COMPUTER NETWORKS INTRODUCTION

UNIT-1
INTRODUCTION
Syllabus:
Introduction: OSI overview, TCP/IP and other networks models, Examples of Networks: Novell Networks, Arpanet,
Internet, Network Topologies WAN, LAN, MAN.

Introduction:
 A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by communication links. A node
can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending and/or receiving data generated
by other nodes on the network.

 Computer Networks: A collection of autonomous computers interconnected by a single technology

to facilitate data communication.
 Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are able to exchange information. Here the
connection may be Wired or Wire-less.
 A wired network is a common type of wired configuration. Most wired networks use Ethernet
cables to transfer data between connected PCs.
 Examples include telephone networks, cable television or internet access, and fiber-optic
communication.
 A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network
nodes.
 Examples of wireless networks include cell phone networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs),
wireless sensor networks, satellite communication networks, and terrestrial microwave networks.

Components of Data-communication:
 The five components that make up a data communication are the message, sender, receiver,
medium, and protocol.

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1. Message: The message is the information (data) to be communicated. The Popular forms of
information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and video.

2. Sender: The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, video camera, and so on.

3. Receiver: The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a computer, workstation,
telephone handset, television, and so on.

4. Transmission medium. The transmission medium is the physical path by which a message travels
from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media include twisted-pair wire, coaxial
cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.

5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that maintain data communications. It represents an agreement
between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two devices may be connected but not
communicating, just like a person speaking French cannot be understood by a person who speaks
only Japanese.

Data-flow in communication network:

 Communication between two devices can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex as shown in
following figure.

 Simplex :
 In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way road. Only one of
the two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive (see Figure a).
 Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of simplex devices. The keyboard can only
give input; the monitor can only accept output.
 The simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the communication channel to send data in
one direction only.
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 Half-Duplex :
 In half-duplex mode, each system can both transmit and receive, but not at the same time.
When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa (see Figure b).
 The half-duplex mode is like a one-lane street with traffic allowed in both directions. When
cars are traveling in one direction, cars going the other way must wait. Walkie-talkies are
half-duplex system.
 The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for communication in both
directions at the same time.
 Full-Duplex :
 In full-duplex mode (also called duplex), both systems can transmit and receive
simultaneously (see Figure c).
 The full-duplex mode is like a two-way street with traffic flowing in both directions at the
same time.
 In full-duplex mode, signals going in one direction share the capacity of the link: with signals
going in the other direction.
 This sharing can occur in two ways: Either the link must contain two physically separate
transmission paths, one for sending and the other for receiving; or the capacity of the channel
is divided between signals traveling in both directions.
 One common example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network. When two
people are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time.
 The full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is required all the time.

Type of Connection:
 There are two possible types of connections: point-to-point and multipoint.

 Point-to-Point: A point-to-point connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. The entire
capacity of the link is reserved for transmission between those two devices. Most point-to-point connections
use an actual length of wire or cable to connect the two ends, (see Figure a). When you change television
channels by infrared remote control, you are establishing a point-to-point connection between the remote
control and the television's control system.

 Multipoint: A multipoint (also called multidrop) connection is one in which more than two specific devices
share a single link (see Figure b). In a multipoint environment, the capacity of the channel is shared, either spatially
or temporally. If several devices can use the link simultaneously, it is a spatially shared connection. If users must
take turns, it is a timeshared connection.

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Basic Networking-Devices:
 NIC(Network Interface Card:

 Connecting Cables:

 Hub:
 A hub, also called a network hub, is a
common connection point
for devices in a network.
 Hubs are devices commonly used to
connect segments of a LAN. Hub
contains multiple ports.
 When a packet arrives at one port, it
is copied to the other ports so that all
segments of the LAN can see all
packets.

 Switch
 A network switch is a computer
networking device that connects
devices together on a computer
network by using packet switching to
receive, process, and forward data to
the destination device.
 A network switch forwards data only
to the devices that need to receive it,
rather than broadcasting the same
data out of each of its ports.

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 Routers
 Routers are small electronic devices that join
multiple computer networks together via
either wired or wireless connections.
 A router is connected to two or more data
lines from different networks.
 When a data packet comes in on one of the
lines, the router reads the network
address information in the packet to
determine the ultimate destination.
 Using information in its routing
table or routing policy, it directs the packet to
the next network.

_______________________________________________________________________

Network Topologies:
 A network topology is the arrangement of a network, including its nodes and connecting lines.

