received from outside networks into a format or protocol recognized by
devices within the internal network.
 A router is a common type of gateway used in home networks. It allows computers within the
local network to send and receive data over the Internet.
 A firewall is a more advanced type of gateway, which filters inbound and outbound traffic,
disallowing incoming data from suspicious or unauthorized sources.
 A proxy server is another type of gateway that uses a combination of hardware and software to
filter traffic between two networks. For example, a proxy server may only allow local computers
to access a list of authorized websites.

Firewall

A firewall can be created using either hardware or software. It acts as a barrier between trusted systems
or network and outside connections, such as the Internet, a computer firewall is more of a filter which
allows trusted data to flow through it. Many businesses and organizations protect their internal networks
using hardware firewalls. A single or double firewall may be used to create a demilitarized zone (DMZ),
which prevents un-trusted data from ever reaching the LAN. Software firewalls are more common for
individual users and can be custom configured via a software interface.
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Difference between Bridge and Router

Bridge Router

A bridge is a networking device that is used A router is also a networking device that
to connect two local area networks (LANs) sends the data from one network to
by using media access control addresses and another network with the help of their IP
transmit the data between them. addresses.
A bridge is able to connect only two different A router is capable of connecting the LAN
LAN segments. and WAN.
A bridge transfers the data in the form of A router transfers the data in the form of
frames. packets.
It sends data based on the MAC address of a It sends data based on the IP address of a
device. device.
The bridge has only one port to connect the The router has several ports to connect the
device. devices.
The bridge does not use any table to forward The router uses a routing table to send the
the data. data.

S.NO Device Description

1 Repeater Physical layer Device, Regenerate the signal strength, Two Port
device, Forwarding mechanism, No Filtering, Collision Domain
maximum (n).
2 HUB Physical Layer Device, Multiport repeater, Forwarding mechanism,
No Filtering, Collision Domain maximum (n).
3 Bridge Data link layer device, Two ports Device, Can connect two different
LAN’s, uses Store and Forwarding, Filtering, No Collisions, Uses
Data Unit Protocol.
4 Router Network Layer Device, Store and Forwarding, Filtering, Routing,
Flooding, No Collisions

Computer Network Types

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer to
communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications. A computer
network can be categorized by their size and geographic span of the network.

Computer Network

PAN LAN MAN WAN THE INTERNET

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Personal Area Networks
 PANs (Personal Area Networks) let devices communicate over the range of a person.
 A common example is a wireless network that connects a computer with its peripherals. A short-
range wireless network called Bluetooth to connect these components without wires. Or else we can
use wires also.
 PANs can also be built with other technologies that communicate over short-ranges, such as RFID on
smartcards and library books. Example for PAN is Body Area Network or Home network.

Local Area Networks

 A LAN is a privately owned network that operates within and nearby a single building like a home,
office or factory.
 LANs are widely used to connect personal computers and consumer electronics to let them share
resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information. When LANs are used by companies, they are
called enterprise networks.
 Wireless LANs are very popular these days, especially in homes, older office buildings, cafeterias,
and other places where it is too much trouble to install cables.

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Metropolitan Area Networks
 A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by interconnecting a
different LAN to form a larger network.
 Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and private industries.
 In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone exchange line.
 It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).
 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.

In this figure we see both television signals and Internet being fed into the centralized cable head end for
subsequent distribution to people’s homes.
Wide Area Networks

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as states or
countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large geographical
area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education.

Examples of Wide Area Network: Mobile Broadband, A 4G network is widely used across a region or
country. Private network, A bank provides a private network that connects the 44 offices. This network is
made by using the telephone leased line provided by the telecom company.

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Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:
o Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as compared to LAN and MAN
network as all the technologies are combined together that creates the security problem.
o Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred on the internet which can be
changed or hacked by the hackers, so the firewall needs to be used. Some people can inject the
virus in our system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a virus.
o High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high as it involves the purchasing of
routers, switches.
o Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the problem is difficult.

Internetwork

o An internetwork is defined as two or more computer network LANs or WAN or computer

network segments are connected using devices, and they are configured by a local addressing
scheme. This process is known as internetworking.
o An interconnection between public, private, commercial, industrial, or government computer
networks can also be defined as internetworking.
o An internetworking uses the internet protocol.
o The reference model used for internetworking is Open System Interconnection (OSI).

Intranet advantages:

o Communication: It provides a cheap and easy communication. An employee of the organization

can communicate with another employee through email, chat.
o Time-saving: Information on the intranet is shared in real time, so it is time-saving.
o Collaboration: Collaboration is one of the most important advantages of the intranet. The
information is distributed among the employees of the organization and can only be accessed by
the authorized user.
o Platform independency: It is a neutral architecture as the computer can be connected to another
device with different architecture.
o Cost effective: People can see the data and documents by using the browser and distributes the
duplicate copies over the intranet. This leads to a reduction in the cost.

Line Configuration in Computer Networks

A network is two or more devices connected through a link. A link is a communication pathway that
transfers data from one device to another. Devices can be a computer, printer or any other device that is
capable to send and receive data. For visualization purpose, imagine any link as a line drawn between two
points. For communication to occur, two devices must be connected in some way to the same link at the
same time. There are two possible types of connections:
1. Point-to-Point Connection
2. Multipoint Connection

Point-to-Point Connection:
 A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices.
 The entire capacity of the link is reserved for transmission between those two devices.
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  Most point-to-point connections use a actual length of wire or cable to connect the two end, but
other options such as microwave or satellite links are also possible.
 Point to point network topology is considered to be one of the easiest and most conventional
network topologies.
 It is also the simplest to establish and understand.
 Example: Point-to-Point connection between remote control and Television for changing the
channels.

Multipoint Connection
 It is also called Multidrop configuration. In this connection two or more devices share a single
link.
 More than two devices share the link that is the capacity of the channel is shared now.
 The networks having multipoint configuration are called Broadcast Networks. In broadcast
network, a message or a packet sent by any machine is received by all other machines in a
network.
 In broadcast network, a message or a packet sent by any machine is received by all other machines
in a network. The packet contains address field that specifies the receiver. Upon receiving a
packet, every machine checks the address field of the packet. If the transmitted packet is for that
particular machine, it processes it; otherwise it just ignores the packet.

 Broadcast network provides the provision for broadcasting & multicasting. Broadcasting is the
process in which a single packet is received and processed by all the machines in the network. It is
made possible by using a special code in the address field of the packet.
 When a packet is sent to a subset of the machines i.e. only to few machines in the network it is
known as multicasting

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Computer Network Features

 Performance: Performance of a computer network is measured in terms of response time. The

response time of sending and receiving data from one node to another should be minimal.
 Data Sharing: One of the reasons why we use a computer network is to share the data between
different systems connected with each other through a transmission media.
 Backup: A computer network must have a central server that keeps the backup of all the data that
is to be shared over a network so that in case of a failure it should be able to recover the data
faster.
 Software and hardware compatibility: A computer network must not limit all the computers in
a computer network to use same software and hardware; instead it should allow the better
compatibility between the different software and hardware configuration.
 Reliability: There should not be any failure in the network or if it occurs the recovery from a
failure should be fast.
 Security: A computer network should be secure so that the data transmitting over a network
should be safe from un- authorized access. Also, the sent data should be received as it is at the
receiving node, which means there should not be any loss of data during transmission.
 Scalability: A computer network should be scalable which means it should always allow adding
new computers (or nodes) to the already existing computer network.

