Chapter One

Introduction to Networking
 Introduction
• Information: - is collection of facts from which conclusions
may be drawn and it is an important resource
• The need of information has increased from time to time.
– This leads to the need of sharing of information among
different agents
• Data communication is the exchange of information
between two agents.
• Old paradigm:
– A single powerful computer serving all the needs of an
organization
– Sneaker-net --Method of sharing data by copying it to a disk
and carrying it from computer to computer

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• New paradigm
– Computer networks: a large number of separate
(autonomous) but internetworked (being able to exchange
information) computers doing the job
• Merging of computer and communications technologies – no
geographical barrier
• Connection: copper wire, fiber optics, microwaves, infrared,
communication satellites, …
• Definition:
– A computer network is an interconnected collection of
autonomous computers
• Interconnected meaning two computers have the ability to
exchange information using some transmission media e.g.,
copper cabling, fiber optics, or radio.

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• Autonomous meaning where no one computer controls any
other computer (i.e. no computer can forcibly start or stop
another computer)
• Computers can be PC’s, workstations and other “specialized”
computers such as hubs, switches and routers
• The computers can be geographically located anywhere

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 Overview of Data Communications
 A data communication system has 5 components

1. Message: the information to be communicated (text, numbers,

pictures, sound, video - or combinations)
2. Sender: the device - computer, video camera, …
3. Receiver: still the device
4. Medium: the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver
5. Protocol: the set of rules that govern data communications; an
agreement between the communicating devices 5
 Communication Model
• The key elements of the model are
– Source. This device generates the data to be transmitted;
examples are telephones and personal computers.
– Transmitter. transforms and encodes the information in such a
way as to produce electromagnetic signals that can be
transmitted across some sort of transmission system
– Transmission System. This can be a single transmission line
or a complex network connecting source and destination
• Receiver. The receiver accepts the signal from the
transmission system and converts it into a form that can be
handled by the destination device
– Destination. Takes the incoming data from the receiver

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Source System Destination System

Communication Model
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 Some of Key Communications Tasks
• Transmission System Utilization
– the need to make efficient use of transmission facilities that are
typically shared among a number of communicating devices
• Multiplexing
• Congestion control techniques
• Signal Generation
– The properties of the signal
• capable of being propagated through the transmission system
• Interpretable as data at the receiver
• Error detection and correction
– In all communications systems, there is a potential for error that
should be detected and corrected

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• Addressing and routing
– a source system must somehow indicate the identity of the
intended destination
– A specific route must be chosen from many alternative routes
• Flow control
– required to assure that the source does not overwhelm the
destination by sending data faster than they can be processed
and absorbed
• Message formatting
– Both sides must use the same binary code for characters
• Security
– Authentication
– Message integrity

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Network Categories:
 based on size, ownership, the distance it covers
 Local Area Network (LAN): usually privately owned and
links devices in a single office, building or campus

 Wide Area Network (WAN): covering large geographic

area; may utilize public, leased, or private communications
equipment

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– Metropolitan Area Network (MAN): designed to extend
over an entire city; it may be a single network or
interconnected LANs
– Personal Area Network (PAN): meant for one person; e.g. a
wireless network connecting a computer with its mouse,
keyboard and printer

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• Network Architecture : includes the type of computers on the
network and determines how network resources are handled
• Two common types
– Peer-to-peer
– Client/Server
• Peer-to-peer
– Each node considered as equal in terms of resource sharing and
responsibilities
– pros
• Easy to set up
• Less expensive
• Demands moderate level of skill to administer
• User is able to control their own resources
– Cons
• Only < 10 nodes
• Very low level o security
• Performance suffers when a computer is accessed 12
– Peer-to-peer networks are good choices for environments where:
• There are 10 users or fewer
• Users share resources, such as printers, but no specialised
servers exist
• Security is not an issue
• The organization and the network will experience only limited
growth within the foreseeable future

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• Client Server Model
– Consists of a group clients connected to a server
– Server – with more RAM, larger hard disk, more processing
power…

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servers in networking
1. File and Print Servers
• File and print servers manage user access and use of file and
printer resources.
2. Application Servers
• Application servers make the server side of client/server
applications, as well as the data, available to clients.
• an application server differs from a file and print server.
• With a file and print server, the data or file is downloaded to the
computer making the request.
• With an application server, the database stays on the server and
only the results of a request are downloaded to the computer
making the request.
3. Mail Servers
• Mail servers operate like application servers in that there are
separate server and client applications, with data selectively
downloaded from the server to the client. 15
4. Fax Servers
• Fax servers manage fax traffic into and out of the network by
sharing one or more fax modem boards.
5. Directory Services Servers
• Directory services servers enable users to locate, store, and
secure information on the network.
• Advantages of client/server architecture
– Sharing Resources
– Security
– Number of Users - A server-based network can support
thousands of users
• Cons
– more complex to install, configure, and manage
– Expensive
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 Network Topology
 Topology refers to the way in which multiple devices are
interconnected via communication links.
 There are two types of topology: physical and logical.
 Physical Topology
 Refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically
 Refers to the arrangement or physical layout of computers,
cables, and other components on the network
 Can be referred as Physical layout, Design, Diagram, Map
 Two or more devices connect to a link; two or more links form a
topology
 Logical topology
 is bound to network protocols and describe how data is moved
across the network 17
 A network's topology affects its capabilities
 The choice of one topology over another will have an impact
on the
 Types of equipment that the network needs
 Growth of the network – scalability
 Way the network managed
 Four basic topologies are possible: mesh, star, bus, ring

