29th April 2024
Paper 1: Principles of Computer Science
Topic 5: Communication and the internet
RAG - RED AMBER GREEN
5.1.1 Understand why computers are connected in a network.
5.1.2 Understand the different types of networks (local area
network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), personal area network
(PAN)) and usage models (client-server, peer-to-peer).
5.1.3 Understand wired and wireless connectivity.
5.1.4 Understand That Network Data Speeds Are measured in bits
per second (Mbps, Gbps).
5.1.5 Understand the role of and need for network
protocols (Ethernet , Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, email (POP3,
SMTP, IMAP)).
5.1.6 Understand that data can be transmitted in packets using
layered protocol stacks and the 4-layer TCP/IP model (application,
transport, network, data link).
5.1.7 Understand characteristics of network topologies (bus, ring,
star, mesh).
5.1.8 Understand the different mobile communication standards
(3G, 4G and subsequent generations).
There are many types of networks.
1) A personal area network (PAN) is the term given to connected devices that
are located within a few meters of each other
2) A local area network(LAN) is a single network located in a small geographical area such
as someone's home, an office or to cover a school site.
3) A wide area network (WAN) is a network that connects two or more networks over a
wider geographical area
2nd May 2024
What are the advantages of connecting computers and electronic devices to a network?
The advantages of connecting your computer or electronic devices to a network has many good
thing coming with it one can be:
● Gathering information at a fast speed.-
●
● Communicating with your friends or loved ones.
● Being able find directions to places you want to go.
Networks
Resources can be shared:
● File servers
● Print servers and printers
Communication
● Email social media
● Telecommunications and video confronting
Services
● Web servers and websites
● Download files, software and updates
Networked computers
What is the difference between a LAN and a WAN?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of connecting together computers in a LAN
compared to leaving the computers as standalone machines?
Design a network
TASK 1
A small charity subsidiary is considering whether they should network the six existing at their
office premises. They wish to keep the costs to a minimum. They would like access to the
Internet from all the computers, and they also want to be able to access a colour printer and a
scanner from any of the computers.
Advise them
· whether they should network their computers, and what the advantages and
disadvantages would be
· what extra hardware they would need to purchase
· whether a part-time member of staff who often brings in a laptop, would be able to
access the Internet from her laptop while at the office, as she is not currently able to
do so.
Find images for 6 computers -standalone pc
Laptop
Printer
Scanner
Cables
$4020
3.50 on ali express 30 on temu
23000.00 on apple 400
dollars on dell
400 on asus.com
Network topologies
A topology is the way in which parts of a system is connected.
● For instance the London Underground network topology that shows where connections
and lines are
There are many topologies for setting up networks and LANs
Two of these topologies are:
● Star
● Bus
9th May 2024
Understand the characteristics of network topologies
STAR NETWORK
Advantage Disadvantage
Fast data transferred to the hub as require additional hardware such as the
each wire isn’t shared h other central switch and network cables
computers
if one cable fails the other computers if the central switch fails the whole network
are not affected goes down
Bus Topology
Advantages Disadvantages
Less cable so cheaper to install the network the single cable is shared by many devices
so there will br many ‘collisions of data if data
is sent at the time
easier to add more devices as they only need if the cable is damaged, the whole network
to connect to a central cable fails
Any device can virally data on th cable crating
a security risk
Network hardware
● Additional hardware is required to connect a stand alone computer to a LAN
A Network interface card/controller in your computer or device
A switch / hub, which connects together all th computers or devices on the LAN
A modem is required to connect to the internet - this is usually combined with a router inside a
single device
A router is needed to route packets towards their destination
A wireless access point connect wireless devices to a network. Many home wireless access
points are part of a router.
Homework Task
A new office is to be set up for a company with five employees.
Each employee will need their own desktop computer. In addition, they will need to be able to
bring and connect a company laptops and smartphones to the network.
There will be one Internet connection which will be shared between all employees.
A file server, backup server and two printers will also be required.
(a) Explain why the company has set up a LAN rather than a WAN.