Computer Network Topology

Geometric representation of how the computers are connected to each other is known as topology. One
or more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a topology. Different types of topologies are

Bus Topology

In bus topology there is a main cable and all the devices are connected to this main cable through drop
lines. There is a device called tap that connects the drop line to the main cable. Since all the data is
transmitted over the main cable, there is a limit of drop lines and the distance a main cable can have.
When a node wants to send a message over the network, it puts a message over the network. All the
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 stations available in the network will receive the message whether it has been addressed or not. N+1
number of links are required for this topology and N ports and N taps are required where N is the
number of Computers.

Advantages of bus topology

 Less cables required than Mesh and star topology

 Low-cost cable: In bus topology, nodes are directly connected to the cable without passing
through a hub. Therefore, the initial cost of installation is low.
 Moderate data speeds: Coaxial or twisted pair cables are mainly used in bus-based networks that
support up to 10 Mbps.
 Familiar technology: Bus topology is a familiar technology as the installation and
troubleshooting techniques are well known, and hardware components are easily available.
 Limited failure: A failure in one node will not have any effect on other nodes.
 The most common access method of the bus topologies is CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple
Access).

Disadvantages of bus topology

 Difficultly in fault detection.

 Not scalable as there is a limit of how many nodes you can connect with backbone cable. Adding
new devices to the network would slow down the network
 Extensive cabling: A bus topology is quite simpler, but still it requires a lot of cabling.
 Difficult troubleshooting: It requires specialized test equipment to determine the cable faults. If
any fault occurs in the backbone cable, then it would disrupt the communication for all the nodes.
 Signal interference: If two nodes send the messages simultaneously, then the signals of both the
nodes collide with each other.
 Attenuation: Attenuation is a loss of signal leads to communication issues. Repeaters are used to
regenerate the signal.

Ring Topology

In ring topology each device is connected with the two devices on either side of it. There are two
dedicated point to point links a device has with the devices on the either side of it. This structure forms a
ring thus it is known as ring topology. Each device in ring topology has a repeater, if the received data is
intended for other device then repeater forwards this data until the intended device receives it.

 Ring topology is like a bus topology, but with connected ends.

 The node that receives the message from the previous computer will retransmit to the next node.
 The data flows in one direction, i.e., it is unidirectional.
 The data flows in a single loop continuously known as an endless loop.

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  It has no terminated ends, i.e., each node is connected to other node and having no termination
point.
 The data in a ring topology flow in a clockwise direction.
 The most common access method of the ring topology is token passing.
o Token passing: It is a network access method in which token is passed from one node to
another node.
o Token: It is a frame that circulates around the network.

Working of Token passing

o A token move around the network and it is passed from computer to computer until it reaches the
destination.
o The sender modifies the token by putting the address along with the data.
o The data is passed from one device to another device until the destination address matches. Once
the token received by the destination device, then it sends the acknowledgment to the sender.
o In a ring topology, a token is used as a carrier.

Advantages of Ring topology:

o Easy to install. Managing is easier as to add or remove a device from the topology only two links
are required to be changed
o Product availability: Many hardware and software tools for network operation and monitoring
are available.
o Cost: Twisted pair cabling is inexpensive and easily available. Therefore, the installation cost is
very low.

Disadvantages of Ring topology:

o Difficult troubleshooting: It requires specialized test equipment to determine the cable faults. If
any fault occurs in the cable, then it would disrupt the communication for all the nodes.
o Failure: The breakdown in one station leads to the failure of the overall network.
o Reconfiguration difficult: Adding new devices to the network would slow down the network.
o Delay: Communication delay is directly proportional to the number of nodes. Adding new devices
increases the communication delay.

Mesh Topology

In mesh topology each device is connected to every other device on the network through a
dedicated point-to-point link. When we say dedicated it means that the link only carries data for the two
connected devices only. Let’s say we have “n” devices in the network then each device must be
connected with (n-1) devices of the network. Number of links in a mesh topology of n devices would be
n*(n-1)/2. Total no of I/O ports required are n*(n-1).

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Mesh topology is divided into two categories:

o Fully connected mesh topology: In a full mesh topology, each computer is connected to all the
computers available in the network.
o Partially connected mesh topology: In a partial mesh topology, not all but certain computers are
connected to those computers with which they communicate frequently.

Advantages of Mesh topology

 No data traffic issues as there is a dedicated link between two devices which means the link is only
available for those two devices.
 Mesh topology is reliable and robust as failure of one link doesn’t affect other links and the
communication between other devices on the network.
 Mesh topology is secure because there is a point to point link thus unauthorized access is not
possible.
 Fault detection is easy.

Disadvantages of Mesh topology

 Amount of wires required to connected each system is tedious and headache.
 Since each device needs to be connected with other devices, number of I/O ports required must be
huge.
 Scalability issues because a device cannot be connected with large number of devices with a
dedicated point to point link.
 Cost: A mesh topology contains a large number of connected devices such as a router and more
transmission media than other topologies.
 Management: Mesh topology networks are very large and very difficult to maintain and manage. If
the network is not monitored carefully, then the communication link failure goes undetected.
 Efficiency: In this topology, redundant connections are high that reduces the efficiency of the
network.

Star Topology

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In star topology each device in the network is connected to a central device called hub. Unlike Mesh
topology, star topology doesn’t allow direct communication between devices; a device must have to
communicate through hub. If one device wants to send data to other device, it has to first send the data to
hub and then the hub transmit that data to the designated device.
Advantages of Star topology
 Less expensive because each device only needs one I/O port and needs to be connected with hub
with one link.
 Easier to install.
 Fewer amounts of cables required because each device needs to be connected with the hub only.
 Robust, if one link fails, other links will work just fine.
 Easy fault detection because the link can be easily identified.
Disadvantages of Star topology
 If hub goes down everything goes down, none of the devices can work without hub.
 Hub requires more resources and regular maintenance because it is the central system of star
topology.
 Management: Mesh topology networks are very large and very difficult to maintain and manage.
Hybrid topology
A combination of two or more topology is known as hybrid topology. For example a combination of star
and mesh topology is known as hybrid topology.

Advantages of Hybrid topology

 We can choose the topology based on the requirement for example, scalability is our concern then
we can use star topology instead of bus technology.
 Scalable as we can further connect other computer networks with the existing networks with
different topologies.
 Reliable: If a fault occurs in any part of the network will not affect the functioning of the rest of
the network.
 Flexible: This topology is very flexible as it can be designed according to the requirements of the
organization.
 Effective: Hybrid topology is very effective as it can be designed in such a way that the strength
of the network is maximized and weakness of the network is minimized.

Disadvantages of Hybrid topology

 Fault detection is difficult.
 Installation is difficult.
 Design is complex so maintenance is high thus expensive.
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Transmission modes

The data is transmitted from one device to another device through a transmission mode. The
transmission mode decides the direction of data in which the data needs to travel to reach the receiver
system or node. The transmission mode is divided in three categories:
1. Simplex
2. Half-Duplex
3. Full-Duplex

Simplex Mode

In simplex mode the data transmits in one direction only, from one system to another system. The sender
device that sends data can only send data and cannot receive it. On the other hand the receiver device can
only receive the data and cannot send it.

 The radio station is a simplex channel as it transmits the signal to the listeners but never allows
them to transmit back.
 Keyboard and Monitor are the examples of the simplex mode as a keyboard can only accept the
data from the user and monitor can only be used to display the data on the screen.
 Advantage of Simplex is, the station can utilize the entire bandwidth of the communication channel,
so that more data can be transmitted at a time.
 Disadvantage of Simplex mode is Communication is unidirectional, so it has no inter-
communication between devices.

