Computer Networks

Introduction

Prof. Dr. Pardeep Kumar

About Myself …
 Completed PhD from FU Berlin, Germany in 2012
 Currently working as Professor & HoD Software
Engineering, QUEST University Nawabshah
 Previously worked at QUEST as
 HoD Computer Systems Engineering
 Director ORIC
 Director Continuing Education
 4 books, 16 book chapters, 60+ research papers
 Member of several HEC/PEC committees
 Member of several committees in different universities
 Already produced 4 PhD and 20 Masters students

2
What is a Computer Network?

 A networkcan be defined as two or more

computers connected in such a way that
they can share resources.
 The purpose of a network is to share
resources.
Computer Resource

 A resource may be:

 A file
 A folder
 A printer
 A disk drive
 Or just about anything else that exists on a
computer.
Network v/s Networking
 A network is simply a collection of computers or
devices connected with each other, either
physically or logically, using special hardware
and software, to exchange information and to
cooperate.

 Networkingis the term that describes the

processes involved in designing, implementing,
upgrading, managing and otherwise working
with networks and network technologies.
Advantages of Networking

 Connectivity and Communication

 Data Sharing
 Hardware Sharing
 Internet Access & Sharing
 Data Security and Management
 Performance Enhancement
 Load Balancing
 Entertainment
Disadvantages of Networking

 Network Hardware, Software and Setup

Costs
 Hardware and Software Management
and Administration Costs
 Undesirable Sharing
 Illegal or Undesirable Behavior
 Data Security Concerns
Network Classification
 Local Area Networks (LANs)
 A computer network covering a small geographic area,
like a home, office, or group of buildings
 Wide Area Networks (WANs):
 A computer network that connect LANs and other
networks together across metropolitan, regional, or
national boundaries.
 A network that uses routers and public communications
links
 The largest and most well-known example of a WAN is
the Internet.
 WANs are used to
Network Classification

 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):

 A network that interconnects users with
computer resources in a geographic area or
region larger than a LAN but smaller than a
WAN.
 An interconnection of several local area
networks by bridging them with backbone
lines.
 Personal Area Network (PAN) ???
LAN

Client Client

Client Client

Client Client
WAN
MAN
PAN
Network Classifications
Intranet and Internet
 Internet
 A network of networks in which users at any one computer
can, if they have permission, get information from any other
computer.
 Intranet:
 A private network that is contained within an enterprise &
may consist of many interlinked LANs and use leased lines
in WAN.
 An intranet uses protocols and in general looks like a
private version of the Internet.
 With tunneling, companies can send private messages
through the public network with special security safeguards
So, who owns the Internet?
 Well,nobody does. No single person or
company owns the Internet or even
controls it entirely.
 As a WAN, it is made up of many smaller
networks, which are often owned and
managed by a person or organization.
 The Internet, then, is really defined by
how connections can be made between
these networks.
Client and Server
 Server computer is a core component of the network,
providing a link to the resources necessary to
perform any task.
 A server computer provides a link to the resources
necessary to perform any task.
 The link it provides could be to a resource existing on
the server itself or a resource on a client computer.
 Client computers normally request and receive
information over the network client. Client computers
also depends primarily on the central server for
processing activities
Peer to peer network
 A peer-to-peer network is a network where the
computers act as both workstations and servers.
 great for small, simple, and inexpensive networks.
 In a strict peer-to-peer networking setup, every
computer is an equal, a peer in the network.
 Each machine can have resources that are shared
with any other machine.
 There is no assigned role for any particular device,
and each of the devices usually runs similar
software. Any device can and will send requests to
any other.
Peer to peer network (cont..)
Client/Server Networking

 Inthis design, a small number of

computers are designated as centralized
servers and given the task of providing
services to a larger number of user
machines called clients
Client/Server Networking (cont..)
Network topology

 A topology is a way of “laying out” the

network. Topologies can be either
physical or logical.
 Physical topologies describe how the
cables are run.
 Logical topologies describe how the
network messages travel
Network topologies
Bus Topology
 A bus is the simplest physical topology. It consists
of a single cable that runs to every workstation
 This topology uses the least amount of cabling,
but also covers the shortest amount of distance.
 Each computer shares the same data and
address path. Each workstation checks to see if
the message is addressed to itself. If the address
of the message matches the workstation’s
address, the network adapter copies the message
to the card’s on-board memory.
Network topology (cont.)

 it is difficult to add a workstation

 if any one of the cables breaks, the
entire network is disrupted. Therefore, it
is very expensive to maintain.
Star topology
 A physical star topology branches each
network device off a central device called a
hub, making it very easy to add a new
workstation.
 Also, if any workstation goes down it does not
affect the entire network. (But, as you might
expect, if the central device goes down, the
entire network goes down.)
 Some types of Ethernet and ARCNet use a
physical star topology.
Star Topology