Mesh Topology:
 In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device. The term
dedicated means that the link carries data only between the two devices it connects.
 One practical example of a mesh topology is the connection of telephone regional offices in which
each regional office needs to be connected to every other regional office.
 To find the number of physical links in a fully
connected mesh network with n nodes, we first
consider that each node must be connected to
every other node.
 Node 1 must be connected to n - 1 nodes, node 2
must be connected to n – 1 nodes, and finally
node n must be connected to n-1 nodes.
 However each physical link allows communication
in both directions (duplex mode). Fig: A fully connected mesh topology (five devices)
Advantages of mesh-topology:
 Dedicated links guarantees that each connection can carry its own data load.
 Mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not fail the entire system.
 There is the advantage of privacy or security.
 Point-to-Point links make fault identification and fault correction easy.
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Disadvantages of mesh-topology:
 The amount of cabling and the number of I/O ports required are high.
 Every device must be connected to every other device, installation and reconnection are difficult.
 The bulk wiring can be greater than the available space (in walls, ceilings, or floors).
 The hardware required to connect each link (I/O ports and cable) can be prohibitively expensive.

Star-Topology:
 In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller, usually
called a hub.
 The devices are not directly linked to one another. Unlike a mesh topology, a star topology does not
allow direct traffic between devices.
 The controller acts as an exchange: If one device wants to send data to another, it sends the data to
the controller, which then transfers the data to the other connected device.
 The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs),

Advantages of star topology:

 A star topology is less expensive than a mesh
topology.
 In a star, each device needs only one link and one
I/O port to connect it to any number of others.
 Any additions, moves, and deletions involve only one
connection: between that device and the hub.
 If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other
links remain active. This factor also lends itself to
easy fault identification and fault correction.

Disadvantages of star topology:

 Star topology is the dependency of the whole topology on one single point, the hub. If the hub
goes down, the whole system is dead.
 Although a star requires far less cable than a mesh, each node must be linked to a central hub. This
reason, often more cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies (such as ring or bus).

Bus-Topology:
 A bus topology is multipoint. 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 and taps.
 A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main cable.
 A tap is a connector that either splices into the main cable or punctures the sheathing of a cable to
create a contact with the metallic core.

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 As a signal travels along the backbone, some of its energy is transformed into heat. Therefore, it
becomes weaker and weaker as it travels farther and farther.
 For this reason, there is a limit on the number of taps a bus can support and on the distance between
those taps.
 Bus topology was the one of the first topologies used in the design of early local area networks.
Ethernet LANs can use a bus topology, but they are less popular now
Advantages of bus topology
 Ease of installation.
 In a bus, this redundancy is eliminated.
Disadvantages of bus topology
 Difficult reconnection and fault isolation
 A bus is usually designed to be optimally efficient at installation. It can therefore be difficult to add
new devices.
 A fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission. The damaged area reflects signals back in
the direction of origin, creating noise in both directions.

Ring-Topology:
 In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only 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 in the ring incorporates a repeater. When a device receives a signal intended for
another device, its repeater regenerates the bits and passes them along.

Advantages of ring topology:

 easy to install and reconfigure
 Each device is linked to only its immediate neighbors (either physically or logically). To add or delete
a device requires changing only two connections
Disadvantages of ring topology:
 Unidirectional traffic, In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the
entire network.

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Hybrid-Topology:
 A network can be hybrid. For example, we can have a main star topology with each branch
connecting several stations in a bus topology as shown in Figure

Categories of Networks:
 Based on the size (geographical area) network fall into 3 categories:
 LAN (Local Area Networks)
 MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks)
 WAN (Wide Area Networks)
LAN (Local Area Networks):
 A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the devices in a single office, building,
or campus.
 Currently, LAN size is limited to a few kilometres.
 LANs are designed to allow resources to be shared between personal computers or workstations.
 The resources to be shared can include hardware (e.g., a printer), software (e.g., an application
program), or data.
 LAN may be determined by licensing restrictions on the number of users per copy of software, or by
restrictions on the number of users licensed to access the operating system.
 In general, a given LAN will use only one type of transmission medium. The most common LAN
topologies are bus, ring, and star.

Figure: An isolated LAN connecting 12 computers to a hub in a closet

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MAN (Metropolitan Area Networks)

 A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network with a size between a LAN and a WAN.
 It normally covers the area inside a town or a city. It is designed for customers who need a high-speed
connectivity, normally to the Internet, and have endpoints spread over a city or part of city.
 MANs are widely used in Television Broadcasting.

Figure: Metropolitan area network based cable TV.

 A MAN is implemented by a standard called DQDB (Distributed Queue Dual Bus) or IEEE 802.16.