Half-Duplex Mode

In half duplex mode transmission can be done both ways which means if two systems are connected with
half-duplex mode of transmission, they both can send and receive data but not at the same time.
If one device is sending data then other device cannot send data until it receives the data which is already
in transmission. You can say that the communication is not simultaneous.

 The entire bandwidth of the communication channel is utilized in one direction at a time.
 In half-duplex mode, it is possible to perform the error detection, and if any error occurs, then the
receiver requests the sender to retransmit the data.

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  A Walkie-talkie is an example of the Half-duplex mode. In Walkie-talkie, one party speaks, and
another party listens. After a pause, the other speaks and first party listens. Speaking
simultaneously will create the distorted sound which cannot be understood.

 Advantage: In half-duplex mode, both the devices can send and receive the data and also can
utilize the entire bandwidth of the communication channel during the transmission of data.
 Disadvantage: In half-duplex mode, when one device is sending the data, then another has to
wait, this causes the delay in sending the data at the right time.

Full Duplex Mode

In Full duplex mode, the communication is bi-directional, i.e., the data flow in both the directions.
Both the devices can send and receive the data at the same time.

 Full-duplex mode has two simplex channels. One channel has traffic moving in one direction, and
another channel has traffic flowing in the opposite direction.
 The Full-duplex mode is the fastest mode of communication between devices.
 The most common example of the full-duplex mode is a telephone network. When two people are
communicating with each other by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.
 Advantage: Both the stations can send and receive the data at the same time.
 Disadvantage: If there is no dedicated path exists between the devices, then the capacity of the
communication channel is divided into two parts.

Differences b/w Simplex, Half-duplex and Full-duplex mode

Basis for Simplex mode Half-duplex mode Full-duplex mode

comparison

Direction of In simplex mode, the In half-duplex mode, the In full-duplex mode, the communication is
communication communication is unidirectional. communication is bidirectional.
bidirectional, but one at a
time.

Send/Receive A device can only send the data but Both the devices can send Both the devices can send and receive the data
cannot receive it or it can only and receive the data, but one simultaneously.
receive the data but cannot send it. at a time.

Performance The performance of half-duplex The performance of full- The Full-duplex mode has better performance
mode is better than the simplex duplex mode is better than among simplex and half-duplex mode as it
mode. the half-duplex mode. doubles the utilization of the capacity of the
communication channel.

Example Examples of Simplex mode are Example of half-duplex is Example of the Full-duplex mode is a telephone
radio, keyboard, and monitor. Walkie-Talkie. network.

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USES OF COMPUTER NETWORKS
 Business Applications
 Home Applications
 Mobile Users
 Social Issues
Business Applications:
 Resource sharing: The goal is to make all programs, equipment, and especially data available to
anyone on the network without regard to the physical location of the resource or the user. Ex.
Sharable Hardware Device.
 Communication medium : A computer network can provide a powerful communication medium
among employees. Ex email , which employees generally use for a great deal of daily
communication. Telephone calls between employees may be carried by the computer network
instead of by the phone company. Example IP telephony or Voice over IP (VoIP).
 Desktop sharing : It lets remote workers see and interact with a graphical computer screen. This
makes it easy for two or more people who work far apart, to read or write a report together.
 E-commerce: It allows many companies provide catalogs of their goods and services online to the
customers and take orders online.
 Information Sharing: Organizations are now highly dependent on computer networks for
allowing employees to access relevant information and documents instantly from one computer to
other. Example Client-Server.
Home Applications
 Internet access provides home users with connectivity to remote computers , so home users can
access information, communicate with other people, and buy products and services with e-
commerce.
 The second broad category of network use is person-to-person communication. Ex. Instant
Messaging.
 Other things are Home users can get engage with social networking sites like FB, Twitter, WiKi etc.
 Another area in which e-commerce is widely used is access to financial institutions. Many people
already pay their bills, manage their bank accounts, and handle their investments electronically.
 Online auctions of second-hand goods have become a massive industry. Unlike traditional e-
commerce, which follows the client-server model, online auctions are peer-to-peer in the sense that
consumers can act as both buyers and sellers. Ex. OLX, Quicker Ect.
 Some of these forms of e-commerce have acquired cute little tags as follow.

 Entertainment: This has made huge strides in the home in recent years, with the distribution of
music, radio and television programs, and movies over the Internet.
 Another form of entertainment is game playing. Already we have multi-person real-time
simulation games like hide and seek ect.
 Ubiquitous computing: Example Smart Home Applications using networked sensors

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Mobile Users
 Mobile computers, such as laptop and handheld computers, are one of the fastest-growing segments
of the computer industry.
 People on the go often want to use their mobile devices to read and send email, tweet, watch movies,
download music, play games, or simply to surf the Web for information.
 Connectivity to the Internet enables many of these mobile uses. Ex Wireless.
 Combinations of wireless networks and mobile computing.

 Other Familiar applications of Mobile Users are

 GPS
 Mobile applications
 m-commerce(mobile-commerce)
 Sensor networks.
 Wearable computers (Smart watches), Other such devices may be implanted, such as
pacemakers and insulin pumps.

Social Issues
Social networks, allow people to share their views with like-minded individuals. Here are some important
issues.
• Network neutrality: Network neutrality, or simply net neutrality, is the principle that Internet
service providers must treat all Internet communications equally, and not discriminate or charge
differently based on user
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act: The aim of DMCA is to balance the interests
of copyright owners and users and look into any sort of copyright infringement that surface in the
digital world
• Profiling users: The act or process of extrapolating information about a person based on known
traits or tendencies consumer profiling, specifically the act of suspecting or targeting a person on
the basis of observed characteristics.
• Phishing: Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as
usernames, passwords and credit card details, by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an
electronic communication.

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Network Software
Software is simply collection of programs , procedures and documentation which is
used to perform different tasks on a computer. Network software encompasses a broad
range of software used for design, implementation, and operation and monitoring of
computer networks. With the advent of Software – Defined Networking (SDN),
software is separated from the hardware thus making it more adaptable to the ever-
changing nature of the computer network.
Functions of Network Software
 Helps to set up and install computer networks
 Enables users to have access to network resources in a seamless manner
 Allows administrations to add or remove users from the network
 Helps to define locations of data storage and allows users to access that data
 Helps administrators and security system to protect the network from data breaches, unauthorized
access and attacks on a network
 Early attempts for implementing the software for such subsystems were based on a single,
complex, unstructured program with many interacting components. The resultant software was
very difficult to test and modify. To overcome such problem, the ISO has developed a layered
approach.
 In a layered approach, networking concept is divided into several layers, and each layer is
assigned a particular task. Therefore, we can say that networking tasks depend upon the layers.

Layered Architecture
 The main aim of the layered architecture is to divide the design into small pieces.
 Each lower layer adds its services to the higher layer to provide a full set of services
to manage communications and run the applications.
 It provides modularity and clear interfaces, i.e., provides interaction between
subsystems.
 It ensures the independence between layers by providing the services from lower to
higher layer without defining how the services are implemented. Therefore, any
modification in a layer will not affect the other layers.
 The number of layers, functions, contents of each layer will vary from network to
network. However, the purpose of each layer is to provide the service from lower to
a higher layer and hiding the details from the layers of how the services are
implemented.
 The basic elements of layered architecture are services, protocols, and interfaces.
o Service: It is a set of actions that a layer provides to the higher layer.
o Protocol: It defines a set of rules that a layer uses to exchange the
information with peer entity. These rules mainly concern about both the
contents and order of the messages used.

