Computer and Systems Engineering Department

Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

A computer network is a set of computers connected
together for the purpose of sharing resources.

Computers on a network are called nodes.

Example of shared resources:

programs - data – equipments – Internet – printers –
file servers …

Attached to the network, regardless to the physical

location of the resource.
• Resources Sharing
• High reliability
If some computers go down, others may be able to
take over its work. It is very important for military,
air traffic corporation to continue operating when
encounter some hardware problems.
• Cost saving
• Enhance online communications
• A network is a multipurpose connection, which
allows a single computer to do more
 Computer Computer
(node) (node)

Node – Media – Bit stream (Signal) – Carrier –

Protocols – Typologies – Data Format – Coding
- Standards
• Electronic mail
• Web-browsing
• Digital libraries
• File transfer
• Video/audio conferencing
• E-commerce
Networks can be classified by their :
– Topology
The physical arrangement of the network (shape)
• Bus, Ring, Star, Mesh, …
– Architecture
The way they are designed to communicate
• client-server , peer-to-peer (P2P), …
– Size
Networks can be also classified by their size
• LAN , WAN, Man, Pan, Wireless Local Area Network
• Bus Topology
• Ring Topology
• Star Topology
• Mesh Topology
• Fully Connected Mesh
• Tree Topology
• Line Topology
• All devices on the network are connected to a common cable. Normally, this
cable is terminated at either end, and can never be allowed to form a closed
loop
• Advantages
– Easy to connect a computer or device
– Requires less cable length than a other topologies
• Disadvantages
– Data must pass through every computer between sender and receiver which
makes it slower
– Entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main cable.
– Terminators are required at both ends of the main cable.
– Difficult to identify the problem if the entire network shuts down.
Similar to the bus
All the devices on the network are
connected to a common cable which
loops from machine to machine.
After the last machine on the network,
the cable then returns to the first device
to form a closed loop
• Advantages
– Easy to install and wire
• Disadvantages
– Data must pass through every computer between sender and receiver which
makes it slower
– Entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main cable.
– Difficult to identify the problem if the entire network shuts down.
Each device has its own cable that
connects the device to a common
Hub or switch. Only one device is
permitted to use each port on the hub

• Advantages
– Easy to install and wire
– Easy to add or remove computers and devices
– Easy to detect problems
• Disadvantages
– Requires more cable length than a bus topology
– If the hub fails, nodes attached are disabled
– More expensive than bus topology because of the cost of the hub
• Every device on the network is physically
connected to every other device on the network.
For n computers, the number of connections is
calculated by the formula:n(n-1)/2. This provides
great performance and reliability
• Advantages
– No traffic problems
– Privacy and security
• Disadvantages
– More cables required
– Expensive Hardware
– Difficult installation and configuration
 Overlay Network
•An overlay network is a virtual computer
network that is built on top of another network.
(telephone lines using modems, data network).
•Internet is an example to overlaynetwork
•Address resolution and routing are the means
that allow mapping of a fully connected IP
overlay network to its underlying network.
It includes two types of devices: clients (PCs, printers, …) and
servers (computers that process client requests)
• Advantages
– Simple network administration
– More scalable
– Data is stored on the servers
• Greater security
• Easy to update data
• Disadvantages
– High traffic
– Network failure = clients are helpless
– Higher costs
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) computing is the sharing of computer resources
and services by direct exchange between systems

There is no central computer that acts as a server rather all

computers acts as a server for the data that is stored in them
• Advantages
– Easy to install/configure
– Inexpensive
– User is able to control their
own resources
– No need for an administrator
• Disadvantages
– Security problems
– Performance suffers when a computer is accessed
– No centralized data management
Networks can be also classified by their size, which indicates how
large the network is. Some of the most common types of
networks are:
• LAN - Local Area Network: A local-area network (LAN) is a
computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most
often, a LAN is confined to a single room, building or group of
buildings, however, one LAN can be connected to other LANs
• WAN - Wide Area Network: A wide area network (WAN) is a
telecommunications network that extends over a large
geographical area for the primary purpose of computer
networking. Wide area networks are often established with
leased telecommunication circuits
• MAN - Metropolitan Area Network:
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is
a network that interconnects users
with computer resources in a geographic area or
region larger than that covered by even a large
local area network (LAN) but smaller than
the area covered by a wide area network (WAN)
• Internet Network of networks
ISO-OSI Model
Ethernet
Layer 1: Physical Layer
The physical layer converts the digital bits into
electrical, radio, or optical signals and vice versa.

Layer 2: Data Link Layer

The data link layer provides node-to-node data
transfer.