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 Bus
 multipoint (one long cable acts as a backbone to link all the
devices in the network)
 advantages
 ease of installation; less cabling than star or mesh
 disadvantages
 signal reflection at the taps can cause degradation in quality
(soln: limit the number and spacing of devices connected to a
given length of cable)
 difficult reconnection (adding new devices) and fault
isolation
 a fault in the bus cable stops all transmission

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 Star
 each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central
controller, usually called a Concentrator
 Advantages
 robust; a failure of a link has no effect on others
 fault identification and isolation are easy
 less expensive than mesh (but more expensive than others)

 Disadvantage
 Single point of failure
 Requires more cable length than a linear topology
 More expensive than linear bus topologies because of the cost of
the concentrators. 20
 Ring
 each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection only with
the two devices on either side of it
 a signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to
device, until it reaches its destination
 each device incorporates a repeater (to regenerate bits received
before passing it)

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 Advantages
 Equal access for all users
 Each workstation has full access speed to the ring
 As workstation numbers increase performance diminishes
slightly
 Disadvantages
 Costly Wiring
 Difficult Connections
 Expensive Adaptor Cards

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 Mesh
 every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other
device
 every device must have n-1 I/O ports
 Advantages
 no traffic problem
 robust; a failure of a link has no effect on others
 privacy or security
 fault identification and isolation are easy
 Disadvantages
 amount of cabling and I/O ports needed (expensive)

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 Hybrid topology
 A combination of two network topologies.
 E.g. star and bus
• Internetworking
– Interconnection among or between public, private,
commercial, industrial, or governmental networks
– Called also internet
– Three variants
• Intranet
• Extranet
• Internet
– Intranet
• a set of networks that is under the control of a single
administrative entity
– Internet
• worldwide interconnection of networks 24
 – Extranet
• internetwork that is limited in scope to a single organization or
entity but which also has limited connections to the networks
of one or more other usually, but not necessarily, trusted
organizations or entities
 Mode of transmission
 refers to the direction of signal flow between two linked devices
 It can be
 Simplex: unidirectional, only one of the devices can transmit
 E.g. TV transmission
 Half-duplex: both can transmit and receive, but not at the
same time
 E.g. wireless handset (walkie-Talkie)
 Full-duplex: both can transmit and receive at the same time
 E.g. Telephone transmission
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 Transmission media
• Is a physical media that carries a signal from the transmitter to the
receiver
• The information or signal transmitted from one device to another is
through electromagnetic signals.
• Electromagnetic signals include power, voice, radio, waves,
infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma
rays.
• These signals can travel trough vacuum, air or any other
transmission medium
• The measurement of the quantity of data that can be passed down
(transmitted) a communication link in a given time is done in terms
of bandwidth
• In digital circuits, bandwidth is measured in bits per second (bps)
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• Two basic categories
– Guided
– Unguided
– Guided – uses a cabling system that guides the signals along a
specific path
• E.g. Fiber Optics, Twisted Pair, Coaxial Cable etc…
– Unguided – consists of a means for the data signals to travel
but nothing to guide them along a specific path - wireless
• Example: Radio wave, Satellite, etc.

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 Types of connection
 Point-to-point: provides a dedicated link between two devices

 Multipoint: more than two devices share (spatially -

simultaneously - or temporally by taking turns) a single link

 Direct link: signals propagate directly from transmitter to

receiver
 No intermediate devices other than amplifiers or repeaters
 This can apply to both guided and unguided medium
 InDirect link
 Systems connected through a switched communication network28
Uses of Computer Networks
a. Business‡ applications
 for resource sharing including programs, equipment, data
(mostly databases on central servers), …
 a communication medium – e-mail, writing a report together
by making changes on an online document
 videoconferencing – to hold meetings by hearing and seeing
each other
 electronic business
 business to business - placing orders, …
 business with consumers, usually called e-commerce – home
shopping

‡ Everything: government, commercial companies, … 29

b. Home applications
 Access to remote information – newspapers, radio, on-line digital
libraries (ACM, IEEE, …), …
 Person-to-person communication
 e-mail (audio, video, pictures, …)
 newsgroups (not in real time)
 instant messaging (between two people in real time, e.g., Yahoo
Messenger),
 chat room (for a group of people in real time)
 using Internet to carry telephone calls, video phone, and Internet
radio
 Interactive entertainment: video on demand, interactive television,
games (virtual reality – with photographic-quality moving images)
 Electronic commerce – with online manuals
c. Mobile Users:
 using mobile computers - Laptop (notebook), Palmtop (PDAs), and
handheld computers - and wireless networks in cars and airplanes 30
 Assignment I
• Select one type of Wireless media and
discuss the following:
– What is it?
– How it works?
– Its advantage and disadvantage.
• Title submission: Monday, March 24,
2014
• Document Submission: Monday, March
31, 2014
• Reference:
– URL, Title, Visited Date, 31