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 o Interface: It is a way through which the message is transferred from one
layer to another layer.
 In a layer n architecture, layer n on one machine will have a communication with
the layer n on another machine and the rules used in a conversation are known as a
layer-n protocol.

Layers, protocols, and interfaces

Real data is transferred only at the physical layer! All other dotted lines are virtual!

Typical flow:
 A message, M, is produced by an application process running in layer 5 and given to layer 4 for
transmission
 Layer 4 puts a header in front of the message to identify the message and passes the result to layer 3
 The header includes control information, such as address/port, to allow layer 4 on the destination
machine to deliver the message
 Other examples of control information used in some layers are sequence numbers, sizes, and times
 Layer 3 must break up the incoming messages into smaller units, packets, prepending a layer 3
headers to each packet.
 Layer 3 decides which lines to use and passes the packets to layer 2
 Layer 2 adds to each piece not only a header but also a trailer, and gives the resulting unit to layer 1
for physical transmission
 At the receiving machine the message moves upward, from layer to layer, with headers being 
stripped off as it progresses.

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 Communication Flow

OSI Model
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) , Proposed by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The
OSI model has seven layers.

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Physical layer
o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one node to
another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

o Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices can be connected physically.
o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-duplex or full-
duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.

Data-Link Layer
o This layer is responsible for the error-free transfer of data frames.
o It defines the format of the data on the network.
o It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or more devices.
o It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device that resides on a local network.

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 o It contains two sub-layers:
o Logical Link Control Layer
o It is responsible for transferring the packets to the Network layer of the receiver that is
receiving.
o It identifies the address of the network layer protocol from the header.
o It also provides flow control.
o Media Access Control Layer
o A Media access control layer is a link between the Logical Link Control layer and the
network's physical layer.
o It is used for transferring the packets over the network.

Functions of the Data-link layer

o Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets known as
Frames. The Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame. The header which is added to
the frame contains the hardware destination and source address.
o Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the frame that contains a destination
address. The frame is transmitted to the destination address mentioned in the header.
o Flow Control: Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link layer. It is the technique
through which the constant data rate is maintained on both the sides so that no data get corrupted.
It ensures that the transmitting station such as a server with higher processing speed does not
exceed the receiving station, with lower processing speed.
o Error Control: Error control is achieved by adding a calculated value CRC (Cyclic Redundancy
Check) that is placed to the Data link layer's trailer which is added to the message frame before it
is sent to the physical layer. If any error seems to occur, then the receiver sends the
acknowledgment for the retransmission of the corrupted frames.
o Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the same communication channel,
then the data link layer protocols are used to determine which device has control over the link at a
given time.

Network Layer

o It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of devices on the network.
o It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the network
conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
o The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
o Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and used to provide the routing
services within an internetwork.

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 o The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as Network layer protocols. Examples
of protocols are IP and Ipv6.

Functions of Network Layer:

o Internetworking: An internetworking is the main responsibility of the network layer. It provides

a logical connection between different devices.
o Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination address to the header of the frame.
Addressing is used to identify the device on the internet.
o Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the best optimal
path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.
o Packetizing: A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper layer and converts them into
packets. This process is known as Packetizing. It is achieved by internet protocol (IP).

Transport Layer

o The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in which they
are sent and there is no duplication of data.
o The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
o It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known as segments.
o This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-point connection between
source and destination to deliver the data reliably.

The two protocols used in this layer are:

o Transmission Control Protocol

o It is a standard protocol that allows the systems to communicate over the internet.
o It establishes and maintains a connection between hosts.
o When data is sent over the TCP connection, then the TCP protocol divides the data into
smaller units known as segments. Each segment travels over the internet using multiple
routes, and they arrive in different orders at the destination. The transmission control protocol
reorders the packets in the correct order at the receiving end.
o User Datagram Protocol
o User Datagram Protocol is a transport layer protocol.
o It is an unreliable transport protocol as in this case receiver does not send any
acknowledgment when the packet is received, the sender does not wait for any
acknowledgment. Therefore, this makes a protocol unreliable.

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Functions of Transport Layer:

o Service-point addressing: Computers run several programs simultaneously due to this reason, the
transmission of data from source to the destination not only from one computer to another
computer but also from one process to another process. The transport layer adds the header that
contains the address known as a service-point address or port address. The responsibility of the
network layer is to transmit the data from one computer to another computer and the responsibility
of the transport layer is to transmit the message to the correct process.
o Segmentation and reassembly: When the transport layer receives the message from the upper
layer, it divides the message into multiple segments, and each segment is assigned with a sequence
number that uniquely identifies each segment. When the message has arrived at the destination,
then the transport layer reassembles the message based on their sequence numbers.
o Connection control: Transport layer provides two services Connection-oriented service and
connectionless service. A connectionless service treats each segment as an individual packet, and
they all travel in different routes to reach the destination. A connection-oriented service makes a
connection with the transport layer at the destination machine before delivering the packets. In
connection-oriented service, all the packets travel in the single route.
o Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is performed end-to-end
rather than across a single link.
o Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error control. Error control is performed
end-to-end rather than across the single link. The sender transport layer ensures that message
reach at the destination without any error.

Session Layer

The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes the interaction between communicating
devices.

Functions of Session layer:

o Dialog control: Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a dialog between two
processes or we can say that it allows the communication between two processes.
o It ensures authentication of the user process and checks the authorization even.
o Synchronization: Session layer adds some checkpoints when transmitting the data in a sequence.
If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then the transmission will take
place again from the checkpoint. This process is known as Synchronization and recovery.

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Presentation Layer

o A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between the two systems.
o It acts as a data translator for a network.
o This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one presentation format to
another format.
o The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.

Functions of Presentation layer:

o Translation: The processes in two systems exchange the information in the form of character
strings, numbers and so on. Different computers use different encoding methods, the presentation
layer handles the interoperability between the different encoding methods. It converts the data
from sender-dependent format into a common format and changes the common format into
receiver-dependent format at the receiving end.
o Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy. Encryption is a process of converting the
sender-transmitted information into another form and sends the resulting message over the
network.
o Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the data, i.e., it reduces the number
of bits to be transmitted. Data compression is very important in multimedia such as text, audio,
video.

Application Layer
o An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access network
service.
o It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
o This layer provides the network services to the end-users.

Functions of Application layer

o An application layer allows a user to access the files in a remote computer, to retrieve the files
from a computer and to manage the files in a remote computer.
o Mail services: An application layer provides the facility for email forwarding and storage.
o Directory services: An application provides the distributed database sources and is used to provide
that global information about various objects.
o It provides different protocols called http, ftp, smtp, snmp, telenet ect.
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 o Identify/authenticate the user who wants to communicate
o Determine whether the data and networks sources are available
o Synchronize communication between the two nodes

Advantages of the OSI Model

 It helps you to standardize router, switch, motherboard, and other hardware
 Reduces complexity and standardizes interfaces
 Facilitates modular engineering
 Helps you to ensure interoperable technology
 Helps you to accelerate the evolution
 Protocols can be replaced by new protocols when technology changes.
 Provide support for connection-oriented services as well as connectionless service.
 It is a standard model in computer networking.
 Supports connectionless and connection-oriented services.
 It offers flexibility to adapt to various types of protocols.
Disadvantages of OSI Model
 Fitting of protocols is a tedious task.
 You can only use it as a reference model.
 It doesn't define any specific protocol.
 In the OSI network layer model, some services are duplicated in many layers such as the transport
and data link layers
 Layers can't work in parallel as each layer need to wait to obtain data from the previous layer.

