Computer Networks
Network
• A network is a set of devices (nodes)
connected by communication links
• A node can be computer, printer or any other
device capable of sending and receiving data
generated by other nodes on the network
Network Criteria
• A network must be able to meet a certain
number of criteria
• The most important of these are
– Performance
– Reliability
– Security
Performance
• Performance can be measured in many ways
included transit time and response time
• Transit time is the amount of required for a message to
travel from one device to another
• Response time us the elapsed time between an inquiry
and a response
• Performance depends on a number of factors including
the number of users, the types of transmission medium
• Reliability:
The network reliability is measured by the frequency
of failure, the time it takes a link to recover from a
failure
• Security:
It includes protecting data from unauthorized access,
protecting data from damage
Implementing policies and procedures for recovery
from breaches and data losses
Physical Structures
Type of connection:
• A link is a communication pathway that
transfers data from one device to another
• Two possible types of connection
Point-to-point : It provides a dedicated link b/w two
devices
Usually use an actual length of wire or cable to connect the
ends
Microwave or satellite links are also used
Connection b/w the remote control and the television’s
control system
• Multipoint connection (multi drop): A
connection in which more than two specific
devices share a single link
Physical Topology
• This term refers to the way in which a network is
laid out physically
• The topology is the geometric representation of the
relationship of all the links and the linking devices
to one another
• Four basic topologies possible:
– Mesh
– Star
– Bus
– Ring
Topology
Mesh Star Bus Ring
Mesh Topology
• Here, every device has a dedicated point to
point link to every other device
• The term dedicated means that the link carries
traffic only b/w the two devices connected
• Assume we have n nodes, we need n(n-1)/2
links
Advantages:
• It guarantees that each connection can carry
its own load thus illuminating traffic problems
• It is robust
• Privacy and security
• Fault identification and isolation is easy
• Disadvantages:
– A lot of cabling and andI/O ports are required
– Installations and reconnections are difficult
– Hardware is expensive
– The bulk of wires used can be more than the available
space
• One practical example is the connection of
telephone regional offices in which each regional
office needs to be connected to every other
regional office
Star Topology
• Here, each device has a dedicated point to point
link only to central controller, usually called a hub
• The devices are not linked to one another directly
• The controller acts as an exchange
• If one device wants to send data to another, it
sends the data to controller, which then relays the
data to the other connected device
• Used in high speed LANs
Advantages:
• It is less expensive
• Easy to install and configure
• Less cabling required
• Robust
• Easy fault identification and fault isolation
Disadvantages:
• The whole topology depends on one single
point, the hub
• If the hub goes down, the whole system is
dead
Bus Topology
• One long cable acts as a backbone to link all
the devices in a network
• Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop
lines
• A drop line is a connection running b/w the
device and the main cable
• One of the first topologies used in the design
of early LANs
Advantages:
• Ease of installation
• Backbone cable can be laid along the most
efficient path, then connected to the nodes by
drop lines of various lengths
• Less cabling then mesh or star topologies
Disadvantages:
• Difficult reconnection and fault isolation
• Difficult to add new devices
• Fault or break in the bus cable stop all
transmission
Ring Topology
• Here, each device has a dedicated point to point
connection with only the devices on either side of it
• A signal is passed along the ring in one direction
from device to device until it reaches the destination
• Each device is linked to only its immediate
neighbours
• To add rremove a device, requires only changing two
connections
• It was used in LANs implemented IBM
Advantages
• Easy to install and reconfigure
• Fault isolation is simplified
Disadvantages
• A break in the ring can disable the entire
network
Categories of networks
• The category into which the network falls is
determined by its size
• Today when we speak of networks, we are
generally referring to two primary categories
– Local Area Network (LAN)
– Wide Area Network(WAN)
Local Area Network (LAN)
• It is usually privately owned and links the
devices in a single office, building or campus
• Depending on the needs of an organization
and the type of technology used, a LAN can be
simple as two PCs and a printer in someone’s
home office or it can extend throughout a
company
• LAN size is usually limited to a few kilometres
• Allows resources to b shared b/w computers
• These resources can include hardware e.g
printers or a software e.g an application
program
• Wired LANs are commonly used
• Newest Evolution includes Wireless LANs
Wide Area Networks(WAN)
• It provides long distance transmission of data,
image, audio and video information over large
geographic areas
• It may cover a country, a continent or even the
whole world
• Internet is an example of WAN
• It can be complex so that it acts as a backbone to
connect to the internet
• Or as simple as a dial-up line that connects a home
computer to the internet
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