Computer Networking

BBC & BOIM

IICT , BCOM II
2024
Makerere University Business School

Coverage

Introduction to networks
Types of network
Components of the Network
Advantages and disadvantages of networks
Network design Parameters
Network Topologies

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 Why Study Networking?
Indispensable part of modern society
 Commercial – e-commerce, banking, inventorying,
telecommunications, archiving, health
 Social – critical infrastructure, homeland security, policing
 Human interaction/communication – email, chat,
videoconferencing, social networking, entertainment
Appears in every facet of engineering
 Modern trend – Network every (electronic) device
(computers, phones, sensors, planes, cars, TVs, appliances,
heart monitors, …)
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Definitions
A computer network is a group of computers and other
computing hardware devices that are linked in order to
share resources, exchange files, or allow electronic
communications between network nodes while using a set
of common communication protocols.
The computers on a network may be linked through
cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared
light beams.
The purpose of a network is to share resources. A resource
may be: A file, A folder, A printer, A disk drive, Or just
about anything else that exists on a computer.
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Basic network concepts
Network nodes
A network node is an electronic device that is connected to a network and is
capable of creating, receiving or transmitting information over a communication
channel. For example, if a network connects a file server, five computers, and two
printers, there are eight nodes on the network. Each device on the network has a
network address, which uniquely identifies each device. This helps to keep track of
where data is being transferred to and from on the network.
Network address
A network address is any logical address that uniquely distinguishes a network
node or host on a network. It is numeric and has two parts, the network ID and the
host ID. Eg 172.16.31.240 Examples; Telephone number (in the public switched
telephone network), MAC (Media access control) address (in Ethernet), IP (Internet
Protocol) address (in IP networks including the internet)

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Communication channels
A communication channel refers either to a physical transmission
medium such as a wire, or to a logical connection over a
multiplexed medium such as a radio channel that can be used to
transmit data from one network device to another. Examples;
Coaxial cable, fiber Optics, twisted pair, radio frequency,
Microwave system, Infrared, communication satellite, Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi.
Network protocols
Network protocols are a set of rules, conventions, and data structures that
dictate how devices exchange data across networks. Essentially, it allows
connected devices to communicate with each other, regardless of any
differences in their internal processes, structure or design. Protocols may
be implemented by hardware, software or a combinationComputer
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Types of protocols include:

 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP): Used over the world wide
web (shows information in web pages).
 Transmission Control Protocol(TCP): Used for communication
over a network.
 Internet Protocol(IP): An addressing protocol (Makes sure
data/signals are transmitted to the right address.
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP): Used to transfer files to different
networks.
 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP): Manages the transmission
and outgoing e-mails over the internet.

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Benefits of Computer Networks to

Organizations
The desire to share valuable information is one of the driving
forces behind the development of computer networks.
Networks have improved response time by overcoming time
barrier.
Resource sharing, multiple computers can share resources
like printers. Sharing files and communicating.
Support organizational decision making processes by
overcoming geographical barriers
Enable the formation of strategic alliances. E.g forming
superior working relationships with customers and suppliers
by linking to them via networks.
Computer
Generation of revenue. Generating new revenue fromnetworks
online
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 Benefits of Computer Networks to
Organizations Cont
The Internet is a worldwide public network, interconnecting
thousands of other networks to form one large "web" for
communication and collaboration
Cost: Networkable versions of many popular software
programs are available at considerable savings when
compared to buying individually licensed copies.
Development of new markets and information based
products. e.g web based markets and distribution
channels.
To attract new customers through web marketing and
advertising as well as online sales of innovative products.
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Benefits of Computer Networks to

Organizations Cont

Flexible Access: Networks enable users to use any computer

that is connected regardless of their location. One is able to do
work in one computer and then complete the same piece of
work from another computer within the network

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Limitations of using computer Networks

Expensive to Install
Requires Administrative Time
File Server Failure
Cables May Break
Unreliability in network. For example wireless
network signals that suffer from interference from
other obstacles in the electromagnetic spectrum
Security concerns over the network including virus
spreading over the network in a very fast way.
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Network Design Parameters

In the design, installation and operation of networks, some
fundamental parameters are used to define how the network
must perform to meet the needs of its users and these include;
Availability- the network being available all the time for the
users to do their work, however, its always difficult to have it
available throughout.
Reliability – It’s the percent of the scheduled available time
that the network is actually useful and fully operational.
Security – The network should be secure enough not to be
accessed by un authorized users or hackers.
Response time. How fast is the network in terms of
responding to different commands by the users.
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 Network Design Parameters

Throughput – This is a measure of the number of

characters that can be sent correctly through the
network over a period of time.
Robustness – This is a measure of the network’s
ability to continue operating through, or to recover
after the failure of one or more of its services.
Cost – The key costs to be controlled and managed
include the cost of design, build, install, operate and
maintain the network.