WAN (Wide Area Networks):

 A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of data, image, audio, and video
information over large geographic areas that may comprise a country, a continent, or even the whole
world.
 A WAN can be as complex as the backbones that connect the Internet or as simple as a dial-up line
that connects a home computer to the Internet.
 The WAN can be designed in two ways:
 The switched WAN connects the end systems, which usually comprise a router (internetworking
connecting device) that connects to another LAN or WAN.

Figure: Switched WAN

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 The point-to-point WAN is normally a line leased from a telephone or cable TV provider that connects
a home computer or a small LAN to an Internet service provider (lSP).
 This type of WAN is often used to provide Internet access.

Figure: Point-to-Point WAN

OSI-Reference model:
 The OSI model is based on the proposal developed by International Standards Organization (ISO) this
model is called as ISO-OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model because it is used for
connecting the open systems.
 That is the systems which are open for communication with other systems.
 It was a first step towards the International standardization of the protocols used in various layers by
Day and Zimmermann in 1983.
 The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems that allows communication
between all types of computer systems.
 It consists of seven separate but related layers, each of which defines a part of the process of moving
information across a network.

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Physical Layer(Layer-1):
 The lowest layer of the OSI reference model is the physical layer. It is responsible for the actual
physical connection between the devices. The physical layer contains information in the form of bits.
 It is responsible for the actual physical connection between the devices.
 When receiving data, this layer will get the signal received and convert it into 0s and 1s and send
them to the Data Link layer, which will put the frame back together.
 The functions of the physical layer:
Bit synchronization: The physical layer provides the synchronization of the bits by providing
a clock. This clock controls both sender and receiver thus providing synchronization at bit
level.
Bit rate control: The Physical layer also defines the transmission rate i.e. the number of bits
sent per second.
Physical topologies: Physical layer specifies the way in which the different, devices/nodes are
arranged in a network i.e. bus, star or mesh topology.
Transmission mode: Physical layer also defines the way in which the data flows between the
two connected devices. The various transmission modes possible are: Simplex, half-duplex
and full duplex.
 Hub, Repeater, Modem, Cables are Physical Layer devices.

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Data Link Layer (Layer 2)

 The data link layer is responsible for the node to node delivery of the message.
 The main function of this layer is to make sure data transfer is error free from one node to another,
over the physical layer.
 When a packet arrives in a network, it is the responsibility of DLL to transmit it to the Host using its
MAC address.
 Data Link Layer is divided into two sub layers:
 Logical Link Control (LLC)
 Media Access Control (MAC)
 Packet received from Network layer is further divided into frames depending on the frame size of
NIC(Network Interface Card). Datalink Layer also encapsulates Sender and Receiver’s MAC address in
the header.
 The functions of the data Link layer are:
Framing: Framing is a function of the data link layer. It provides a way for a sender to
transmit a set of bits that are meaningful to the receiver. This can be accomplished by
attaching special bit patterns to the beginning and end of the frame.

Physical addressing: After creating frames, Data link layer adds physical addresses (MAC
address) of sender and/or receiver in the header of each frame.

Error control: Data link layer provides the mechanism of error control in which it detects
and retransmits damaged or lost frames.

Flow Control: The data rate must be constant on both sides else the data may get corrupted
thus , flow control coordinates that amount of data that can be sent before receiving
acknowledgement.

Access control: When a single communication channel is shared by multiple devices, MAC
sub-layer of data link layer helps to determine which device has control over the channel at
a given time.
 Switch & Bridge are Data Link Layer devices.

Network Layer (Layer 3):

 Network layer works for the transmission of data from one host to the other located in different
networks.
 It also takes care of packet routing i.e. selection of shortest path to transmit the packet, from the
number of routes available.
 The sender & receiver’s IP address are placed in the header by network layer.
 The functions of the Network layer are:
Routing: The network layer protocols determine which route is suitable from source to
destination. This function of network layer is known as routing.

Logical Addressing: In order to identify each device on internetwork uniquely, network layer
defines an addressing scheme. The sender & receiver’s IP address are placed in the header by
network layer. Such an address distinguishes each device uniquely and universally.
 Network layer is implemented by networking devices such as routers.