 Star topologies are easy to install. A

cable is run from each workstation to the
hub. The hub is placed in a central
location in the office.
 Star topologies are more expensive to
install than bus networks, because there
are several more cables that need to be
installed, plus the cost of the hubs that
are needed.
Ring Topology

 Each computer connects to two other

computers, joining them in a circle
creating a unidirectional path where
messages move workstation to
workstation.
 Each entity participating in the ring reads
a message, then regenerates it and
hands it to its neighbor on a different
network cable.
Ring Topology

 The ring makes it difficult to add new

computers.
 Unlike a star topology network, the ring
topology network will go down if one
entity is removed from the ring.
 Physical ring topology systems don’t
exist much anymore, mainly because the
hardware involved was fairly expensive
and the fault tolerance was very low.
Mesh Topology
 simplest logical topology in terms of data flow, but it is the
most complex in terms of physical design.
 each device is connected to every other
 This topology is rarely found in LANs, mainly because of
the complexity of the cabling.
 If there are x computers, there will be (x × (x–1)) ÷ 2
cables in the network. For example, if you have five
computers in a mesh network, it will use 5 × (5 – 1) ÷ 2,
which equals 10 cables.
 For example, your five-computer, 10-cable network will
jump to 15 cables just by adding one more computer.
 What about 50 computers to be connected via Mesh????
Mesh Topology
 Because of its design, the physical mesh topology is very
expensive to install and maintain.
 Cables must be run from each device to every other device.
The advantage you gain from it is its high fault tolerance.
 With a logical mesh topology, however, there will always be
a way of getting the data from source to destination.
 It may not be able to take the direct route, but it can take an
alternate, indirect route. It uses routers to search multiple
routes through the mesh and determine the best path.
 However, the mesh topology does become inefficient with
five or more entities.
Network Topologies

Topology Advantages Disadvantages

• Difficult to reconfigure.
• Cheap.
Bus • Break in bus disables entire
• Easy to install.
network.

• Cheap. Easy to install.

Star • Easy to reconfigure. • More expensive than bus.
• Fault tolerant.

• Efficient. • Reconfiguration difficult.

Ring
• Easy to install. • Very expensive.

• Reconfiguration difficult.
• Simplest.
Mesh • Extremely expensive.
• Most fault tolerant.
• Very complex.
Network Devices
Hubs
 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).
 There are two types of hubs: active and passive.
 Passive hubs simply connect all ports together electrically
and are usually not powered.
 Active hubs use electronics to amplify and clean up the
signal before it is broadcast to the other ports.
 In the category of active hubs, there is also a class called
“intelligent” hubs, which are hubs that can be remotely
managed on the network.
Hubs
Switch
 A network switch connects network segments.
 Low-end network switches appear nearly identical to
network hubs, but a switch contains more "intelligence".
 Network switches are capable of inspecting data packets as
they are received, determining the source and destination
device of that packet, and forwarding it appropriately.
 Hence switch conserves network bandwidth and offers
generally better performance than a hub.
 For example, if 10 nodes are communicating using a hub on a
10-Mbps network, then each node may only get a portion of the
10 Mbps if other nodes on the hub want to communicate as well.
But with a switch, each node could possibly communicate at the
full 10 Mbps.
Switch
Repeaters
 Repeaters allow a cabling system to extend beyond its
maximum allowed length by amplifying signals, 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.
 The main disadvantage to repeaters is that they just amplify
signals. These signals not only include the network signals,
but any noise on the wire as well.
 Eventually, if you use enough repeaters, you could possibly
drown out the signal with the amplified noise. For this reason,
repeaters are used only as a temporary fix.
Repeaters
Bridges
 They join similar topologies and are used to divide network
segments.
 For example, 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.
 They are more intelligent than repeaters but are unable to move data
across multiple networks simultaneously.
 If it is aware of the destination address, it is able to forward packets;
otherwise a bridge will forward the packets to all segments.
 Unlike repeaters, bridges can filter out noise.
 But, they can’t connect dissimilar network or perform intelligent path
selection. For that function, you would need a router.
Bridges
Routers
 Routers are highly intelligent devices that connect
multiple network types and determine the best path
for sending data.
 Like bridges, they can segment large networks and
can filter out noise.
 However, they are slower than bridges because
they are more intelligent devices; as such, they
analyze every packet, causing packet-forwarding
delays. Because of this intelligence, they are also
more expensive.
 WAN setup needs at least one router.
Routers
Network Interface Card (NIC)
 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.
 The following factors should be taken into consideration
when choosing a NIC:
- Preparing data
- Sending and controlling data
- Configuration
- Drivers
- Compatibility
- Performance
Network Devices