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Types Of Computer Networks

Computer networks can be classified into different
categories. The classifications help to explain the types
of networks in use today, and what they’re used for.
The following are the criteria widely used;
 Classification based on Scale (geographical
spread/physical size)
 Classification based on Functional relationships
(Network architecture)
 Classification based on network topology

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 Types of Networks
Some networks are designed to interconnect many users
and systems in a limited geographical region and to
enable high-speed communication among them.
Other networks connect a smaller number of devices that
are separated by large geographical distances.
To meet the requirements of these two broad categories
of users, different types of networks have been designed.

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Local-Area Networks (LANs)

Local-area networks (LANs)
connect many computers in
a relatively small
geographical area such as
a home, an office, a
building, or a campus.
The general shape or layout
of a LAN is called its
topology.
All LANs require the
networked computers to
share the communications
channel that connects them.
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Metropolitan Area Network
Metropolitan Area Network is a network spanning a physical
area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city.
A MAN is typically owned and operated by a single entity such
as a government body or large corporation

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Wide-Area Networks (WANs)

A WAN is usually segmented into
multiple LANs that make up a WAN.
These lines are called point-to-point
because they connect only two
devices, one on each side of the
line.
They are called serial lines because
the bits of information are
transmitted one after another in a
series.
Connections across WAN lines may
be temporary or permanent.
WANs normally operate at lower
speeds than LANs.

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Example of WAN is Internet18
 Intranet and Internet Specifications
Intranet: An intranet is a private network that is contained within
an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area
networks. An intranet uses a set of rules known as protocols to
enable connectivity. Such rules include TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP and
other Internet protocols and in general looks like a private version
of the Internet.
Extranet – a network that connects people within your company
with people who are outside your company--all within a secure,
password-protected network that can be accessed from anywhere
Internet: is a worldwide system of computer networks - a
network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if
they have permission, get information from any other computer
(and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers).
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
In a peer-to-peer network, the
networked computers act as
equal partners, or peers to each
other. As peers, each computer
can take on the client function
or the server function.
Individual users control their
own resources.
They may decide to share
certain files with other users.
They may also require
passwords before they allow
others to access their
resources.

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 Client/Server Networks
In a client/server
arrangement, network
services are located on a
dedicated computer called
a server, which responds to
the requests of clients.
The server is a central
computer that is
continuously available to
respond to a client requests
for file, print, application,
and other services.

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Client/Server Networks
The distribution of
functions in client/server
networks brings
substantial advantages,
but it also incurs some
costs.
Although the aggregation
of resources on server
systems brings greater
security, simpler access
and coordinated control,
introduces a single point
of failure into the network.

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Client/Server Network Vs Peer to Peer

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Client/Server Vs Peer to Peer

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 The Network Topology
The network topology defines the layout of the
network.
It shows how devices on the network are
interconnected.
Devices on the network are termed nodes.

A network has both a physical and a logical

topology

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Physical versus Logical Topology

Physical topology shows the physical topology of a

network, which refers to the actual physical layout of
the devices and media
Logical topology refers to the paths that signals
travel from one point on the network to another

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 Bus Topology
Commonly referred to as a
linear bus, all the devices
on a bus topology are
connected by one single
cable, which proceeds from
one computer to the next.
This topology is rarely used
and would only be suitable
for a home office or small
business with only a few
hosts.

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Bus Topologies
Advantages of a bus topology:
 The thinnet cabling it uses is quite inexpensive.
 It uses less cable compared to other physical topologies like star
or extended star
 It works well for small networks
 It does not need a central device, such as a hub, switch, or router

Disadvantages of a bus topology:

 It results in slower access to the network and less bandwidth due
to the sharing of the same cable by all devices
 It is challenging to identify and isolate problems
 A break at any point in the bus cable can disable the entire bus
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 It needs terminators
 Star Topology
The star topology is the most
commonly used architecture
in Ethernet LANs and
resembles spokes in a bicycle
wheel.
A star topology generally
costs more to implement than
the bus topology because
more cable is used and a
central device is needed, such
as a hub, switch, or router.