Design Issues
Following are few Design issues need to be considered in Layered Approach.
 Reliability: Network channels and components may be unreliable, resulting in loss of bits while
data transfer. So, an important design issue is to make sure that the information transferred is not
distorted.

 Scalability: Networks are continuously evolving. The sizes are continually increasing leading to
congestion. Also, when new technologies are applied to the added components, it may lead to
incompatibility issues. Hence, the design should be done so that the networks are scalable and can
accommodate such additions and alterations.

 Addressing: At a particular time, innumerable messages are being transferred between large
numbers of computers. So, a naming or addressing system should exist so that each layer can
identify the sender and receivers of each message.
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  Error Control: Unreliable channels introduce a number of errors in the data streams that are
communicated. So, the layers need to agree upon common error detection and error correction
methods so as to protect data packets while they are transferred.

 Flow Control :If the rate at which data is produced by the sender is higher than the rate at which
data is received by the receiver, there are chances of overflowing the receiver. So, a proper flow
control mechanism needs to be implemented.

 Resource Allocation: Computer networks provide services in the form of network resources to
the end users. The main design issue is to allocate and deallocate resources to processes. The
allocation/deallocation should occur so that minimal interference among the hosts occurs and
there is optimal usage of the resources.

 Statistical Multiplexing: It is not feasible to allocate a dedicated path for each message while it is
being transferred from the source to the destination. So, the data channel needs to be multiplexed,
so as to allocate a fraction of the bandwidth or time to each host.

 Routing: There may be multiple paths from the source to the destination. Routing involves
choosing an optimal path among all possible paths, in terms of cost and time. There are several
routing algorithms that are used in network systems.

 Security: A major factor of data communication is to defend it against threats like eavesdropping
and surreptitious alteration of messages. So, there should be adequate mechanisms to prevent
unauthorized access to data through authentication and cryptography.

Connection-Oriented and Connectionless Services

Connection-Oriented:
 Connection is established, the sender, receiver, and subnet conduct a negotiation about the
parameters to be used, such as
 Maximum message size
 Quality of service required, and
 Other issues
 Typically, one side makes a proposal and the other side can accept it, reject it, or make a counter
proposal.
 A circuit is another name for a connection with associated resources.
 Reliability: do not lose data – e.g., the receiver acknowledge the receipt of each message so the
sender is sure that it arrived .
 TCP – Transmission Control Protocol is connection oriented, Example :Text documents, email,
image attachments.
Connectionless Service
 In contrast to connection-oriented service, connectionless service is modelled after the postal
system Each message (letter/package) carries the full destination address  and each one is routed
through the intermediate nodes inside the system independent of all the subsequent messages
 UDP – User Datagram Protocol – unreliable.
 Unreliable (meaning not acknowledged) connectionless service is often called datagram service,
in analogy with telegram (service, which also does not return an acknowledgement to the sender)
 Video streaming, Video conference, VOIP, Digital TV transmission ect are Examples.
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Both reliable and unreliable communication usually coexists.
Connection-oriented Service Primitives

A service is formally specified by a set of primitives (operations) available to user processes to access the
service .These primitives tell the service to perform some action or report on an action taken by a peer
entity (usually as operating system calls)

In a nutshell, this is how connection-oriented communication works:

The TCP/IP Reference Model

 TCP/IP Reference Model is a four-layered suite of communication protocols. It was first described
by Cerf and Kahn (1974),Adopted by USA-DoD (Department of Defence) in the 1983 and later
refined and defined as a standard in the Internet community (1989).
 It is named after the two main protocols that are used in the model, namely, TCP and IP. TCP
stands for Transmission Control Protocol and IP stands for Internet Protocol.
 The TCP/IP model is a concise version of the OSI model. It contains four layers, unlike seven
layers in the OSI model.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN OSI and TCP/IP REFERENCE MODELS

• Both have layered architecture.
• Layers provide similar functionalities.
• Both are protocol stack.
• Both are reference models.

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The host-to-network layer/ Link Layer
The host-to-network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model and is concerned with the physical
transmission of data. It is also called a network interface layer or link layer. It can be considered as the
combination of physical layer and data link layer of the OSI model.

This layer corresponds to the combination of Data Link Layer and Physical Layer of the OSI model. It
looks out for hardware addressing and the protocols present in this layer allows for the physical
transmission of data.
The functions of this layer are −
 It defines how bits are to be encoded into optical or electrical pulses.
 It accepts IP packets from the network layer and encapsulates them into frames. It synchronizes
the transmission of the frames as well as the bits making up the frames, between the sender and
the receiver.
 It states the transmission mode, i.e. simplex, half duplex or full duplex
 It states the topology of the network, i.e. bus, star, ring etc.
 The protocols that this layer supports are −
 Ethernet
 Frame Relay
 Token Ring
 ATM

Internet Layer
This layer parallels the functions of OSI’s Network layer. It defines the protocols which are
responsible for logical transmission of data over the entire network.

33
 The main protocols residing at this layer are:
 IP – stands for Internet Protocol and it is responsible for delivering packets from the source host
to the destination host by looking at the IP addresses in the packet headers. IP has 2 versions:
IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the one that most of the websites are using currently. But IPv6 is growing
as the number of IPv4 addresses are limited in number when compared to the number of users.
 ICMP – stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. It is encapsulated within IP datagrams and
is responsible for providing hosts with information about network problems.
 ARP – stands for Address Resolution Protocol. Its job is to find the hardware address of a host
from a known IP address. ARP has several types: Reverse ARP, Proxy ARP, Gratuitous ARP and
Inverse ARP.
 Reverse Address Resolution Protocol, RARP − This is to find the Internet address of a host
when its physical address is known.
The main functions of the internet layer are −
 It transmits data packets to the link layer.
 It routes each of the data packets independently from the source to the destination, using the
optimal route.
 It reassembles the out-of-order packets when they reach the destination.
 It handles the error in transmission of data packets and fragmentation of data packets.
 The protocols used in this layer are −

The transport layer

The transport layer is responsible for error-free, end-to-end delivery of data from the source host to the
destination host. It corresponds to the transport layer of the OSI model.

The functions of the transport layer are −

 It facilitates the communicating hosts to carry on a conversation.
 It provides an interface for the users to the underlying network.
 It can provide for a reliable connection. It can also carry out error checking, flow control, and
verification.

34
The protocols used in this layer are −
 Transmission Control Protocol, TCP − It is a reliable connection-oriented protocol that transmits
data from the source to the destination machine without any error. A connection is established
between the peer entities prior to transmission. At the sending host, TCP divides an incoming byte
stream into segments and assigns a separate sequence number to each segment. At the receiving
host, TCP reorders the segments and sends an acknowledgment to the sender for correct receipt of
segments. TCP also manages flow control so that a fast sender does not overwhelm a slow
receiver.
 User Datagram Protocol, UDP − It is a message-oriented protocol that provides a simple
unreliable, connectionless, unacknowledged service. It is suitable for applications that do not
require TCP’s sequencing, error control or flow control. It is used for transmitting a small amount
of data where the speed of delivery is more important than the accuracy of delivery.
 Stream Control Transmission Protocol, SCTP − It combines the features of both TCP and UDP. It
is message oriented like the UDP, which providing the reliable, connection-oriented service like
TCP. It is used for telephony over the Internet.
The application layer
The application layer is the highest abstraction layer of the TCP/IP model that provides the interfaces and
protocols needed by the users. It combines the functionalities of the session layer, the presentation layer
and the application layer of the OSI model.