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Transport Layer (Layer 4):
 Transport layer provides services to application layer and takes services from network layer.
 The data in the transport layer is referred to as Segments. It is responsible for the End to End delivery
of the complete message.
 Transport layer also provides the acknowledgement of the successful data transmission and re-
transmits the data if error is found.
 The functions of the transport layer are:
Segmentation and Reassembly: This layer accepts the message from the (session) layer, breaks
the message into smaller units. Each of the segment produced has a header associated with it.
The transport layer at the destination station reassembles the message.
Service Point Addressing: In order to deliver the message to correct process, transport layer
header includes a type of address called service point address or port address. Thus by
specifying this address, transport layer makes sure that the message is delivered to the correct
process.
 The services provided by transport layer:
Connection Oriented Service (TCP):
In this type of transmission, the receiving device sends an acknowledgment, back to the source
after a packet or group of packets is received. This type of transmission is reliable and secure.
Connection less service(UDP):
In this type of transmission, the receiver does not acknowledge receipt of a packet. This
approach allows for much faster communication between devices. Connection oriented Service
is more reliable than connection less Service.
 Data in the Transport Layer is called as Segments.
 Transport layer is operated by the Operating System. It is a part of the OS and communicates with
the Application Layer by making system calls. Transport Layer is called as Heart of OSI model.

Session Layer (Layer 5):

 This layer is responsible for establishment of connection, maintenance of sessions, authentication
and also ensures security.
 The functions of the session layer are:
Session establishment, maintenance and termination: The layer allows the two processes to
establish, use and terminate a connection.
Synchronization: This layer allows a process to add checkpoints which are considered as
synchronization points into the data. These synchronization point help to identify the error so
that the data is re-synchronized properly, and ends of the messages are not cut prematurely
and data loss is avoided.
Dialog Controller: The session layer determines which device will communicate first and the
amount of data that will be sent.

Presentation Layer (Layer 6):

 Presentation layer is also called the Translation layer. The data from the application layer is extracted
here and manipulated as per the required format to transmit over the network.
 The functions of the presentation layer are:
Translation: For example, ASCII to EBCDIC.
Encryption/ Decryption: Data encryption translates the data into another form or code. The
encrypted data is known as the cipher text and the decrypted data is known as plain text.
A key value is used for encrypting as well as decrypting data.
Compression: Reduces the number of bits that need to be transmitted on the network.

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Application Layer (Layer 7):

 At the very top of the OSI Reference Model stack of layers, we find Application layer which is
implemented by the network applications.
 These applications produce the data, which has to be transferred over the network.
 This layer also serves as window for the application services to access the network and for
displaying the received information to the user.
Ex: Application – Browsers, Skype Messenger etc.
 Application Layer is also called as Desktop Layer.
 The functions of the Application layer are:
* Network Virtual Terminal
* File transfer access and management
* Mail Services
* Directory Services
Note:
OSI model acts as a reference model and is not implemented in Internet because of its late invention.
Current model being used is the TCP/IP model.

Summary of Layers:

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TCP/IP Model:
 The OSI Model we just looked at is just a reference/logical model.
 It was designed to describe the functions of the communication system by dividing the
communication procedure into smaller and simpler components.
 But when we talk about the TCP/IP model, it was designed and developed by Department of Defense
(DoD) in 1960s and is based on standard protocols.
 It stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The TCP/IP model is a concise version
of the OSI model.
 It contains four layers, unlike seven layers in the OSI model. The layers are:
Application Layer/Process Layer
Transport Layer/Host-to-Host Layer
Network/Internet Layer
Network interface Layer

Network interface Layer:

 This layer corresponds to the combination of Data Link Layer and Physical Layer of the OSI model.
 It looks out for hardware addressing and the protocols present in this layer allows for physical
transmission of data.
 We just talked about ARP being a protocol of Internet layer, but there is a conflict about declaring it
as a protocol of Internet Layer or Network access layer. It is described as residing in layer 3, being
encapsulated by layer 2 protocols.
Network or Internet Layer:
 This layer parallels the functions of OSI’s Network layer. It defines the protocols which are responsible
for logical transmission of data over the entire network.
 The main protocols residing at this layer are:
IP: stands for Internet Protocol and it is responsible for delivering packets from the source host to the
destination host by looking at the IP addresses in the packet headers. IP has 2 versions:
IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the one that most of the websites are using currently. But IPv6 is growing as the
number of IPv4 addresses are limited in number when compared to the number of users.
ICMP: Stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. It is encapsulated within IP datagrams and is
responsible for providing hosts with information about network problems.
ARP: stands for Address Resolution Protocol. Its job is to find the hardware address of a host from a
known IP address. ARP has several types: Reverse ARP, Proxy ARP, Gratuitous ARP and Inverse ARP.

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Transport Layer:
 This layer is analogous to the transport layer of the OSI model. It is responsible for end-to-end
communication and error-free delivery of data.
 It shields the upper-layer applications from the complexities of data.
 The two main protocols present in this layer are:
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) – It is known to provide reliable and error-free communication
between end systems. It performs sequencing and segmentation of data. It also has acknowledgement
feature and controls the flow of the data through flow control mechanism. It is a very effective protocol
but has a lot of overhead due to such features. Increased overhead leads to increased cost.
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) – On the other hand does not provide any such features. It is the go to
protocol if your application does not require reliable transport as it is very cost-effective. Unlike TCP,
which is connection-oriented protocol, UDP is connectionless.