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Star Topology
Advantages of a Star Topology:
 It is upgradeable, flexible, and reliable
 It is easy to design and install
 This topology makes diagnosing problems relatively easy
since the problem is localized to one computer or device
 This topology allows for more throughput than any other
topology

Disadvantages of a Star Topology:

 It requires a lot of cable to connect computers since a cable is
required between each device and the central location.
 It is more expensive to build because of the additional cost of
cables and devices like hubs and switches that are needed
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run between the central device and each computer
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 Ring Topology
A frame, called a token, travels
around the ring and stops at each
node.
If a node wants to transmit data, it
adds that data and the addressing
information to the frame.
The frame continues around the ring
until it finds the destination node,
which takes the data out of the
frame.
The advantage of using this method
is that there are no collisions of data
packets.

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Ring Topology
Ring Topology
With single ring all the devices on the network share a
single cable, and the data travels in one direction only.
With dual ring two rings allow data to be sent in both
directions.
This creates redundancy (fault tolerance), meaning that in
the event of a failure of one ring, data will still be
transmitted on the other ring.

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 Mesh Topology
The mesh topology
connects all devices
(nodes) to each other for
redundancy and fault
tolerance.
It is used in wide-area
networks (WANs) to
interconnect LANs and for
critical networks.
The mesh topology is
expensive and difficult to
implement.

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Hybrid Topology
The hybrid topology
combines more than one
type of topology.
When a bus line joins two
hubs of different topologies,
the configuration is called a
star bus.
The bus line is used to
transfer the data between
the star topologies.

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Considerations When Choosing a Topology

Money. A linear bus network may be the least

expensive way to install a network.
Length of cable needed. The linear bus network
uses shorter lengths of cable.
Future growth. With a star topology, expanding a
network is easily done by adding another
concentrator.
Cable type. The most common cable in schools is
unshielded twisted pair, which is most often used with
star topologies.
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Components of a Network
Clients
 Computers that request or order information from a
server
 Usually desktop computers with their own local
storage and processing power
 Thin client – network computer with no local storage

Servers
 Computers that work behind the scenes to provide
(serve) the resources requested by the clients. These
can be
Non-dedicated – provides many different services to its client computers such
as file retrieval, printing, and emailing
Dedicated – provides only one type of resource to its clients, such as printing

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Components of a Network Cont;
Network Interface Card (NIC) provides the physical
interface between computer and cabling. It prepares data,
sends data, and controls the flow of data. It can also receive
and translate data into bytes for the CPU to understand.
Repeaters - They allow a cabling system to extend beyond its
maximum allowed length by amplifying the network
voltages so they travel farther. Repeaters are nothing more
than amplifiers and, as such, are very inexpensive. Repeaters
can only be used to regenerate signals between similar
network segments.
Hubs - are devices used to link several computers together.
They repeat any signal that comes in on one port and copy it
to the other ports (a process that is also called broadcasting).
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Image of a network Interface Card

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Image of a Repeater

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Image of a Hub

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Components of a Network Cont;
Bridges join similar topologies and are used to divide network
segments. E g, with 200 people on one Ethernet segment, the
performance will be mediocre, because of the design of
Ethernet and the number of workstations that are fighting
to transmit. If you divide the segment into two segments of
100 workstations each, the traffic will be much lower on
either side and performance will increase.
Routers - highly intelligent devices that connect multiple
network types and determine the best path for sending data.
 The advantage of using a router over a bridge is that routers can
determine the best path that data can take to get to its destination.
 Like bridges, they can segment large networks and can filter out
noise

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Image of a Router

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Image of a bridge

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Components of a Network Cont;

A network switch - is a computer networking device that connects network
segments.
• Low-end network switches appear nearly identical to network hubs, but a
switch contains more "intelligence" (and a slightly higher price tag) than a
network hub.
• A vital difference between a hub and a switch is that all the nodes
connected to a hub share the bandwidth among themselves, while a device
connected to a switch port has the full bandwidth all to itself.
A gateway - is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network.
On the internet, in terms of routing, the network consists of gateway nodes and
host nodes.
 Gateway nodes are computers that control traffic within your company’s
network or at your local internet service provider (ISP)

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Image of a Switch

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Components of a Network Cont;

Security Devices:

 Firewalls:
Software or Hardware that allows only
valid traffic to enter or leave the network.
Always at the entry point of the network

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Components of a Network Cont;
Wireless NICs

 Provide wireless connectivity

Wireless Access Points

 It is a wireless LAN transceiver

 Acts as a hub or as a bridge
 Multiple Access Points – Roaming Functionality

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Wireless LAN Topology

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