The functions of the application layer are −

 It facilitates the user to use the services of the network.
 It is used to develop network-based applications.
 It provides user services like user login, naming network devices, formatting messages, and e-
mails, transfer of files etc.
 It is also concerned with error handling and recovery of the message as a whole.
This layer uses a number of protocols, the main among which are as follows −
 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, HTTP − It is the underlying protocol for world wide web. It
defines how hypermedia messages are formatted and transmitted.
 File Transfer Protocol, FTP − It is a client-server based protocol for transfer of files between
client and server over the network.
 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP − It lays down the rules and semantics for sending and
receiving electronic mails (e-mails).

35
  Domain Name System, DNS − It is a naming system for devices in networks. It provides services
for translating domain names to IP addresses.
 TELNET − It provides bi-directional text-oriented services for remote login to the hosts over the
network.
 Simple Network Management Protocol, SNMP − It is for managing, monitoring the network and
for organizing information about the networked devices.
Advantages of TCP/IP
 It helps you to establish/set up a connection between different types of computers.
 It operates independently of the operating system.
 It supports many routing-protocols.
 It enables the internetworking between the organizations.
 TCP/IP model has highly scalable client-server architecture.
 It can be operated independently.
 Supports several routing protocols.
 It can be used to establish a connection between two computers.
Disadvantages of TCP/IP
 TCP/IP is a complicated model to set up and manage.
 In this, model the transport layer does not guarantee delivery of packets.
 Replacing protocol in TCP/IP is not easy.
 It has no clear separation from its services, interfaces, and protocols.

Difference between OSI and TCP/IP Reference Models

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Example Networks

The Internet: The internet is a globally connected network system facilitating worldwide
communication and access to data resources through a vast collection of private, public, business,
academic and government networks.
 The internet originated with the U.S. government, which began building a computer network in
the 1960s known as ARPANET. In 1985, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
commissioned the development of a university network backbone called NSFNET.
 The system was replaced by new networks operated by commercial internet service providers in
1995. The internet was brought to the public on a larger scale at around this time.
 Since then, the Internet has grown and evolved over time to facilitate services like: Email,Web-
enabled audio/video conferencing services ,Online movies and gaming, Data transfer/file-sharing,
often through File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Instant messaging, Internet forums ,Social
networking, Online shopping, and Financial services ect.

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

 The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) is a predecessor to the modern
Internet. It was conceptualized in the 1950s, when computer scientists needed something better
than the then available but unreliable switching nodes and network links.
 There were also only a limited number of large, powerful research computers, and researchers
with access were separated geographically.
 The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) commissioned the development of an advanced
and reliable way to connect these computers through a newly devised packet switching network,
which was known as ARPANET.
 The ARPANET was a project funded by the U.S. government during the Cold War with USSR, in
order to build a robust and reliable communications network. This was done by connecting
various computers that could simultaneously communicate in a network that would not go down
and continue running when a single node was taken out.
 The initial groundwork for a computer network was laid by BBN with other associates in 1963.
And they were able to connect three computer terminals ARPA-sponsored computers:

i. The System Development Corporation (SDC) Q-32 at Santa Monica

ii. Project Genie at the University of California, Berkeley
iii. Multics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 When Taylor needed to talk to someone at another computer, he would transfer to a different
terminal for each connection. This was frustrating and led to the concept of one terminal/computer
connected to a number of other terminals. This idea paved the way for the ARPANET and,
eventually, the modern Internet.
 Paul Baran of Rand Corporation concluded that the strongest kind of network would be a packet
switched network that would use any available communication line, regardless of the status of
other lines. The ARPANET originally connected four computers, as follows:

i. A Honeywell DDP 516 computer at University of California, Los Angeles

ii. An SDS-940 computer at the Stanford Research Institute
iii. An IBM 360/75 at University of California, Santa Barbara
iv. A DEC PDP-10 at the University of Utah

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  Compatibility issues surfaces as more computers were connected to the network. These problems
were solved in 1982 through the development of Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP).
Early ARPANET Architecture

 BBN, a consulting firm build the subnet and wrote the subnet software. The software was
split into two parts: subnet and host.
 The subnet software consisted of the IMP end of the host-IMP connection, the IMP-IMP
protocol, and a source IMP to destination IMP protocol designed to improve reliability.
 Outside the subnet, software was also needed, namely, the host end of the host-IMP
connection, the host-host protocol, and the application software.

Standards Organization

Standard is a common set of rules. Standards define what is needed for interoperability: no more, no less.
Standards fall into two categories: De facto and de jure.
o De facto (Latin for ‘‘from the fact’’) standards are those that have just happened, without
any formal plan. HTTP, the protocol on which the Web runs, started life as a de facto
standard.
o De jure (Latin for ‘‘by law’’) standards, in contrast, are adopted through the rules of some
formal standardization body.
 International standardization authorities are generally divided into two classes: those established
by treaty among national governments, and those comprising voluntary, nontreaty organizations.
 In the area of computer network standards, there are several organizations of each type, notably
ITU, ISO, IETF and IEEE and 3GPP(Third Generation Partnership Project) all of which we will
discuss below.
IEEE and ITU:
 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and electronics Engineers): The IEEE is incorporated under the Not-
for-Profit Corporation Law of the state of New York, United States. It was formed in 1963.
 ITU (International Telecommunication Union). Its job was to standardize international
telecommunications, which in those days meant telegraphy.
 In 1947, ITU became an agency of the United Nations. ITU has about 200 governmental
members, including almost every member of the United Nations.

ITU and its Sectors:

 ITU has three main sectors. We will focus primarily on ITU-T, the Telecommunications
Standardization Sector, which is concerned with telephone and data communication systems.
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  ITU-R, the Radio communications Sector, is concerned with coordinating the use by competing
interest groups of radio frequencies worldwide.
 The other sector is ITU-D, the Development Sector. It promotes the development of information
and communication technologies.
ISO:
 International standards are produced and published by ISO (International Standards Organization),
a voluntary nontreaty organization founded in 1946. Its members are the national standards
organizations of the 157 member countries.
 On issues of telecommunication standards, ISO and ITU-T often cooperate (ISO is a member of
ITU-T) to avoid the irony of two official and mutually incompatible international standards.
 ISO has over 200 Technical Committees (TCs), numbered in the order of their creation, each
dealing with a specific subject. TC1 deals with the nuts and bolts (standardizing screw thread
pitches). JTC1 deals with information technology, including networks, computers, and software.

Standards Establishment Procedure:

The procedure used by ISO for adopting standards has been designed to achieve as broad a consensus as
possible.
 The process begins when one of the national standards organizations feels the need for an
international standard in some area.
 A working group is then formed to come up with a CD (Committee Draft).
 The CD is then circulated to all the member bodies, which get 6 months to criticize it. If a
substantial majority approves, a revised document, called a DIS (Draft International Standard) is
produced and circulated for comments and voting.
 Based on the results of this round, the final text of the IS (International Standard) is prepared,
approved, and published.
 In areas of great controversy, a CD or DIS may have to go through several versions before
acquiring enough votes, and the whole process can take years.

IEEE 802 Standard

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IEEE 802 Standards:

Explains networking model and related standards, provides detailed implementation specifications for no
of networking technologies.

NIST:
 NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is part of the U.S. Department of
Commerce. It used to be called the National Bureau of Standards.
 It issues standards that are mandatory for purchases made by the U.S. Government, except for
those of the Department of Defense, which defines its own standards.