(b) Draw a diagram showing the topology of the company’s network. Add labels where
appropriate.
(c) Add labels to the connections in your network drawing to explain what type of
transmission media you would advise using. Justify your choices below.
You may need to research different media options in order to answer this question
15th May 2024
Objectives
● Explain the role of computers in client-server and peer-to-peer networks
● Explain the advantages and disadvantages of client - server and peer to peer networks
Describe what is meant by:
● Hosting
● The cloud
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various transmission media
● Describe the factors that affect network performance
The client server model
● In the client-server model, there is a client computer and a server
● The server is a powerful computer which provides services or resources required by any
of the clients
● A client is a computer or device which requests the services or resources provided by
the server
Client server advantages
Some specific examples of advantages include:
● With file servers just one file server needs to be backed up and files can be accessed
from the computer
● Email servers provide a central place for email is then accessed from different divides
● One print server can manage all files to be printed this allows be printer o be shared with
many computers
Peer to peer networking
Features of a peer to peer network include:
● Suitable for small companies with fewer computers
● No central server controls files or security
● All computer can easily see files on all other computers
● All computers can communicate with each other without going through a server
P2P Network
Advantages Disadvantages
easier to set up - computers can simply viruses and malware are more easily
be cabled together transferred over this type of network as
there is no central firewall
no need for decorated server equipment data recovery and backup is not done
centrally, do each computer has to have
its own back up system
individual computers can share a printer files are not centrally organized but stored
router modem and other hardware on individual computers and may be hard
to locate if the computer owner does not
have a logical filling and naming system
users can communicate directly with each if a computer is switched off data on that
other and share each others files machine can not be retrieved form other
machines
17th May
Network Media
Network hardware
Additional hardware is required to connect a stand alone computer to a LAN
● A network interface card/controller in your computer or device
● A switch/hub,which connects together all the computers or devices on the
LAN
● A modem is required to connect to the internet then is usually combined
with a router inside a single device
● A router is needed to route packets towards their destination
● A wireless access point connects wireless devices to a network. Many
home wireless access points are part of a router
Wired and Wireless network
Wireless network ???
Bluetooth
● Bluetooth is a wirless method of connecting devices over her over a short
distance
● Its uses radio waves at 2.4 GHz
● Devices are typically within 10 meters of each others
Devices need to be paired to connect with them together
● What does that mean?
HOMEWORK
Task1
Consider your school’s network.
(a) Is it a LAN or WAN? Explain your answer.
LAN because it's limited to those inside of the school and LAN is a local network in one place.
(b) What hardware is used to connect the computers and devices to the network?
Cable
computer
Modem
Router
Access point
Task 2
A new office is to be set up for a company with five employees.
Each employee will need their own desktop computer. In addition, they will need to be able to
bring and connect a company laptops and smartphones to the network.
There will be one Internet connection which will be sharedd between all employees.
A file server, backup server and two printers will also be required.
(a) Explain why the company has set up a LAN rather than a WAN.
The company set up a plan because they wanted their network to cover a place locally
between 5 people as well; it is cheaper for smaller start ups. The resources can be
shared with all people in this company.
HOMEWORK - 28TH MAY 2024
(b) Draw a diagram showing the topology of the company’s network. Add labels where
appropriate.
30th May 2024
Things i learnt with out looking at the docs
● difference between LAN and WAN
● To set up a network you need these 6 components
1. Server
2. Switch and hub
3. Computer
4. Wireless access point
5. router
6. Modem
Blue tooth jacking and cyber security/
How mobile data works\
Network Used today?
(Tick as appropriate)
School computer network N
GSM network y
3G / 4G/ 5G network y
Bluetooth network n
WiFi network y
Home network y
Internet y
KEY WORDS
Summary
• Computers on a network each need a network interface card (NIC) and cable to connect them,
often through switches.
• There are different types of cables that can be used including Cat, coaxial cable and fibre optic
cable.
• Computers can also be connected wirelessly.