Application Layer:
 This layer performs the functions of top three layers of the OSI model: Application, Presentation and
Session Layer.
 It is responsible for node-to-node communication and controls user-interface specifications.
 Some of the protocols present in this layer are: HTTP, FTP, Telnet, SMTP, NTP, DNS, DHCP.

HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, used by the World Wide Web to manage communications
between web browsers and server.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol, the standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files
between a client and server on a computer network.

TELNET: Used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-
oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection.
NTP: Network Time Protocol. It is used to synchronize the clocks on our computer to one standard
time source.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending and receiving e-mail.

DNS: The domain name system (DNS) is the way that internet domain names are located and
translated into internet protocol (IP) addresses.

DHCP: The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on
TCP/IP networks whereby a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network
configuration parameters to each device on a network so they can communicate with other IP
networks.

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Comparison between OSI and TCP/IP Model:

Comparison:
OSI(Open System Interconnection) TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet
Protocol)

1. OSI is a generic, protocol independent 1. TCP/IP model is based on standard protocols around
standard, acting as a communication gateway which the Internet has developed. It is a communication
between the network and end user. protocol, which allows connection of hosts over a network.

2. In OSI model the transport layer guarantees 2. In TCP/IP model the transport layer does not guarantees
the delivery of packets. delivery of packets. Still the TCP/IP model is more reliable.

3. Follows vertical approach. 3. Follows horizontal approach.

4. OSI model has a separate Presentation layer 4. TCP/IP does not have a separate Presentation layer or
and Session layer. Session layer.

5. Transport Layer is Connection Oriented. 5. Transport Layer is both Connection Oriented and
Connection less.

6. Network Layer is both Connection Oriented 6. Network Layer is Connection less.

and Connection less.

7. OSI is a reference model around which the 7. TCP/IP model is, in a way implementation of the OSI
networks are built. Generally it is used as a model.
guidance tool.

8. Network layer of OSI model provides both 8. The Network layer in TCP/IP model provides
connection oriented and connectionless service. connectionless service.

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9. OSI model has a problem of fitting the 9. TCP/IP model does not fit any protocol
protocols into the model.

10. Protocols are hidden in OSI model and are 10. In TCP/IP replacing protocol is not easy.
easily replaced as the technology changes.

11. OSI model defines services, interfaces and 11. In TCP/IP, services, interfaces and protocols are not
protocols very clearly and makes clear distinction clearly separated. It is also protocol dependent.
between them. It is protocol independent.

12. It has 7 layers 12. It has 4 layers

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Novell Networks (or) NetWare:

 NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc.
 It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using
the IPX network protocol.
 The original NetWare product in 1983, supported clients running both CP/M and MS-DOS, ran over a
proprietary star network topology and was based on a Novell-built file server using the Motorola
68000 processor, but the company soon moved away from building its own hardware.
 NetWare became hardware-independent, running on any suitable Intel-based IBM PC
compatible system, and a wide range of network cards.
 From the beginning NetWare implemented a number of features inspired
by mainframe and minicomputer systems that were not available in its competitors.
 In the early 1990s, Novell introduced separate cheaper networking products, unrelated to classic
NetWare. These were NetWare Lite 1.0 (NWL), and later Personal NetWare 1.0 (PNW) in 1993.
 In 1993, the main product line took a dramatic turn when Version 4 introduced NetWare Directory
Services (NDS), a global directory service similar to the Active Directory that Microsoft would release
seven years later. This, along with a new e-mail system, GroupWise, application configuration
suite, ZENworks, and security product BorderManager were all targeted at the needs of large
enterprises.
 By 2000, however, Microsoft was taking more of Novell's customer base and Novell increasingly
looked to a future based on a Linux kernel.
 The successor to NetWare, Open Enterprise Server (OES), released in March 2005, offered all the
services previously hosted by NetWare v6.5, but on a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server; the NetWare
kernel remained an option until OES 11 in late 2011.
 The final update release was version 6.5SP8 of May 2009; Netware is no longer on Novell's product
list. NetWare 6.5SP8 General Support ended in 2010, with Extended Support until the end of 2015,
and Self Support until the end of 2017. The replacement is Open Enterprise Server.

ARPANET:

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COMPUTER NETWORKS INTRODUCTION

Internet:

20 | P a g e
COMPUTER NETWORKS INTRODUCTION

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21 | P a g e