Metrics and UNITS used in Communication:

Who’s Who in the Internet Standards World

Internet Standards refer to all the documented requirements both in technology as well as methodology
pertaining to the Internet. The standardization process has three steps.
 Proposed Standard: These are the standards that are ready for implementation. However, they
can be revised according to circumstances of deployment.

 Draft Standard: When a Proposed Standard has been meticulously tested by at least two sites for
at least 4 months, they are considered as Draft Standard. Draft Standard has been merged with
Internet standard to form the future Internet standard.
 Internet Standard: These are technically matured standards that define the protocols and formats
of messages. The fundamental standards are those which form the Internet Protocol (IP).

The organizations of Internet Standards are

1. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) : IETF formulates, publishes and regulates Internet
Standards, particularly those related to TCP/IP. The organization is open standard, with no formal
memberships. Development of IETF standards is open to all. Any interested person can participate for
their development. IETF documents are free and easily available over the Internet. IETF specifications
are on individual protocols that may be used in different systems.
2. Internet Society (ISOC): ISOC was founded in the US in 1992 as a non-profit organization to provide
support on technical development of the Internet. It presently conducts a range of activities on Standards,
Education, Access, and Policies.

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3. Internet Architecture Board (IAB): IAB is a committee of IETF and an advisory body of ISOC. The
board comprises researchers and professionals for developing technical aspects of the Internet. The
responsibilities of IAB are

 Supervise architectural standards of different networks and IP.

 Review issues related to Internet Standards.
 Provide guidance to IETF and ISOC.
4. Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) : IRTF is composed of a number of research groups whose
overall objective is focused on the long-term development of the Internet. It is a parallel organization to
IETF. The participants are individual contributors who have long-term memberships. The research groups
work on Internet protocols, applications, technology and overall architecture.

5. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority: The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is a standards
organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone
management in the Domain Name System, media types, and other Internet Protocol-related symbols and
Internet numbers.
6. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): It is the foremost international standards organization for the
World Wide Web (www). It is a community of a large number of member organizations, who work
together to develop web standards and improve web services. Some of the popular standards developed
by W3C are HTML, HTTP, XML, CSS, etc.
Internet Organization

GUIDED TRANSMISSION MEDIA

The purpose of the physical layer is to transport bits from one machine to another. Various physical
media can be used for the actual transmission. Media are roughly grouped into i) Guided media: Such
as copper wire and fiber optics, ii) Unguided media: Such as terrestrial wireless, satellite, and lasers
through the air. Each one has its own specialty in terms of bandwidth, delay, cost, and ease of installation
and maintenance. Guided transmission media is also known as Bounded or wired.

Twisted Pair Cable

 Copper wires are the most common wires used for transmitting signals because of good
performance at low costs. They are most commonly used in telephone lines.
 However, if two or more wires are lying together, they can interfere with each other’s signals. To
reduce this electromagnetic interference, pair of copper wires are twisted together in helical shape
like a DNA molecule.

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 Such twisted copper wires are called twisted pair. To reduce interference between nearby twisted
pairs, the twist rates are different for each pair.
 More twists result in less crosstalk and a better-quality signal over longer distances, making the
cables more suitable for high-speed computer communication, especially 100-Mbps and 1-Gbps
Ethernet LANs.

 The bandwidth depends on the thickness of the wire and the distance traveled, but several
megabits/sec can be achieved for a few kilometers in many cases.
 Different LAN standards may use the twisted pairs differently. For example, 100-Mbps Ethernet
uses two (out of the four) pairs, one pair for each direction.
 Twisted-pair cables are Two Types
1. Unshielded and
2. Shielded.

 If each twisted pair and then all the pairs are shielded and having protective sheath over, Such
twisted pairs are called shielded twisted pair (STP) cables.
 The wires that are not shielded but simply bundled together in a protective sheath are
called unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables.
 Shielding makes the cable bulky and expensive so UTP are more popular than STP.
 Twisted-pair cabling comes in several varieties. The garden variety deployed in many office
buildings is called Category 5 cabling, or ‘‘Cat 5 and others are Cat 6 and Cat 7.
 Category 6 and Category 7 are having more stringent specifications to handle signals with
greater bandwidths. Some cables in Category 6 and above are rated for signals of 500 MHz
and can support the 10-Gbps links.
 Category 6 is Unshielded Twisted Pair but Category 7 cables have shielding on the
individual twisted pairs as well as around the entire cable .
 Shielding reduces the susceptibility to external interference and crosstalk with other nearby
cables to meet demanding performance specifications.

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Advantages of twisted pair cable
 Connections can be easy and very flexible.
 Trained personnel easily available easy to install and low maintenance
 Adequate performance
 Can be used for both analog and digital transmissions
 Less expensive for short distances
Disadvantages of twisted pair cable
 Due to attenuation(loosing signal strength over distance) Signal cannot travel long distances
without repeaters
 Low Bandwidth compared to other Media, Usual data transmission rate ranges from 1 Mbps to
10 Mbps.
 High error rate for distances greater than 100m
 Very thin and hence breaks easily
 Not suitable for broadband connections

Coaxial Cable
 Coaxial cables are copper cables with better shielding than twisted pair cables, so that
transmitted signals may travel longer distances at higher speeds. A coaxial cable consists of these
layers, starting from the innermost −
 Stiff copper wire as core
 Insulating material surrounding the core
 Closely woven braided mesh of conducting material surrounding the insulator
 Protective plastic sheath encasing the wire
 Coaxial cables are widely used for cable TV connections and LANs.

Types of Coaxial cables

There are Two Types of Coaxial Cables
 Baseband Coaxial Cable: LAN generally uses Baseband Coaxial cable. It is the 50 ohm coaxial
cable used for digital transmission. The cable comes with a power of transmitting a single signal
at quite high speed. It transmits a single signal at a time.
 Broadband Coaxial Cable: This cable transmits many simultaneous signals and that too using
different frequency. It covers more area than the Baseband coaxial cable and can run nearly
100km, but requires analog amplifiers. Amplifiers are used to strengthen the signal periodically.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Coaxial Cables
Advantages of Coaxial Cables:
 Excellent noise immunity
 Signals can travel longer distances at higher speeds, e.g. 1 to 2 Gbps for 1 Km cable
 Can be used for both analog and digital signals
 Inexpensive as compared to fiber optic cables
 Easy to install and maintain

Disadvantages of Coaxial Cables:

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  Expensive as compared to twisted pair cables
 Not compatible with twisted pair cables

Optical Fiber
 Thin glass or plastic threads used to transmit data using light waves are called optical fibre. Light
Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or Laser Diodes (LDs) emit light waves at the source, which is read by
a detector at the other end. Optical fibre cable has a bundle of such threads or fibres, bundled
together in a protective covering.
 Each fibre is made up of these three layers, starting with the innermost layer − Core made of high
quality silica glass or plastic, Cladding made of high quality silica glass or plastic, with a lower
refractive index than the core, Protective outer covering called Jacket.

 In optical fiber, information is transmitted by semiconductor lasers in the form of light.

 The source has a converter, which converts electrical signals into light waves. The light waves get
transmitted over the fiber.
 The destination also has a converter, which converts the light waves back to electric signals. The
signal is sent to the receiver after amplification.

How Optical Fiber Works:

 Optical Fiber works on the concept called total internal Reflection.
 RI Core >RI Cladding
 Angle of Incidence > Critical Angle.