• Bluetooth allows lots of different types of device to connect wirelessly.
Network data speeds are typically measured in bits per second (bps), where the prefixes denote
different orders of magnitude:
• Kilobits per second (Kbps): One kilobit is equal to 1,000 bits.
• Megabits per second (Mbps): One megabit is equal to 1,000,000 bits.
• Gigabits per second (Gbps): One gigabit is equal to 1,000,000,000 bits.
Calculating the time required to transmit a file
• Calculate the times to download the following files on a 10 Mbps network connection:
Remember:
• Network data transmission speeds are measured in bits per second.
• Transmission speeds are always in SI units, so Kbps is 1000 bits/sec.
• Data storage is measured in bytes:
• 1 byte = 8 bits and 1 kibibyte = 1024 bytes.
• To calculate the time to transmit a file you must convert the network speed and the file size into
bits. Then use the formula:
• time = size of file (in bits) / network speed (in bits)
3rd of June
Learning objectives learn how download speed is calculated understand that network data
speed is measured in bits per second (
Question 1
● File Size = 100 MB (megabytes)
● Network Speed = 10 Mbps (megabits per second)
How much time will it take to transfer the above file?
Formula to calculate
Question 2
File Size: 500 MB
Network Speed: 50 Mbps
Calculate the time required to transmit the file.
10 seconds m
PROTOCOLS
1. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol):
• Role: HTTP is used for transmitting hypertext (web pages) over the
Internet. It defines how messages are formatted and transmitted, and how web servers
and browsers should respond to various commands.
2. HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure):
• Role: HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP. It uses SSL/TLS to encrypt the
data exchanged between the client and server, providing security and data integrity.
3. POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3):
• Role: POP3 is used by email clients to retrieve emails from a server. It
downloads emails to the local device and typically deletes them from the server after
download.
4. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol):
• Role: IMAP is used by email clients to retrieve emails from a server, similar
to POP3. However, IMAP allows for multiple clients to manage the same mailbox and
keeps the emails on the server, enabling synchronization across devices.
5. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol):
• Role: SMTP is used for sending emails from a client to a server or between
servers. It handles the transfer of outgoing mail and is responsible for email delivery.
6. FTP (File Transfer Protocol):
• Role: FTP is used for transferring files between a client and a server over a
network. It allows for uploading, downloading, and managing files on the server.
7. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol):
• Role: TCP/IP is a suite of communication protocols used to interconnect
network devices on the Internet. TCP ensures reliable data transmission, while IP
handles addressing and routing the data packets to their destination
A common set of rules that specifies how devices on a network communicate
Protocols
Definition: A protocol is a common set of rules that specifies how devices on a network
communicate.
What is a protocol and why are protocols needed?
A protocol is a set of rules that specify the format of communications. They are needed
to standardize communications so that various devices can interoperate successfully.
What is a protocol suite?
A protocol suite is a group of network protocols that can be used together. It is often
organized in layers, where one protocol passes its data to the next before being sent
across a com
munications system. TCP/IP is probably the most well-known suite.
NETWORKS
Exam style questions
Answer
Answer
Homework
Q) Research and complete the table below.
The evolution of mobile communications from 1G to 5G
1G 2G 3G 4G 5G
Introduced in
Speed
Bandwidth
Capacity
Services
6/10/2024
·Explain the need for IP addressing of resources on the
Internet and how this can be facilitated by the role of DNS
services
·Explain packet switching
‒Understand how the (application, transport, internet, link)
4-layer TCP/IP model handles data transmission over a
network
IP address: An ip address is a unique numeric label
assigned to each device connected to the internet or
network.
Need for ip addressing
●1. Network interface identification: An IP address
identifies a specific device within a network,
allowing it to communicate with other devices
●2. Location addressing: IP addresses help route
data packets across the internet,ensuring they
reach the correct destination
●3. Network management: security while searching
online
Data transmissions
Packet switching- technology
Enables efficiency
Robust
Scalable data transfer
fault tolerance
