Data Communication and Computer

Network
 Introduction
 A Network is a collection of interconnected computers that can

communicate with each other.

 Networks allow users to share peripheral, input-output devices

connected to the computer, program, and data.

 A Server is a computer shared by several users in a network.
 A Node is a device that is attached to a network.

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 Data Communication
 Data communication is the process of transmitting data over
communication channels from one system to another.
Basic Elements of a Communication System
 There are five elements of the communication system are:
1) A sender (source), which created sends the message to be
transmitted.
2) A medium, which carries the message.
3) A receiver (sink or object), which receives the message.
4) Message: the information to be communicated
5) Protocol: refers to a set of rules that coordinates the exchange of
information 3
Cont.

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 Transmission Media
 There are two types of transmission media
Guided Transmission Media
 The data follows a definite path, wire, or cable.
 There are three types of guided media:
 Twisted pair cable, Coaxial Cable, and Fiber optic cable
Unguided Transmission Media
 Unguided media uses radio waves/electromagnetic waves to
transmit data from source to destination.
 They use air (space) as a channel and hence they do not use wires.
 Unguided media uses one of the following:
 Satellites and Microwave dishes (antenna)

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 Cont.
 Data is transmitted in the form of signal over communication
channel whether wired or wireless.
 Two types of signals:
1. Digital signal
 The digital signal has only two states: high and low

2. Analog Signal
 Analog signal is a continuous signal which has the behavior of
continuously varying.

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 Data Transmission Modes
 There are three ways, or modes, of transmitting data from one
point to another (direction), simplex, half duplex & full duplex.

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 Cont.
 Simplex: Communication can take place in only one direction. Ex.

Radio / Television broadcasting / Calling Bell.

 Half Duplex: Transmit data in both directions, but only in one
direction at a time.
 It requires two wires.
 This is the most common type of transmission for voice
communication
 Full Duplex: Information flows simultaneously in both directions
on the transmission path. Ex: Telephone networks use full duplex
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channels.
Advantages/Applications of Networks

 Sharing of peripheral devices

 Ex. Printer, Hard disk drives and Scanners
 Sharing of Programs and data
 Better Communication
 Security of information

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 Network Types

 Computer networks can be categorized using different criteria.

 Based on geographical area coverage, we have three types of
networks:
 LAN (Local Area Network)
 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
 WAN (Wide Area Network)

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 Cont.
 Local Area Networks (LANs): Privately owned networks with a campus of up
to a few Kilometers and
 mainly used to connect some machines in an organization to share
resources

 Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs): Bigger versions of a LAN

 Cover a group of nearby corporate offices or a city
 Might be either private or public.
 Example: A cable television network
 Wide Area Network (WAN): spans a large geographical area, often a country
or continent.

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 Network Topology
 Topology refers to the way in which multiple devices are
interconnected via communication links.
 Topology can be:
 Physical topology: The way computers are connected together
physically
 Logical topology: The way computers access the media of
transmission/channel and transmit data
 There are three types of primary topology
 Bus topology
 Star topology
 Ring topology
 Mesh topology(combination of the above 3 topologies)
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 Cont.
Bus topology: Every device is connected to common connecting
cable called bus.
 Data flows in both directions on the bus

 Advantage:
 Devices can be attached or detached from the network without
affecting the network.
 If a device fails, the network is not affected.
 Disadvantage :
 If the bus is cut somewhere in the middle, the whole network will
not function. 13
 Cont.
Ring Topology: Every device is connected to a ring forming a loop
 Each device is connected to two other devices in a ring topology
 if data is sent over the ring, it reaches all devices on the ring one
after the other.

 Advantage:
o it is active
 Disadvantage:
o If one computer fails, the whole network fails.
o Difficult to add or remove computers from the network
o if the ring is cut somewhere, the network goes down
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 Cont.
Star Topology
 All computers are connected to a central Device
 The most dominant type of network topology
 The central unit can be a hub or switch that receives the data
sent by the source computer and forwards it to the destination
computer

Advantage:
 if one node fails, the other nodes will not be affected
 Easy to install
Disadvantage:
 If the central unit fails, no communication is possible 15
 Cont.…
Mesh topology
It is the combination of bus, ring, and star topology
 Common on very large networks.
 Messages sent can take any of several possible paths from source to destination.
Some WAN-like internet employs mesh.

Advantage: Relative immunity to failure and trouble-shooting problems.

Disadvantage :More expensive

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 Internet and its Application
 Internet is the network of networks.
 It is the largest WAN in the world.
 It is a global network of computers that covers the whole world
 The faster-growing part of the Internet is the World Wide Web

(WWW).
 The World Wide Web or simply the Web consists of an interconnected

system of sites called Websites

 Websites are accessed by web browsers like Firefox
 Information from the web can be Searched by a tool called search
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engines like Google.
 Some Application of Internet
 World Wide Web(WWW)

 Used to navigate documents/files using links called hyperlinks

 Uses web address that takes you the document you want. The address

looks like this:

 Example: http://www.google.com: (this is URL of Google)

 Provide online information (information sharing).

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Cont.
 FTP(File Transfer Protocol)
 Used to transfer files between computers
 Used to transfer files from remote computer to your computer, this is
called Downloading
 Used to transfer file from your computer to remote computer, this is
called uploading.

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 Cont.
 Telnet: Telnet is the process of connecting your computer to a remote
computer and working on it.
 Once you are connected to it, you can run programs on the remote
computer as if you are just sitting on it.
 Email (Electronic Mail): Email is used to send mail to friends
electronically.
 It uses an electronic box instead of a post office box.
 It is an easy, fast, and reliable way of communication
 Ecommerce: Ecommerce enables you to buy and sell products using the
internet.

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