1.

Introduction To Computer Networks:

Computer Network is a group of computers connected with each other through wires,
optical fibres or optical links so that various devices can interact with each other through a
network. The aim of the computer network is the sharing of resources among various
devices.

Major components of a computer network are:

NIC(National interface card)

NIC is a device that helps the computer to communicate with another device. The network interface card
contains the hardware addresses, the data-link layer protocol use this address to identify the system on the
network so that it transfers the data to the correct destination.

There are two types of NIC: wireless NIC and wired NIC.

○ Wireless NIC: All the modern laptops use the wireless NIC. In Wireless NIC, a connection is
made using the antenna that employs the radio wave technology.

○ Wired NIC: Cables use the wired NIC to transfer the data over the medium.

Hub

Hub is a central device that splits the network connection into multiple devices. When computer requests
for information from a computer, it sends the request to the Hub. Hub distributes this request to all the
interconnected computers.

Switches
Switch is a networking device that groups all the devices over the network to transfer the data to another
device. A switch is better than Hub as it does not broadcast the message over the network, i.e., it sends
the message to the device for which it belongs to. Therefore, we can say that switch sends the message
directly from source to the destination.

Cables and connectors

Cable is a transmission media that transmits the communication signals. There are three types of cables:

○ Twisted pair cable: It is a high-speed cable that transmits the data over 1Gbps or more.

○ Coaxial cable: Coaxial cable resembles like a TV installation cable. Coaxial cable is more
expensive than twisted pair cable, but it provides the high data transmission speed.

○ Fibre optic cable: Fibre optic cable is a high-speed cable that transmits the data using light beams.
It provides high data transmission speed as compared to other cables. It is more expensive as
compared to other cables, so it is installed at the government level.

Router

Router is a device that connects the LAN to the internet. The router is mainly used to connect the distinct
networks or connect the internet to multiple computers.

Modem

Modem connects the computer to the internet over the existing telephone line. A modem is not integrated
with the computer motherboard. A modem is a separate part on the PC slot found on the motherboard.

Uses Of Computer Network

○ Resource sharing: Resource sharing is the sharing of resources such as programs, printers, and
data among the users on the network without the requirement of the physical location of the
resource and user.

○ Server-Client model: Computer networking is used in the server-client model. A server is a

central computer used to store the information and maintained by the system administrator. Clients
are the machines used to access the information stored in the server remotely.

○ Communication medium: Computer network behaves as a communication medium among the

users. For example, a company contains more than one computer has an email system which the
employees use for daily communication.

○ E-commerce: Computer network is also important in businesses. We can do the business over the
internet. For example, amazon.com is doing their business over the internet, i.e., they are doing
their business over the internet.
Feature of Computer Network:

2. Network Models and Protocols

OSI Model:

○ OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference model that describes how information
from a software application in one computer moves through a physical medium to the software
application in another computer.

○ OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.

○ OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1984,
and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-computer communications. OSI
model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each layer is assigned a
particular task.
The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower layers.

○ The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application related issues, and they are
implemented only in the software. The application layer is closest to the end user. Both the end
user and the application layer interact with the software applications. An upper layer refers to the
layer just above another layer.

○ The lower layer of the OSI model deals with the data transport issues. The data link layer and the
physical layer are implemented in hardware and software. The physical layer is the lowest layer
oodel and is closest to the physical medium. The physical layer is mainly responsible for placinf
the OSI mg the information on the physical medium.

7 Layers of OSI Model

There are the seven OSI layers. Each layer has different functions. A list of seven layers are given below:

1. Physical Layer

2. Data-Link Layer

3. Network Layer

4. Transport Layer

5. Session Layer

6. Presentation Layer

7. Application Layer
1. Physical Layer:
The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one node
to another node. It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.It establishes, maintains and deactivates
the physical connection.It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface
specifications.

2. Data Link Layer:

The data-link layer is responsible for the error-free delivery of data from one node to
another over the physical layer. It's also the firmware layer of the NIC. It puts datagrams together
into frames and gives each frame the start and stop flags.It contains two sub-layers:

○ Logical Link Control Layer

○ Media Access Control Layer

3. Network Layer:
It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the network
conditions, the priority of service, and other factors. Its Main function are Internetworking,
Routing, Addressing and packetizing. It divides up datagrams from the transport layer into error-
free and smaller datagrams.

4. Transport Layer:
The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in which
they are sent and there is no duplication of data.The main responsibility of the transport layer is to
transfer the data completely.It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller
units known as segments.This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-
point connection between source and destination to deliver the data reliably.The two protocols
used in this layer are: Transmission Control Protocol and User Datagram Protocol

5. Session Layer:
The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes the interaction between
communicating devices. The Main function of this layer is Dialogue Control and synchronization.
 6. Presentation Layer:
A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
exchanged between the two systems.It acts as a data translator for a network.This layer is a part of
the operating system that converts the data from one presentation format to another format.The
Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer. The Main Function is Translation, Encryption
and Compression

7. Application Layer:
An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.An
application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer functions.This layer
provides the network services to the end-users. The Main Function are: File transfer, access, and
management (FTAM):Mail services and Directory Service

3. Computer Network TCP/IP model

The TCP/IP Model has four layers:

1. Physical Layer and data link layer – combined known as host-to-network layer
2. Network layer
3. Transport
4. Application
Network Access Layer

○ A network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model. A network layer is the combination of
the Physical layer and Data Link layer defined in the OSI reference model. It defines how the data
should be sent physically through the network. This layer is mainly responsible for the
transmission of the data between two devices on the same network. The functions carried out by
this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram into frames transmitted by the network and mapping
of IP addresses into physical addresses. The protocols used by this layer are ethernet, token ring,
FDDI, X.25, frame relay.