 The basic functional structure of an optical fibre consists of an outer protective cladding and
an inner core through which light pulses travel.
 The difference in refractive index of the cladding and the core allows total internal reflection to
occur.
 If light is incident on a cable end with an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle then the
light will remain trapped inside the glass strand, in this way, light travels very quickly down the
length of the cable.

Advantages & Disadvantages:

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Advantages:
 Increased capacity and bandwidth
 Light weight
 Less signal attenuation
 Immunity to electromagnetic interference
 Resistance to corrosive materials

Disadvantages:

 Difficult to install and maintain

 High cost
 Fragile

Un-Guided Transmission

• An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any physical
medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless transmission.
• In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can flow easily.
• When an antenna is attached to electrical circuit of a computer or wireless device, it converts the
digital data into wireless signals and spread all over within its frequency range. The receptor on
the other end receives these signals and converts them back to digital data.
• Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:
1. Radio waves
2. Microwaves
3. Infrared
A little part of electromagnetic spectrum can be used for wireless transmission.

Radio waves:
• Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted in all the directions of free
space(omnidirectional)
• In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are not aligned, i.e., the wave sent
by the sending antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
• An example of the radio wave is FM radio.
Applications of Radio waves
• A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender and many receivers.
• An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio wave.
Advantages of Radio transmission:

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 • Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and mobile cellular phones.
• Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
• Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.
Microwaves:

• Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial microwave is from 4-6 GHz to 21-23 GHz.
• Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.
• Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
• Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a longer distance.
• Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by environmental conditions and
antenna size.
Microwaves are of two types:
1. Terrestrial Microwave
2. Satellite Microwave Communication.
Terrestrial Microwave Transmission:
• Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam of a radio
signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to another.
• Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from 1GHz to 1000
GHz.
• Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be aligned.
• In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna which is km
away.
• It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers are the direct
sight of each other.
Satellite Microwave Communication:
• A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
• Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than cable and
fibre optic systems.
• We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.
How Does Satellite work?
• The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it amplifies the
signal. The amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.
Advantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:
• The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more than the terrestrial microwave.
• The transmission cost of the satellite is independent of the distance from the centre of the
coverage area.
• Satellite communication is used in mobile and wireless communication applications.
• It is easy to install.
• It is used in a wide variety of applications such as weather forecasting, radio/TV signal
broadcasting, mobile communication, etc.

Disadvantages of Satellite Microwave Communication

• Satellite designing and development requires more time and higher cost.
• The Satellite needs to be monitored and controlled on regular periods so that it remains in orbit.
• The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years. Due to this reason, another launch of the satellite has
to be planned before it becomes non-functional.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Microwave

Advantages of Microwave:
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 • Microwave transmission is cheaper than using cables.
• It is free from land acquisition as it does not require any land for the installation of cables.
• Microwave transmission provides an easy communication in terrains as the installation of cable in
terrain is quite a difficult task.
• Communication over oceans can be achieved by using microwave transmission.
Disadvantages of Microwave transmission:
• Eavesdropping: An eavesdropping creates insecure communication. Any malicious user can
catch the signal in the air by using its own antenna.
• Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave transmission is susceptible to weather condition.
This means that any environmental change such as rain, wind can distort the signal.
• Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited in the case of microwave transmission.

Infrared

• An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for communication over short ranges.
• The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.
• It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between two cell phones, TV
remote operation, data transfer between a computer and cell phone resides in the same closed area.
• Characteristics Of Infrared:
• It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
• Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared communication in one room
cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
• An infrared communication provides better security with minimum interference.
• Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the sun rays will interfere with
the infrared waves.

=============================)0<X>0(====================================
Questions from Previous Question Papers
1. Explain about WAN?(4M)
2. What is the difference between Broadcasting and Multicasting?(4M)
3. What are TCP and UDP protocols?(3M)
4. a) Explain the different topologies of the network. (8M)
b) Explain the TCP/IP model?(8M)
5. Explain the Services of Transport layer.(8M)
6. Explain about LAN.(4M)
7. a) Explain various categories of networks. [8]
b) Explain the ISO/OSI reference model. [8]
8. With neat sketch explain Twisted pair cables, connectors of twisted pair cables with neat graph explain the
performance of Twisted pair cables.(8M)
9. Explain the advantages of wireless LANS.(4M)
10. Explain about MAN(4M)
11. a) Explain the following networks i) ARPANET ii) Internet [8]
b) What is the significance of layered architecture? Explain the OSI layered architecture with neat sketch.[8]
12. What is the significance of topologies? What are the different types of topologies? [4]
13. a) Explain the differences between OSI model and TCP/IP model? [8]
b) Explain the following networks i) ARPANET ii) NSFNET [8]
14. With neat sketch explain Coaxial cable, Standards of coaxial cable and connectors of coaxial cables(8M)
15. Give advantages of a client server system using LAN over the big time sharing system(3M)

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16. a) Explain the principle differences between connection-oriented communication and connectionless
communication. [8]
b) Which characteristics affect the quality of service offered by a network? Justify your answer with proper
example.(8M)
17. What are the advantages of and draw backs of mesh topology(4M)
18. Compare the WAN, LAN and MAN topologies.(8M)
19. What are the advantages of and draw backs of Star topology? [4]
20. Differentiate Guided and Unguided transmission medias.
21. a) What are the responsibilities of Presentation layer and Session layer of OSI model? [8]
b) What is Internet? Explain the Architecture of Internet with a neat Sketch. [8]
22. What are the advantages of and draw backs of bus topology [4]
23. Explain why the cables are twisted in twisted pair cable system?(4M)
24. What are the responsibilities of Network layer and Transport layer of OSI model(8M)
25. What are the different categories of UTP and compare them. (8M)
26. a) What are the responsibilities of Physical layer and Data link layer of OSI model [8]
b) Explain the different Network topologies and their advantages in detail. [8]
27. What is the difference between LAN and WAN? (3M)
28. Explain about the Radio Transmission (3M)
29. a) Differentiate OSI reference model with the TCP/IP reference model. [8]
b) Discuss briefly about the original ARPANET design [8]
30. Write about Arpanet(2M)
31. Write the advantages of optical fiber over twisted and coaxial cables.(5M)
32. Define bridge? Write about types of bridges.(4M)
33. a) What do you mean by computer network? Classify computer networks and Explain them in brief. [8]
b) Differentiate between OSI and TCP /IP reference models. [8]
34. Why twisted pair cables are preferable over coaxial cables? Explain. (8M)
35. What are the advantages of having layered architecture? (5M)
36. Discuss about unguided transmission media. (5M)
37. Explain detail about Network Hardware. How network hardware supports the communication of two
systems? (8M)
38. Differentiate between guided and unguided transmission media(8M)
39. What are the advantages of MAN? (4M)
40. Write about the twisted coaxial cables. (4M)
41. a) What are the distinct characteristics of local area networks, explain briefly? [8]
b) Discuss in brief about TCP/IP protocol Suite. (8M)
42. Define Computer network(2M)
43. Discuss the construction of coaxial cable. (6M)
44. What is a firewall? (2M)
45. a) Why are a LAN required and what objectives are achieved by having a LAN? [8]
b) Define Topology. Discuss in brief about computer network topologies. [8]
46. Describe the Transmission Media. What are the types of Transmission Media? (8M)
47. Describe the TCP/IP Reference model in detail.(8M)
48. What are the limitations of Arpanet? (4M)
49. Describe Wide Area Networks and its Components. (8M)
50. Explain in detail about the Micro Wave Transmission. (8M)

*************************************THE END*******************************************

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