Unit: 2 introductions to Computer Networks
Network: - The collection of interconnected computing devices is called a network. Two
computing devices are said to be interconnected if they are capable of sharing and
exchanging information.
Benefits of Network: -
(1)Resource Sharing: Resource Sharing means to make the applications/programs, data
(files) and peripherals available to anyone on the network irrespective of the physical
location of the resources and the user.
(2)Reliability: Reliability means to keep the copy of a file on two or more different
machines, so if one of them is unavailable (due to some hardware crash or any other) them
its other copy can be used.
(3)Cost Factor: Cost factor means it greatly reduces the cost since the resources can be
shared. For example a Printer or a Scanner can be shared among many computers in an
office/Lab.
(4)Communication Medium: Communication Medium means one can send and receive
messages. Whatever the changes at one end are done, can be immediately noticed at
another.
EVOLUTION OF NETWORKING
ARPANET (1969) – US Government formed an agency named ARPANET( Advanced
Research Project Agency Network) to connect computers at various universities and
defense agencies to share data/information efficiently among all of them. They use NCP
(Network Control Protocol) to connect universities.
In 1982 TCP/IP introduced as standard protocol on ARPANET.
NSFNET (1985) - National Science Foundation Network was a program of coordinated,
evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF)from 1985 to 1995 to
promote advanced research and education networking in the United States. The program
created several nationwide backbone computer networks in support of these initiatives.
Initially created to link researchers to the NSF-funded supercomputing centers, through
further public funding and private industry partnerships it developed into a major part of
the Internet backbone.
INTERNET (1990) - INTER-connection NETwork , The worldwide network of networks. The
Berners-Lee at CERN developed HTML and URL, thus giving the birth to world wide
web(www)
Father of WWW.- Tim berner lee.
Father of internet- Vint cert & bob kahn. They developed TCP/IP
Types of Computer Network:
Based on the geographical area covered and data transfer rate, computer networks are
broadly categorized as
PAN (Personal Area Network)
LAN (Local Area Network)
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
WAN (Wide Area Network)
1. PAN (Personal Area Network): A Personal Area Network is computer network organized
around an individual person.
A PAN, or Personal Area Network, is a
network for connecting personal devices like
smartphones, laptops, and wearable’s within
a short range.
It generally covers a range of less than 10
meters.
Personal Area Networks can be constructed
with cables or wirelessly.
It can be classified in two types
1. Piconet- A piconet can have up to 8 devices (1 master and 7 slave)
2. Scatternet –Group of piconets
2. LAN (Local Area Network):
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that is limited to a small area. It is generally
limited to a geographic area such as within lab, school or building.
It is generally privately-owned networks over a distance up to a few kilometers (up to
1 KM). Now-a-days, we also have WLAN (Wireless LAN) which is based on wireless
network.
It is used to share resources between end users.
Mostly operates on private IP.
The connectivity is done by means of wires, Ethernet cables, fiber optics or Wi-Fi.
The data transfer rate of LAN is quite high usually 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps (1Gbps).
3. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network):
MAN is an extended form of LAN which covers a larger geographical area like a city or
a town.
Data transfer rate of MAN also range in Mbps, but it is considerably less as compared
to LAN.
Cable TV network or cable based broadband internet services are examples of MAN.
Range 5 Km to 50 KM
WAN (Wide Area Network): These are the networks spread over large distances, say across
countries or even continents through cabling or satellite uplinks are called WAN. Typically, a
WAN combines multiple LANs that are geographically separated. It is a network of network.
The world’s most popular WAN is the Internet.
A. Internet-
Network of Networks
Internetwork
Public
Father of internet – Vint Cert & Bob kahn
B. Intranet-
Private network
Within organization
Intranet user can use internet but internet user cannot access intranet.
Comparison between PAN, LAN, MAN and WAN: -
Network Devices:
Hardware device that are used to connect computers, printers, fax machines and other
electronic devices to a network are called network device.
There are many types of network devices used in networking and some of them are
described below:
1. Modem (MOdulator DEModulator)
It is a device that converts digital signal to analog signal (modulator) at the sender’s site and
converts back analog signal to digital signal (demodulator) at the receiver’s end, in order to
make communication possible via telephone lines. It enables a computer to transmit data
over telephone or cable lines.
It is used to provide internet facility in the computer system.
There are two types of MODEM, which are as follows
(i) Internal Modem Fixed within a computer.
(ii) External Modem Connected externally to a computer.
An Internet service provider (ISP) is any organization that provides services for accessing
the Internet.
2. Ethernet card:
Ethernet card, also known as Network Interface Card (NIC card in short) is a network
adapter used to set up a wired network. It acts as an interface between computer and
the network.
Ethernet cards can support data transfer between 10 Mbps and 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps).
Each NIC has a MAC address, which helps in uniquely identifying the computer on the
network.
MAC(Media Access Control) is a physical address of LAN/ Ethernet Card. It is a 48 bit
address. Like 12:A2:CD:45:A1:00
It is given by manufacturing company at the time of manufacturing.
3. RJ45 (Registered Jack):-
RJ 45 or Registered Jack-45 is an eight-pin connector
that is used exclusively with Ethernet cables for
networking. It is a standard networking interface
that can be seen at the end of all network cables.
4. Repeater:
Repeater is an analog device, which is used to
amplify and regenerate the signals when they are
transported over a long distance in order to
compensate for transmission losses.
It boost the signal strength.
5. Hub:
A Hub is a connecting device which connects multiple computers together to form a
Local Area Network (LAN). It provides
various RJ-45 ports to connect Twisted
Pair cable in STAR topology, making them
act as a single network segment.
It broadcast the signals to all computers
connected in the network. Data arriving
on any of the lines are sent out on all the
others. It does not manage the network
traffic.
The limitation of Hub is that if data from two devices come at the same time, they
will collide.
Active Hub: Amplifies the signal when required and works as a Repeater.
Passive Hub: It simply passes the signal without any change.
6. Switch:
A switch is a hardware device, which is used to
connect several nodes to form a Network.
It is also called intelligent hub because it filter
data based on MAC.
It redirects the received signals only to the
intended Node i.e. controls Network traffic.
It is also used to segment a big network into
different Sub networks (Subnet) to control the
network traffic and security.
Hub Switch
There is a vast difference between switch Switch forwards each incoming packet to
and hub. A hub forwards each incoming the specified recipient.
packet (data) to all the hub ports
Hub is a broadcast type transmission. While switch is a Unicast, multicast and
broadcast type transmission.
Layer 1 device which works on Physical layer Layer 2 device which works on data link
layer.
Hub is a half-duplex transmission mode. While switch is a full duplex transmission
mode.
In hub, Packet filtering is not provided. While in switch, Packet filtering is provided.
In hub, there is only one collision domain. While in switch, different ports have own
collision domain.