Internet Layer

○ An internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model. An internet layer is also known as the
network layer. The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from any
network, and they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route they take. The Protocol Used
in this layer: ICMP.IGMP,ARP,RARP

IP Protocol: IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant part of the entire
TCP/IP suite.
Following are the responsibilities of this protocol:

● IP Addressing

● Host-to-host communication

● Data Encapsulation and Formatting

● Fragmentation and Reassembly

● Routing

Transport Layer

The transport layer is responsible for the reliability, flow control, and correction of data which is being
sent over the network.The two protocols used in the transport layer are User Datagram protocol and
Transmission control protocol.

○ User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

 ○ It provides connectionless service and end-to-end delivery of transmission.

○ It is an unreliable protocol as it discovers the errors but not specify the error.

○ User Datagram Protocol discovers the error, and ICMP protocol reports the error to the
sender that user datagram has been damaged.

○ UDP does not specify which packet is lost. UDP contains only checksum; it does not
contain any ID of a data segment.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

○ It provides a full transport layer services to applications.

○ It creates a virtual circuit between the sender and receiver, and it is active for the duration
of the transmission.

○ TCP is a reliable protocol as it detects the error and retransmits the damaged frames.
Therefore, it ensures all the segments must be received and acknowledged before the
transmission is considered to be completed and a virtual circuit is discarded.

○ At the sending end, TCP divides the whole message into smaller units known as segment,
and each segment contains a sequence number which is required for reordering the frames
to form an original message.

○ At the receiving end, TCP collects all the segments and reorders them based on sequence
numbers.

Application Layer

○ An application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP model. It is responsible for handling high-
level protocols, issues of representation. This layer allows the user to interact with the application.
When one application layer protocol wants to communicate with another application layer, it
forwards its data to the transport layer. For example: text editor cannot be considered in
application layer while web browser using HTTP protocol to interact with the network where
HTTP protocol is an application layer protocol.

Following are the main protocols used in the application layer:

○ HTTP: HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. This protocol allows us to access the data
over the world wide web. It transfers the data in the form of plain text, audio, video. It is known
 as a Hypertext transfer protocol as it has the efficiency to use in a hypertext environment where
there are rapid jumps from one document to another.

○ SNMP: SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a framework used for
managing the devices on the internet by using the TCP/IP protocol suite.

○ SMTP: SMTP stands for Simple mail transfer protocol. The TCP/IP protocol that supports the e-
mail is known as a Simple mail transfer protocol. This protocol is used to send the data to another
e-mail address.

○ DNS: DNS stands for Domain Name System. An IP address is used to identify the connection of
a host to the internet uniquely. But, people prefer to use the names instead of addresses. Therefore,
the system that maps the name to the address is known as Domain Name System.

○ TELNET: It is an abbreviation for Terminal Network. It establishes the connection between the
local computer and remote computer in such a way that the local terminal appears to be a terminal
at the remote system.

○ FTP: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a standard internet protocol used for
transmitting the files from one computer to another computer.
 3. Computer Network Types
A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer to
communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.

A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer network is mainly of four types:

○ LAN(Local Area Network)

○ PAN(Personal Area Network)

○ MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)

○ WAN(Wide Area Network)

LAN(Local Area Network)

○ Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area such as
building, office.

○ LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a communication medium
such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.

○ It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network adapters, and
ethernet cables.

○ The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.

○ Local Area Network provides higher security.

WAN(Wide Area Network)

○ A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as states or
countries.

○ A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.

○ A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large geographical
area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.

○ The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.

○ A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education.
Examples Of Wide Area Network:

○ Mobile Broadband: A 4G network is widely used across a region or country.

○ Last mile: A telecom company is used to provide the internet services to the customers in
hundreds of cities by connecting their home with fiber.

○ Private network: A bank provides a private network that connects the 44 offices. This
network is made by using the telephone leased line provided by the telecom company.

4. Concept of Internet
5. Network Devices and Technologies
6. IP address and Subnetting

7. Basis of Computer Network Architecture

Computer Network Architecture

Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of the software, hardware,
protocols, and media of the transmission of data. Simply we can say that how computers are organized
and how tasks are allocated to the computer.

The two types of network architectures are used:

○ Peer-To-Peer network

○ Client/Server network

Peer-To-Peer network

○ Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked together with
equal privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
 ○ Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10 computers.

○ Peer-To-Peer network has no dedicated server.

○ Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing the resources, but this can
lead to a problem if the computer with the resource is down.

Advantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

○ It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.