Layer 3: Network Layer

The network layer provides the functional and
procedural means of transferring variable
length data sequences (called packets).
Layer 4: Transport Layer
The transport layer creates segments out of the
message received from the application layer.
Segmentation is the process of dividing a long message
into smaller messages.

Layer 5: Session Layer

The session layer controls the dialogues (connections)
between computers
Layer 6: Presentation Layer
The presentation layer transforms data into the form
that the application accepts.

Layer 7: Application Layer

The application layer interacts directly with the
software application component . It is closest to end
user.
 Network Devices
• Network Interface Controller (NIC)
• Repeaters & Hubs
• Switches
• Routers
• Bridges
• Modems
 Network interface (Card)
A network interface controller (NIC) is computer
hardware that provides a computer with the ability to
access the transmission media, and has the ability to
process low-level network information. For example, the
NIC may have a connector for accepting a cable, or an
aerial for wireless transmission and reception, and the
associated circuitry
• When it receives data from one of its interface, it simply
repeats it on all its outgoing interfaces.
• There is a limit to number of nodes and maximum
distance between nodes.

Repeater just clear and repeat

the signal
While Hub distributes the signal
An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub,
multiport repeater, or simply hub is a network hardware
device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together
and making them act as a single network segment

As well as repeater hub

is a physical layer
device. They have no
memory to store any
data in
• When data is received, it checks the
destination address and either forwards it to
correct interface or drops (filters) it.
• A network switch is a multiport network
bridge that uses media access control
addresses to forward data at the data link
layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.
• Some switches can also forward data at
the network layer (layer 3) by additionally
incorporating routing functionality. Such
switches are commonly known as layer-3
switches or multilayer switches
• The postman in the Internet
• On arrival of an IP packet, it makes a routing
decision based on the packet’s destination IP
address.
• Routing decision: to choose the next router to
forward the packet
• Max amount of data to be transmitted over a
given time interval
DataSize Dis tan ce
BW  speed 
Time Time
• Depends on
– Media type (microwave, twisted pair, coaxial, optical)
– Coding of information
• How long it will take to download a 100 MB file using a
56 Kbps modem? DataSize
BW 
Time
Data Size = 100 MB
= 100 x 1024 x 1024 B (Byte)
= 100 x 1024 x 1024 x 8 b (bit)
BW = 56 kbps
= 56 x 1024 bps (bit per second)

DataSize 100  1024  1024  8

Time    14979.7 sec
BW 56  1000
= 249.7 min
= 4.2 hours
• Calculate the bandwidth of a network, if we
managed to transfer a 50 KB file in 4 msec.
Data Size = 50 KB DataSize
= 50 x 1024 x 8 b (bit) BW 
Time = 4 msec Time
= 4 x 10-3 sec
DataSize 50  1024  8
BW   3
 102400000 bps
Time 4  10
102400000
  102400 Kbps
1000
102400
  102.4 Mbps
1000
• A collection of networks interconnected
and function as a single worldwide
network is known as INTERNET
• A host number to identify itself to other hosts
• Consists of strings of 32 bits
• E.g. 10111111010101010100000000001100 =
191.085.064.012
• Host Name
– Human-friendly internet addresses
• E.g.
net.shams.edu.eg
or
193.227.1.191
Convert the following 32-bit Internet address into dotted decimal format:
01011110000101001100001111011100
1) Divide the IP address into four sections
01011110
00010100
11000011
11011100
2) Convert each binary section into a decimal number
01011110 = 64+16+8+4+2 = 94
00010100 = 16+4 = 20
11000011 = 128+64+2+1 = 195
11011100 = 128+64+16+8+4 = 220
3) Write out the decimal values separated by periods
94.20.195.220
 We would go crazy if we would have to remember the
IP addresses of all the web sites that we wanted to
visit

 The Domain Name System translates between

domain names and IP addresses of devices
connected to the Internet
– A domain name (a part of the URL) is a unique
alphanumeric name such as gmu.edu
• Generic top level domains
• .com
• .gov
• .info
• .edu
• .org
• .net, etc.
• Country codes (2 character codes)
• .eg, .jp, .sw, .us, etc.
Each page of information on the web has a unique
address called the URL at which it can be found

faculty.uscupstate.edu/atzacheva/lecture1.html

Host Name - Path to the Web File Name

The Name of Page
Web Server
Q1: What is the effect of data size in network
packet on download speed?
Q2: What is effect of packet length on quality of
network performance (speed)?
Q3: What is the effect of network quality on
download speed?
Q4: Compare shared IP with dedicated IP
address?