○ If one computer stops working but, other computers will not stop working.

○ It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

Disadvantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

○ In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized system . Therefore,
it cannot back up the data as the data is different in different locations.

○ It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.

Client/Server Network

○ Client/Server network is a network model designed for the end users called clients, to
access the resources such as songs, video, etc. from a central computer known as Server.

○ The central controller is known as a server while all other computers in the network are
called clients.
 ○ A server performs all the major operations such as security and network management.

○ A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files, directories, printer, etc.

○ All the clients communicate with each other through a server. For example, if client1 wants
to send some data to client 2, then it first sends the request to the server for the permission.
The server sends the response to the client 1 to initiate its communication with the client
2.

Advantages Of Client/Server network:

○ A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore we can back up the
data easily.

○ A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall performance of
the whole system.

○ Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers the shared

resources.

○ It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages Of Client/Server network:

○ Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large memory.

○ A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to provide the resources to the clients, but
the cost of NOS is very high.

○ It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources.

 8. Internet Service

9. Virtual Private Networks

A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection
over a less secure network, such as the Internet. A Virtual Private Network is a way to extend a
private network using a public network such as the Internet. The name only suggests that it is a
Virtual “private network,i.e., a” i.e. user can be part of a local network sitting at a remote
location. It makes use of tunneling protocols to establish a secure connection.
How does a VPN work?

Let us understand VPN with Let’s an example

Think of a situation where the corporate office of a bank is situated in Washington, USA. This office has
a local network consisting of say 100 computers. Suppose other branches of the bank are in Mumbai,
India, and Tokyo, Japan. The traditional method of establishing a secure connection between the head
office and the the branch was to have a leased line between the branches and head office which was a
very costly as well as troublesome job. VPN lets us overcome this issue in an effective manner.
All 100 hundred computers of the corporate office at Washington are connected to the VPN
server(which is a well-configured server containing a public IP address and a switch to connect all
computers present in the local network i.e. in US head office).

The person sitting in the Mumbai office connects to The VPN server using a dial-up window and the
VPN server returns an IP address that belongs to the series of IP addresses belonging to a local network
of the corporate office.

Thus person from the Mumbai branch becomes local to the head office and information can be shared
securely over the public internet.

10. IP Address and Subnetting

An IP address represents a unique address that distinguishes any device on the internet or any
network from another. IP or Internet Protocol defines the set of commands directing the setup of data
transferred through the internet or any other local network.
An IP address is the identifier that enables your device to send or receive data packets across the internet.
It holds information related to your location and therefore making devices available for two-way
communication.

An IP address is represented by a series of numbers segregated by periods(.). They are expressed

in the form of four pairs - an example address might be 255.255.255.255 wherein each set can
range from 0 to 255.

IP addresses are not produced randomly. They are generated mathematically and are further
assigned by the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), a department of the ICANN.
Type of IP Address:

a. Private IP Address:

All the devices that are linked with your internet network are allocated a private IP
address. It holds computers, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, or even Wi-
Fi-enabled devices. Where each device is uniquely identified in the local network
with a unique ip address. Your router produces unique private IP addresses that act
as an identifier for every device using your internet network. Thus, differentiating
them from one another on the network. To Find Private IP address of your device:
you can go to command line and type ipconfig.

b. Public IP Address:

A public IP address or primary address represents the whole network of devices

associated with it. ISP is responsible to provide your public IP address to your
router. Typically, ISPs contains the bulk stock of IP addresses that they dispense to
their clients Public IP is used to communicate with the device outside the network.
To find public IP address you can go to chrome and search what is my IP.

i. Static IP address:
In comparison to dynamic IP addresses, static addresses are constant in
nature. The network assigns the IP address to the device only once and, it remains
consistent. Though most firms or individuals do not prefer to have a static IP
address, it is essential to have a static IP address for an organization that wants to
host its network server
ii. Dynamic IP Address:

As the name suggests, Dynamic IP addresses change automatically and

frequently. With this types of IP address, ISPs already purchase a bulk stock of IP
addresses and allocate them in some order to their customers.

Types of IP Addresses
1. IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4)

2. IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)

IPv4
IPv4 address consists of two things that are the network address and the host
address. It stands for Internet Protocol version four.

IPv4 addresses are 32-bit integers that have to be expressed in Decimal Notation.
It is represented by 4 numbers separated by dots in the range of 0-255, which
have to be converted to 0 and 1, to be understood by Computers. For Example,
An IPv4 Address can be written as 189.123.123.90.

IPv4 Address Format

IPv4 Address Format is a 32-bit Address that comprises binary digits separated
by a dot (.).

IPv4 Address Format

IPv6
IPv6 is based on IPv4 and stands for Internet Protocol version 6. IP version 6 is
the new version of Internet Protocol, which is way better than IP version 4 in
terms of complexity and efficiency. IPv6 is written as a group of 8 hexadecimal
numbers separated by colon (:). It can be written as 128 bits of 0s and 1s.

IPv6 Address Format

IPv6 Address Format is a 128-bit IP Address, which is written in a group of 8

hexadecimal numbers separated by colon (:).

IPv6 Address Format

10. ISPs.